October 24, 2007

As usual, the Deposit Rotary Club has been busy organizing and running its meetings, projects, and programs. On October 10, we had the pleasure of having last summer's Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) students as guests at our weekly lunch meeting. Amelia Blair, Lindsey Wagner, and Kimberly Bosket were the guests of Pete Hempstead, who organizes Deposit's delegation to the annual RYLA conference held at Hartwick College in Oneonta. Local Rotary clubs sponsor students from their home communities to attend the week-long conference to give them a great opportunity to develop their leadership potential while meeting other accomplished young people from around the area.

Every year, high school juniors from Deposit are selected after an application and interview process to represent their school at the annual conference. Once at Hartwick, they are divided up into groups of about 15 students, purposely separated from the students they already know so that they are given the chance to forge new bonds and friendships. Amelia recalled that she met lots of new people this way, which was greatly beneficial in developing new leadership skills. Kim Bosket told our club that she is a participant in New Visions, a program administered by Broome-Tioga BOCES to give high school seniors access to experiences in the profession of their choice, whether it be health care, communications, law, or education. She said that she regularly sees other RYLA alumni at New Visions and so she is able to sustain the friendships she formed there. Lindsey told us that she still sees RYLA alumni at school sporting events and in this way, RYLA has contributed to deeper connections between students of different districts. Each of the girls commented on how good the experience was at making them not fear, but rather look forward to, college and the experience of living with new people in a residence hall.

On October 17, I had the particular delight of having my dance students perform at our meeting. Kyley Vandermark performed a ballet piece and Airin Rynearson presented her tap solo. Then, my adult dancers, Sandra Davis, Ellen Ficurilli, Sheila Katen, Phyllis Baker, and fellow Rotarian Brenda Lee tore up the floor with their piece "You Don't Own Me" from last summer's recital. I was immensely proud of the dancers and this, combined with our other activities, made me deeply proud to be a member of our own local Rotary Club. More to come next week!

October 10, 2007

I thought that this week I would take the opportunity to explain a little bit about how our Deposit Rotary Club functions with the hope that it might entice some local citizens to take more of an interest in our activities and perhaps even consider joining our club and our cause.

In order to plan all our various fundraisers and manage the club's programs and commitments, we meet every Wednesday over lunch at the Methodist Church on Second Street from noon to 1 pm. While all the traditional tasks of an organization's meetings are carried out, I was amazed at how much fun is had and how great the food was when I attended my first meeting! Birthdays, anniversaries, and achievements of all kinds are celebrated with mock fines and happy bucks, which not only add to the high-spirited atmosphere but helps raise some extra funds for the club's service programs. There is almost always some interesting or entertaining program at each meeting as many individuals or groups can attest to, many of whom have been our guests. In fact, on October 17, I will be bringing some of my dance students--including my adult class!--to provide the entertainment!

What really makes the meetings the most special, however, are simply the great people who are present. The Rotarians invariably greet each other with delight and it's clear that not only are they tied to each other through the business of the club, but that they are actually close and long-time friends. I have such a great time laughing at everyone's jokes and hearing great stories. Of course, no one can miss hearing the latest installment of the epic saga with which Smitty Axtell consistently regales the group!

Stay tuned next week for more Rotary stories and the latest news!

October 3, 2007

To kick off the start of the Deposit Rotary Club's weekly column in The Deposit Courier, I felt it appropriate to introduce our local club, as well as the worldwide Rotary International organization, to everyone in the community who might be unfamiliar with Rotary, its aims, and its functions. It is also my goal to keep everyone informed of the club's news and activities and to highlight the many ways in which Rotary contributes to building a thriving and enriched community here in Deposit. It is a particular honor to me as our local club's newest Rotarian to share news of the Rotary's work with Courier readers each week.

In case you were unaware, the first Rotary club was founded by Chicago attorney Paul P. Harris and three of his professional friends who, on February 23, 1905, formed a club dedicated to community service. They agreed to schedule their meetings on a rotating basis at each of the member's offices and thus chose to name their new organization "Rotary." Within five years, the initial club had inspired so many similar clubs in other communities, that a national organization was founded to help coordinate their efforts. Rotary clubs sprang up so rapidly and profusely that in 1922, with local clubs established on six continents, the global network of service clubs was named Rotary International.

Today, Rotary International consists of more than 32,000 clubs in over 200 countries and counts more than 1.2 million Rotarians as members. The organization dedicates itself to several global programs for the betterment of humanity including the eradication of polio, numerous youth exchange and scholarship programs, and in 2002, the Rotary Foundation partnered with eight major universities throughout the world to create Centers for International Studies at vastly influential academic institutions such as the University of North Carolina, Duke University, and the University of California, Berkeley. The goal of these centers is to promote intellectual work that will diminish conflict and establish long-lasting peace.

