MEMBERS ATTENDING (14): Dick Drumm, Murray Forth, Bill Dowd, Debbie Rodriguez, Dean Calamaras, Doris Calamaras, Tony Morris, Debbie Brown, Peter Brown, Terry Brewer, Phil Kellerman, Pat Bailey, Charlie Foote, Roberto Martinez.

GUESTS: None.

MEETING NOTES:

• DISTRICT CONFERENCE: The annual event is scheduled for Saturday, May 15, but the keynote speaker will be appearing via Zoom on Tuesday, May 11. Both events are available to all Rotarians, but advance registration is required. To do so, simply go to the club website to (a) read the details, and (b) click on the appropriate links on the calendar page.

• DONOR ADVISED FUND (DAF): Our new financial unit, officially designated The Dr. Richard Drumm Fund, has received more than $10,000 from the club general fund and several member donations. That money has been invested via the Rotary Foundation, and we continue accepting donations.

• DISTRICT GRANTS: Roberto Martinez said he and Jim Leyhane have submitted an application for a District 7190 grant to support our scholarship fund effort for 2022. Once we receive the names of the graduating seniors at Rensselaer, Columbia, and Maple Hill high schools who will receive our scholarships in June, they will complete the grant paperwork for 2021. Our scholarships total $3,000, and the district grant equals a 50% reimbursement.

• RI CONVENTION: Roberto reminded members that registration is open for the virtual event. Go to the club website for details and a registration link.

• IN-PERSON EVENTS: Because virtually the entire club has received COVID-19 vaccinations, we will begin phasing in a resumption of in-person events with an outdoor Presidential Changeover picnic at the Drumm residence at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 24, when Dick hands over the presidency to Debbie Rodriguez. Details to come. … We still are looking for hosts for outdoor events for July and August, traditionally our “Summer Casual” period. So far, Peter and Debbie Brown and Roberto Martinez and Jim Leyhane have volunteered, although no specific dates have yet been announced. … We also discussed potential indoor meeting sites, but came to no conclusions. The restaurant industrywide problems with staffing, seating protocols, pricing in the face of rising food and labor costs are making it difficult to find and secure a spot. No word yet on the fate of Quigley’s, our former meeting site that is permanently closed and up for sale. It also was discussed whether to alternate in-person meetings with Zoom sessions.

MEMBERS ATTENDING (16): Dick Drumm, Jim Leyhane, Bill Dowd, Debbie Rodriguez, Dean Calamaras, Doris Calamaras, Terry Brewer, Ray Hannan, Charlie Foote, Phil Kellerman, Pat Bailey, Peter Brown, Debbie Brown, John Justino, Kevin Leyhane, Murray Forth.

GUESTS: None.

MEETING NOTES:

• SCHOLARSHIPS — Vice President Terry Brewer said he received an inquiry from Maple Hill High School asking whether the club planned to continue its annual scholarship program for graduating seniors. Because the club has the funds to do so, and earlier in the year designated this as a program to continue, Terry will make formal contact with administrators at Maple Hill, Columbia, and Rensselaer high schools to obtain names of one scholarship recipient each and their names so we can invite them to address the club at a ZOOM meeting as we did last year.

• FINANCIAL REPORT — Treasurer Murray Forth updated attendees on money received in the current Rotary Year via small fundraisers and donations from members and friends. Some donors specified programs and recipients, some donated to the general fund. Specific amounts are on hand for food pantries, Circles of Mercy, and Mooncatcher. Terry suggested sending checks to the designated recipients before the end of the Rotary Year in June since that is what many people made the donations for. Bill Dowd requested Murray review the club checkbook to see what regular recipients we have (Miracle League, Boy Scouts, Blue Star Mothers, etc.) and provide a list at our next meeting to ascertain whether (a) members wish to send checks to such organizations and, if so (b) whether the general fund can accommodate that. Murray agreed to do so. He also said our general fund now has about $20,000 after transferring $5,000 to the new Donor Advised Fund (see below) as approved by the Board.

• DONOR ADVISED FUND (DAF) — Our new fund, officially designated The Dr. Richard Drumm Fund and holding tax deductible status for contributors, is now able to accept donations from members, family, friends, and others in the community. Murray and Bill will create and distribute a letter to all members explaining the procedure for donating, the proper way to make out checks, mailing information, etc.

• ROTARY GRANTS — President-elect Debbie Rodriguez reported that she and fellow Board members Bill Dowd, Phil Kellerman, and Roberto Martinez participated in last week’s virtual District 7190 Grant Management Training. Clubs needed to have at least two attendees to be eligible to apply for grants in the 2021-22 Rotary Year, so SRC had twice that number. She said the club would be applying again for a grant to assist in our annual scholarship program and asked Jim Leyhane and Roberto, who handled the chore last year, to draft the grant submission letter again.

• ROTARACT UPDATE — John Justino, faculty adviser for the Rotaract club we sponsor at the UAlbany School of Public Health, reported that Rotaract International had accepted the updated bylaws and name change recently submitted after being approved by the SRC Board. The club, which will seek members from among young professionals in the community rather than just the graduate school, now is called the NYSCR Danes Rotaract (the initials denoting “New York State Capital Region”). He thanked Debbie Rodriguez and Becky Raymond, SRC’s Rotaract liaisons, and Danes Rotaract President Dustin Moore for their efforts.

• PRESIDENTIAL CHANGEOVER — Our last scheduled meeting of the current Rotary Year — on Thursday, June 24 — will mark our annual changeover, with Debbie Rodriguez succeeding Dick Drumm. Since most, if not all, of our members have received the COVID-19 vaccine and government-imposed restrictions on outdoor gatherings are being eased, we have tentatively set an outdoor picnic at the Drumm residence to mark the event. Details will be shared as they are worked out.

MEMBERS ATTENDING (13): Dick Drumm, Ray Hannan, Dean Calamaras, Roberto Martinez, Jim Leyhane, Andy Leyhane, Kevin Leyhane, Debbie Brown, Peter Brown, Murray Forth, Phil Kellerman, Pat Bailey, Debbie Rodriguez.

GUESTS (2): Dave Hannan, Lois Hannan.

MEETING NOTES:

• Guest speaker Dave Hannan, brother of SRC member Ray Hannan, was the guest speaker, presenting an update on Rotary’s ongoing efforts to eradicate polio worldwide. Dave, past governor of District 7021 in western New York, provided an overview of Rotary’s PolioPlus program. He noted that now that the continent of Africa has officially been declared polio-free there remain only two countries in which the Wild Polio Virus Type 1 is active are Pakistan and Afghanistan, and they reported only one case each so far this year.

Rotary continues to partner with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF in the polio immunization effort. Continuing impediments to the initiative are regional armed conflicts that put immunization teams in harm’s way, as well as terrain and human trust issues.

An ancillary benefit of the immunization program is the spinoff of a health delivery system that has been used to combat other viral diseases such as ebola and COVID.

• Next Thursday’s meeting will be a Club Assembly at which we will discuss the latest developments in creation of a Donor Advised Fund (DAV) called the Dr. Richard Drumm Fund, operated within the Rotary Foundation but with local control. Details have been discussed at various club meetings and have been the subject of a Board subcommittee’s research, consultation, and discussion for several months. Once in place, it will allow members and others to make financial contributions that are fully tax deductible, and provide an avenue for formal grants and awards to other 501(c)3 organizations in Rensselaer County and elsewhere in conjunction with then club’s community service efforts. It is named in honor of our current club president and lone remaining charter member.