September 3, 2008

Our club was lucky enough to be visited by our District Governor at each of the last two lunch meetings!  Lana Rouff, as District Governor, is responsible for overseeing all 44 Rotary clubs that comprise District 7170, which includes most of the Southern Tier of New York, from Deposit to Ithaca.  Since a new District Governor takes office each year, Lana has been spending the summer meeting with all of the clubs she is responsible for to discuss their goals, projects, and visions for the future.

 

On August 20, she met with our club's Board of Directors before lunch, going over our club's plans and strategies for bringing in new members.  She made us very happy when she announced that our club was exemplary.  During lunch, President Nancy Zacharias introduced Lana to our general membership and listed her many accomplishments.  Just to name a select few, Lana Rouff has served as President of the Binghamton University Foundation, Executive Director of the Binghamton Philharmonic, and worked to organize the Empire State Games held in Binghamton.  She is truly a well-respected leader in the Southern Tier and Rotary is thrilled to have her as our District Governor.  Our club was also quite pleased that she joined us for lunch.  I love her, in particular, because of her commitment to the arts and the fact that she studies ballet!

 

During her speech to our club, Lana listed the many projects, both local and international, in which our club could choose to take part.  She spoke about Rotary's Polio Plus program and proudly announced that polio has been eradicated except for in four countries.  She quoted someone from India who had said "When the Rotarians came, our children stopped dying," in reference to Rotary's efforts to bring the very simple polio vaccine to the children of the most remote parts of the globe.  I think we all felt very proud to be Rotarians and Lana's address inspired us to work even harder on behalf of all of Rotary's charitable goals.  Feel free to come have lunch with us any Wednesday at noon at the Methodist Church on Second Street!

Rotary Sponsors Annual Tommy Tucker Golf Tournament

*Click here for the Ironman Registration Form!*


Saturday, September 6, 2008 (or rain date September 13th) will mark the Third Annual W.R. “Tommy” Tucker Ironman Golf Tournament at Scott’s Golf Course at Oquaga Lake. Sponsored by the Deposit Rotary Club and organized by Mark Tucker each year in memory of his father, Tommy Tucker, the Ironman Tournament is a fun and challenging way to enjoy a great day of golf and fellowship, all the while supporting the Deposit Rotary Club’s charitable projects.

The Captain and Crew tournament will begin with registration at 7:00 am with a shotgun start at 8:00 am. Golfers will be able to ride carts for the “Big 9” course and walk the smaller Executive Course. Teams will be comprised of four players and the registration fee includes not only your participation in the tournament, but also the awards luncheon that will follow the tournament at Scott’s Cookout Lookout, featuring a cash beer and wine bar. Team prizes will be given out, along with the Men’s and Ladies’ Closest to the Pin Awards, the Men’s and Ladies’ Longest Drive Awards, and over 100 possible raffle prizes. The First Prize is a $200 gift card from Visa. Rotary tickets can be purchased in advance from any Rotarian.

The tournament also offers local businesses a great way to advertise and promote your business by either furnishing a door prize or displaying your company name on a designated tee area. Sponsoring the tournament will not only make sure your business is noticed, but also helps promotes Rotary’s charities.

For more information about participation or sponsorship, contact Mark Tucker at 467-2866 x221 or visit depositrotary.blogspot.com to download the registration or sponsorship forms. Fees must be received by September 1 to hold your spot, so sign up now! “Tommy played it once a week. . . can you step up to the challenge?”

July 30, 2008

After the many long hours put in at a rainy but successful Lumberjack Festival, I feel that I've had the chance to really bond with my fellow Rotarians.  Many members of the Deposit Rotary Club put in hours at the festival under the tent selling clams, shrimp, beer, and duck tickets for the Fifteenth Annual Duck Race in Oquaga Creek.  With 724 ducks sold this year, this was our bestselling race.  Rotary was able to earn about $2,100 for our community projects from the duck sales!  Special thanks must go out to the Village of Deposit workers who very generously cleared fallen trees from the creek just so that we could have the race.  All the Rotarians really appreciated your help!

 

Also, treasurer Nancy Zacharias' preliminary figures from the shrimp, clam, and beer sales suggest that Rotary earned something in the neighborhood of $4,567, which is a really great chunk of change to make sure our club can continue to contribute to Deposit through our various projects.  Thanks to the festival committee and to everyone who helped and everyone who made a purchase under the beer tent at the Lumberjack Festival—you helped support some great services to the community!

 

In other exciting news, Sue Elinsky was happy to report that as a result of the Feinstein challenge,—you might remember our local Food Pantry working hard to collect donations in March and April in order to win a portion of the million dollars given to hunger organizations by the Feinstein Foundation—the Deposit Food Pantry received $302 for its share of the nationwide challenge.  Again, thank you to everyone who donated food or cash during the challenge!  More Rotary news next time!

