Rotary is everywhere. Even on a holiday.
Happy Halloween!
Taliban reportedly to cease blocking polio vax
For years, the Taliban has blocked medical volunteers in many parts of Afghanistan from providing anti-polio vaccines to the people. Now, that appears to be changing.
Says a National Public Radio report, “For the first time in three years, the Taliban has agreed to allow health workers from the United Nations to begin a nationwide polio vaccination campaign in Afghanistan, according to the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
“The door-to-door campaign, in which health workers go from one house to another to administer vaccines, is scheduled to begin next month across the country. The Taliban has not yet confirmed the announcement from UNICEF and the WHO, according to the Associated Press.”
The Taliban had been blocking health workers for a variety of reasons, among them misinformation being spread that polio vaxxing was a plot to sterilize Muslim children.
If this development comes to fruition, it is quite important to Rotary International’s ongoing efforts to help prevent the spread of polio. Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only countries in the world listed by health organizations as being places where polio is endemic (i.e., regularly found among particular people or in a certain area.).
Polio, once a worldwide scourge causing paralysis and often death, cannot be cured, but it can be prevented with an ongoing program of vaccination efforts. Thus, RI’s decades-long push to help eradicate the disease.
Meeting Clipboard: 10/28/21
MEMBERS ATTENDING (17): Debbie Rodriguez, Pat Bailey, Terry Brewer, Bill Dowd, Roberto Martinez, Jim Leyhane, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, Phil Kellerman, Andy Leyhane, Murray Forth (remote), Maggie Forth (remote), Dean Calamaras (by proxy), Doris Calamaras (by proxy), Carol Orvis (by proxy), Dick Drumm (by proxy), Ray Hannan (by proxy).
GUESTS: None.
President Debbie Rodriguez presided at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant. This was our first meeting with members attending via Zoom, and we also had five attending and voting by proxy.
MEETING NOTES:
• A check for $150 has been sent to the Children’s Hospital at Albany Medical Center in memory of Dr. Martha Lepow, as authorized at the October 21 meeting.
• Attendees voted to authorize supporting two families for the annual Circles of Mercy “Adopt-a-Family” holiday effort. Bill Dowd volunteered to again coordinate the club’s effort. All gifts, actual and monetary, must be delivered to Circles no later than December 15. Bill will contact Circles to assign the families to us, and will provide a shopping list, donation drop-off dates, and other details.
• Potential fundraisers were discussed, and approved by consensus: Hoffman Car Wash ticket sales; holiday gift basket raffle at the December 16 holiday party at Moscatiello’s; the ongoing Clynk container recycling effort in support of ShelterBox; member designated donations. We have a draft letter on the latter effort that is being vetted by Debbie R. before distribution to members.
• The club Zoom account had been upgraded to do away with the time and participant limits. Several members contributed $25 each to pay for the first year’s fee.
• Debbie R. reported that a hygiene kit assembling session by the NYSCR Danes Rotaract that we sponsor and the Graduate Student Organization at UAlbany drew a sizeable crowd of students from across the spectrum at the school, with Debbie and Becky Raymond representing SRC. The event was designed as a service event and a Rotaract recruiting effort.
Scharlette Wilkins represented Unity House of Troy at the session held to support Unity House’s domestic violence service program. The hygiene kits were needed for domestic violence survivors staying at the Sojourner Place operated by Unity House, the only licensed domestic violence shelter in Rensselaer County.
Some photos from the session:
NEXT MEETING: 7 p.m. Thursday, November 4, via Zoom.
RI picks Scottish Rotarian for 2023-24 president
Gordon R. McInally, a member of the Rotary Club of South Queensferry, Lothian, Scotland, has been selected by the nominating committee to become president of Rotary International for 2023-24.
McInally lauded Rotary’s ability to adapt technologically during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the approach should continue and be combined with the best of our past practices as Rotary seeks to grow and increase engagement.
