Meeting of 12/1/16: ‘A Change of Venue’

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screen-shot-2016-10-16-at-7-10-54-pmMeeting at the Schodack Diner
1842 Columbia Turnpike
Schodack, NY
December 1, 2016

Members Attending (20): Debbie Rodriguez, Roberto Martinez, Murray Forth, Pat Bailey, Jim Leyhane, Andy Leyhane, Carole Spencer, Terry Brewer, Peter Brown, Jim Butterworth, Dick Drumm, Debbie Brown, Bill Dowd, April Dowd, Dean Calamaras, Julius Frankel, A.J. Amato, Charlie Foote, Stewart Wagner, Phil Kellerman.

Guests (1): Dawn Vavala.

Business/Announcements

screen-shot-2016-12-02-at-2-03-53-pmWELCOME — President Debbie Rodriguez welcomed the members and guest Rotarian Dawn Vavala who delivered the special Rotary shirts the club had ordered from her marketing company in support of the Rotary Foundation. Debbie also thanked members for attending despite the short notice of a change of venue. Quigley’s owner John Walsh recently underwent  cardiac procedure and could not accommodate us at our usual meeting place. She will keep everyone posted about that situation as we go forward, but at the moment we are planning to return to Quigley’s next week.

FOUNDATION DINNER — Roberto Martinez reported that SRC had a group of eight (six members, a spouse, and our Youth Exchange student) in attendance at the recent dinner at Saratoga National Golf Course. Our silent auction basket of items made in Rensselaer County was purchased for $80 — by our own Carole Spencer!

SPECIAL T-SHIRTS — Jim Leyhane said the special T-shirts purchased by three club Read More »

The latest on our 3 ‘Adopt-a-Family’ efforts

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srcadopt-logoThis promises to be our biggest “Adopt-a-Family” holiday period in club history. We have three separate efforts now under way that you can choose to support in one way or the other. Here are the details:

CIRCLES OF MERCY
Rensselaer

April Dowd is spearheading this effort for a local 70-year-old who is caring for her three young great-grandchildren and is herself battling cancer.

April emailed the family’s “wish list” to all members several weeks ago, but if you missed it or trashed it, you can click here to see an update on the effort that contains the shopping list. You can contact April at 238-1950.

DOORS OF HOPE
Averill Park

Terry Brewer has taken the lead on this effort on behalf of a family with three children. You can contact Terry at 221-4050. The “wish list” is as follows:

Girl (13): Favorite colors are blue, pink, black, white, gray

Long-sleeve flannel shirts, woman’s size small; PJ’s with long sleeves, woman’s size small; scarf and gloves, black/gray; Ariana Grande poster; teen magazines; movie tickets; Target gift card

Girl (8): Favorite colors are pink and purple

Theme toys (Trolls, Emoji, Shopkins); long-sleeve shirts with theme items, girls’ size 8/9; PJ’s with long sleeves, girls’ size 8/9; toys (Trolls, Num Noms, Animal Jam, Tsum Tsum); age-appropriate crafts

Boy (9): Favorite colors are blue and red

Theme toys (Pokeman, Star Wars abd Marvel characters); PJ’s and long-sleeved shirts, size boys medium, with theme characters; Halo figures, small’ Marvel figures, small; Civil War toys; Qixels crafts; books (Pokemon Moon, Pokemon Sun, Pokemon the Official Strategy Guide)

COLUMBIA HIGH SCHOOL
East Greenbush

Club member John Sawchuk, principal at CHS, is marshaling his students and staff in an effort to adopt at least seven families for the holidays on behalf of SRC. If you’d like to help there, you can call John at 487-0990, although this appears to be pretty much a contained effort at the school.

 

How to create a themed basket for our holiday silent auction

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basketAs of today, we are a mere three weeks (!) from one of our best-attended annual events — the “SRC Holiday Party & Themed-Basket Silent Auction.”

That’s right. Just 21 days. The dinner and festivities are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, December 22, at the Forth residence in East Greenbush. (And, an advance “thank you” to Maggie and Murray for once again volunteering to be our hosts.)

The basket auction portion of the evening is always a display of ingenuity, and prompts a lot of bidding that supports our club’s many community service projects.