July 2, 2008

Sunday, June 22 was a big day for the Deposit Rotary Club.  It was the day of the annual Paul Harris Dinner held at Scott's Oquaga Lake House.  Named for the founder of Rotary International, the Paul Harris Dinner is the occasion when our club bestows its two most important awards: the Service Above Self Award and the Paul Harris Fellowship.  After an enjoyable social hour, a ride around the lake on Scott's Showboat and a delicious dinner, the two award recipients were honored. 

 

The Service Above Self Award is given to any community member, Rotarian or not, who exemplifies Rotary's motto of "Service Above Self."  This year, the award was given to Ellen Jogo for her years of incredible service in the community, but especially for her work for the Deposit Historical Society.  Friend Kay Hoban from the Board of Directors of the Historical Society gave the speech detailing Ellen's accomplishments.  Seeing Ellen happily surrounded by family as well as guests from the Historical Society Board, I'm sure every Rotarian felt that we had found a truly deserving recipient for this prestigious award.

 

 Following the Service Above Self Award, the Paul Harris Fellowship was award to club president Harry Dilello to recognize and thank him for all his work for the Deposit Rotary Club and for serving as such a fine president.  Rick Zacharias gave the speech offering a biography of Harry and a list of all the qualities that make him a deserving candidate for the highest honor that can be given to a Rotarian.  I'm so happy to congratulate Ellen and Harry for their achievements and awards.

 

The Paul Harris Dinner was really a special and inspiring event and once again reminded me that Rotary is not only an organization that contributes so much to our community and the world, but is also a group of truly extraordinary people, all of whom are friends who respect and value each other and it's always striking how warm, friendly, and high-spirited Rotary events are—not just the special ones like the Paul Harris Dinner, but each and every meeting.

June 4, 2008

The beginning of summer means one very important thing for the Deposit Rotary Club: preparations for the Lumberjack Festival.  At our weekly meeting on May 28, our resident amazing Rotarian, Nancy Zacharias, distributed the tickets for the annual duck race.  Most people in town are familiar with the Lumberjack Festival tradition of launching hundreds of fake ducks in a race down Oquaga Creek, giving cash prizes to the "owner" of the ducks that come in first.  Our goal this year is to sell all one thousand possible ducks.  The annual race proves to be a very profitable fundraiser for Rotary and its charitable programs, so please take part in the fun and buy your duck now from any Rotarian!

 

At our previous meeting on May 21, we were visited by guests from the Hancock Rotary Club, sharing their new international project.  As you may know from reading my columns, Rotary clubs are committed to making considerable contributions to the local community, but simultaneously to the world as a whole through the entire Rotary International organization.  The Hancock Rotary Club has realized that, with Rotary's recent near total success of the Polio Eradication Initiative, it's time to turn to the next huge global health crisis: HIV and AIDS.  In particular, since nearly 85% of all AIDS cases can be found on the African continent, many in the Rotary organization are looking at ways to produce HIV and AIDS medications locally at small factories in Africa in order to significantly cut down on the cost of these immensely expensive medications, which currently must be shipped from abroad.  Perhaps we will see these programs grow into the next big Rotary commitment.

 

On June 4^th, I will be bringing some of my dancers to the weekly Rotary meeting to dance and show off some pieces from our upcoming Fourth Annual Summer Recital on June 13 and 14.  If you've been meaning to check out Rotary, you are always welcome to attend any meeting, but this one will also offer you the opportunity to check out some of Deposit's finest and most enthusiastic dancers: my adult class and also members of the Jesse Katen Dance Company!  Stop by the Methodist Church at noon to join us for lunch and a great meeting!

May 21, 2008

The Deposit Rotary Club was treated to an especially interesting program at our lunch meeting on Wednesday, May 14.  Our very own Rotarian Richard "Smitty" Axtell presented pieces of antique glass to the club and we were happy to be joined by his wife, Sandra, for lunch.  I found the day particularly enjoyable since I know both Smitty and Sandy well from the Deposit Historical Society Board of Directors, of which Smitty is the President and Sandy is the Treasurer.  Both are wonderful people with absolutely incredible knowledge of antiques and their historical contexts.

 

Smitty took the opportunity to announce that the Dr. Oliver T. Bundy House will be opened to the public on May 25 and the historical society is very excited about it.  The house, directly adjacent to the society's museum on Second Street, is now owned by the society and will house not only the society's curatorial and genealogical offices, but a recreated turn-of-the-century doctor's office.  If you're interested in history and, specifically, the rich history of Deposit, you won't want to miss the opening of the Bundy House on May 25.  

 

Smitty brought with him several pieces of cut glass and talked about the history of glass-making and –cutting both in general and in Deposit.  As you may know, Deposit was well-known for its famed glass created at the Kelly & Steinman glass factory, once located on the site of the current Deposit High School.  He spoke about cut glass from the "brilliant" period, which lasted from 1893-1921 and elaborated on the technique and artistry of cutting glass.  If you are interested in seeing pieces of Deposit glass as well as other objects of local history in the society's vast collections, come check out our local museum this summer!

