‘World Polio Day’ was a good draw locally

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polio 4
Dr. Martha Lepow, an early pioneer in polio immunization, was one of the speakers. She is featured in the “History of Polio” video recently created by a joint effort of SRC, District 7190, CASDA, and the UAlbany School of Public Health.

A crowd of about 60 people attended the 5th annual “World Polio Day” event held by District 7190 at the UAlbany Health Sciences Campus on Tuesday evening.

The event included a live streaming of Rotary International’s information and a presentation by Bill Gates, whose Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has for years partnered with Rotary to support ongoing polio immunization globally.

“What we’re looking at now is sort of the endgame of polio eradication,” says Dr. Jay Wenger, who leads the Gates Foundation’s polio eradication efforts. “We are closer than ever, and we’re optimistic that we can see the end of wild poliovirus disease by as early as this year.”

According to Dr. Wenger, there are only 12 known cases of the wild poliovirus in existence today, in just two countries: Afghanistan and Pakistan. “In the last couple of years, we’ve seen unprecedented progress. In 2015 we could only find 74 cases; in 2016 we found 37, and then this year so far we’ve found only 12 in only two countries.”

That is a result of a mass immunization effort to orally vaccinate 2.5 billion children in 122 countries, bolstered by the 1988 launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. However, unless immunizations continue, cases of polio can quickly pop up and just as quickly begin spreading.

Tuesday’s local event included flu vaccinations for anyone interested, and several dozen people took advantage. SRC provided refreshments and, as club president Roberto Martinez reported, “We had one bag of chips left over and about five cookies.”

Here are several other images from the evening. (You can find the photos in album format on our club’s Facebook page.)

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Debbie Rodriguez and Pat Bailey staffed our club’s table.
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Jim Leyhane, who interviewed Martha Lepow in the video, shared some thoughts.
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Roberto Martinez poses with Peter and Debbie Brown.
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Attendees discuss the “End Polio Now” materials.
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District Governor Fred Daniels addresses attendees.
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Visitors pick up information about Rotary and its many service efforts.

RSVP by Tuesday for dinner on Thursday

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What’s not for dinner.

Iceland is a land of unusual customs and contours, scenic wonders, and fascinating people. Dean Calamaras, one of our more traveled members, will provide a look at the island nation as our speaker at this Thursday’s 6:15 dinner meeting at Quigley’s.

One of Iceland’s iconic dishes is something called hákarl. “Hákarl” is the local word for shark, but as a food item it refers to a putrified, preserved shark meat dish.

Luckily, we are not having Icelandic food on our dinner menu this week. Instead, we are having eggplant Parmesan, antipasto salad, chef’s choice of sides, bread, dessert, and beverages,

As always, unless you already have signed up, dinner coordinator Debbie Brown needs to be emailed at mdbrown@nycap.rr.com no later than Tuesday if you plan to attend. Please be sure to let her know if you are bringing a guest.

Here’s who has signed up so far:

Pat Bailey
Terry Brewer
Debbie Brown
Peter Brown
Dean Calamaras
Bill Dowd
Dick Drumm
Charlie Foote
Murray Forth
Julius Frankel
Ray Hannan
Phil Kellerman
Jim Leyhane
Kevin Leyhane
Roberto Martinez
Carol Orvis
Debbie Rodriguez

 

2 graduates among our contingent at RLI

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RLI C
Doris and Dean Calamaras are the latest SRC members to graduate from the three-level Rotary Leadership Institute course. Here they are with their certificates and District Governor Fred Daniels (left) and RLI local coordinator Bill Nathan (second from right).

The Southern Rensselaer County club was well represented at Saturday’s Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) workshops held on the UAlbany Health Sciences Campus.

Leading the 10-person contingent, believed to be the largest-ever from SRC in one year, were Doris and Dean Calamaras, who both graduated from the three-level RLI curriculum that takes three or more years to complete. Last year, Bill Dowd and Debbie Rodriguez graduated, giving SRC four grads in just two years.

Also participating at Levels 1 and 2 on Saturday were Roberto Martinez, Jim Butterworth, Jim Leyhane, Murray Forth, Terry Brewer, Andy Leyhane, Kevin Leyhane, and Ray Hannan.

RLI A
Roberto Martinez, Jim Leyhane, and Ray Hannan (from left) were in attendance …
RLI B
… as were Jim Butterworth, Andy Leyhane, and Kevin Leyhane (from rear) …
RLI D
… plus Murray Forth (l) and Terry Brewer who also helped with registration.

 

Do you know Rotary has a monthly online magazine?

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Every Rotarian in the world receives a copy of The Rotarian monthly magazine. But, in this electronic age many people like the alternative of perusing news and information online.

