President Debbie Rodriguez has just released the new committee assignments for the remainder of the 2016-17 Rotary Year.
Please be sure to check who you’ll be working with, and, if you’re not listed as the lead member of a committee don’t be reluctant to bring forth your own ideas for sharing and discussion. Rotary is a team effort.
Click here to go to the COMMITTEES page.
We’re resuming our weekly dinner meetings at 6:15 p.m. this Thursday at Quigley’s.
The program: President Debbie Rodriguez will lead a discussion about our programs and projects for the remainder of the 2016-17 Rotary Year.
The dinner menu: Roast pork, veggies, salad, bread, dessert, beverages. Cash bar before the meeting.
If you haven’t made your reservation, please do so no later than Tuesday via email to Debbie Brown (mdbrown@nycap.rr.com).
This is one of many murals painted by artists across the country as part of the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1934 to 1943 to celebrate the range and energy of the American labor force.
If you’re not familiar with the Federal Art Project category of the WPA’s efforts at rebuilding the nation as we came out of the Great Depression — or even if you are and haven’t seen examples in a while — you can find a lot of information online. And, you can find an 11-image slideshow here from The New York Times.
In Rensselaer County, the main U.S. Post Office on Broadway in Troy has such art on its lobby walls. Seen below are “Rip Van Winkle” and “Legends of the Hudson,” both painted in 1938 by Waldo Pierce.
NOTE: This originally was posted on July 20, but since we’re getting close to the event we’re repeating it for the benefit of all who might like to participate.
Save the date: The annual Gift of Life Golf & Bocce Tournament has been scheduled for Wednesday, September 21. And, this year it’s closer to Southern Rensselaer County than ever.
The venue for the 17th annual fundraiser is the Mohawk River Country Club in Halfmoon, Saratoga County, as opposed to its usual venue in Montgomery County.
Our club always has a foursome in the event — and two years ago won top honors — but with the increased size of our membership perhaps we’ll be able to add a golfing foursome as well as a bocce entry.
Not sure how to play bocce? Click here for a perfect “how-to” presentation.
The tournament is the year’s top fundraiser to help District 7190 Gift of Life in its ongoing efforts to provide lifesaving cardiac surgery for children from countries where such help is not available. So far, GOL has saved 200 such lives.
Jennifer Degenhart, tournament chairperson, has several suggestions on how to help the effort even if you’re not golfing or playing bocce. Among them:
• Acting as our host club or dinner sponsor (an awards dinner follows the events)
• Providing raffle items, gift certificates, items for our goody bags (Have any wine or liquor you’re not planning to consume, golf balls/tees/accessories you’ll never use? Pass it on and we can use it in a gift basket.)
• We’ve found that many places you frequent will provide gift certificates to charity organizations if you just ask.
Here are all the details. You can print out the entry form for your convenience of registering.
If you’ve ever been curious about getting a first-hand look at the true international scope of Rotary, you have two chances each year to do so. One, of course, is the annual international convention, which this year will be held in Atlanta. But, if you can’t commit to that amount of time, here’s an excellent opportunity just a short drive away.
“Rotary Day at the United Nations” now is taking reservations for the annual event, this year scheduled Saturday, November 12, at the UN’s New York City headquarters. Note: Only 241 tickets remain as of this writing. Here’s the link to sign up.
The longstanding event marks Rotary’s role as one of the NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that helped create the UN. On this special day, 1,500 Rotarians, Rotary Youths, and guests from around the world assemble for a variety of fascinating panel discussions featuring leaders and officials from the RI, the UN and its affiliated Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).
Lunch, included in the registration fee, will be servedin the main United Nations Cafeteria overlooking the East River. The registration fee is $65, which is paid for by your club. If you’d like to get a personal comment on a UN day experience, check with Bill Dowd or Jim Butterworth who attended two years ago.
Here’s a little more information about the RI-UN partnership, provided by RI:
Rotary’s relationship with the United Nations dates to 1945 when some 49 Rotary members acted as delegates, advisors and consultants at the United Nations Charter Conference. Today, Rotary holds the highest consultative status possible with the United Nations as a non-governmental organization (NGO).
Rotary and the United Nations have a long history of working together and share similar visions for a more peaceful world.
In 1945, nearly 50 of the 800 delegates representing their governments at the San Francisco Conference to draft the UN Charter also were members of Rotary. The role of Rotary clubs in promoting understanding among nations, providing a platform for dialogue, and creating positive change in communities around the world provided valuable support for the newly-established United Nations.