In addition to all this, perhaps Rotary's greatest and most direct impact is through the workings of its individual community clubs, such as ours here in Deposit. Most are aware that our club brings exchange students from around the globe to live and study with us each year, but Rotary contributes in countless other ways--of which giving a new beautiful and elegant sign to mark the entrance of the Historical Society's Museum is but one recent example. You can expect to read all about Rotary's important work right here in our column in the Courier! Catch you next week!

ROTARY BROCHURE

DEPOSIT ROTARY CLUB

Deposit Rotary club, a Broome/Delaware County Community Club,
Chartered 1947

Meets Wednesdays -- 12:00 Noon at the United Methodist Church, Second St., Deposit, NY.

WHAT IS ROTARY?

Rotary is an organization of business and professional men and women, united worldwide, who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build good will and peace in the world.

Each Rotary Club meets weekly so members may enjoy each other's fellowship and discuss the Club's service goals. Our club meets from noon to 1:00 pm each Wednesday at the United Methodist Church.

Each club is part of a Rotary District, ours being District 7170 covering a large part of Central New York. Each district is a part of Rotary International, based in Evanston, IL. Worldwide, there are 1,219,532 Rotarians in 31,936 Rotary Clubs spanning 166 countries.

Every Rotarian is welcomed as an honored guest at any Rotary Club meeting.

THE OBJECT OF ROTARY

In the beginning, Rotary was founded in Chicago in 1905 by a group of businessmen led by Paul P. Harris. The first meetings were held at the offices of its fonding members in rotation--thus the name Rotary. Rotary has grown and so has its ability to tackle worldwide, as well as local, needs. The Rotary Foundation evolved to carry out the expending global projects and international programs of Rotary. The Foundation's success is derived from the commitment of many Rotarian volunteers "in the field" and contributions by clubs, individual members, and non-Rotarians supportive of Rotary's endeavors for world health, peace, and understanding.

YOUR OBLIGATIONS IN ROTARY

Participation

To be a Rotarian, you must give of your time and talents . . . in community work . . .and in club activities.

Dues

The mere cost of about $50 semi-annually covers local, district, and international membership, plus Club activity insurance AND your subscription to the international Rotarian magazine! Meals are presently $8 each week.

Attendance

Good food, great fellowship, and interesting meetings will do their part to encourage you to attend all meetings--do YOUR part by coming! One hundred percent attendance is encouraged and honored in Rotary, though NOT a requirement. This goal can be achieved by attendance at our own meeting or a Club project or by "making up" at another Rotary Club or District event within 14 days before or after the meeting missed.

Declaration

As a Rotarian engaged in a business or professtion, I am expected to : (1) consider my vocation to be another opportunity to serve; (2) be faithful to the letter and to the spirit of the ethical codes of my vocation, to the laws of my country, and to the moral standards of my community; (3) do all in my power to dignify my vocation and to promote the highest ethical standards in my chosen vocation; (4) be fair to my emploer, employees, associates, competitors, customers, the public, and all those with whom I have a business or professional relationship; (5) recognize the honor and respect due to all occupations which are useful in society; (6) offer my vocational talents to provide opportunities for young people, to work fo rhte relief of the special needs of others, and to improve the quality of life in my community; (7) adhere to honesty in my advertising and in all representation to the public concerning my business or profession; (8) neither seek from nor grant to a fellow Rotarian a privilege or advantage not normally accorded others in a business or professional relationship.

Enjoy the privileges of Rotary membership!

Online meetings too!

For those with busy schedules making it hard to attend regularly, try this new Rotary invention--Meet with otherws worldwide, 24-7! For information, visit http://www.rotary.org or to do a make-up online at your own computer, go to www.rotaryclubone.org.

The object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:

FIRST, the development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service; SECOND, high ethical standards in business and professions;the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society; THIRD, the application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian's personal, business, and community life; FOURTH, the advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of buisness and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS PAMPHLET IS

1. To give you--as a proposed or newly installed member--a bird's eye view of Rotary.

2. To let you know what you may expect of your membership.

3. To let you know what our club will expect of you as a member.

4. To answer some of the questions that you might have about Rotary in general . . . and our club in particular.

THE FOUR WAY TEST OF THINGS WE THINK, SAY, AND DO . . .

Is it Truth?

Is it Fair to all concerned?

Will it build Good Will and better friendships?

Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?