February 21, 2024
Reporter: Paul Martin
Wednesday’s meeting:La Jerne Terry Cornish, Ithaca College President
“Leading Through a Time of Change”
COLTIVARE and on Zoom
WELCOME & TRADITIONS
NOTE: you can watch previous meetings by going to our YouTube channel!
Our welcome started the moment we entered Coltivare, with a combination of the wonderful aroma of the buffet lunch combined with the beautiful sound of live acoustic guitar by our own Jeremiah Craig.
With all of the conversation spurred by such a warm welcome, it took some effort by presiding “Les Six” President Dale Flinn to call our meeting to order, after which we all stood and recited the Four-Way Test. Then, as it is Dale’s tradition to open each meeting with a couple of useless facts, he shared that there are 100 folds in a chef’s hat, which represents the 100 ways to cook an egg, and that the most streamed single on Spotify is Harry Styles’ rendition of “Girl Crush.”
Dale then announced that we had several guests in addition to our speaker:
- Michael Rivera, guest of Zac Riley, visiting Rotarian from the Binghamton Noon Club
- Megan Omohundro, CSMA, guest of Mary Kane
- Jamie Hughes, Tompkins Weekly, guest of Sherrie Negrea
- Dennis Panagitsas and Sophia Darling, TC3, guests of Linda Pasto
And as it happened to be Jamie Hughes’s birthday, Mary Kane led us as we sang Happy Birthday to her.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Inspired by the fact that February is the month of love, Ravi Walsh shared these thoughts from Ram Dass:
“Souls love. That’s what souls do. Egos don’t, but souls do. Become a soul, look around, and you’ll be amazed—all the beings around you are souls. Be one, see one. When many people have this heart connection, then we will know that we are all one, we human beings all over the planet. We will be one. One love. And don’t leave out the animals, and trees, and clouds, and galaxies—it’s all one. It’s one energy.”
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Dale Flinn announced that the next monthly board meeting would be held on Monday, February 26th at 5 PM at the 911 emergency center on Brown Road.
Heidi Goldstein announced that the next Rotary Leadership Institute will be held in Johnson City on March 2nd. The cost is $35, and she would like to organize a car pool. Dale added that it should actually be called Rotary Learning Institute, because it isn’t just for aspiring leaders and because all Rotarians are leaders.- Todd Nau shared that we have received the first payment for our initial 2.5-month trial with Finger Lakes ReUse—$5,000! In addition, with only a couple of volunteers, we raised $500 Saturday by sorting $2000 worth of merchandise. Imagine what we could do with a full team!
Geoff Dunn shared that registration is now open for the Rotary multi-district conference April 26th-28th. We hope that all members of the future CNY Rotary District will plan to be at the DoubleTree Hotel in Binghamton. Dynamic speakers, breakouts that will inspire action, and a lot of fellowship will make it a worthwhile way to spend a weekend immersed in Rotary. We will celebrate our clubs, learn about new ways to serve, better understand our impact around the world, and look to the future of our region. Follow this link to register: https://rotary7150.org/page/district-conference-2024
NEW MEMBER INTRODUCTION
Getrude Noden introduced new member Sarah Mirabile, a 2015 graduate of Mansfield University with a BA in Psychology. Sarah worked eight years at the Ithaca Montessori School and is starting her fifth year as Location Manager at the ReUse MegaCenter. She appreciates the camaraderie and the Four-Way Test and has been inspired by our continued work at ReUse.
WELLNESS WEDNESDAY
For February’s Wellness Wednesday, who would be better to give us “words to live by” than our own resident pulmonologist, Richard Kops. A few important things to note:
- Coronary heart disease is the #1 cause of death in the United States, killing 969,000 people in 2021
- Risk factors, in decreasing order, include hypertension, high levels of LDL cholesterol, obesity, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and genetics
- You can lower your risk by managing stress and cholesterol, eating healthily, and exercising regularly
- Everyone should know his or her numbers: blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart rate
LAST WEEK’S PRESENTATION
“Update on Your Community College—TC3”
Linda Pasto introduced our speaker, Rotarian Dr. Amy Kremenek, the fifth president of Tompkins Cortland Community College. Amy was appointed in 2022, previously from Onondaga Community College, and shared an update on TC3 and her vision for its future.
TC3, one of 30 community colleges in New York State, was founded in 1966. Its first classes were held in 1968 with 133 students meeting for evening classes at Groton High School. The current campus opened in 1974 (Happy Anniversary!) and grew to serve 5000 students in the 1980s.
In the 1990s TC3 opened the state’s first on-campus housing at a community college, as well as extension centers in Ithaca and Cortland. TC3 was also the first community college to offer online classes.
The 2000s brought rapid enrollment growth and expansion, including the athletic center. Then the 2010s brought belt tightening because of declining demographics for the state and shifting funding models that resulted in less state support.
In the 2020s, COVID was particularly hard on community colleges because many students need to work to afford classes, but many students’ jobs were in areas hardest hit by the pandemic. However, enrollment is now growing, and investment and hiring are resuming.
Sixty percent of enrolled students are Pell Grant eligible (aka under resourced), so support for students is critical. TC3 is proud to offer the “Panther Pantry,” the first community college food pantry in New York that serves as a model for other colleges. TC3 also offers other health and wellness support, including mental health, childcare, and diversity education, as well as global initiatives that support international students and study abroad.
TC3 supports community workforce development through micro-credentials that are non-degree seeking programs for 6 to 15 credits that target skills to help employers in our community.
While Rotary may think of Coltivare as an event space, it is so much more. Coltivare is the center for three academic programs, including Culinary, Hotel & Restaurant Management, and Wine Marketing.
Dr. Kremenek concluded by sharing some exciting opportunities on the horizon, including potentially leveraging unused campus housing to support adult students and possibly even families of students, a career center, continued focus on student retention, facility improvements, and strategic planning to stabilize enrollment.
Running out of time, President Dale asked us to contain our Happy Dollar happiness until next week and adjourned the meeting.
UPCOMING SPEAKERS
02/21 Amy Kremenek, TC3 President, “Update on Our Community College”
02/28 La Jerne Terry Cornish, Ithaca College President, “Leading Through
a Time of Change”
03/06 Mike Brown, Rotarian, “Pilots: Looking Down on People Since 1903”
03/13 Larry Baum, Rotarian, “General Aviation and the EHFC”
03/20 South Sudanese Partners; Gertrude Noden, coordinator, “Youth Empowerment
Tailoring Project”
03/27 Matthew Bull, Baden-Powell Council BSA Executive; Stacy Hall, Taughannock
District Executive, “The Boy Scouts of America: Not Just Boys, But Still Scouting
after 114 Years”
THANK YOU ROTARIANS
Newsletter Reporter: Paul Martin
Photographer: Bez Thomas
Greeter: Mary Kane
Newsletter Editor: Loralyn Light
Setup/Teardown: Richard Kops, Steve Johnson
Cashier/Kettle Watcher: Gary Reinbolt
Audio/Visual Setup: Bez Thomas
Recording Archive: Paul Martin; click
hereClub Service Facilitator: June Losurdo
