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Meeting at Quigley’s Restaurant
593 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush, NY
October 27, 2016
Members Attending (14): Debbie Rodriguez, Murray Forth, Pat Bailey, Bill Dowd, Jim Leyhane, Dick Drumm, A.J. Amato, April Dowd, Ray Hannan, David Taylor, Doris Calamaras, Dean Calamaras, Becky Raymond, Julius Frankel.
Guests (2): Mike Stangl, Frank Von Rienen.
PROGRAM: “Alaska: The Final Frontier”
Club members Dean and Doris Calamaras took us on a photo tour of Alaska with a side trip to the bustling metropolis of Vancouver, British Columbia.
On their early summer trip, Dean and Doris flew into Anchorage, a very busy airport with jumbo jets from all around the world. In addition to seeing the activity of the state’s largest city, Dean pointed out Earthquake Park, an area that became a park in the aftermath of a major earthquake in the 1960s that caused an entire swath of homes and residents to be dumped into the sea.
Their trip, via Holland America, included travel on a cruise ship, a tour bus, etc. They chose this time of year because there still was snow on the mountains, which created contrasting colors that defined the terrain. They stayed in the lower half of the state, far from what then was called Mt. McKinley and now is called Dinali, the native name for the mountain. They also toured the Dinali State Park and were fortunate enough to spot many examples of the local wildlife — sheep, Soldatna bears, brown bears, moose, etc. Luckily, they avoided what Dean referred to as “the state bird” — mosquitoes.
Also on their tour was a closeup view of a glacier. As Dean noted, seeing glaciers in books and photos doesn’t provide the same insight as experiencing first-hand the intense dampness and cold.
They also visited Juneau, the state capital, and Ketchican, a busy seaport with its own drydock facilities, and in both places cruise ships abounded. Dean said that in some cases, such ships travel convoy style, particularly around islands and areas where there are watery dangers such as submerged rocks. As Dean explained:
“The individual ships could keep to any schedule they wanted if they traveled to the west, in the Pacific Ocean proper. By navigating through the islands, they shorten the trip and avoid the wave action one experiences on the open seas.
BUSINESS/ANNOUNCEMENTS
WELCOME — President Debbie Rodriguez welcomed members and guests Mike Stangl (member Becky Raymond’s husband) and Frank Von Rienen.
WORLD POLIO DAY — Debbie, Roberto Martinez and Jim Leyhane attended the “World Read More »
It’s not often Upstate New York Rotarians get an opportunity to hear Rotary’s top official in person.
John Germ, who became president of Rotary International this summer, will deliver the keynote address at the 91st annual Eastern Cities Fellowship Dinner in Rochester.
The event, this year with emphasis on the centennial celebration of the creation of the Rotary Foundation, will be held Tuesday, December 6, at the Joseph A. Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center.
Registration and an opening reception are scheduled for 5 to 6:15 p.m., with the dinner and program beginning at 6:30. Early bird tickets, available through Friday, November 18, are priced at $45 per person. Thereafter, the price rises to $50. Reservations must be made online, please use the registration button to the left. Tables for 10 are available.
Any additional information on the event can be obtained by contacting Brandi Koch by calling 585-546-7435 extension 210, or emailing her at brandi@rochesterrotary.org.
Tickets are on sale now for the Rotary District 7190 Centennial Foundation Event, scheduled for Thursday, November 17, at the Saratoga National Golf Club, 458 Union Avenue, Saratoga Springs.
In addition to dinner from Mazzone Hospitality, the region’s premier dining organization, there will be entertainment and a silent auction of gift baskets contributed by various clubs.
Tickets are $100 for an individual and $175 for a couple. The deadline for purchase is November 10. Go here to do it online.
For the first time in five years, the Rotary International Convention will be held in the U.S.
