This Thursday, March 13, 2025 the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club will be having its weekly meeting at Moscatiello’s on Route 4 in North Greenbush at 6:00 pm. Joining us will be Sari Medick from Stretch Zone. She will be speaking on the therapeutic benefits on flexibility training. As with most meetings if you are unable to join us in person you may do so remotely using the Zoom link located on the calendar page of our website.
We will also discuss our ongoing support of Circles of Mercy and their upcoming Easter Basket Program. Looking forward to seeing everyone this Thursday.
A meeting was held in person and in attendance were Roberto Martinez, Pat Bailey, Phil Kellerman, Jim Lehayne, Dick Drumm, Ray Hannan, Peter Brown, and Deb Brown. In attendance via Zoom were Dean Calamares and Andy Leyhane.
Roberto reported that Marlisa Mutari was to attend to provide an update from the district but was unable to come.
Roberto informed the group that our club just had its 65th birthday.
Phil provided a financial update and said that he had contacted the IRS for an update on submittal for reinstatement of our 501(c)4 tax status. The first representative Phil spoke to could not find our package which was causing frustration on the part of our group.
(Subsequent to the meeting, the second representative he spoke said that he had found our package and we would be hearing by March 24th. Phil was told that there is a usual 16 week waiting period).
Phil also reported that he was almost complete with the reconciling of club finances on Quicken and he would report to the club once completed on the club’s finances.
Roberto said that the board approved $500 to support an exchange student in April to attend a district meeting. Murray reminded the group that he wanted to hand the check in person to avoid the risk of fraudulent “check washing” by mailing the check.
Phil said that our annual bowl-a-thon is scheduled for Sunday April 6 from 1-3 pm at the East Greenbush Bowling Lanes. Several members pledged to become $50 sponsors. Phil also said that the local Planet Fitness wanted to pledge $100 and have a table next to ours at the event to pass out flyers. The members agreed. Furthermore, Phil said that the day after our meeting, he would bring informational flyers to the event to the Maple Hill School along with a sign up sheet. Phil also asked members for help at the event manning our table, and Peter, Deb and Pat agreed to help out.
Phil reported that he and Carole attended an RLI Leadership Conference in Johnson City. Subsequent to the conference, Carole developed a banner which we could use to display at events. It was going to be funded with a matching grant. The members liked the banner which outlines the projects and organizations supported by the club.
Phil also told the group that he learned at the training that to encourage young folks to join Rotary, that they be allowed to become “friends of Rotary.” They could participate in Rotary activities to give them time to decide whether to join. If they decide to join, a member of the club or the club itself would pay for their first year dues. Phil thought this was idea the club should pursue.
For the second week in a row, a donation jar was passed around to raise funds for the Global Eye Clinic in Haiti.
Concerning the Water Hole project in Kenya, Peter said that there had been a delay because the district in Kenya was informed that they may be paying too much for the drilling, and that a rebid of the project may have to occur.
A meeting at the East Greenbush school district will be held n March 18 to further the Backpack program. Several club members will attend.
Pat reminded the group that the AAA defensive driving course would be held in Nassau on May 17th. Five club members have signed up.
A membership meeting will be held May 1st. Roberto asked members to invite a person that they believe might be interested in joining.
A PETS training will be held in Syracuse on March 15-16. Roberto, Jim and Phil will be attending.
A Foundation grants management seminar will be held via Zoom on Sunday March 23rd. We need at least two members to attend to apply for district grants. Jim and Roberto are registered.
A district conference Learning Assembly will be held starting Friday April 4th in Albany. Roberto recommended that members at least attend on Saturday as Peter Brown will be on a panel to discuss global grants. Admission is free.
Upon going around the room at the end of the meeting, Dean thanked the club for their contribution to Gift of Life. He said that Gift of Life had received 8,400 pledges of financial support.
This Thursday, March 6, 2025 the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club will be holding its weekly meeting at Moscatiello’s on Route 4 in North Greenbush at 6:00pm. Joining us will be Marissa Multari from Rotary District 7180. Marissa will be upcoming events in District 7180 as well as CNY Rotary. If you are unable to join us in person you may join us remotely using the link located on the calendar page of our website.
Entree choices for the evening include: Chicken Rustica Salad, Lasagna, and Cheese Ravioli
This Thursday February 27, 2025 the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club will be returning to its weekly in person meeting at 6:00 pm at Moscatiello’s located on Route 4 in North Greenbush. Joining as a presenter is SRC’s very own John Justino. John is going to be presenting on the ongoing merges and changes at SUNY’s campus. If you are unable to join us in person you may still do so remotely using the Zoom link located on the calendar page of our website.
Quick reminder there is a Rotary Foundation Grant Training taking place tomorrow night at 7:30 pm. Additional information on this training can be found at cnyrotary.org.
