Posted by Michelle Brandstadt on Jun 24, 2019
Here is what you missed at this week’s Rotary meeting!
 
Meeting Recap 6/20/19         
 
Visitors: none
 
50-50 Winner: Elizabeth Nasser
 
Rotarians in the News: no report as Dr. Roger Breslow was away this week
 
Announcement
  • President Dave held a moment of silence for a past Rotary Club of Utica member, Don Kenderdine, who recently passed away.
  • Travis Rabbers showed up at Kopernik Park instead of Proctor Park for Clean Up Your Park Day. Not knowing where everyone was, he spent 1-1/2 hours cleaning up Kopernik Park. Nice job, Travis!
  • Changing of the Guard takes place Thursday, June 27, at Traditions at the Links in East Syracuse from 5:30-8 p.m. Tickets may be purchased on the District website: https://rotary7150.org/event/copy-of-2017-district-7150-changing-of-the-guard/ .
  • 4th of July Parade - our club will be helping The Genesis Group organize and will also march in the parade. Bill Luley seeks volunteers and has a sign-up sheet.
  • Boilermaker – 38 club members and family members will be staffing a water station on Sunday, July 14, in support of the road race.
  • Tour de Cure held on July 21 in Verona Beach is looking for volunteers. See Dave Bagley for details.
  • Beginning July 21 there will be several Rotary service trips to Guatemala to fight against poverty and illiteracy. There will be seven (7) trips in all throughout 2019-20. See Joe Caruso or David Bagley for more details.
  • The Adrean Terrace Summer Breakfast Program starts Monday, July 1, from 8-9 a.m. Details and sign-up are available on our website at https://uticarotary.org/event/adrean-terrace-breakfast-program/.
  • Monday, August 19, we will be assisting with Levitt AMP Music Concert setup and cleanup at Kopernick Park. Details to follow.
Program – Club Assembly
Elizabeth Nassar gave an overview of the Utica College Advanced Bachelor’s Nursing degree program. Part of the program involves student nurses getting clinical experience in community programs and services that focus on health issues for specific populations. Elizabeth is asking club members for help by letting her know of programs or services that could support an intern from this program, especially in the Syracuse area.
 
 
 
Stephen Turnbull reported on Youth Exchange. He introduced the committee members—Deb Burke, Joe Caruso, Jack Altdoerffer, Brymer Humphry, Natalie Brown, Jim Day, Heather Beebe, Israel Acosta, Travis Rabbers. Ophelia will be going on a tour of the U.S. during July with other District 7150 exchange students, and then returning to Taiwan in August. We will have a new exchange student from Germany, Felix, for next year. We have five Short-term Exchange Program (STEP) students headed out this summer. Deb Burke will be the new Youth Exchange Officer for the next year, and Travis Rabbers will be Felix’s Youth Exchange counselor. Deb and Jack have put together a new format for the club to make being involved easier—they’re looking for new members. The committee is also looking for host families in the Clinton area for Felix.
 
Jerry Krause spoke on behalf of the Publicity Committee. Requested that members take pictures at any Rotary Club of Utica events, send them to him along with the “who, what, when, where, and how” details of the event. Jerry will put together a press release and send it out to appropriate news media.
 
Mary Ann Hallak-Serwatka spoke about the poverty rate for the Utica area: 30.4% for Utica (almost 3 times the national average); 12.84%to find a way to help. Their solution was to form a company, Good Neighbor Coffee, that sells coffee to support homeless causes in the area. Twenty percent of the revenues will help organizations such for area veterans; 14.7% households have incomes less than $10,000. At her work with Cornerstone Community Church she sees the reality of these statistics. She and her husband, Tom, wanted as Community Breakfast, Emmaus House and Rome Rescue Mission. The coffee sells for $10 and can be found in Peter’s Cornucopia, Smith’s Market and Brenda’s Natural Foods.
 
Dominic Passalacqua gave an update on the Rotaract committee, which is comprised of Dominic, Maria Pavelock, Jennifer DePasquale, Donna Donaruma, Roxanne Mutchler, Elizaeth Nassar, Larry Calabrese, and Phil Bean. Dominic reported that the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department was very happy with this year’s intern, Peter Gaughan. Peter will also be interning in the fall with Oneida County District Attorney Office in the fall. The Rotoract Internship Application has been updated and is available on our website. Two new businesses are partnering with our club to sponsor interns—Brockett Creative Group and Nick Passalacqua and Associates. The Utica College Rotoract Club has a new advisor, Mike Badolato.
 
Michelle Brandstadt reported on the Urban Concerns committee, which is comprised of Israel Acosta, Linda Allen, Larry Calabrese, Joe Caruso, Anna D”Ambrosio, Bob Dellecese, Dave Jones, Jill Koch, Joanne Longo, Catherine McEnroe, Tina Pavlot, Jim Turnbull, and Steve Turnbull. Michelle reported that the committee has spent $1,037 of its $1,500 budget so far, and she thanked all who contributed to the Service Club, which finds the committee’s budget. Projects this year included the Adrean Terrace breakfast program, Abraham House clean-up, two Hope House service dinners, MLK Jr. Elementary School winter apparel for a family of four, purchase and service of refreshments for House of the Good Shepherd holiday and spring concerts, $200 donation for District Spring Conference project, clean-up of Kopernik Park and F.T. Proctor Park, and Adopt-a-Highway project. The committee welcomes new members and new project ideas.
 
Darby O’Brien gave a Treasurer’s report, indicating receipts for the past year’s dues and Service Fund were slightly what was budgeted for income. Currently, our club has 103 members and seven honorary members. Invoices for the next year’s dues are currently being sent out. If you find your address information is incorrect on the invoice, please let Darby know.
 
 
Next week’s program: President David Bagley presides over his last meeting