July 20, 2022
Reporter: Kelly Buck
Wednesday’s meeting:
“Rotary World Café: Every Rotarian Does One Thing”
St. Catherine’s Community Center and on Zoom
This meeting was the first time we gathered at St. Catherine of Siena’s community center in person!
President Mary Kane opened the meeting with the Four-Way Test.
Aly Evans introduced her guest, Megan Omohundro, from Foodnet Meals on Wheels, and Ron Provus re-introduced Lisa Roan, from Brookdale Senior Living. This is Lisa’s second meeting with us.
There were no visiting Rotarians.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Loretta Goss shared three thoughts with us:
“I slept and I dreamed that life is all joy. I woke and I saw that life is all service. I served and I saw that service is joy.” ~ Kahlil Gibran
“We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.” ~ Winston Churchill
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Kelly Buck shared that applications for our Community Grants will be accepted until August 5th. The announcement was published in the CNY Business Journal this week. The RFP is on the Rotary website.
- Kelly also reminded the club that the 9th annual Rotary Road Rally is this Sunday, July 24th. Registrations are down this year, so please come AND spread the word to friends and family. The starting line is the Varna Community Center; arrive between 1 and 2 PM. The fee is $25 per person, and proceeds will benefit our James L. Gibbs Scholarship fund. If you can’t make the rally, donations are happily accepted!
- President Mary announced that it will be Rotary Day baseball time at the Rochester Red Wings on July 30th (District 7120). There is still time to get your ticket orders in for the game! DG Ralph Brandt will throw out the first pitch at 7:05; other events include a “Christmas in July” celebration, Milo the Bat Dog, and Fireworks.
- Mary also asked for feedback on the new location and how online lunch ordering went. We will iron out the kinks over the next few weeks. Eric Harrington thanked Mary and others for all the good communication surrounding the transition in location, lunch, in-person meetings, etc. Jack Roscoe appreciated the set-up crew and St. Catherine’s—they’ve all been very helpful getting us started in our new digs.
- The board met and passed this year’s budget on the first try—with thanks to treasurer Kati Flynn for her help. Mary then shared this year’s organizational chart of officers and committee chairs, with a few blanks to be filled in shortly!
- At our August 3rd meeting, the two Rotary Youth Exchange outbound students sponsored by the our club will be given a sendoff as they prepare to spend the 2022–23 academic year abroad.
HAPPY DOLLARS
President Mary collected Happy Dollars, reminding the group that all money collected will go towards this year’s Community Grants. We were happy for: being back together in person, birthdays, new babies, visits from family, the 53rd anniversary of the moon landing, George Ferrari’s colorful shirt, the bridge over Salmon Creek finally reopening after two years (Lansing), a trip to Italy and Greece, President Mary, and more! Some twenty-four Rotarians gave in excess of $237!
For those who didn’t have cash for the bucket, you can make your payment online via the Community Foundation
website (designated for the Rotary Club of Ithaca Fund), or if you prefer to send a check, please write Happy Dollars for Community Grants in the memo line. Make the check payable to the Community Foundation and mail to:
Rotary Club of Ithaca
P.O. Box 306
Ithaca, NY 14851
FORTUNE COOKIE DAY
President Mary then led a feel-good exercise: today was “Fortune Cookie Day” at Rotary! Each attendee was asked to take a note card on the table and write a fortune for the person sitting to their right. Afterwards, volunteers shared their new fortunes. It was fun and touching. Some included: Let a smile be your guide; You will win the lottery; Never grow up; International travels await you; etc.
Kelly Buck shared that a group of Rotarians played trivia last week at Treleaven Winery in King Ferry. The “Rotary Rivals” tied for first the entire game until, alas, we were disqualified because we had one too many players (9 instead of 8 max). We’ll play again on Wednesday, July 27th. If we have more than eight people, we’ll split into two equal groups. Join us; it’s free and starts at 6:30 PM.
Mary closed the meeting with a moment of silence in memory of long-time Rotarian (1981–2018) Dr. Phil Meyer, who passed away recently.
THANK YOU ROTARIANS
Newsletter Reporter: Kelly Buck
Photographer: Mike Brown
Newsletter Editor: Loralyn Light
Set-up Zoom: Brett Bossard
Recording Archive: Paul Martin; click
hereClub Service Facilitator: June Losurdo