May 14, 2008

The weekly meeting of our club on May 7 got off to a happy start when it was announced that our very own Frank "Pete" Hempstead had received the prestigious "Commitment to Service Award" at the annual Rotary District Conference.  At the conference, this year held in Owego, District Governor Dave Reynolds presented the award and plaque to Pete in recognition of his more than 25 years of service to Rotary.  The Deposit Rotarians gave their share of proud dollars this week on behalf of Pete, especially after he spoke to us movingly and humbly about his pride and encouragement that the contributions of someone from our very own hometown would be noticed and recognized by the Rotary organization.  I think we all felt very proud of Pete, our club, and the work that Rotary does in general.  Congratulations, Pete!

 

Club president Harry Dilello also announced that at the District Conference, the Deposit Rotary Club was awarded a Rotary Shares Presidential Citation for bringing in several new members this year.  Despite our club's small size compared to other clubs across the district, we welcomed four new members just this year.

 

Another great piece of news is that the final results from the Feinstein Challenge during the months of March and April are in!  Organizer and Rotarian Sue Elinsky was happy to announce that $16,268 was raised on behalf of the Deposit Food Pantry.  A huge thank you goes out to Sue for her hard work and to everyone who donated cash, food, or time to the Deposit Food Pantry.  Everyone should be very proud!

 

The program of the day was a presentation of the 2008-2009 budget by our Superintendent of Schools Bonnie Hauber.  She announced that the district was very happy to say that there would be only a 2.91% tax levy, which is the lowest levy we have seen in recent years.  During the presentation, she was asked why the budget needs to increase when it appears that we have a declining student enrollment.  She responded that even if the district loses students—right now we have an enrollment of around 690 students—many of the district's expenses remain the same.  For example, utility bills remain the same no matter how many students are in the building and the number of teachers in each subject area and grade level can't be decreased because every subject and grade level needs to be offered.  Ms. Hauber also included some interesting information such as the fact that out of the 15 districts in our BOCES, 11 of those districts had spending increases higher than ours in Deposit.  She also reminded everyone that the budget vote will held from 1-8pm on Tuesday, May 20 at the high school.  Voters will be considering the budget, the Board of Education, the purchase of 2 school buses, and the establishment of a capital reserve fund, which is like a savings account with a particular purpose in mind. 

 

Thanks for reading! I will have more news next week and don't forget that you can read my past columns and offer comments on our Rotary blog!

May 7, 2008

            The April 30 lunch meeting of the Deposit Rotary Club was abuzz with excitement about the annual flamingo fest.  Rotarian Brenda Lee, now known as the Flamingo Fairy, explained how the flamingo project works.  In order to raise money for local projects, the Rotary Club will "flamingo" someone's yard by placing about two dozen of the plastic birds, usually in the middle of the night, along with a sign that says "Deposit Rotary Club was here!"  For a mere ten dollars, you can pay to have someone flamingoed.  To protect those with a fear of birds, Rotary also offers a flamingo insurance policy for ten dollars, making you immune to a flamingo-ing.  Be warned, though, as a fifteen-dollar donation by someone else can render your flamingo insurance null and void.  Once you have been flamingoed, you must pay $5 to have the flock removed.  I was very shocked to come into my dance studio on Friday only to find about 30 bright pink flamingoes milling about the yard.  Thankfully, it took only a phone call to the Flamingo Fairy and $5 for the creatures to be dissipated.

            In other news, our club has shattered each of our goals and raised $16,154 for the local Food Pantry during our Feinstein Challenge.  Our hats go off to Sue Elinsky for her hard work in organizing the challenge, and to the all of the individuals, organizations, and businesses who donated to the Pantry, and especially the dedicated staff of the Food Pantry.  Thank you for all the work you do here in our community!

            This is also the time of year for the Rotary calendar sale.  If you are interested in buying community birthday and anniversary calendars, be sure to contact any Rotarian.  Make sure to include your family birthdays, anniversaries, or in memoria to be included on the calendar.  It's great to have everyone's special days labeled!  Calendars will be on sale until May 28.

            Rotarian Shelly Ward announced that we are searching for families willing to hose the 2008-2009 Rotary Exchange Student.  His name is Ivan Holly, he is 17 years old and hails from Slovakia.  If anyone is interested in this interesting and rewarding experience of cultural exchange, please contact Shelly Ward.  

            Thanks for your dedicated readership!  More exciting news next week!

April 30, 2008

            The April 23 meeting of the Deposit Rotary Club included some fantastic news from Rotarian Sue Elinsky with regard to the national Feinstein Hunger challenge.  With this challenge, the Feinstein Foundation in Rhode Island will give one million dollars to hunger-relief organizations across the country.  The funds will be distributed depending on how much local Rotary clubs raise in their communities during the months of March and April.  The more funds raised by each club for a hunger agency, the larger their share of the nation-wide million dollar giveaway.  Our club here in Deposit supports the local Food Pantry.  Sue was very excited to share that she had an initial goal of raising $11,000, which we were able to reach quite early in the efforts.  Sue was able to set a higher goal, hoping to reach $14,000.  As of the meeting on Wednesday, that goal was exceeded by $7.  She has thus established a new goal of $15,000 by the end of April.  I will keep you informed of the ultimate outcome of the Feinstein Challenge!

