July 23, 2025
Wednesday, July 30th meeting:
Shirley Serotsky, Producing Artistic Director
“Hangar Theatre’s 50th Anniversary”
HILTON GARDEN INN and on Zoom
Join the Zoom meeting
WELCOME & TRADITIONS
NOTE: you can watch previous meetings by going to our YouTube channel!
Mike Katz welcomed everyone to his first meeting as President and asked those in attendance to join him in the Four-Way Test. Mike then introduced our guests:
- Bella Colada, guest of Nancy Potter
- Thena Lindhorst, Love Living at Home, our speaker
- Ella Brooks, Love Living at Home
“You have given me an impossible job. . . I have to make everyone happy. Why is that impossible? If I tell jokes, I’m accused of not being serious enough. If I get too serious, attendance will go down. If attendance goes down, I’m told to make it more entertaining. If I try something new, I’m breaking with tradition. If I don’t try something new, I’m preventing the next generation of Rotarians from being welcome. If I demand vegetarian lunches to honor our commitment to global climate action, I’ll get a stream of emails asking, ‘where’s the beef?’ It’s an impossible job. I am not a talk show host. I will, however, try to tell a few jokes and hope that at least three of you laugh. Really, I just want to make the meetings interesting enough so that you enjoy being here to share a meal with friends. Since I retired from working everyday, I have made volunteering a priority. I like spending time with you all, working, learning, contributing and laughing. We are fortunate that we have the time and resources to spend time together and to help others in our community, locally and worldwide. The current Rotary International President has a theme, ‘Unite for Good.’ I look forward to uniting with you all in doing good work together.”
~ Mike Katz
As you may know, Mike wanted to bring back the lottery. On your tables are baskets with tickets. Spend a dollar to buy one; take half the ticket for the drawing at the end of the meeting. The winner will receive half the money collected, and the owners of the next three tickets drawn will get prizes such as: $10 Wegmans card; $10 NYS lottery ticket; a dozen golf balls; or a Swiss Army watch. You can purchase tickets up to the introduction of our guest speaker.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
President Mike announced a breakfast at the East Shore Roadhouse at 8 AM this past Friday for members to join him—and he may make it an on-going thing!
As Membership Chair for this Rotary year, Sherrie Negrea announced a membership drive and asked club members to invite a friend or co-worker to lunch. The invited do get a free lunch for their first meeting—but please give Sherrie the person’s name one week in advance to ensure that the club doesn’t exceed its allotment (of five per month).
Mark your calendars and save the date—Sunday, September 7th—for another fabulous Rotary Road Rally. Perri LoPinto has secured McGuire as ride sponsor; the rally will start at McGuire Imports, and they’ve provided cash and some prizes. And Kati Flynn has signed up Sciarabba Walker & Co. as a sponsor.
We need volunteers for Finger Lakes ReUse sorting sessions! The next sorts are on Tuesday, July 29th (10:30 AM) and Thursday, August 7th (5:30 PM). Please sign up on ClubRunner.
LAST WEEK’S PRESENTATION
Thena Lindhorst, Executive Director of Love Living at Home (LLH)
Katie Marks introduced Thena Lindhorst, Executive Director of Love Living at Home, as well as her Services Coordinator Ella Brooks. And Nancy Richards and Jean McPheeters sat at the first table as proud members of LLH.
Founded in 2016, Love Living at Home is a member-driven organization that enables older adults, 50 and older, to live vibrantly while aging in place. Members, volunteers, and staff work together to provide engaging educational and social programs and responsive support services to promote a strong Caring-Connected-Community. Love Living at Home was recently named the 2025 Not-for-Profit of the Year by the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce. An added perk of the award was that the Chamber hired Jeremiah Craig to create a video for LLH to tell the story of the organization.
Love Living at Home is part of a new and exciting national movement of people who are taking charge of their futures as they age. The Village Movement is an “aging in place” initiative that is at the forefront of an innovative approach to age and aging. There are now more than 200 Villages in the US and nearly that many more in development. While part of this national movement, LLH is a grassroots organization run by local members and volunteers. Members determine the group’s priorities and the programs and services to offer. Everyone has a voice. We are Tompkins County’s own Village—one we hope will grow to reflect our area’s diverse and unique character.
