September 14, 2022
Reporter: Gail Lyman
Wednesday’s meeting:Tiffany Bloss, Executive Director
Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service
“988 National Hotline”
Zoom ONLY
President Mary began the meeting with those in attendance reciting the Four-Way Test in unison. She continued to encourage us to reflect on our personal interactions with others throughout the week. Mary then introduced our guests:
- Todd Nau from 15 Steps, guest of Ron Provus
- Gail Belokur, Interim CEO of United Way, guest of Jean McPheeters
- Shine Gonzalez from CFCU, guest of Melissa Coville
- Christie Thornton, CEO of YMCA, guest of Frank Towner
- Sarah Segal from Plantsmen Nursery, guest of Linda Pasto
- Joanne Martinez, wife of DG Rocky
- Exchange student Emma, guest of Paul Martin
- Greg Kops from mworks.digital, guest of Richard Kops
- Zach Clark from State Farm, guest of Angela Sullivan
- Marlon Boerkamp from Tilburg (The Netherlands)
- And visiting Rotarian Rocky Martinez, DG of 7170
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- DG Rocky Martinez is hosting a Youth Celebration Day (October 8, 2-6 PM, Cortland Country Club). The Dryden Rotary Club will be barbequing chicken with tossed greens, potato & macaroni salads, and cookies for dessert. Meet youth involved in our Rotary Exchange, RYLA, Interact, and Jr. Rotarian programs. Free event; register here.
- Geoff Dunn announced a Citizen Preparedness Training Program to learn about tools and resources to prepare for any type of disaster on Wednesday, September 28, 6 PM, at the Lansing HS Cafeteria (284 Ridge Road, Lansing). Register here.
John Vineyard gave us a short history lesson on how the Rotary movement ultimately won the public image battle over its critics:
When the Rotary movement grew exponentially in the 1920s and 1930s across America and Britain, it became a favorite target for outspoken literary critics including George Bernard Shaw, Sinclair Lewis, H. L. Mencken, and G. K. Chesterton. In particular, Sinclair Lewis in his book Babbitt described his title character as a boorish small-town businessman whose weekly highlight was the “backslapping singing camaraderie of like-minded men” at his “Booster” club.
When Babbitt started to be associated with Rotarian Leland Case, the current editor of The Rotarian, decided to drop in on Sinclair Lewis at his summer home in Vermont. Case and Lewis had an amiable conversation that lasted all morning and led to a change in Sinclair’s attitude about Rotary. When Case arrived back at his Chicago office, he found a telegram from Lewis stating that their chat had “made me approve of Rotary.”
Case later persuaded Shaw, Lewis, and Mencken to write for The Rotarian with no further sarcastic comments.
BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES
President Mary read the September Rotary anniversaries and birthdays, and then she led us in singing “Happy Birthday."
Paul Martin introduced exchange student Emma.
Emma comes from Udine, a city in northeastern Italy located in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps. Since she proclaims that all Italian cities have their own castle, her city’s castle (the Udine Castle) is located on a hilltop and a home to several museums and an art gallery. Enthusiastically, she states that her favorite dessert is tiramisu. Music is her love and passion, with preference for playing the harp and the piano. Unsurprisingly, she studies music at the high school and university levels and attends a music conservatory.
Why did Emma become a Rotary exchange student? Emma wants to “mature as a person, learn about other cultures, become independent and spread (her) culture (to others).”
LAST WEEK’S PRESENTATION
“Meeting District Governor Rocky Martinez”
Geoff Dunn introduced 7170 DG Rocky Martinez who joined the Johnson City Rotary Club in January 2014. Being a very active member from the start, he was President of his Rotary Club from 2015 to 2018.
Rocky presented two topic areas for his discussion: message from Rotary International President Jennifer Jones and his district goals for 2022–23.
