District Conference reservations are open

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Reservations now are being taken online for the annual District Conference, this year scheduled for Friday, April 29, through Sunday, May 1, at the Great Escape Lodge in Queensbury.

For those unfamiliar with District Conference protocol, the first day is a sign-in/social/cocktail reception day, the second day is for all district business to be addressed and for the gala dinner, and the third day is for a breakfast buffet and all the goodbyes.

You can attend Saturday-only if you wish. If you plan to stay overnight(s), you may make a room reservation at the Lodge: 518-824-6000, extension 0 (use code: ROTARY). Hotel fees are NOT included in the registration fees shown below.

Interactive games and activities throughout the weekend. Saturday night dinner’s theme is “Let’s Make a Deal!” Costumes or themed attire encouraged!

Families are welcome to attend. Family and friends are eligible for discounted waterpark day-tickets ($34.99 + tax), Birch Bark Grill and Johnny Rocket’s vouchers; available at the Rotary registration table.

Guests who would like to participate in the official dinner and activities on Saturday evening must register for the Saturday evening meal (adult and kids options available).

Dinner meeting, board session this week

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A reminder that we’ll be gathering at 6 p.m. Thursday at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant for our weekly meeting. A choice of chicken dishes will be available, and the bar will be open. Ron Annis will be providing an update on discussions about the renewal of the Viking Outdoor Gym we co-sponsored several years ago at the Schodack Town Park.

After President Debbie adjourns the regular meeting, the club’s board will go into session to discuss a variety of topics. If you have items you’d like placed on either meeting agenda, please be sure to email them to Debbie no later than Wednesday.

P.S. We’re still looking for speakers to round out the remainder of the Rotary Year, mostly by Zoom but with a few dinner slots remaining. Take a look at our schedule below to see which dates are available. If you want to use one for a program, please contact Kevin Leyhane or Becky Raymond.

A no-cost way to help aid Gift of Life

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As we change seasons, most of us sort through our clothing closets and drawers to see what we can do without. So, if you find unwanted clothes you’d like to get rid of, may we suggest one of the Gift of Life dropoff boxes?

The one closest to our area of service is behind the Mobil station just off Exit 10 of I-90 — near the Top Form facility.

GOL, the childhood medical relief organization, has many locations throughout District 7190 for its clothing donation bins. There are several in the immediate Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club area, but for those of you who live or work elsewhere — or want to encourage friends, relatives, and co-workers to drop off their unwanted items to help GOL, there are plenty of other options as well.

These bins are placed in conjunction with American Clothing Recycling Company, a Glens Falls business, with profits going to Gift of Life.

Since GOL’s 7190 chapter was formed in 1984, it has been responsible for 355 life-saving surgeries, 200 catheterization procedures, and 17 medical mission trips to six different countries.

Here are the most convenient clothing bin locations (the list may change from time to time):

In the immediate SRC area:

  • As noted above, behind the Mobil station on Miller Road, Schodack
  • Tractor Supply Store, Schodack Plaza, 1649 Columbia Turnpike, Castleton

Elsewhere in the region:

  • Hewitt’s, Clifton Park
  • Powers Irish Pub, Clifton Park
  • Kelley Farm & Garden, Cobleskill
  • Rustic Gourmet Restaurant, 785 Delaware Ave, Delmar
  • SE Kitchens & Baths, Gansevoort
  • Hewitts, 605 Feura bush Road, Glenmont
  • Faddegon’s Nursery, Latham
  • Grassland Equipment & Irrigation Corp., Latham
  • Mechanicville Area Community Services Center, Mechanicville
  • Watervliet Elementary School, Watervliet
  • State Line Flea Market, Whitehall

Meeting Clipboard: 3/3/22

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MEMBERS ATTENDING (20): Debbie Rodriguez, Becky Raymond, Bill Dowd, Terry Brewer, Phil Kellerman, Pat Bailey, Roberto Martinez, Jim Leyhane, Dick Drumm, Ron Annis, Charlie Foote, Debbie Brown, Peter Brown, Andy Leyhane, Tony Morris, John Justino, Murray Forth, Kevin Leyhane, Carol Orvis (by proxy), Dean Calamaras (by proxy).

GUESTS: None.

President Debbie Rodriguez called the Zoom meeting to order and noted the presence of a quorum.

MEETING ITEMS:

• PROGRAMS — Several presenters have been added to the schedule. June 2, Dan Welch of Sweater Venture; June 16, a representative of Unity House in Troy; a representative of the Oley Foundation will speak on a date to be determined. All programs and other information are available on the club website’s calendar page.