No problem. You may not be aware of it, but Rotary International produces something called Rotary News each month. It’s a full-color online magazine loaded with features, photos, information listings, profiles, and interesting activities. Some inside pages from the October issue are shown above.

To access Rotary News, simply click here.

 

Meeting of 10/19/17: ‘Being Mortal’

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screen-shot-2016-10-16-at-7-10-54-pmDinner Meeting at Quigley’s Restaurant
593 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush, NY
October 19, 2017

Members Attending (16): Roberto Martinez, Pat Bailey, Murray Forth, Debbie Rodriguez, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Dick Drumm, Jim Leyhane, Charlie Foote, Terry Brewer, Julius Frankel, Ray Hannan, Kevin Leyhane, Carol Orvis, Phil Kellerman, Carole Spencer.

Guests: None

Announcements/Business

BREAKFAST MEETING — This morning’s Third Thursday breakfast at the Greenbush YMCA was attended by 12 Rotarians and one guest. Peter Brown was the speaker, on violence in the schools. It was announced that the club will assist the “Caring Community Basket Brigade” effort to provide Thanksgiving food baskets to needy families. Click here for details.

Screen shot 2017-10-20 at 1.34.51 PMFOUNDATION DINNER DEADLINE — District 7190 has set a November 1 deadline for submitting online reservations for the annual Foundation Dinner. The event is scheduled for Thursday, November 16, at the 90 State Street event facility (the address also is the name of the site) in downtown Albany. The dinner theme is “Persons of Action.” We are hoping enough SRC members will attend so we can have a table. Reservations are $100 per person, or $175 per couple. 90 State Street is run by Mazzone Hospitality (Angelo’s 677 Prime, Glen Sanders Mansion, Saratoga National, Tala Bistro, etc.). Click here to go to the District’s online reservation form.

RECYCLING DAY UPDATE — President Roberto showed slides of our third recycling/shredding day, held on Saturday, October 14. Treasurer Murray reported that we cleared about $1,800 for scholarships and the general treasury. Thanks to the many club  members who staffed the event, and a special thanks to Josh Wainman for once again making the Wainschaf Associates facility available to the club at no charge.

IN MEMORIAM — The club has made a $500 donation in memory of longtime Rotarian Russ Edberg to the Doors of Hope charity in West Sand Lake with which Russ and his late wife Dottie long were affiliated.

HURRICANE RELIEF EVENT — The club has contributed $300 toward purchase of food to be sold during a Questar III professional development workshop at Columbia High School this Friday. All proceeds from the sale will go to domestic hurricane relief efforts.

BOARD RETREAT — Roberto reported on the October 16 SRC Board retreat held at Community Care. All 11 Board members and three other club members attended the three-hour session. Among the topics discussed were e-attendance, e-voting, expansion of e-mail notifications to all members anytime the website is updated, activities aligned with projects and goals, and more. We will have club assemblies on November 2 and November 30 to allow other members to contribute ideas and further discuss the new concepts.

Screen Shot 2017-10-20 at 2.16.15 PMON THE CALENDAR — “World Polio Day” will be marked at the UAlbany School of Public Health on the Heath Sciences Campus (formerly called the East Campus) in Rensselaer from 5 to 7 p.m. next Tuesday, October 24. All are welcome. The club is donating refreshments. … Members are asked to support the annual Rotary float project now under way for the New Year’s Day Rose Bowl Parade. (Click here for details on the project and how to support it.) … Eight club members are signed up for the Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) training workshops on Saturday, October 21, at the Health Sciences Campus in Rensselaer. … The second Community Celebration Dinner is scheduled for Tuesday, December 5, at Moscatiello’s Restaurant in North Greenbush.

NEXT MEETING —  6:15 p.m. Thursday, October 26, at Quigley’s. Dean Calamaras will provide a presentation on “The Sights and Sounds of Iceland.”

PROGRAM: “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters In the End”

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Peter Brown

Peter Brown based his presentation on the book “Being Mortal” by Dr. Atul Gawande. Peter’s key points:

  • This is a hard topic to discuss, but it affects us all.
  • Medicine wants to cure illness and disability but it can’t prevent death.
  • Aging is a natural part of life and we need to prepare for and address it.
  • Change from independence to dependence is normal, but how we do it can be comfortable or uncomfortable depending on our choices.
  • The health care system often doesn’t ask us the right questions as we approach the end of life.

Click here to access Peter’s entire presentation.

 

Breakfast meeting of 10/19/17

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SRC Breakfast Logo Breakfast Meeting
Greenbush YMCA
20 Community Way
East Greenbush, NY
October 19,2017

Members Attending (12): Roberto Martinez, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Pat Bailey, Jim Leyhane, Andy Leyhane, Murray Forth, Terry Brewer, Geoff Brewer, Jim Butterworth, Shannon Romanowski, Matt Smith.