            In other news, May marks the beginning of Flamingo season!  Rotarians can pay to have someone's yard "flamingoed," which means that in the middle of the night, a covert operation is executed, resulting in the homeowner finding their yard inhabited by a flock of bright pink plastic flamingos.  Flamingo insurance is also offered, whereby one can hope to avoid becoming a victim of one of the clandestine flocking missions, however, such security is limited as another person can pay to override the insurance.  This will be a very amusing fundraising project and really demonstrates Rotary's goals:  public service and enjoyable friendship!  You can check back in future weeks for flamingo stories and photos!

April 23, 2008

            The Deposit Rotary Club is always excited to welcome a new Rotarian to our club.  At our lunch meeting on Wednesday, April 9, Dick Marko was inducted as a member.  Dick joins us as a former member of a Rotary Club in Binghamton and we are happy to have him as a member of the Deposit club.

            Also on April 9, President Harry Dilello was pleased to announce to the club that the Senior Citizen Lunch held at Wendy's and co-sponsored by our club was a huge success, with nearly 200 seniors attending.  It was also particularly rewarding to hear the positive feedback and thank-you's from those who were able to attend the lunch.

            At our meeting on April 16, we were treated to a program by Paula Mazepa, our exchange student.  Paula hails from the city of Torun in the north of Poland.  She provided us with an overview of Poland's geographic situation and history and then presented a promotional video about her city, highlighting its history, extraordinary architecture, and cultural and social highlights.  Paula also passed around beautiful books of full-color pictures of Poland and her native city.  We also enjoyed checking out the Polish money that Paula brought with her.  Thank you, Paula, for an interesting and informative program! 

            Speaking of exchange students, I'm happy to announce the student who will be visiting us in Deposit for the 2008-2009 school year.  Shelly Ward, who is responsible for organizing our youth exchange program, told me over lunch at the April 16 meeting that she has been in contact through e-mail with 17-year-old Ivan Holly of Slovakia, who will be the inbound exchange student sponsored by our club here in Deposit next year.  The club is very excited and looking forward to meeting Ivan.

            Stay tuned next week for more news from the world of Rotary!

April 9, 2008

At the Deposit Rotary Club lunch meeting on Wednesday, April 2, Sue Elinsky was able to provide an update on the Feinstein Challenge.  Like I explained in my last column, Rhode Island philanthropist and Rotarian Alan Shawn Feinstein is offering one million dollars that will be distributed to hunger-fighting agencies throughout the country, based upon how much local Rotary clubs are able to raise on behalf of each agency during March and April.  The Deposit Rotary Club is committed to raising at least $11,000 for our local Food Pantry.  As part of the challenge, Sue wrote to dozens of businesses in the area, asking for donations of cash and food, and asked each Rotarian to not only give what they can, but to ask two other people to also donate.  Sue also explained that money and food items received this time of year are especially important because the Food Pantry experiences its most difficult season during the summer.  Because potential donors are busy with activities and vacations during the summer, they don't often think about those who are less fortunate and with kids staying home from school, families don't benefit from free and reduced breakfasts and lunches offered by the school.  Therefore, what amounts is a strain on the Food Pantry's resources, compounded by a considerable slow-down in donations.  Hopefully, the energy and enthusiasm generated by Rotary's Feinstein Challenge will remind the community of the need to consider our neighbors who might otherwise go hungry.

 

Also at the meeting, we were joined by guest speaker Mike O'Brien of the Hancock Rotary Club, who is also a Rotary Past District Governor.  He spoke to us about an international project he was involved in with Rotary clubs in California and in Monterrey, Mexico.  What began as a project to give wheelchairs to disabled people who could not otherwise afford them quickly grew into a larger project and partnership between Californian and Mexican Rotary Clubs.  The point of Mike's presentation was to highlight the benefits and rewards of working with other Rotary Clubs in international projects, citing the joys of traveling and meeting Rotarians and other individuals through these projects.  He also shared with us information on matching grant programs available to clubs through the Rotary Foundation, which offers one dollar to fund international projects for every two dollars raised by the participating clubs.  It seemed to be an excellent way to encourage Rotarians to develop a more global perspective in working to assist others through service.  Stay tuned next week for more local, regional, and international Rotary news!