“We have learned there is a willingness within communities to care for one another,” he says, “and we must ensure that we encourage people who have recently embraced the concept of volunteering to join us to allow them to continue giving service.”
McInally says that senior leaders’ ability to communicate directly with club members online will be one positive legacy of the changes Rotary has had to make. But, he adds, “face-to-face meetings remain important, as they encourage greater interaction.”
McInally owned and operated his own dental practice in Edinburgh. He was chair of the East of Scotland branch of the British Paedodontic Society and has held various academic positions. He has also served as a Presbytery elder, chair of Queensferry Parish Congregational Board, and commissioner to the church’s general assembly.
A Rotary member since 1984, he has been president and vice president of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland. He also has served Rotary International as a director and as member or chair of several committees. He currently is an adviser to the 2022 Houston Convention Committee and chair of the Operations Review Committee.
McInally and his wife, Heather, are Major Donors and Benefactors of The Rotary Foundation. They are also members of the Bequest Society.
To learn more about McInally, read his interview and vision statement, which outline his goals for Rotary.
2 ways to attend Thursday’s dinner meeting
We hope you’re planning to join your fellow Rotarians at our dinner meeting this Thursday at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant in North Greenbush.
However, if you have other plans, you can be counted nevertheless by simply taking advantage of something our Bylaws allow: use your proxy!
To do so, just email your proxy (and its implied vote) to President Debbie Rodriguez (debannrod@yahoo.com) before the meeting and you’ll be on the record. (We need a total of 12 attendees at minimum for a quorum; without it we cannot vote on any club business.)
Our social time will begin at 5:30, with dinner and business discussions at 6:15 p.m. You can choose from among three entree options: chicken Caesar, baked ziti, or chicken Marsala. Price is $25, and we ask that you please bring the exact amount to facilitate group payment. A cash bar is available.
See you Thursday, one way or the other.
Meeting Clipboard: 10/21/21
Guests: None.
President Debbie Rodriguez presided, noting the presence of a quorum via Zoom with no proxies filed.
• Health update: Murray Forth is home and recuperating from knee surgery, but will not be physically active in the club for a month or two. … Doris Calamaras remains hospitalized, and a card has been sent to her on behalf of the club.
• Donations: Checks have been mailed to the USS Slater floating museum in Albany in memory of Bill Wyld ($150) and to the District in lieu of a gift basket for the upcoming Foundation Dinner ($100). The club agreed to send a $150 check to the Children’s Hospital at Albany Medical Center in memory of Dr. Martha Lepow (see story here).
• Shirt Orders: An order has been submitted to the District in support of a Foundation fundraising effort. The order form and details still can be found on our website for anyone else who wishes to give orders via Debbie Rodriguez.
• Financial Activities: Phil Kellerman reported that the Internal Revenue Service Form 990 report card has been submitted on behalf of the club. He will contact the District to be sure any other required information has been submitted. … Our Foundation Advisory Committee (Murray Forth, Phil Kellerman, A.J. Amato, Andy Leyhane) will begin regularly meeting to discuss relative matters.
• Holiday Party: The consensus of those in attendance was to hold our annual Holiday Party & Gift Basket Raffle on Thursday, December 16, at Moscatiello’s. Details to come.
• Zoom Account: Bill Dowd will upgrade our club’s Zoom account from the limited-time free version to the Pro Level, using a discount offer. A number of members pledged $25 each to cover the first year’s upgrade which will eliminate the 40-minute limit on individual meetings.
• Next meeting: Dinner meeting at Moscatiello’s, 6:15 p.m. Thursday, October 28, which will start at 6:15 p.m. after a social period. Dinner choices will be chicken Caesar salad, chicken Marsala, or baked ziti. No reservations are necessary, price is $25 (please bring exact amount). Note: Anyone who will not be attending the session is asked to email President Debbie a proxy that can be counted toward a quorum.