Guests (1): Wes Slyke.

Basket Brigade flyer 2017

FOOD BASKETS –.Shannon Romanowski will spearhead the club’s efforts to assist the “Caring Community Basket Brigade” in providing Thanksgiving food baskets, for which money and/or supplies are needed. The deadline for contributing is November 10, with locations for donating supplies to be announced. (See above image for details.)

SPEAKER — Club member Peter Brown, making the first of his two presentations today (he also was scheduled to speak at the dinner meeting on a different topic), spoke on mental health, the culture in schools, and how to make necessary changes to reduce violence.

CALENDAR — The next breakfast meeting will be November 16, with no speaker. (The dinner meeting for that date has been cancelled because it conflicts with the District’s annual Foundation Dinner.)

Rotary partnering with Habitat for Humanity to expand reach

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Screen Shot 2017-10-19 at 1.25.54 PMMore than 1 billion people around the world live in inadequate housing according to the United Nations Center for Human Settlements. Now, through a partnership between Rotary and Habitat for Humanity, more will have access to safe and affordable housing.

The partnership will facilitate collaboration between local Rotary clubs and local Habitat for Humanity organizations, enabling Habitat to extend its volunteer pool by tapping into Rotary’s 1.23 million members in 200 countries and regions.

“Habitat’s aim to bring people together to build homes, communities and hope aligns perfectly with Rotary’s commitment to make positive, lasting change in communities around the world,” said Rotary General Secretary John Hewko. “With Habitat’s expertise and the power of Rotary’s volunteer network, we will help build the foundation for stronger communities.”

“The values of our organizations are so closely aligned, and the desire to help others runs deep for both groups. That makes us such a perfect match,” said Habitat for Humanity International CEO Jonathan T.M. Reckford. “So many Rotarians have worked alongside Habitat and the knowledge, experiences and connections that are so strong in local Rotary clubs will make them valuable Habitat partners in many communities worldwide.”

Rotary members develop and implement sustainable projects that fight disease, promote peace, provide clean water, support education, save mothers and children and grow local economies. These projects are supported by more than $200 million awarded through Rotary’s grants programs.

Habitat for Humanity joins a list of Rotary service partners including, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, Peace Corps, Dollywood Foundation, the Global FoodBanking Network, and Youth Service America (YSA).

 

RSVP by Tuesday for ‘Peter Brown Thursday’

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Thursday’s dinner entree

This week we’ll be marking “Peter Brown Thursday,” with our very own PB scheduled to be the speaker at both our 7 a.m. breakfast meeting at the Greenbush YMCA and at the 6:15 p.m. dinner meeting at Quigley’s.

His breakfast topic: “Reducing School Violence.”

His dinner topic: The book “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters In the End,” by Dr. Atul Gawande.

Our dinner menu will feature roast pork, chef’s choice of sides, antipasto salad, rolls, dessert, and beverages. And, of course, the cash bar is available.

As always, we need to know no later than Tuesday if you plan to attend either or both  meetings, and whether you’re bringing guests. Please email Jim Butterworth (jbutterworth@albany.edu) to reserve a breakfast seat, and Debbie Brown (mdbrown@nycap.rr.com) for a dinner seat.

The following members already have made RSVPs for the dinner:

Pat Bailey
Terry Brewer
Debbie Brown
Peter Brown
Bill Dowd
Dick Drumm
Murray Forth
Ray Hannan
Phil Kellerman
Jim Leyhane
Kevin Leyhane
Roberto Martinez
Debbie Rodriguez

3rd ‘Recycling & Shredding Day’ drew a good crowd

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SRC’s third “Recycling & Shredding Day” went off well on Saturday, with a steady stream of people dropping off documents, outmoded TV sets, electronics, and even some big appliances for recycling. Many of them expressed hope we will hold another such session in the spring.

We had a good group of volunteers working on several shifts, and stalwarts Murray Forth, Terry Brewer, Roberto Martinez, and Jim Leyhane working the entire 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. event with Murray also making residential pickups. Thanks to them along with Dean Calamaras, Kevin  Leyhane, Andy Leyhane, Dick Drumm, Josh Wainman, Geoff Brewer, Charlie Foote, and Julius Frankel for their outside work, and to Pat Bailey, Bill Dowd, Phil Kellerman, Becky Raymond, and Ray Hannan who staffed the payment-table shifts. Once again, thanks to Josh for making the Wainschaf Associates facility available to the club.