District 7190 is hoping at least 40 to 50 Rotarians will register for the June 10-14 event being planned for Atlanta. In addition to the usual events and socializing, and a chance to spend some time in a bustling southern city, this year we’ll be marking the 100th anniversary of the Rotary Foundation which was founded during the Atlanta convention back in 1916.
If you never have been to a Rotary International Convention, take advantage of this opportunity to meet Rotarians from over 130 countries. You also will hear about exciting club projects from around the world and share what your club is doing. The general and breakout sessions are world class and the House of Friendship offers amazing chances to learn and share.
Go here for details on registering online.
ShelterBox USA has just honored the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club as a Silver Level Hero Club.
The award, which follows several other ShelterBox honors in the past few years, is in recognition of our club’s financial support of the emergency relief organization, this time for its contribution of more than $3,000 in the 2015-16 Rotary Year.
Our club’s current budget includes another $3,000 contribution to the work of ShelterBox (we already have raised $2,600 toward that goal), and the club Board of Directors has approved a three-year pledge of $3,000 per year, which would maintain the Silver Hero Club status. The ShelterBox Hero program provides for three-year pledges at the $1,000 (bronze), $3,000 (silver), and $5,000 (gold) levels per year.
In addition to ongoing relief efforts in Haiti, Ecuador, Italy and elsewhere to battle the effects of natural disasters, ShelterBox also has been flooding the Mosul, Iraq, region with ShelterBoxes to help people fleeing from the fierce fighting in and around that city as government and allied forces fight to oust ISIS terrorists there. In the past two weeks, about 2,000 ShelterBoxes — at an expenditure of $2 million — have been sent there and are being out to use.
“I have officially been in Siracusa, Sicily, for over a month. The time is already flying by with new people and experiences. My language progression has improved drastically since my last post. I now understand about 83% of what I hear, and am able to respond. It is becoming easier and easier to express myself, and I am now even able to joke around with native Italian speakers! It is such an amazing feeling, because it was starting to feel very lonely for me.”
That’s the start of the latest blog post fro Michaela Rosetti, our Rotary Youth Exchange student who is spending an academic year in Syracuse.
You can keep up with her on the “Michaela’s Journey In Italia” blog. Click here to visit it, then bookmark the site for quick access.
If you’d like to see a collection of videos addressing various aspects of the organization, go to “Inside Information” and click on “Rotary Videos.” And, share them with your friends and family.
(Originally posted 02/22/16)
Rotary members, their families and friends can support Rotary’s work by bidding on antiques, artwork, jewelry, and collectibles through “eBay Live Auctions” events.
Each month, Rotary promotes on its social media outlets a set of upcoming events, and eBay, the world’s largest auction website, donates to Rotary a portion of all sale proceeds from those events.
“eBay Live Auctions” events enable buyers to participate in auctions across the United States — held at such auction houses as Sotheby’s, Swann, and Freeman’s — without leaving home. Under this proceeds-sharing agreement, only U.S. auction sales are eligible.
Numerous auctions are held on nearly a daily basis, and the auctionable items vary greatly — Picasso ceramics, rare signed and unsigned posters, modern and contemporary art, modern and vintage timepieces, metal ad and beer signs, African and Oceanic art and statuary, decorative art, a wide range of jewelry, and on and on.
Interested in getting more information on the process? Go here.
Interested in seeing the entire schedule of auctions benefiting Rotary? Go here.
Our globetrotting club member Dean Calamaras will be presenting an Alaskan travelogue as the after-dinner program this Thursday.
While the cooks at Quigley’s are not able to come up with a Baked Alaska for the occasion, they will be dishing up a dinner of spiral-sliced baked ham, veggies, salad, bread, dessert and beverages.
As always, the deadline for reservations is Tuesday evening. So, if you haven’t yet let dinner coordinator Debbie Brown know if you plan to attend, please quickly email her at mdbrown@nycap.rr.com –and, PLEASE, let her know if you plan to bring guests so we can give Quigley’s an accurate headcount.
Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club 