Polio pioneer Dr. Martha Lepow dies at 94
Dr. Martha Lipson Lepow, 94, a pioneer in polio research who was well known to Rotarians, died peacefully in her Slingerlands home on Sunday,
Martha, who visited SRC on a number of occasions to share her insights into the early days of polio vaccine research as well as provide analysis of current efforts to continue combating the often-fatal disease worldwide, was a pioneering expert in pediatric infectious diseases who was part of the early research that resulted in the Salk polio vaccine.
In 2017, Martha was interviewed by Dr. Jim Leyhane for a 20-minute video titled “Making Polio History: A Pioneer’s Story,” co-produced by SRC, CASDA, District 7190, and others.
According to her obituary, available on the Times Union website, a memorial service will be held in Congregation Beth Emeth, 100 Academy Road, Albany, at 1 p.m. Friday, December 3. In lieu of flowers, please direct gifts to Congregation Beth Emeth, and The Children’s Hospital at Albany Medical Center. To leave a condolence message for the family, please visit levinememorialchapel.com.
World Polio Day invitation for SRC members
If you didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to meet Rotary International President-elect Jennifer Jones back in November at the online Rotary Foundation Dinner, you’ll have another chance when we celebrate World Polio Day later this month.
Jennifer is scheduled to attend the in-person event, sponsored by four upstate New York Rotary Districts — including our own 7190 — on Friday, October 29, at the Ramada by Wyndham in the Syracuse suburb of Liverpool.
To make the event easy to attend, you can take the 7190 bus for just $30 per person. Seating is limited for the bus and the multi-district event itself. Register online before the October 25 deadline. Reserve a bus seat by email or call or text 518-944-3997.
All proceeds of the dinner event will go to the Rotary Relief Fund.
Here is the day’s schedule:
• 2:15 p.m. — The bus leaves Northway 11 Park & Ride
• 2:45 p.m. — The bus leaves Scotia for Liverpool
• 5 p.m. — Cash bar opens at the Ramada By Wyndham, 441 Electronics Parkway, Liverpool
• 6 p.m. — Dinner (four entrees from which to choose)
• 7 p.m. — Keynote speaker Jennifer Jones
A proxy: Next best thing to being here
The topic of obtaining a quorum at meetings to be able to vote on club business has recently arisen since our attendance during the pandemic has been erratic.
Rather than lowering the number of attending members to achieve a quorum, the consensus at our most recent in-person meeting was to remind members of an alternative way to participate.
Our Bylaws (Article 5: Section 3) specify: “Twelve (12) members constitute a quorum at the regular evening meetings of this club. Written proxy votes submitted to the president in advance of a meeting may be counted toward achieving a quorum.”
So, if you are unable to attend either our in-person or virtual club meetings — we currently are alternating them — you still can be counted toward a quorum and have your vote counted by following that simple procedure. Just email President Debbie Rodriguez at debannrod@yahoo.com in advance of the meeting date and give her permission to use your proxy. If you wish to have her cast your “yea” or “nay” on a particular vote, please be sure to specify; otherwise, she may cast your vote as she sees fit.
Using this procedure should alleviate our quorum problem without tinkering with the Bylaws or lowering standards. Considering that we currently stand at 33 paid members, a 36% attendance (12 members) — in person and/or by proxy — was deemed reasonable by the members at this week’s meeting.
Your invite to a Virtual Zone Summit
For those of you who keep track of such things, SRC is part of Rotary Zone 5. So, why are we spending time and space on an event created by Zones 28 and 32?
It’s because you are invited to participate in it, a “Virtual Zone Summit” that includes parts of the northern U.S., all of Canada and its territories, and Bermuda, an area encompassing some 65,000 Rotarians. The event, set for Tuesday through Thursday, November 2-4, is a cross between a district conference and an international convention.
It will begin each of the three days at 7 p.m., and will be a snap to be involved in since it’s a virtual event. You can register online, and you will be sent an event link closer to the start date. Below are some details of the event that may pique your curiosity and give you an incentive to get involved.
Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club 