The club’s first indoor simulator golf tournament of the winter has been cancelled.
The event, scheduled for Saturday, did not draw a sufficient field for the Burden Lake Country Club venue.
From our archives: Musical therapy
From time to time we like to offer a flashback to a program or activity our club has experienced. This is from March 31, 2016, when Sharon Wheeler and Jennifer Kilinski from Albany Medical Center’s medical therapy staff and the singing group Triskele visited us to provide a program on musical therapy. Click on the date for a review of their program.
So, what’s going on with your club?
One of the many things our club does of which we’re very proud is make people from many walks of life available to our members. We learn about various professions, volunteer groups, governmental entities, education programs, youth programs and many, many more undertakings from both guest speakers and our own members.
Our “Calendar” page is the conduit by which we keep you updated on when such people will be speaking to the club — when you and your guests can plan to attend their presentations. Here’s the latest schedule:
Rotary webinars for business and service
Each year, Rotary provides its members with a series of free webinars — online seminars — geared toward improving members efforts in business as well as in their efforts through membership in Rotary.
A full description of each 60-minute webinar, and how to register, is available here. Meanwhile, here is the list of upcoming events:
GROW YOUR BUSINESS WITH EMAIL AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Simple marketing strategies for small business & nonprofits
Wednesday, January 18, noon to 1 p.m.
GYB DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS IN 2017
For small businesses and non-profits
Tuesday, January 31, 2 to 3 p.m.
DRIVE NEW BUSINESS WITH SOCIAL MEDIA
Guide to successful social media marketing
Wednesday, February 15, noon to 1 p.m.
SIMPLE STRATEGIES FOR BETTER EVENT MARKETING
You have a great event. Now, let’s get more people there
Tuesday, February 28, 2 to 3 p.m.
THE POWER OF THE INBOX
Email, the absolute best communication tool
Wednesday, March 15, noon to 1 p.m.
STANDOUT SUBJECT LINES
Email: Get open, get read, get results
Tuesday, March 28, 2 to 3 p.m.
LOOK GREAT IN THE INBOX
The 7 “don’ts” of email design
Wednesday, April 5, noon to 1 p.m.
CONTENT MARKETING: WHAT TO SAY, HOW TO SAY IT
Using words and images to craft your email messages
Tuesday, April 18, 2 to 3 p.m.
GROW YOUR BUSINESS WITH EMAIL AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Simple marketing strategies for small business & nonprofits
Wednesday, May 3, noon to 1 p.m.
DRIVE NEW BUSINESS WITH SOCIAL MEDIA
Guide to successful social media marketing
Tuesday, May 16, 2 to 3 p.m.
MEASURING YOUR MARKETING
Using reports and analytics to evaluate your marketing campaign
Wednesday, May 31, noon to 1 p.m.
SIMPLE STRATEGIES FOR BETTER EVENT MARKETING
You have a great event. Now, let’s get more people there
Tuesday, June 2, 2 to 3 p.m.
LOOK GREAT IN THE INBOX
The 7 “don’ts” of email design
Wednesday, June 28, noon to 1 p.m.
Re-cycling day re-ally successful
Our first “Resolved To Recycle” on Saturday was a successful new fundraiser in support of our many community service projects.
The event, held at the Wainschaf Associates facility in Rensselaer that Josh Wainman supplied, was co-chaired by Mike Dewey and Matt Smith, with special help from Terry Brewer and Murray Forth, and additional help both financial and physical from many other club members. (See the Our Sponsors website page.)
“I want to thank all club members for supporting and participating in our first
effort at a recycling activity. We had 22 members work the event,” Terry Brewer reported. ” A special thanks to new member Josh Wainman who offered his building and facilities. A great location and venue. The main office worked great for the cashiers and a warm place for workers throughout the day.
“Murray Forth provided recycling boxes and trucks to collect and transport recyclables. Murray’s support throughout the project made the day a success. We received many positive comments throughout the day for the event and were encouraged to hold another event in the spring.”
Is this the kind of DG you like?
Fred Daniels, who will become our District Governor on July 1 but already has made himself a strong presence on the 7190 scene, manages a grin as he emerges chilly but relatively unscathed from the New Year’s Day “Polar Plunge” in Lake George, an annual fundraiser for Rotary’s ongoing fight against polio.
Fred’s friends pledged $1,050 for him to go in up to his neck in the lake during the event. Current DG John Mucha has announced that if all pledges and matching funds are realized, 7190 will have raised about $30,000 through this year’s plunge.
(Thanks to Christine Daniels for the photo.)
An update from Rotary International
Where in the world is Michaela Rosetti?
Michaela Rosetti, our intrepid Youth Exchange student from Maple Hill High School, has been spending most of her year abroad in Sicily. Those of you who have been following her monthly blog posts know how busy she has been and how much she has seen and learned.
Now, Michaela’s latest report is from mainland Italy, where she visited the Vatican, the Coliseum, the Pantheon and other popular spots such as the Trevi Fountain and the Arch of Constantine.
