You’re invited to a Brazilian dinner presentation

By now, you all know we have a five-person contingent of young Brazilians visiting the Capital Region as part of a Rotary Group Study Exchange (GSE).

One of the activities is a presentation set for 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, June 11, at a dinner meeting of the Lansingburgh Rotary Club.

We’d like the Southern Rensselaer County club to be well represented at this dinner; the cost will be $8 or $9, depending on the total number of reservations received.

Click here for full details and menu.

PLEASE LET APRIL DOWD KNOW NO LATER THAN THURSDAY, MAY 30, IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND.

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A guide to disaster preparedness

(FROM RENSSELAER COUNTY, COURTESY OF DEB RODRIGUEZ)

PREPARING BEFORE FOR A TORNADO

Every state is at some risk of tornadoes and the damage that they leave behind. Some tornadoes are clearly visible, while rain or nearby low-hanging clouds obscure others. Occasionally, tornadoes develop so rapidly that little, if any, advance warning is possible. To begin preparing for any disaster, you should build an emergency kit and make a family communications plan.

When your area is under a Tornado Watch, be alert to changing weather conditions and listening to NOAA Weather Radio or to commercial radio or television newscasts for the latest information. Ready.gov has Planning Tools for whether you are a business, school and workplace or anything else.

 

Through the use of everyday technology, individuals, families, responders and organizations can successfully prepare for, adapt to and recover from disruptions brought on by emergencies and/or disasters. With effective planning, it is possible to take advantage of technology before, during and after a crisis to communicate with loved ones and manage your financial affairs.

Taking COver During a tornado

If you are under a tornado warning, seek shelter immediately!  Most injuries associated with high winds are from flying debris, so remember to protect your head. Go to a pre-designated shelter area such as a safe room, basement, storm cellar, or the lowest building level. Put as many walls as possible between you and the outside.

If there is no basement, go to the center of an interior room on the lowest level (closet, interior hallway) away from corners, windows, doors, and outside walls. Get under a sturdy table and use your arms to protect your head and neck. Put on sturdy shoes. Do not open windows.

Continue to monitor your battery-powered radio or television for emergency information.

recovering after a tornado

After the storm has passed, you should still be aware of weather changes and insecure structures. After a disaster strikes, use extreme caution when returning home. You may be anxious to see your property, but do not return to your home before the area is declared to be safe by local officials. Before entering your home, be sure to take the following measures:

• Check for loose power lines, gas leaks and structural damage;
• Keep a battery-powered radio with you so you can listen for emergency updates and news reports;
• Use a battery-powered flash light to inspect a damaged home; and
• If you have any doubts about safety, have your residence inspected by a qualified building inspector or structural engineer before entering

Text, email, and use social media to let everyone know you’re okay. Avoid making phone calls to free up the lines for first responders. You can also let your family and friends know you are safe and well after an emergency via  https://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms/index.php. This website is designed to help make communication between family members and friends easier.

If you are a parent or guardian, keep in mind that children affected by disasters can have trouble coping with the effects and aftermath of disasters. Even children who are not directly affected by a disaster can have fears. For tips on talking to children and helping to support them after a disaster, Ready offers a “Listen, protect and Connect coping guide.

Individuals and families impacted by the storms and tornadoes can apply for assistance in one of three ways:

• Online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov
• By phone at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362)
  
• By web enabled mobile device at m.fema.gov

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Meeting of May 23, 2013

Meeting at Quigley’s Restaurant
593 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush

Attending (12): Peter Brown, April Dowd, Murray Forth, Pat Bailey, Charlie Foote, Dick Drumm, Jim Leyhane, Deb Brown, Doris Calamaras, Dean Calamaras, Deb Rodriguez, Bill Dowd.

Guests (2): Kevin Post, Kelly Post.

Business/Announcements:

• April Dowd, our liaison with the Lansingburgh club, reported that arrangements are being made to help host the five-person Brazilian contingent here for a Group Study Exchange. She also asked for SRC members to let her know by next week’s meeting if they will attend the June 11 Lansingburgh dinner meeting at which the GSE group will present a program.

• Bill Dowd reported on two pieces of news on the polio front: (1.) That a case of polio had been diagnosed in Somalia, not normally a polio area, and (2.) the Taliban has announced a cessation of violent acts against volunteers working to distribute polio vaccine i Pakistan and Afghanistan. The terrorist group had been killing and injuring workers involved in Rotary International’s anti-polio efforts after it was discovered the CIA had infiltrated the volunteer effort and used it as a cover for espionage efforts.

• Bill also noted that the last remaining program slot, June 6, has been filled, and thanked members for making the 2012-13 schedule a strong and varied one.

• The meeting scheduled for Thursday, July 4, has been moved to Wednesday, July 3, and will be held at the Forth residence as a picnic.