April 2, 2008

The theme of the Deposit Rotary Club meeting on March 26 seemed to be thanking various Rotarians for their service and initiative in organizing club projects on behalf of our club and the community at large. Sue Elinsky informed everyone about the status of the Feinstein Hunger Challenge, in which all Rotary clubs who raise funds for local hunger relief organizations will receive a portion of one million dollars being given by philanthropist Alan Shawn Feinstein of Rhode Island. Our local club is happy to work on behalf of the Deposit Food Pantry, which will benefit from both the initial funds and food given and the money offered by Mr. Feinstein. Sue was happy to report that donors have been quite generous in giving to the local food pantry and that we are well on our way to reaching our goal of raising $11,000 during the months of March and April. The club is asking anyone in the community who would like to help hungry people right here to donate money or nonperishable food items—such as canned soups, spaghetti sauce, and cereal—to the local food pantry. Donations can be sent to the Deposit Food Pantry at 91 Second St, Deposit, NY 13754 or given to any Rotarian. Not only will your donation help feed a hungry family, but you will also help the food pantry receive even more of the money generously given by Mr. Feinstein. After making her announcement, President Harry Dilello led the club in thanking Sue for all the work she has done on behalf of the hunger challenge and the Rotarians expressed their gratitude. Thank you, Sue, for your energy and dedication!

The club was also thankful for the efforts of Tina Strong, who organized the annual Rotary Easter Egg Hunt held at Firemen's Park the day before Easter. Tina stated that more kids participated this year than any other with at least 80 kids scurrying to locate eggs stuffed with festive treats. Tina also reminded all the Rotarians that now is the time of year when hollow plastic Easter eggs are on sale at clearance prices, so if we spot them, we should buy as many as possible so that we can continue this tradition and keep it growing. If you find such eggs, feel free to give them to Tina or any other Rotarian. Thanks, Tina for giving such a fun activity to local children!

Another Rotarian who was thanked by the club was Brenda Lee, who represented Deposit at the Rotary Presidents-Elect Training Session, held in Syracuse. Brenda attended the weekend-long conference to learn about the upcoming Rotary year and how to run our local club next year. Brenda was elected our club Vice President for 2008-09 and shared some of the many things she learned that weekend with our club. She announced that Rotary International's theme for next year will be "Make Dreams Real." Brenda thanked the club for sending her to the conference and the club members thanked her for making the most of the opportunity and for well-representing our club and community.

Stay tuned next week for more news from the world of Rotary!

March 26, 2008

The Deposit Rotary Club is always busy preparing for its next community project. At our lunch meeting on March 5, Nancy Zacharias took charge in the absence of our president, Harry Dilello, who is currently visiting his son in Costa Rica. During the meeting, Nancy smoothly orchestrated the discussion, allowing us to begin organizing some of our upcoming events.

First of all, Rotarian Tina Strong is busy preparing for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. This year, the hunt will be held on March 22 at Fireman's Park. Rotary members have already begun donating plastic eggs and candies with which to fill them. The Easter Egg Hunt looks to be another fun event for local kids and their families. I will be sure to bring you more information soon and remind you of the event!

We also began planning for our annual activities at the Lumberjack Festival this summer. As many of you know, Rotary is one of the most active groups during the annual festival, providing the big tent that serves as the principal focal point and main meeting place for festival patrons on the field through the entire weekend. Whether folks are buying beer, clams, or shrimp from us, or those legendary barbecue beef sandwiches offered by the Order of the Eastern Star, or beer from the VFW, both of whom share our tent, just about everyone finds their way into the Rotary Tent to relax, eat, chat, or meet up with long-lost friends. In fact, most DCS classes that have planned their reunions during the Lumberjack Festival all meet up in the tent.

The Lumberjack Festival is crucial to the economy of our community, benefiting local businesses and especially all our local nonprofit organizations, which rely on the festival to provide them a solid base for significant fundraising efforts. Rotary is no exception as the monies we raise during the festival from our tent and, of course, our famous duck race in Oquaga Creek are vitally important to sustaining our absolutely innumerable service projects that we conduct throughout the year. In case you have missed all of my previous columns, the Deposit Rotary Club is responsible for the international youth exchange program, raising and donating literally thousands of dollars to the Food Pantry, distributing free hardcover dictionaries to every DCS fourth grader, sending high school juniors to the incredible RYLA conference every year, and trick-or-treating for UNICEF, all the while supporting Rotary International's global charitable endeavors, and giving to countless groups in countless ways right here in our own hometown. I have neglected some other really huge benevolent work our club does, but I would need the space of an entire issue of the Courier to just name them all. To find out even more, check out the Rotary Blog at depositrotary.blogspot.com to read my past columns which discuss some of Rotary's doings just since I proudly became a member in September. I am humbled and inspired by simply being one part of this amazing organization and I encourage everyone to stop by one of our meetings for lunch or, better yet, to join us by becoming a Rotarian.