Menu choices for Thursday include the following: Antipasto Salad, Chicken Limone, or Baked Ziti
Due to a significant number of our members being out of town next week, there will be no meeting this upcoming Thursday February 20, 2025. We will be returning to Moscatiello’s on Thursday February 27, 2025. Please enjoy the break.
On Thursday February 13 the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club will be hosting its weekly meeting via Zoom due to booking conflicts with Moscatiello’s. Joining us remotely will be Dan Maskin and he will be speaking on Community Action Agencies. The meeting will begin at 6:00pm and you may use the link below or the link located on our calendar page. Looking forward to seeing everyone this Thursday.
Due to the weather, the Rotary meeting was held via Zoom. In attendance were Roberto Martinez, Phil Kellerman, Jim Leyhane, Peter Brown, Kevin Leyhane, Terry Brewer, Carole Heaney, Charlie Foote, Pat Bailey, and Murray Forth.
It was reported that Margaret Pearson from the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society would not be able to speak as originally scheduled. Pat said she would ask Margaret to speak at a later date in which she could appear in person.
Pat also asked if there were any members who still needed to fill out forms indicating what storage items they had taken. Kevin and Phil indicated that they still needed to get her their forms.
Phil spoke about reconciling the club’s finances – expenditures and income – onto Quicken, and said that the process was moving along. He was still working with Murray to fill in some information. Murray said that Phil, as assistant treasurer, could sign now for checks on behalf of the club.
Murray reported that the club is still waiting on word from the IRS on our tax-exempt status.
Concerning the bowl-a-thon, Phil said that he had communicated with the Maple Hill school principal, Robert Santarcangelo. He responded by saying that he had forwarded our information about wanting to have a bowl-a-thon on Sunday April 6th to Mr. Marvinney, teacher of the Connections Course. Phil reported that he had not heard back and would follow up.
Phil reported that an application for a benefit concert by the band Enjoyous was submitted by him to the East Greenbush Methodist Church for late April or early May.
Carole complimented Phil for bringing donated supplies over the Joan Nicole Prince Home for the Terminally Ill. Phil said that Toni Warren, director, gave him and his friend a great tour of the facility.
Roberto reported that he thought it was time to bring back the donation jar to raise funds for charity. The group agreed to have donations go to the eye clinic in Haiti, overseen by Anshu Chandra, who spoke to the group about the clinic.
More good news about the Global grant. Peter reported that the balance of $50,000 was sent to Kenya, and he expected the water project to possibly be completed in six weeks. Peter said it would be great if photos of the project could be uploaded to CYN news web-site.
Concerning the Cornhole tournament, Kevin said another meeting will be held at the superintendent’s office on Thursday Feb. 13th at 1 pm to continue discussion about the tournament. Phil said he could attend in Roberto’s absence.
Kevin also said that he met with a school speech therapist about the need for school back packs. Kevin was curious if the club could donate some funds but also inquired what kind of fund-raisers we could do to raise money for the project.
Pat reported that a defensive driving course would be offered on May 17 at the ambulance facility in Nassau.
Roberto reported that Dean had been interviewed about his recent book and the interview was available on Youtube.
Roberto also noted that the Albany Waterway Project was to receive an $85,000 grant for an engineering feasibility study to excavate and repurpose Lock One of the Erie Canal.
A talk on Crypto currency is of interest to the club. Peter reported that he had not heard from his original speaker of interest. Phil said he would speak to his friend, Tom Romero, about speaking as he knows quite a bit about the subject.
Terry and Carole expressed interest in holding a membership drive dinner as was done last year. Terry said the club may want to not only invite new folks but reach out to former club members who have dropped out to see if they would want to rejoin.
Roberto thought that with all the activities going on currently that the club should wait on discussing a fund-raiser via Cafe Capriccio.
Roberto also encouraged the club to access the CYN web-site which he said was excellent and listed in-depth information and district activities.
Roberto wound up the meeting by going over upcoming Pre-PEL zoom trainings and PETS trainings. Phil and Carole reported that they would be attending the RLI training in Johnson City on March 1st. Carole said she would be going to the International Rotary Conference in Calgary in June.
.Due to the uncertainty of tomorrow’s weather, our weekly meeting at Moscatiello’s has been moved to a remote only meeting. The meeting will begin at 6:00 and you may join using the link located on our calendar page or the link below.
This Thursday, February 6, 2025 the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club will be holding its weekly meeting at Moscatiello’s on Route 4 in North Greenbush at 6:00pm. Joining us as our guest presenter will be Margaret Pearson from the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society. If you are unable to join us in person you may do so remotely using the Zoom link located on our clubs calendar page of the website.
Dinner choices for the evening are Antipasto Salad, Chicken Lemon, or Baked Ziti. Looking forward to seeing everyone this Thursday.
Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club 