One of the trickiest things about operating a service club is regularly raising funds to make community projects possible. So, Rotary has been hosting monthly online sessions — called “EventGroove / Fundraising Roundtable” — to share best-practice ideas on fundraising. Each is open to any active Rotarian.
The next such roundtable is scheduled for noon Tuesday, August 3. Advance registration is required for admission, although there is no charge to participate.
To sign up, simply click here and fill out the form. You will receive via email a confirmation containing information about joining the meeting in August.
Members Attending (9): Debbie Rodriguez, Dick Drumm, Jim Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Tony Morris, Pat Bailey, Ray Hannan, Dean Calamaras, Doris Calamaras.
Guests (3): Lois Hannan, Mary Drumm, Debbie Morris.
Doris and Dean Calamaras hosted a sit-down dinner as our second “Summer Casual” event of the year, preparing a menu of baked ham, new potatoes, vegetables, fruit, and desserts galore. Our thank to them for another nice event.
Business Items:
• Ray and Lois Hannan have volunteered to coordinate our club’s participation in the annual school supplies drive for Circles of Mercy. Bill Dowd already has mailed copies of the preferred shopping list to all members, as well as posting it on the club website (https://srcrotary.org/2021/07/12/annual-back-to-school-supplies-drive-begins/). Details on dropoff/pickup dates and locations will be provided at a later time.
• New club president Debbie Rodriguez is preparing to schedule a Board meeting to discuss possibilities for meetings in September, as well as any other items that might arise.
• Our next “Summer Casual” event is scheduled for next Thursday, July 22, co-hosted by Jim Leyhane and Roberto Martinez at Jim’s residence. All kids and vaccinated adults are welcome, but need to RSVP to either co-host no later than Monday, July 19. We are asking for a contribution of $20 per member, $10 per adult guest, and $5 for kids, with all proceeds going to the club treasury to help support our man y community service activities. Hot dogs and hamburgers will be provided; please bring an appetizer or a dessert. And remember, the pool will be open to all. Please scroll down for the updated “Summer Casual” calendar of events and their RSVP deadlines.
Meanwhile, here are several scenes from the Calamaras dinner:
Our hosts, Dean and Doris, serving up some goodies.
Here’s the remainder of our “Summer Casual” calendar for July and August.
See anything you like that hasn’t been sold out? If so, submit your RSVPs quickly because, as always, reservations are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
And please, for the comfort and safety of all, be sure all adult attendees have been fully vaccinated.
Each summer, the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club participates in a drive to provide school supplies for students in the Rensselaer City School District. That time has arrived once again.
Why Rensselaer kids? Besides the fact they all reside in SRC’s area of service, of the approximately 1,034 students, 64% qualify for either free or reduced price lunch program — a number much higher than the state average of 52%; and, 28% of the kids live near or below the poverty level, compared to the state average of 21%.
Due to the high cost of preparing a child for school, Circles of Mercy, the Rensselaer-based family services organization we team with in projects all year ’round, has a program available in which low-income parents may pick up free school supplies for their kids. The project is known as “Cate’s Kids Back to School Program” and we need your assistance again to help us help others.
Our new president, Debbie Rodriguez, is looking for a volunteer to coordinate SRC’s role in this drive that focuses on pre-school and grades 9-12. But, even before such a person steps up, we can began buying supplies from the following list. For example,Target has a back-to-school sale this week. Rotarians can stockpile items now, and collection times and times will be forthcoming as soon as we get a volunteer coordinator.
The preferred shopping list:
• Pencils (regular lead #2 and color) • Pencil sharpener • Erasers for pencils • Pens (black or blue) • Markers (dry erase) • Sharpies (assorted colors) • Pocket folders (assorted colors) • 3-ring binders (2” and 3” sizes) • Loose leaf paper (college ruled) • Graph paper • Spiral subject notebooks (1-, 3-, and 5-subject, all college ruled) • Notebook subject dividers • Plastic zipper pencil cases / boxes • 3”x5” index cards • Yellow highlighters • Rulers (regular with metric) • Facial tissue packets • Hand sanitizer (small bottles) • Post-It notes • Backpacks (no rollers/wheels) • Hole reinforcement labels • Combination lock (for gym lockers) • Electronic items such as flash drives, computer ear buds, scientific calculators
Circles of Mercy has requested that all donated items, or checks in lieu of supplies, be delivered no later than August 23, so SRC will be collecting items and/or checks through Friday, August 20. Our eventual project coordinator will take care of collecting donations and getting them to Circles in time for families to pick them up.
Members Attending (11): Kevin Leyhane, Phil Kellerman, Dick Drumm, Maggie Forth, Murray Forth, Debbie Brown, Peter Brown, Jim Leyhane, Roberto Martinez, Charlie Foote, Pat Bailey.
Guests (3): Mary Drumm, Jeremy Forth, Jack Bailey.