March 5, 2008

On Tuesday, February 26, I had the opportunity to sit on the RYLA participant selection committee at Deposit High School.  RYLA, the acronym of the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, is a conference exclusively for high school students during the summer following their junior year with the hope that they will share their experiences with their peers when they return to school for their senior year.  Each year, thousands of students have the opportunity to attend the week-long conferences held across the country and beyond.  In our Rotary district, spanning a huge portion of the Southern Tier from Oneonta to Ithaca, local Rotary Clubs have the opportunity to send students from their communities to the campus of the State University of New York College at Oneonta to meet and bond with other young people, participate in numerous character- and esteem-building activities, and explore their own leadership potential.  This year, the conference will take place over four days from the end of June into the beginning of July, during which the Deposit Rotary Club will be sending three local students to stay in a college residence hall—rooming with a student from another school whom they do not know—and attend the conference's offerings.  RYLA is a highly competitive but highly prized opportunity and nearly every student who attends comes to deeply treasure the experience as an inspiring and life-changing event.  Last year's participants Lindsey Wagner, Kim Bosket, and Amelia Blair were able to share their enthusiasm for RYLA at a Rotary lunch in the fall.  

 

Pete Hempstead, who has served for many years as Deposit's RYLA coordinator, chaired the selection committee which was comprised of Rotarians Tina Strong, Leo Cook, Bill Waldron, Ray Cornwell, and myself.  We were lucky enough to be joined by DCS senior Lindsey Wagner, who, as a RYLA alumna, was able to answer questions from the candidates and provide us all with greater perspective into what candidates could expect from the conference.  After spending the entire morning interviewing the ten truly impressive applicants, the committee finally settled on three students who we felt would both benefit tremendously from their RYLA experience and also well represent our community and their class.  Our deliberations were difficult, but we are very proud to announce our selection of Lydia Krembs, Zachary Matthews, and Brittany Stanton to serve as Deposit's delegates to the conference.  Congratulations to the participants and a big thank-you to all the applicants, Pete, the committee members, and our always-delightful RYLA cheerleader, Lindsey Wagner.

 

I'm also very happy to share that at our weekly meeting on Wednesday, Rotarian and DCS Superintendent Bonnie Hauber announced that, following the presentation of Mary Hogan and Dave Bergstrom regarding the Deposit Family Recreation Group and its valuable project at an earlier meeting, the district was able to enlist the help of a BOCES grant-writer to secure a generous grant from the Mee Foundation in Hancock.  Congratulations to DFRG and thank you to Mrs. Hauber!

February 20, 2008

Quite often, I hear comments and feedback regarding my column and I wanted to thank everyone for reading it and those of you who take the time to tell me how much you enjoy it and look forward to it every week.  I've begun to notice that every compliment I hear is usually followed by the sentence "I never thought Rotary was so fun!"  This was especially true after hearing about the Rotary Trivia tournament several weeks ago!  In fact, many people have confessed that they thought Rotary would be a stodgy and boring affair that consisted exclusively of older people and on top of that, how much fun could community service be?  After all, if community service, along with fines and jail time, are among the punishments that judges can impose on law-breakers, how glamorous could it be?  

 

I'm very happy to be able to contradict these assumptions since, as you can see from my descriptions, Rotary meetings are anything but dull and boring and Rotary makes serving the community not only painless, but an incredibly great time.  And our local Rotary club is lively enough to have attracted fun, friendly, and fascinating members of all ages, though I have to admit to being the youngest!  Here are just a couple examples of the ways in which the Deposit Rotary Club and Rotary International have a great time raising funds to help others in our local and global communities.

 

First of all, at a recent lunch meeting, club secretary Rick Zacharias read the minutes of the Rotary Board of Directors meeting held the previous evening.  One of the matters of new business that had been discussed was the pink flamingo situation.  Apparently, some of Rotary's pink flamingo assets were in disrepair and new flamingos had to be procured so as to preclude the possibility of a dreaded flamingo shortage and thus avoid the risk of our fine club suffering the embarrassment of being represented by less-than-healthy looking large pink plastic birds.  Thankfully, the club was adequately reassured of the state of its flamingo holdings.  I hope to have accurately portrayed that part of the meeting considering that this columnist may have missed some of the important pink flamingo details while he was taking his notes, distracted by fits of laughter.  A dull meeting it certainly wasn't!

 

I also wanted to mention that Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland livened up their flood relief fundraising efforts by holding a glamorous fashion show during London's fashion week back in September.  Attended by all sorts of celebrities and featuring the modeling talents of Naomi Campbell, Lily Cole, Claudia Shiffer, Elle Macpherson, Fergie (the Duchess of York), Faye Dunaway, and Sting, top designers such as Chanel, Emilio Pucci, and Versace contributed garments and helped Rotary raise one million British pounds (about US$2,000,000).  Rotarians are experts at achieving the best results from their community service initiatives by getting people involved and having a fabulous time!

February 13, 2008

This week, I wanted to bring attention to the fact that Rotary International and Rotary clubs around the world are commemorating the twentieth anniversary of Rotary's commitment to eradicate polio from the planet.  Twenty years ago, Rotary International (the global network of local Rotary clubs) joined the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and two agencies of the United Nations: the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in forming the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.   The program has proved to be enormously successful based on the fact that a 60% drop in polio cases occurred during 2007 and that there has been a 99% drop since the 1980's, when the initiative was started. As Rotary and its partners successfully educate people about the virus and supply oral vaccines to spread worldwide immunity, much financial support has poured in to help the project.  It is estimated that Rotarians alone have given $630 million to fighting polio, not counting the time and other personal contributions that are provided by members of Rotary every year.  Also, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations just recently gave a $100 million grant that Rotary International has promised to match.  