Each year, over 500 events are offered—which are virtual or in person. Programs are designed by members for members, and all ideas are welcome and encouraged! If you are interested in giving a presentation, please contact the office. Specialty programs include presentations on the arts, health, local history, and other areas of interest. Regular on-going programs include current events, walking groups, story sharing, reading play scripts, book group, film group, history discussion groups, happy hours, lunch groups, and more!
LLH has about 100 volunteers working in the following categories: home maintenance (changing lightbulbs, hanging pictures and curtains, moving items, small home repairs, and assessing projects), gardening, household tasks, technology help, friendly visits and calls, transportation, errands, and office help. You don’t have to be a member to volunteer!
About 15% of LLH members have their membership costs covered by the David Sprague Sponsored Member Fund, honoring David’s commitment to help others. He was Treasurer of the group, and his guidance was instrumental in making LLH a strong and sustainable nonprofit.
LLH offers a free three-month trial! And two Rotarians, Jean McPheeters and Nancy Goldberg, spoke about how they have benefited from Love Living at Home. The organization also offers a monthly email newsletter, Connections, for which you can sign up!
Thena thanked Rotary for giving her the opportunity to share information about Love Living at Home. She truly appreciates the work that Rotary does in our community, and hopes that you will consider becoming part of LLH’s “village.”
50/50 DRAWING
Eighty-seven dollars was collected, so the winning ticket received $43 in cash. Mike had our guest speaker Thena draw the winning ticket, which was held by Jim Wood! Three more prizes were distributed.
HAPPY DOLLARS
- Jeremiah Craig: he and his brother, a folk music duo named “Brothers Crossing,” performed at Treleaven Winery on Saturday, July 26th.
- Nancy Potter: happy to have Bella Colada who is entering a graduate program in The Netherlands. The CNY District Peace Team hosted an impromptu webinar with Richie, a Rotary peace fellow from Kenya (who is currently at Syracuse University for the Mandela Fellows Program) on July 21st, which is being posted on the CNY District website.
- Paul Martin: happy that Mike is back; our last incoming student just left for Sweden, and our next student is coming from Finland in 3 weeks. One of this coming year’s host family’s host siblings is fundraising for a school trip to Vietnam; they will do your yard work for $20 an hour.
- Katie Marks: happy that Thena and Ella joined us today. Hangar’s last production Waitress was sold out almost every performance, and this week we have two shows: the Kidstuff show is Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed and then Lansing-born Ithaca College alumna Kate Hamill returns with her play, Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson, Apt 2B. It’s hilarious!
- Jean McPheeters: Sunday was WaterMusic, an event that has been held for many years; this year, it began at the Ithaca Farmers Market and followed the trail to Cass Park. Along the way were 12 places where you could hear acoustic music; Jean, with the Ithaca Ukes, played at 5:30 PM!
- Bob Gravani: just returned from a meeting of the Institute for Food Technologists where he received a lifetime achievement award for partnership and collaboration—and it was extra meaningful to Bob because the award was named after the first person that he taught a food science course with at Rutgers University.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
President Mike Katz gave a brief quote for the day:
“You don’t have to be great to start—but you have to start to be great!”
UPCOMING MEETINGS
07/30 Shirley Serotsky, Producing Artistic Director, “Hangar Theatre 50th Anniversary”
(Hilton Garden Inn)
08/06 Rotary Youth Exchange: presentations by five outbound students (Moakley House)
08/13 Club member connection day (Hilton Garden Inn)
08/20 Happy Hour meeting at Canopy Hotel (5–7 PM)
08/27 Meeting at Moakley House
THANK YOU ROTARIANS
Newsletter Reporter: John Vineyard
Program Chair: Katie Marks (July)
Photographer: Angela Sullivan
Greeter: Austan Diiorio
Newsletter Editor: Loralyn Light
Setup/Teardown: Richard Kops
Cashier/Kettle Watcher: Kati Flynn
Audio/Visual Setup: Bez Thomas
Recording Archive: Paul Martin; click here
Club Service Facilitator: June Losurdo