This current 2022-23 Rotary year has been groundbreaking with the selection of Jennifer E. Jones as the first woman to be President of Rotary International in the organization’s 115-year history. Rocky stressed that Jennifer has made a seminal difference in the Rotary organization through the reflection in Rotary leadership of the growth and importance of female membership. Jennifer has already paved the way for Rotary International’s nominee for President, Stephanie A. Urchick, for 2024-25.
“Imagine Rotary” is President Jones’ 2022-23 presidential theme. Wearing a purple blazer, Rocky passed out 2022-23 Rotary pins to everyone in the room, while explaining the symbolisms on the pin in relation to President Jones’ theme. The pin includes the colors used by female suffragettes and symbolizes President Jones’ priorities: white (for peace), green (for the environment), and purple (for polio eradication). The circle signifies our connections to one another and the celebration of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The seven dots around the circle represent Rotary’s areas of focus, each holding equal weight to each other in Rotary. The solid, horizontal green line underneath signifies the digging stick that is used when doing hard work. Since Rotary members are “people of action,” the digging stick is an appropriate tool for getting things done, especially with regard to our environment.
In terms of “Imagine Rotary,” Rocky wants to promote President Jones’ theme by giving value and importance to each member in his district. He wants club members “to take care of each other” and to tear down any boundaries between clubs. Also, he emphasizes that Rotary is not the only organization with goals of service, making it beneficial to partner and collaborate on service projects with other like-minded organizations.
After supporting their communities under challenging conditions for the past two years, Rocky wants his district clubs to “move forward” and have their communities “Rediscover Rotary.” He encourages each club to “open their doors” and put “service above self” as their standard. In addition, he emphasizes the importance for clubs to focus on improving their environment, increasing inclusivity, diversity, and equity within their clubs and making service and fellowship events memorable for club members. Rather than having one district conference, he wants to have frequent and affordable (less than $20) district events throughout his term that enhance the fellowship and camaraderie among his membership.
COMMUNITY GRANTS CHALLENGE
President Mary Kane led us in the 2022 Rotary Community Grants challenge! At the beginning of this meeting, our club was only $627 shy of our $10,000 goal, which includes $5,000 earmarked from our club’s fund at the Community Foundation. If this $10,000 goal is achieved, our Community Grants fund will get an additional $5,000 from an anonymous donor.
Responding to this meeting’s challenge, donations were received from District Governor Rocky Martinez $20, guest Sarah Segal $20, Mary Kane $20, and 17 additional Rotarians: Jean McPheeters $50, Beverly Baker $80, Nathan & Gail Lyman $240, John Barradas $20, Warren Allmon $25, Linda Pasto $20, Gary Ferguson $20, Bob Gravani $10, Gary Reinbolt $50, Bez Thomas $20, Marshall McCormick $20, Kelly Buck $10, John Vineyard $20, Lenore Schwager $50, Dave Martin $50, and Mary Berens $7. Wonderful!
Then, at the Board meeting with the DG immediately following our meeting, Mary Berens announced that we were $55 away from the goal, so Fundraising for Action co-chair Perri LoPinto donated that amount! We had reached our goal. (After this exciting meeting, we learned that Paul Martin had donated $20 directly, so we exceeded the goal.)
All donations for Community Grants go to our Rotary Club Donor Advised Fund at the Community Foundation of Tompkins County. The Community Grants committee will make selection decisions on September 15th, with the 2022 grant recipients announced in person at an early October meeting.
NEW MEMBER APPLICATION
Name: Beth Prudence
Business: Morgan Stanley
Position: Financial Advisor
Sponsor: Mary Kane
Classification: To be determined
THANK YOU ROTARIANS
Newsletter Reporter: Gail Lyman
Photographer: Mike Brown
Greeter: June Losurdo
Newsletter Editor: Loralyn Light
Set-up Zoom: Bez Thomas
Set-up Crew: Steve Johnson, Dave Martin, Harlin McEwen
Recording Archive: Paul Martin; click
hereClub Service Facilitator: June Losurdo