 

Despite the initiative's success and the fact that—for most of the developed world, at least—polio is no longer a public health threat, there still exist corners of the world where the virus is still a very real and daily cause of misery.  These are the places where Rotary and the other partners of the initiative plan to concentrate their efforts.  For example, in Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Mali, and Pakistan, vaccination teams are trying their hardest to reach every possible individual, especially children, in the most rural and isolated locations.   These teams are made up of public health professionals, activists, and Rotary volunteers from places like the United States, Canada, and European nations.  This month's issue of the Rotarian magazine, includes many moving and inspirational photographs of children being immunized.  In particular, I found particularly striking the picture taken in Addis Ababa, Ethipia, where three smiling children hold up their stained fingers (indicating their having received the vaccine) in an image that recalls those of excited Iraqis whose fingers were stained during the country's first democratic elections since the fall of Saddam Hussein.  Adding to the power of the photograph was the fact that celebrity singer Beyoncé Knowles accompanied the group to Ethiopia.  In addition to her helping give the oral vaccines herself, her presence brings worldwide attention to the persisting hardships that polio inflicts on many people and to remind us all that with the help of Rotarians and other individuals everywhere, polio's days on earth will soon be numbered.

February 6, 2008

At the Deposit Rotary Club's weekly meeting on January 30, no speaker or activity was scheduled after lunch so that the club could catch up on business matters, planning for future projects and events.  With no program to report on, I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to use my column to bring one very special Deposit Rotarian to center stage for a well-deserved révérence (the elaborate bow ballet dancers do when receiving applause).  I've taken the liberty of declaring this remarkable person the Rotary Review's Woman of the Year:  Mrs. Nancy Zacharias. 

 

I'm sure that everyone who knows Nancy—a.k.a. everyone in town—is already aware of the reasons that the staff at the Rotary Review—a.k.a. me—would choose Nancy for this prestigious award.   It is hard to imagine this community and many of its unique and valuable programs without Nancy's talent and hard work.  In Rotary, for instance, Nancy serves as Treasurer, which is an office that holds a huge amount of responsibility with all the money Rotary takes in and distributes back to the community and all the paperwork and legal forms that go along with it.  I absolutely marvel at the amount of time and meticulousness she must put into making her Treasurer's reports and budget spreadsheets, which can only be described as fiscal works of art.  She also just recently handled the administration of our lottery fundraiser, for which she has to remain dutifully on top of who wins the daily contest, and she also is the editor of our club newsletter which is utterly essential, not only for keeping Rotarians informed of club happenings, but also for assisting the Rotary Review staff in compiling the column every week!

 

Next year, Nancy will be taking on even more endless work for Rotary.  Since we will have a different club president each month, it seemed necessary to find someone who was undeniably intelligent, articulate, organized, experienced, and highly respected to help keep the presidency from falling apart into a chaotic mess, much like Condoleezza Rice does on the federal level.  We are truly blessed to have Nancy on board. 

 

Unfortunately, I don't have the space in this column to give adequate treatment to all of Nancy's accomplishments and contributions to Rotary, let alone the life of our entire community—her work for the Deposit Free Library just being one important example that comes to mind—but it was my hope that by bringing the attention of all the readers of my column to Nancy's impact, you will be able notice for yourself all the ways she enriches life in Deposit and all the work, both in the public eye and behind the scenes, that she is able to successfully tackle and of course, how we all benefit from it.  

 

Perhaps Nancy's greatest contribution is her genuinely warm presence and fabulous sense of humor which unfailingly brighten every place she happens to be.  Her kindness, determination, and caring manner greatly inspire me, as I'm sure they do countless others lucky enough to know her.  Thank you, Nancy, for everything you do.

January 30, 2008

The weekly meeting of the Deposit Rotary Club on January 23 proved to be interesting and informative.  We were happy to be joined by Chelsea Ward, a senior at Deposit High School, daughter of Rotarian Shelly Ward, and former outbound Rotary exchange student to Bolivia.  It was also great to have honorary Rotarian Deborah Stever joining us for lunch.

 

The agenda of the day's meeting included a presentation by Mary Hogan and Dave Bergstrom, representing the Deposit Family Recreation Group, a non-profit organization established to work toward developing an athletic park, including a running a track and other facilities at a site on Main St., adjacent to the Meadow Park Apartments.  In tracing the history of the concept, Mary Hogan referred to the spring of 1998, when Deposit's own Track & Field team qualified to compete at States, only to have no home facility at which to practice.  Listening to the presentation, it became clear that the youth who participate in these programs really deserve such a facility to call their own and their success thus far is truly a testament to their dedication to their chosen sport.  Mary and Dave also emphasized that countless individuals and groups would benefit from the completion of this project, as the entire community would have a place to walk, train, host events, and many other possibilities.  The benefit to the overall economy of the area was also explained.  