Keep up with Michaela’s posts so you’ll have plenty of questions to ask her when she returns home after her adventure and visits our club as a guest speaker.
A special invitation to newer members
• This message was emailed today to the newer members of the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club, with copies going to everyone else:
Dear Rotarians:
We are planning a special hands-on tour of our club website and social media pages as our after-dinner program next Thursday, January 19, and we would like you to be involved.
Because you are among our newer members, you may not have yet become familiar enough with those resources to help you get the most out of your Rotary experience. This session will rectify that.
Webmaster Bill Dowd is planning to share a look at the rapidly-changing ways we communicate in today’s society, how we can attract people we want to be involved in Rotary and why social media is an important tool to reach them, then take us on a real-time tour of the many resources our website can offer you.
To get the most out of the experience, we invite you to bring along your smartphone, tablet or laptop so you can participate throughout.
Even if you normally attend only our monthly breakfast meetings, we can guarantee you’ll find this evening option worth your time. Simply email dinner coordinator Debbie Brown (mdbrown@nycap.rr.com) by Tuesday evening to reserve a seat at the table.
Thanks for your time. We hope to see you on Thursday evening.
1330
Meeting of 1/12/17: ‘Veterans’ Benefits’
Meeting at Quigley’s Restaurant
593 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush, NY
January 12, 2017
Members Attending (14): Debbie Rodriguez, Murray Forth, Pat Bailey, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Jim Leyhane, A.J. Amato, Roberto Martinez, Dick Drumm, Terry Brewer, Phil Kellerman, Becky Raymond, Julius Frankel, Charlie Foote.
Guests (2): James Arrington, Jean Marie Niederhoffer.
Program: “Health Care Benefits for Veterans”
Charlie Foote introduced James Arrington, senior program manager at the Albany Stratton VA Medical Center.
James explained his role as being responsible for health care benefits at the VA Center. His presentation covered: “Who is a Veteran?” and “The Basic Veteran Statuses.”
A key is establishing eligibility with form 10-10EZ, which is available online, The enrollment system is broken into groups of priorities depending on needs. Other questions addressed included “What am I eligible for?”, and preventive care services that can include even eyeglasses and hearing aids.
A common question, obviously, is “What do I have to pay?” James said there are limits to benefits, and a means test is part of a financial assessment. He explained that the Veterans Administration now can offer payment for services provided outside the VA facility. It also will provide non-VA emergency Care under certain circumstances.
James also addressed a number of questions from then audience, including those on tele-medicine, the high suicide rate among veterans, and reimbursements to outside suppliers.
Note: More details of his presentation are available on our Program Presentation Archive website page.
Announcements/Business
RECYCLING DAY — Terry Brewer reported that we are set for Saturday’s “Resolved To Recycle” fundraising effort, with a good number of volunteers for three shifts to staff the paper- and electronics-recycling event at Wainschaf Construction. And, several members have stepped up to contribute money toward the cost of the shredding machine rental.
SIMULATOR GOLF — Murray Forth said a signup sheet for volunteers to staff the January 21 event at Burden Lake Country Club will be circulated next week. Also, we now can accept Visa and MasterCard credit cards.
ROTARY HOME COOKING — Four seats remain for a “French Bistro” dinner to be hosted by Dean and Doris Calamaras on January 27, the first in this year’s series of member-hosted home dinners. Anyone else wishing to attend is asked to contact Dean directly.
COMMITTEE FOLLOWUP — At last week’s meeting, members broke up into their committees to discuss their efforts. Tonight they reported.
Jim Leyhane spoke about Ronald McDonald House and Easter baskets by the Boy Scouts; CPR usually is handled by Ron and Monika Annis of Top Form; no strong need was seen for raffles; no interest in participating in fairs; we may wish to support Blue Star Mothers in sending packages overseas to troops.
Murray spoke about fundraising possibilities, and said there is no interest in resuming the Rotary Run; we should consider an information event with vendors and local craftspeople, maybe at the Goff School parking lot and consider charging a fee to the vendors.
Debbie Brown reported lots of good discussion on youth efforts, especially spreading the knowledge of Rotary to students. Student foreign exchange program and scholarship program was discussed; possibility of holding a youth leadership program at CASDA; we should require recipients of our leadership programs to report back to the club as a way for us to find and mentor students. Terry said A.J. has done an excellent job with not much support with Maple Hill. We cannot fund more than $3,000 in annual scholarship funds, so if we wish to include Averill Park High School we may need additional fundraising efforts or decrease the amount of each scholarship.
2 MEETINGS NEXT WEEK: Third Thursday breakfast meeting at 7 a.m. at the Greenbush YMCA. Executive Director Jim Butterworth will speak on his work with CASDA — the Capital District School Development Association. Then, at 6:15 p.m. at Quigley’s, webmaster Bill Dowd will take us on a tour of our website and social media resources, and is asking everyone to bring a cellphone, laptop or tablet so this can be a hands-on experience.
Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club 