A planned outdoor get-together was driven indoors by inclement weather, but SRC members and guests alike enjoyed the fellowship and a dinner of chicken marsala, lasagna, and salads from La Bella’s Restaurant, Bar & Pizzeria of Valatie, plus finger snacks and desserts brought by guests. Members expressed their thanks to Debbie and Peter Brown for hosting the “Summer Casual” kickoff event.
Next up on the “Summer Casual” event is a sitdown dinner at the Calamaras residence. Reservation deadline is today, July 9, so please contact Dean or Doris if you would like to attend but haven’t yet replied.
Meanwhile, check the schedule for remaining “Summer Casual” events and reservation deadlines, and keep scrolling down for some views of Thursday’s event captured by Roberto indoors and in the garden.
HOT OFF THE PRESS (appropriate for summer, if not for today’s cool, rainy weather), we have details of another “Summer Casual” social event for members, family, and friends of SRC.
President Debbie Rodriguez and Secretary Pat Bailey will co-host a “Pizza & Ice Cream Party” at the Rodriguez residence, 121 Lape Road, Nassau, at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 29, for all fully-vaccinated adults and their kids.
The pool and other child-appropriate stuff will be available for this family-friendly event.
Please RSVP to Debbie (debannrodyahoo.com) or Pat (baileyps26@gmail.com) no later than Monday, July 26.
P.S. If you’d like to attend the Browns’ event on Thursday, RSVP by today if you haven’t already done so.
Sunday marks the 245th birthday of the United States of America, but only the 94th anniversary of July 4 becoming our official independence day holiday.
Dates, of course, can be fluid things. The first official motion in the Continental Congress to declare independence from Great Britain was made by a Virginia delegate, Richard Henry Lee, on June 7, 1776. The actual vote in the Continental Congress to secede was taken on July 2. It wasn’t until two days later, July 4, that representatives of the original 13 colonies voted to accept the Declaration of Independence.
The process is replete with oddities involving New York. A few examples:
• Robert Livingston was the New York delegate on the five-member committee appointed after Lee’s proposal to draft a formal statement justifying the break with Britain. However, most of the writing was done by its youngest member, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. Curiously, their “Declaration of Independence” does not contain the word “independence” except in its title.
• The same Robert Livingston did not initially sign the Declaration because he claimed it was too soon to take such a step and was back home in New York when it was ratified in Philadelphia. (Interestingly, for various reasons several other leading “founding fathers” also did not sign, among them George Washington, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison.)
• Philip Livingstone of Albany, a first cousin once removed of Robert Livingstone and one of three Livingstone family members who were among the colony’s 56 delegates to the Continental Congress, is the only one of the trio who signed the Declaration of Independence. The other New York signers were Lewis Morris, Francis Lewis, and William Floyd.
• The New York delegation did not at first ratify the Declaration. In fact, it didn’t vote on any proposals, claiming its colonial government had never provided full instructions on what stance to take. It eventually did vote on July 15 to ratify, claiming instructions had finally been received.
Well, here we are in July, the first day of the 2021-22 Rotary Year and the official start of our “Summer Casual” period that carries us through the summer. A perfect time to get reacquainted in person after the long lockdown.
We hope all fully-vaccinated adults and healthy small kids will be joining us for the variety of picnics, sitdown dinners, diner visits, etc. on the schedule (two field trips involving baseball and theater already have been sold out.) To participate, simply check out the schedule below and RSVP to the appropriate folks by the deadlines to save a seat.
A picnic at the Browns’ residence in Castleton is next up, on Thursday, July 8, so be sure to RSVP to Debbie or Peter no later than this Friday, July 2, so they have an accurate headcount.
And, Dean and Doris Calamaras have just provided details of the July 15 sitdown dinner they are planning at their East Greenbush residence with RSVPs needed by July 9. Here are the details and the menu for that gathering:
Social hour 5-6 p.m., dinner at 6. Dean and Doris are covering the cost of the appetizers, dinner, and deserts, but are asking attendees to donate would they would like to the club treasury — $15 to $20 per adult and $5 per kid suggested.
Please RSVP to 518-477-4694 or to dcalamaras@verizon.net with the names of all attendees, your phone number, and your hard- and soft-drink preferences. Reservations limited to the first 18 guests to sign up.
The Menu:
• Hors d’oeuvres
• Fresh fruit salad
• Baked glazed ham with little new potatoes, and green bean casserole
• Bread & butter
• Dessert selections, including cakes, pies & brownies
SRC Immediate Past President Phil Kellerman has set up a Go Fund Me page to aid an acquaintance in Nicaragua who is a polio survivor in need of assistance.
“Berta Zamaro, age 50, needs physical therapy and a new brace,” Phil says. “She is suffering falls and injuring yourself. Berta is the sister of a very good of mine who is an ESL [English as a second language] teacher in Georgia.”
Anyone wishing to make a donation to the effort may do so by clicking here. Phil has set a goal of $7,500 for Berta.
Also, anyone wishing to donate to Rotary International’s efforts to continue its global polio vaccination efforts that have helped to nearly eradicate the dreaded virus from the world may do so by clicking here. Donating this way will result in having your dollar amount tripled.
Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club 