• SHELTERBOX — Bill Dowd reported that we received a $1,000 donation check from April Dowd that will be sent to the emergency aid agency and credited to SRC. He also reminded members that the process for contributing and receiving credit and tax deductibility is explained in a website post titled “Why ShelterBox needs you right now.”

• DAF UPDATE — Phil Kellerman reported on the recent Zoom meeting of the club’s Donor Advised Fund (DAF) committee. He said that the fund — invested through the Rotary Foundation at a risk level we decide on — stood at $22,200 through July 21, 2021, but had dropped to $22,048 at last report several weeks ago. The operational consensus is to exercise patience and wait until the fund level reaches at least $25,000 before we consider making any grants. The committee also includes A.J. Amato, Murray Forth, and Andy Leyhane.

• NEXT MEETING — Thursday, March 10, at Moscatiello’s, 6 p.m. Ron Annis will provide an update on the Viking outdoor gym. The menu entree choices: chicken Caesar salad, chicken marsala. Open bar as always.

Why ShelterBox needs you right now

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Any Rotarian who is not familiar with ShelterBox hasn’t been paying attention.

Luckily, members of the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club have paid attention in a big way. In the past decade, the club and its individual members have contributed more than $25,000 to support ShelterBox’s global emergency services to people hit by tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, revolutions, and other insurrections.

Well, no good deed goes unpunished. ShelterBox needs you now more than ever. 

Weather-related emergencies in Haiti and the Philippines and Africa, civil war casualties in Yemen, and now the horrors of the Russian invasion in Ukraine have been added to the seemingly endless stream of emergencies worldwide. What to do? You supply the funds, ShelterBox supplies the first-strike aid — getting there long before governmental entities are able to grind through the red tape to do so.

SRC already had donated hundreds of dollars in the 2021-22 Rotary Year to ShelterBox, and will continue to do so through the Clynk recycling program we are involved in as a steady stream of modest but regular support. However, we now are asking for your individual generous donations to ramp up support during this particularly trying period.

Each ShelterBox — as described by District 7190 ShelterBox liaison Larry Jones at a recent SRC meeting and as found on our club website — costs $1,000, and is tailored to the geographic and cultural needs of the hard-hit areas with a tent habitat, tools, solar lights, water purification items, etc. 
We’re hoping to buy several boxes in addition to those we already have paid for. And, the process is simple — and tax deductible.

All you have to do to make your deductible donation is:

• Write a check in any amount — from $5 to the full $1,000, and anything large or small in between — made payable to “ShelterBox USA.”

• In the memo line, enter “Southern Rensselaer County Club #4919.”

• Give the check to Bill Dowd, SRC’s ShelterBox liaison, who will collate SRC funds and get your contribution to the right people.

You eventually will be informed where your donation went as part of ShelterBox’s global efforts. In any case, your contribution is deductible.

So, we thank you for your consideration, and hope you will respond in a timely fashion since, as we tell incoming Rotarians, “No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.”

Zoom along with us on Thursday

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When it comes to this Thursday evening …

• Got nothing nice to wear? 

• Running a little late getting home from work? 

• Too busy to spend a lot of time in a meeting?

Well, you’re in luck! 

• It doesn’t matter what you wear to a Zoom meeting.

• We don’t start the meeting until 7 p.m.

• We meet for less than an hour.

So, no excuses. We hope to see you on Thursday. As always, just go to the website calendar page and click on the link for March 3. 

(If, after all this, you can’t join us, how about emailing President Debbie no later than Wednesday with your proxy? That will count toward a quorum.)

In memoriam: Effie Frankel

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Julius and Effie Frankel

Efrosini “Effie” Galakatos Frankel, wife of former SRC member Julius Frankel, died today in a Boston area hospice after a lengthy battle with brain cancer.

Their daughter, Liza Frankel Guimbard, posted this appreciation on Facebook today:

“Tonight we remember my mother, her life well lived, and celebrate her legacy. She was an accomplished research scientist recognized for her work in muscle tissue diseases; beloved wife of Julius; an incredibly strong and supportive mother and role model; and her most cherished role as Yayah to Sophia and Nicholas.

“We are comforted by the memory of her beautiful, bright smile and love for her family and friends.

“I love you mama. Your smile shines bright in our hearts and memories we were blessed to have together. We are comforted in knowing you are finally at peace.”

Julius and Effie with a group of Rotary friends.

Meeting Clipboard: 2/24/22

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MEMBERS ATTENDING (14): Debbie Rodriguez, Pat Bailey, Bill Dowd, Jim Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Dick Drumm, Phil Kellerman, Murray Forth, Carol Orvis (by proxy), Dean Calamaras (by proxy), Doris Calamaras (by proxy), Tony Morris (by proxy).