Here some scenes from the day:

Trash

Trash 3

Trash A

Trash 4

Trash 5

Trash 2

Trash 9

Trash 8

Trash 6Trash 7Trash 10Trash 11Trash 12Trash 13

 

Meeting of 10/12/17: PT and Essential Oils

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screen-shot-2016-10-16-at-7-10-54-pmMeeting at Quigley’s Restaurant
593 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush, NY
October 12, 2017

Members Attending (15): Roberto Martinez, Pat Bailey, Murray Forth, Debbie Rodriguez, Dick Drumm, Dean Calamaras, Jim Leyhane, Bill Dowd, Terry Brewer, Julius Frankel, Jim Butterworth, Kevin Leyhane, Jennifer Felts, Carol Orvis, Stewart Wagner.

Guests (1): Deborah Ciprioni.

PROGRAM: Physical Therapy & Essential Oils

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Deborah Ciprioni at work in her Castleton offices.

Club member Jennifer Felts introduced Deborah Ciprioni, owner of Comprehensive Physical Therapy Solutions in Castleton.

Deborah, born and raised locally, has been a practicing physical therapist for more than  20 years and has been operating her own business for about five. Her staff includes two part-time therapists as well as her mother.

She said she wanted to get into business for herself to increase the amount of time she can spend with each client. She said she spends about a half-hour on average with each one she treats compared to 10-15 minutes while in group practice. She said this allows her to get to know her clients much better which, in turn, improves their treatment regimen.

Deborah said her clients range in age from 8 to 92, with needs ranging from accident and injury recuperation to post-stroke therapy. She also has worked with high school football and soccer teams on conducting balance assessments which help in improving training programs.

Deborah also is involved in therapy using essential oils: i.e., compounding natural distilled ingredients for use as topical and aromatherapy applications. She said there are literally hundreds of products available for a variety of concerns. She displayed a sample box and distributed samples. Deborah also holds educational workshops on roughly a monthly schedule for the public.

Announcements/Business

ROTARY HUMANITY T-SHIRTS — President Roberto said a few shirts still are available to members at no charge.

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RUSS EDBERG IN MEMORIAM — Longtime member Russ Edberg’s funeral on Wednesday was attended by a number of members, several of whom served as pallbearers. A post-burial gathering was held at the East Greenbush Fire Department where Russ was a longtime  member and officer. SRC will make a monetary donation in Russ’s memory to the Doors of Hope charitable organization Russ and his late wife Dottie worked with for many years.

WORLD POLIO DAY — SRC hopes to have a table at the event to introduce the public to Rotary on Tuesday, October 24, at the UAlbany Health Sciences Campus in Rensselaer. Roberto displayed a promotional brochure for the event. Click here to see it on the website.

HURRICANE RELIEF FUNDRAISER — SRC will make a financial contribution to the effort planned during the October 20 professional development day sponsored by Questar III at Columbia High School. Our money will be used to purchase lunch items, which will be sold to attendees to raise funds.

COMMUNITY APPRECIATION CELEBRATION DINNER — The followup to our February dinner that raised about $4,500 for the club treasury will be held on Tuesday, December 5, at Moscatiello’s Restaurant on Route 4 in North Greenbush. We will be honoring community leaders in emergency services, military, education, and other fields. Tickets will be $35 per person, and sponsorships will be available at $100.

Screen Shot 2017-10-13 at 7.28.40 PMFOUNDATION DINNER — Because the Thursday, November 16, District event will conflict with our weekly dinner we will not meet that evening. However, members are urged to attend the breakfast meeting scheduled for that day. Members are urged to enroll for the Foundation Dinner. Simply go to the club website to find a posting about the event and click on the link to the reservation form.

RECYCLING DAY — Murray Forth said more volunteers are needed to staff  Saturday’s recycling and shredding day at the Wainschaf Associates warehouse in Rensselaer.

BOARD RETREAT — The SRC Board of Directors will meet in  a working session from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday, October 16, at Schodack Internal Medicine. Roberto will send out an updated agenda.

Screen Shot 2017-10-13 at 7.35.39 PMROTARY LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE — Registration for the Saturday, October 24, training session has closed. SRC has eight members signed up which, we are told, is the largest contingent from any club. They are Dean and Doris Calamaras (Level 3), Roberto (Level 2), and Jim Butterworth, Ray Hannan, and Jim, Andy, and Kevin Leyhane (Level 1).

DISTRICT MEMBERSHIP TRAINING — Terry Brewer, who is chair of the District Membership Training Committee, said the next training session will be held on November 8 or 9. Vice President Ray Hannan also will attend as the club’s representative. Anyone else who wishes to attend is asked to contact Terry.

NEXT MEETINGS — Peter Brown will do double duty next Thursday, speaking at the 7 a.m. breakfast meeting at the Greenbush YMCA on the topic of “Reducing School Violence,” and at 6:15 p.m. at Quigley’s on the book “Being Immortal.”