Members in Attendance (13):  Ray Hannan, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Kevin Leyhane, Andy Leyhane, Pat Bailey, Debbie Rodriguez, Murray Forth, Jim Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Phil Kellerman, Becky Raymond and Terry Brewer.

By Zoom (0): 

Guests (8): Carole Heaney, Tanya Hotalen, Peter Buckley, Dan Wagner, Janet Poole, Kevin Flanigan, Dan Vazquetelles and Dina Sevagega.

President Peter Brown called the meeting to order. 

Theme for the Year: “Building Community”

MEETING NOTES:

Iron Giraffe Bowl-a-Thon: The bowl-a-thon will be held on Sunday April 14 from 2 pm until 4 pm. The cost will be $13 per person. Proceeds will go to the Anchor Food Pantry and to the Maple Hill water project. We will also ask participants to bring a food item for donation. Bowlers are needed.

Water for Kenya: Per Peter Brown, they are waiting for bids on unified specifications.

Speakers: We still have open dates for speakers.

Rotary Multi-District Conference: Will be held on Friday April 26th- Sunday April 28th at the DoubleTree in Binghamton. Standard Rooms Rate: $129/night Single or Double Occupancy, $139/night Triple Occupancy or $149/night Quad Occupancy. 

Click ->District Conference Information– for more information on the event and speakers

Click-> Register to get signed up (does not include hotel reservation)

Click-> Hotel to reserve your room under room code “ROT” 

Next Meeting: Thursday, April 18th at 6:00 pm at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant, Route 4, North Greenbush. Also, you can join the by Zoom using the link on the websites calendar page. Robert Shulman will speak about Community Emergency Response Teams.

Entree choices will be Chicken Rustica Salad, Chicken Parmesan and Penne Alfredo.

Rotary was started in Chicago, Illinois 116 years ago. Rotary’s structure is comprised of Rotary International, National, local Districts and the club level. Internationally, there are 1.2 million members in over 200 countries. There are 33,000 clubs. Rotary International, through the Rotary Foundation, and the Districts supports club initiatives through grants. The international conventions provide connections on a worldwide basis. Our District is 7190. Districts must have greater than 1000 members. Over the years our District has lost membership, therefore, the district has been reorganized into a larger Central New York District starting in July. Terry Brewer has served as the District Membership Chair. The average club has approximately 20 members. People join Rotary for many reasons such as the ability to participate in community and international service, leadership and to form friendships.

Our Club was started in 1960 as the East Greenbush Rotary Club and renamed the Southern Rensselaer County (SRC) Rotary Club. We have had anywhere from 15 to 50 members but now have approximately 30 members. Over 64 years, the SRC Rotary Club has raised and donated over 1.2 million dollars for various initiatives and organizations. Internationally, some of the things we support are Polio eradication, fresh water in Kenya, Shelter Box and Gift of Life. Among the many local activities we have done, we have supported the Boy Scout Troop since its formation. We have contributed to over 100 Eagle Scouts and over 20 Gold Star Girl Scouts. We have held recycling drives and supported local food banks. We have partnered with the Nassau Library and the East Greenbush School District to provide books to both and a therapy dog for Bell Top School. We have partnered with Circles of Mercy to provide school supplies, holiday gifts for families and Easter baskets. We have also worked with the Town of Schodack on Viking Gym for outdoor physical activity. We are open to any ideas to help make our community better. Our organizational involvement is membership driven. Peter Brown pointed out that since the 1950s, there has been a continuous decline in social capital (people coming together and interacting other than work). We would like to change that trend.

We discussed the many reasons current members joined and stayed with Rotary and different programs and activities our guests were interested in.

For further information on the Southern Rensselaer Rotary Club go to https://srcrotary.org/.

Members in Attendance (8):  Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Pat Bailey, Debbie Rodriguez, Murray Forth, Jim Leyhane, Roberto Martinez and Charlie Foote.

By Zoom (2): Becky Raymond and Ruth Russell.

Guests (1): Ashley Fragomeni, Director of Girls Inc.

President Peter Brown called the meeting to order. 

Theme for the Year: “Building Community”

MEETING NOTES:

Viking Gym: Rotary, Kiwanis and Top Form members assembled the gym equipment on March 21st. The equipment has been installed. The cement has to set for a month before further landscaping can be done. Jim Leyhane is still working on ordering the peace pole.

Iron Giraffe Bowl-a-Thon: The bowl-a-thon will be held on Sunday April 14 from 2 pm until 4 pm. The cost will be $13 per person. Proceeds will go to the Anchor Food Pantry and to the Maple Hill water project. We will also ask participants to bring a food item for donation. Phil Kellerman contacted Christine Fowler. She has 17 students signed up to bowl. Per Phil, he has obtained gift certificates for the raffle and ran an ad again in the Our Town magazine. Bowlers are needed.

Membership: The membership meeting is next Thursday, April 11th. Terry Brewer has developed a presentation. Roberto Martinez obtained a count of people who were invited and and responded that they would attend. We have met the goal of keeping the total count of members and invitees to just below 30.

Water for Kenya: Peter Brown has a signed MOU with the Ms. Kenara and members of the Rotary Club of Enkare Naroch. He has also sent a draft of the specifications to the Enkare Naroch Club for review. The next steps will be to ask for bids based on the specifications and apply for funding for the hydrogeological survey. Peter responded to the email from Edith about the possibility of collaborating on other smaller projects. The Club is interested in future collaborations but will focus on the water project first.