 

A vision of this magnitude, however, is not easy or cheap to accomplish.  A huge amount of work has already been invested in the project, and even more is necessary to make it happen.  The price tag is expected to be around a million dollars. As a result, the DFRG welcomes support in many forms including volunteering your time and talent, and of course, monetary contributions are essential in making this dream a reality.  For more information or to make a contribution to this wonderfully worthy cause, write to DFRG at PO Box 254, Deposit, NY 13754 or email dfrg@pobox.com.  

 

As always, you can see this and all my past columns online at the Deposit Rotary Blog at http://depositrotary.blogspot.com, where you can also share your comments.  I'd love to hear from you!

 

CORRECTION:  In last week's column, I wrote that Brenda Lee had printed out cheat sheets to help her team win in the Rotary Trivia tournament.  She informed me that this was untrue.  I'd like to apologize and set the record straight that Brenda and her team used only legitimate Rotary documents to gain unfair advantages and cheat at Rotary Trivia.  

January 23, 2008

Pictured: Sponsoring Rotarian Tina Strong, new Rotarian Sandra Davis, and Club President Harry Dilello

It began like any other pleasant and enjoyable Deposit Rotary Club meeting on Wednesday, January 17, 2008. After Joy Felber's wonderful lasagna for lunch, the meeting began as usual with the Pledge of Allegiance and the introduction of our guests from the Sidney Rotary Club, Bill Davidson and Gilbert Malerk, who spoke about the Rotary District Conference to be held in Owego in May. It was a particularly special day because we inducted a new member, Sandra Davis, who I am very proud to say is my assistant teacher at my dance studio. Sandra was warmly welcomed into the club by all the Rotarians present. There was absolutely no indication of the riotous hysteria that was to follow.

The day had been set aside as a Rotary Trivia game hosted by our own Stan and Sue Elinsky. Teams were formed and it was clear from the beginning that Team #1, under the leadership of Bob Clemens and including Nancy Zacharias, Tina Strong, Jim Ficurilli, Shelly Ward, Brenda Lee (who had printed out cheat sheets with answers), and the new Rotarian Sandra Davis, would stop at nothing until victory was theirs, resorting to desperate tactics of cheating, intimidation, and all around unsportsmanlike conduct. Team #2, led by Pete Hempstead, was made up of Bonnie Hauber, Leo Cook, Bill Waldron, Joe Esteves, and Frank Verdon largely behaved themselves, but didn't seem to know much about Rotary Trivia, unlike Team #3, led by Rick Zacharias, which included President Harry Dilello, Carol Newman, Ray Cornwell, and myself, who really deserved to win the contest, all things considered. However, it was difficult to tell who knew their Rotary Trivia best, since despite the noble of efforts of exchange-student-turned-scorekeeper Paula Mazepa to maintain an accurate count, mass corruption precluded any sense of fairness and justice. While we were thankful to the Elinskys for organizing the game, the couple ran Rotary Trivia like the Marcoses ran the Philippines, maintaining complete control with their power to haphazardly levy fines and capriciously changing the rules whenever they felt like it, preventing our poor team from the win we justly deserved.

Things quickly escalated into an out-of-control riot when Team #1, burned by one of the dictators' whims, mounted a full scale insurrection led by Nancy Zacharias, a normally lovely person, who unfortunately turns into an unusually vociferous, competitive, and down-right hostile combatant when Rotary Trivia doesn't go her way. Despite a panicked attempt to hold onto power in which demagogue Stan commandeered the clock, we all realized it was one o'clock. We were spared what seemed to be an inevitable display of gross carnage when the Rotarians left the meeting to once again resume their roles as responsible citizens of the community. Until next week . . .

January 16, 2008

It was great to see everyone again in the new year as Rotary resumed its weekly meetings on January 9 following a holiday hiatus.  During this first meeting of 2008, it was announced that the December Lottery tickets sold by members of our club earned $872.33 for the Deposit Rotary Club charities.  A big thank you goes out to everyone who sold or purchased tickets; we appreciate your support!

 

In other club news, it's that time of year to select new officers and board members for the next Rotary year.  Brenda Lee was elected Vice President, Rick Zacharias was reelected as club secretary and Nancy Zacharias will also retain her job as club treasurer.  Elected to the Rotary board were Brenda Lee, Tina Strong, and myself.  The club presidency is going to be run a little differently as we are going to have a different president for each month of the Rotary year.  Many club members volunteered to serve as President for a month.

 

I was also happy to announce that I've started an online blog for our club where all my columns published in The Deposit Courier will be posted and archived.  Feel free to log onto http://depositrotary.blogspot.com, where you will be able to not only read all the postings of my column, but to post your own comments and feedback on them.  Check it out and I look forward to hearing from you!