Deciding on a theme, then creating a basket around it, is something everyone can participate in, no matter their artistic skill levels. And, to give you some ideas to jump-start the process, take a look at these examples:

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Damian Lewis makes Mosul aid plea for ShelterBox

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Damian Lewis

Damian Lewis, the English actor/producer familiar to American audiences for roles ranging from Henry VIII to a turncoat U.S. Marine, is lending his support to the ShelterBox international relief agency headquartered in his home country.

The star of “Homeland,” “Wolf Hall,” “Band of Brothers” and many other series and films has made a plea on behalf of the estimated one million people trapped in war-torn Mosul, Iraq. He has endorsed the efforts of ShelterBox as it prepares to help families displaced by the ongoing warfare there.

“They are the people who were not able to escape before Islamic State took hold,” Lewis said. “They are the very young, the very old and the families who were not able to leave due to illness and poverty. They have suffered atrocities we can only imagine. We cannot fail these families.”

The tents and shelter kits are in place, the distribution partnerships arranged, and aidRead More »

Update: Thursday dinner site changed

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BULLETIN!

screen-shot-2016-11-28-at-9-03-52-pm
Our temporary meeting venue

The site of this Thursday’s dinner meeting has been changed. We will be meeting, and ordering off the menu (go here to check it out in advance), at the Schodack Diner, 1842 Columbia Turnpike. Our scheduled after-dinner program will not be presented, but the Board meeting planned for that day will be held.

The change was necessitated because Quigley’s owner John Walsh recently suffered a heart attack. The good news is that John is recovering, but is not yet up to the usual workload.

As always, if you have not yet let Debbie Brown know whether you will attend, please do so at mdbrown@nycp.rr.com no later than Tuesday evening.

And, please remember to bring your donations of clothing for our “Adopt a Family” holiday projects.

A very happy Thanksgiving Day to all

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This oil painting by the iconic American artist Norman Rockwell is called “Freedom from Want.” It also is known as “The Thanksgiving Picture” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”

It is the third work in the “Four Freedoms” series of four oil paintings by Rockwell inspired by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union Address, a speech known as “Four Freedoms.”

The painting was created in November 1942 and published in the March 6, 1943 issue of The Saturday Evening Post magazine. All of the people in the picture were friends and family of Rockwell in Arlington, Vermont, who were photographed individually and painted into the scene.

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Our Twitter page is a content+ source

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Early returns from the social media survey that was sent to all members a few days ago show that very few SRC members avail themselves of the Twitter social media platform.

So, why does our club have a Twitter page? For two main reasons: (1.) To make our information available on the most heavily-used social media platform in the world, and thus potentially more appealing to the generations who use such things on a regular, even daily, basis; and, (2.) to provide you with news and information beyond what we have on our club website from Rotary International, partner organizations, and some other philanthropic organizations from around the globe.

The accompanying screen grabs show just a few of the most recent Tweets posted by SRC, RI and others. If you are interested in setting up a Twitter account, which is very easy to do, simply go here and follow the step-by-step instructions.

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Discount time for RI Convention running out

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screen-shot-2016-10-28-at-12-39-40-pmIf you are interested in attending the Rotary International Convention in Atlanta on June 10-14 next year, you can get discounted reservations if you go online — but, no later than December 15.

We already have nearly 40 Rotarians and guests from District 7190 signed up. The current discounted registration fee is $340 per person, but the price will increase to $415 as of December 16.

For more information about this global get-together and to register, just click here.

Foundation Dinner a financial success

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screen-shot-2016-10-11-at-5-15-03-pmDistrict Governor John Mucha reports that last week’s annual Rotary Foundation Dinner hosted at Saratoga National Golf Club by the District was a winner.

“We had over 200 Rotarians and guests at our Foundation Dinner celebrating the Centennial of the Rotary Foundation,” John said, “and, best of all, we raised in excess of $20,000 for the Foundation. My sincere thanks to all who attended, served on the dinner committee, or supported this effort in some other way.”

Our club had a contingent of six Rotarians, one spousal guest, and our Youth Exchange student in attendance. And, the club contributed a basket of made-in-Rensselaer County items to the silent auction portion of the fundraiser. Go here to see our photo gallery.