Speakers: We still have open dates for speakers.

Rotary Multi-District Conference: Will be held on Friday April 26th- Sunday April 28th at the DoubleTree in Binghamton. Standard Rooms Rate: $129/night Single or Double Occupancy, $139/night Triple Occupancy or $149/night Quad Occupancy. 

Click ->District Conference Information– for more information on the event and our speakers

Click-> Register to get signed up (does not include hotel reservation)

Click-> Hotel to reserve your room under room code “ROT” 

Next Meeting: Thursday, April 4th at 6:00 pm at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant, Route 4, North Greenbush. Also, you can join the by Zoom using the link on the websites calendar page.

Entree choices will be Antipasta Salad, Spaghetti with Meatballs and Linguini with Baby Clams.

Ashley Fragomeni is the Executive Director of Girls Inc. of the Captial Region. Girls Inc. was established in 1938 but was known then as the Girls Club of Albany and Schenectady. The name was changed to Girls Inc. in 2001. They are located at 80 Central Avenue in Albany, 962 Albany Street in Schenectady and 265 River Street in Troy. They offer free after school programs in all three locations. They feed the participants and provide homework help and evidence-based curriculum programs on STEM, leadership, and financial, arts and media literacy. The school districts provide transportation. There are around 150 girls in the program: 55-70 girls in Schenectady, 40 to 50 in Albany and the rest in Troy. Girls Inc. also offers summer camp for girls in kindergarten through eighth grade. They are currently turning it from a fee for service into a free program. 81% of the participants are girls of color and 57% are at or below the poverty level.

The free Eureka Program is a five-year program that starts in 7th grade. There is a four-week summer camp at the University of Albany during the first two years. The girls are exposed to STEM programs and personal development. The girls are placed in internships during the third and fourth years of the program. During their fifth year they work on collage and carrier readiness. There are 70 girls enrolled in the Eureka Program.

50% percent of Girls Inc. funding comes from grants, 30% from corporate donors and 20% from private donations. Of the funds raised, 83 cents of each dollar go to the programs. More information can be found on the Girls Inc. website at https://girlsinccapitalregion.org/.

Members in Attendance (13):  Peter Brown, Andy Leyhane, Phil Kellerman, Debbie Brown, Pat Bailey, Debbie Rodriguez, Murray Forth, Kevin Leyhane, Ray Hannan, Jim Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Dick Drumm and John Justino.

By Zoom (0):

Guests (0): 

President Peter Brown called the meeting to order. 

Theme for the Year: “Building Community”

MEETING NOTES:

Viking Gym: Rotary, Kiwanis and Top Form members assembled the gym equipment on March 21st. The Town of Schodack’s Park Department has decided to hire a contractor to finish the installation of the Viking Gym at the Schodack Town Park. Jim Leyhane is still working on ordering the peace pole.

Easter Baskets for Circles of Mercy: Lois and Ray Hannan obtained a gift certificate to purchase candy. Shannon Romanowski and the YMCA put the 25 baskets together and delivered them to Circles of Mercy. Thank you to Lois Hannan for coordinating the collection effort and to all who donated.

Iron Giraffe Bowl-a-Thon: The bowl-a-thon will be held on Sunday April 14 from 2 pm until 4 pm. The cost will be $13 per person. Proceeds will go to the Anchor Food Pantry and to the Maple Hill water project. We will also ask participants to bring a food item for donation. Phil Kellerman contacted Christine Fowler. She has 17 students signed up to bowl. Per Phil, he has obtained gift certificates for the raffle and ran an ad again in the Our Town magazine. Bowlers are needed.

Membership: Each SRC Rotary member is asked to bring a friend to the Rotary meeting on April 11th. Terry Brewer will put a program together about Rotary, what the Club does and what we can do for individuals to interest them in Rotary. The Club will cover the costs for guests. Please let the Club know next week if you are bringing a guest so we can let the restaurant know the dinner count.

Water for Kenya: Peter Brown has a signed MOU with the Ms. Kenara and members of the Rotary Club of Enkare Naroch. He has also sent a draft of the specifications to the Enkare Naroch Club for review. The next steps will be to ask for bids based on the specifications and apply for funding for the hydrogeological survey. One of the employees who works for Kevin Bailey (Ken) was in Kenya and met with Edith Kanara about the project. Peter also received and email from Edith about the possibility of collaborating on other smaller projects. The Club will focus on the water project first.

Speakers: We still have open dates for speakers.

Rotary District: Roberto Martinez and Jim Leyhane attended the in-person PETS training held March 15th through 17th at the Double Tree in Syracuse. They will do a presentation for the Club about what they learned at the meeting.

Grants Management Training: The next training will be held via Zoom on Monday, April 1st, at 7 pm. Register for grant training at https://cnyrotary.org/.

Rotary Multi-District Conference: Will be held on Friday April 26th- Sunday April 28th at the DoubleTree in Binghamton. Standard Rooms Rate: $129/night Single or Double Occupancy, $139/night Triple Occupancy or $149/night Quad Occupancy. Deadline to book: March 26, 2024  DoubleTree Binghamton, (607) 722-7575.

Click ->District Conference Information– for more information on the event and our speakers

Click-> Register to get signed up (does not include hotel reservation)

Click-> Hotel to reserve your room under room code “ROT” 

Next Meeting: Thursday, April 4th at 6:00 pm at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant, Route 4, North Greenbush. Also, you can join the by Zoom using the link on the websites calendar page.

Entree choices will be determined.