GUESTS (1): PDG Larry Jones.

President Debbie Rodriguez called the meeting at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant to order and noted the presence of a quorum.

MEETING NOTES:

• VIKING GYM: President Debbie provided an update on the planned renovation of the Viking outdoor gym created at the Schodack Town Park in 2017 as a co-op Eagle Scout project by the SRC, Town of Schodack, a Swedish Rotary club, and the Top Form physical training company. She reported that Ron Annis, SRC member and Top Form owner, met with Schodack officials tonight to discuss renovation and potential expansion of the installation and will report back to the club. She noted that we may be able to broaden the effort with the assistance of the local Kiwanis and Elks clubs.

• PROGRAMS: The club still is seeking speakers/presenters for both in-person and Zoom meetings. Anyone wishing to reserve a date to provide a program is asked to contact Kevin Leyhane or Becky Raymond.

• FUNDRAISER: The District is planning a wine and whiskey tasting as a fundraiser for anti-polio programs. The date is Saturday, March 26, and reservations are required. Details are on the club website.

• BOARD MEETING — The SRC Board Meeting has been rescheduled for March 10, following the scheduled dinner meeting. The change was made because the original February date conflicted with school vacation.

• PROGRAM — PG Larry Jones, the District’s ShelterBox liaison, was our guest speaker. He provided a slideshow update of the relief agency’s current global outreach work. SRC has been a steadfast supporter of ShelterBox, contributing nearly $27,000 in the past decade toward the agency’s relief work.

District ShelterBox liaison Larry Jones displays a new equipment addition, a collapsible lantern and cellphone recharger.

Wine & Whiskey Tasting to End Polio

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• From District Governor Bruce Connellee

There is a world of breweries, distilleries, and wineries right in our own backyard.  If you have not had the chance to tour the various selections in the area, have we got a night planned for you!

We are going to celebrate two of our neighbors while we raise funds to end polio. And, and if this sells, we’re going to celebrate many more.

Join me for a “Wine & Whiskey Tasting to End Polio” at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 26. Our host will be Galway Rock Winery & Vineyard, located at 998 Saratoga Road, Ballston Lake. We will be sampling three of its wines plus three whiskies from High Peaks Distilling of Lake George. 

Each tasting will be presented by the creators themselves, giving you the opportunity to learn more about how each selection is made and what goes into creating these wines and whiskeys. 

Registration is $75 per person, which covers the tasting and heavy hors d’oeuvres.  Click here to register online. Seating is limited, so grab your tickets early. 

You will also have the opportunity to purchase additional beverages or bottles to bring home.

Meeting Clipboard: 2/17/22

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MEMBERS ATTENDING (15): Debbie Rodriguez, Bill Dowd, Roberto Martinez, Jim Leyhane, Pat Bailey, Dick Drumm, Tony Morris, Charlie Foote, Kevin Leyhane, Carol Orvis (by proxy), Dean Calamaras (by proxy), Doris Calamaras (by proxy), Becky Raymond (by proxy), Peter Brown (by proxy), Debbie Brown (by proxy).

GUESTS: None.

President Debbie Rodriguez called the Zoom meeting to order and noted the presence of a quorum because of the number of proxies.

MEETING NOTES:

• ROTARACT — Debbie reported that the NYSCR Danes Rotaract Club we sponsor is hoping to resume some in-person activities now that UAlbany has eased many of its pandemic-era restrictions. She also said the club has gained a member, and hopes to have precise numbers for us at the next meeting.

• DISTRICT GOVERNOR UPDATE — Bill Dowd reported that the Nominating Committee on which he served last Saturday nominated Gregg Schorr of the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake club as District Governor for the 2024-25 Rotary Year. His nomination will be finalized by March 1 unless there are written challenges to his selection. The Committee also approved the appointment of Past DG Fred Daniels to serve as Vice DG for the 2022-23 Rotary Year under DG-elect Denise DiNoto. Fred would assume the top role next year should Denise be unable to carry out the duties of the office.

• DAF UPDATE — We had been scheduled to hear a report from our Donor Advised Fund (DAF) Committee appointed last fall. That panel met separately before tonight’s meeting, but none of its members attended the regular Zoom meeting, so nothing was reported.

• MEETING FUTURES — A brief discussion was held on the pros and cons of resuming weekly dinner meetings. The consensus was to continue alternating Zoom and dinner meetings for the remainder of the year as we have been doing. … Larry Jones, a Past District Governor, will be our guest speaker at next week’s dinner meeting (February 24) at Moscatiello’s. He will be providing an update on the work of ShelterBox globally.