Rotary and the United Nations have since built a strong and productive partnership. In 1985, Rotary launched its PolioPlus program, the first initiative to tackle global polio eradication through the mass vaccination of children. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative, formed in 1988, is a public-private partnership that includes the World Health Organization and UNICEF, along with other key agencies.
Rotary holds the highest NGO consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, which oversees many of the UN’s specialized agencies. Rotary maintains ties with the United Nations and other organizations through its network of 31 representatives in 15 capital cities around the world. Rotary representatives, including two youth representatives, serve as unofficial ambassadors, meeting with colleagues to share information and opportunities for collaboration.
Rotary’s representative network is active at the UN offices in New York; Geneva, Switzerland, and Vienna, Austria, and the Economic Commissions for Africa, Asia, Western Asia, Europe and Latin America. Rotary also has representatives at UNESCO, UN-HABITAT, the UN Environmental Program, the Food and Agricultural Organization, World Food Programme, UNICEF, World Health Organization and World Bank.
This listing, frequently updated, covers not only SRC’s activities, but social, training, fundraising, service, and other activities throughout District 7190. You can get to it by simply clicking on “Calendar” in the “Inside Information” listing on the website home page, or go directly to the club Facebook page and click on “Events.”
The majority of natural disasters seem to happen in Africa, Asia, and South America, and ShelterBox is always among the very first responders to bring aid to the victims.
This week, however, ShelterBox teams are being dispatched to central Italy where a devastating Wednesday earthquake of 6.2 magnitude has resulted in the deaths of at least 250 people as of this posting, along with swaths of destruction that have virtually wiped out a series of small towns, according to ANSA, the Italian news service.
ShelterBox, which usually is on scene before most governmental agencies, is always in need of a steady revenue stream because of the unending number of disasters it tends to worldwide. The Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club has purchased five ShelterBoxes, at $1,000 each, recently, but the organization always can use more.
If you can donate, please do so through club treasurer Murray Forth rather than doing so online. That way we can track where our donations are going. If you need more information on the ShelterBox program, contact Bill Dowd, our club’s ShelterBox liaison officer.
• Go here for a continually updated CNN blog on the situation.
Back on June 30, we posted this photo of Amanda Forth, daughter-in-law of Murray and Maggie and wife of Craig, taken at our annual Presidential Changeover Dinner. Note the caption.
Since then, here’s what happened.
The second and final delivery of donations for SRC’s 2nd annual “School Supplies Drive” was made today, completing our effort to assist students at the high school and lower elementary grade levels in the Rensselaer City School District.
“This portion of our drive was a very generous effort by students at Columbia High School put together by John Sawchuk,” said project coordinator Bill Dowd. “I had suggested club members might think about creating a ‘kids helping kids’ component to the drive, and John used his position as Columbia principal to make it happen. Columbia kids have in the past also helped with other SRC projects. and we’re very grateful to them and their strong community spirit.”
A day earlier, Bill had dropped off several hundred donated items from club members and families at the Circles of Mercy service agency that is packaging the items for individual students and will be distributing them before school resumes.
By a rough count our drive resulted in more than 500 items for kids living in a school district in which one-third of families live below the federal poverty level. The effort was in line with one of Rotary’s key areas of assistance — improving literacy and education.
NOTE: This project will be featured in the September issue of The District 7190 Toolbox electronic newsletter.
The first of two batches of donations to the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club’s 2nd annual “School Supplies Drive” was dropped off this morning at Circles of Mercy in Rensselaer.
Project leader Bill Dowd delivered more than 200 items ranging from backpacks to notebook paper to rulers to pencil boxes to binders to dictionaries and much more.
The supplies will be distributed by the family services agency Circles of Mercy to high school and pre-school kids in the Rensselaer City School District where more than one-third of the children come from families living below the federal poverty level.
A second delivery, being put together in support of the SRC drive by John Sawchuk and a group of his students at Columbia High School, will be dropped off at Circles of Mercy on Tuesday.
“I thank all of our SRC Club members and their families who pitched in to help make this very worthwhile drive a success again this year,” Bill said.
“Sometimes it doesn’t take much to make a huge difference in the lives of those less fortunate than we, and this is one of those ‘painless’ efforts directly in line with one of Rotary’s core principles — fostering improved education and literacy.”