• Doris Calamaras reported that leftover food from the Rotary Run was taken to the monthly dinner held by the Missing Link street ministry in Lansingburgh, so there was no waste.

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Program: Youth for Christ

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Our speaker was Kevin Post (right, with wife Kelly in the background), ministry development coach for the local chapter of the international organization Youth for Christ.

Although the local chapter concentrates on Rensselaer, Albany and Schenectady counties, it also deals with some programs in Washington and Schoharie counties.

Among its offerings are physical activities for kids at its Halfmoon facility, which include volleyball and basketball courts, rock climbing walls and an outdoor rope obstacle course and zip line setup.

National President Dan Wolgemuth said, in a brief video, YFC works “to raise up lifelong followers of Jesus.” However, Kevin noted in response to a question that although it is a faith-based organization it does not necessarily proselytize its faith, especially when working with schools.

YFC has a variety of outreach programs for troubled teens as well as others, including such activities as Point Break, an anti-bullying program, and core ministries such as Friend2Friend, Campus Life and Teen Parents. A number of people who have passed through the YFC programs during their youth now are involved in the organization’s efforts.

NEXT MEETING: 6:15 p.m. Thursday, May 30, with guest speaker Bob Somerville on this year’s tragic Boston Marathon, which he ran.

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ShelterBoxes being sent to stricken Oklahoma

Our club has been a strong financial supporter of the ShelterBox program through which Rotarians have provided emergency housing and equipment to disaster-stricken areas.

Now, after years of hearing how effective ShelterBoxes have been in such far-flung places as Haiti and Indonesia, we are being informed that aid is being rushed to tornado-ravaged Oklahoma just as it was to the East Coast after Hurricane Sandy.

ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) members Wayne Robinson (US) and Jeff Deatherage (US) are en route to Moore, Okla., the worst-hit city in the area. They were expected to arrive Tuesday night to begin to carry out assessments of unmet needs in the area.

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How much do you know about ShelterBox? Go here for details.

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“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this catastrophe,” said Emily Sperling, ShelterBox USA president. “In the following days, our team will be focusing on the most impacted areas to identify unmet shelter and non-food needs.”

As seen with Superstorm Sandy, these situations often require non-food items such as blankets and hygiene kits. ShelterBox was able to assist families living in New York and New Jersey impacted by the hurricane and subsequent winter storms by providing these types of non-food items.

The idea of providing assistance through this clever program to needy people both here and abroad should reenergize our enthusiasm to continue support.

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2 out of 3 runaway winners in 33rd Rotary Run

The official results are in the books for the 33rd annual Rotary Run, held Sunday at the Green Meadow School in Schodack.

Eric Haywood, 27, emerged victorious in the 5-mile division,  finishing nearly  a full minute ahead of the runner-up with a time of 6:04 in a field of 39 finishers.

Jordan Healy,  17, did likewise in the 5-kilometer division, finishing in 5:29 to lead a field of 136  runners.

In the kids’ one-mile division, it was an entirely different scenario when Mallory Prespare, 12, finished in 8:48,  just four seconds ahead of Isaac Ladd, 8, in a field of 41 finishers.

Full results, including gender and age-group standings are available here:

• 5-Mile Run

• 5-Kilometer Run

• Kids’ 1-Mile Run

The Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club thanks all the runners, their parents, coaches and other supporters. And, we thank our own members who volunteered to work in support roles for this major road race.

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Join our visiting Brazilian Rotarians for dinner

This five-person Group Study Exchange (GSE) team of Rotarians from Brazil District 4430 has arrived in District 7190 territory for a month-long stay.

The Lansingburgh Rotary Club has invited us to attend their Tuesday, January 11, dinner meeting to meet-and-greet the visitors. Polish up your Portugese (your English, too, if it needs work) and sign up at this Thursday’s meeting for the June 11 event so we can give our Lansingburgh neighbors an accurate headcount.

The meeting will be held at 6:15 p.m. June 11 at the Lansingburgh Boys & Girls Club, 501 4th Avenue, in the North Troy neighborhood. Cost will be in the $8 to $9 range, and the tentative menu is:

Salad
Baked ziti
Meatballs
Breads
Dessert
Beverages

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Taliban renounces polio immunization violence

The Taliban has ended its war on polio vaccination workers and admitted immunization is the only way to protect children from the disease, its leadership said in a statement issued today (May 17).

The announcement comes just weeks after the Afghan government launched a new campaign to immunize more than eight million children between ages six months and five years throughout the country.

It said it had trained 46,000 volunteers to conduct the campaign which is funded by the American aid agency USAID, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF.

Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria are the three remaining countries in the world where polio remains a serious threat, but efforts to eradicate the disease have been sabotaged by the Taliban and other Islamic militants who have assassinated immunisation volunteers in all three countries.

Eleven polio workers were killed in Pakistan last year, including five women who were shot dead in Karachi in December. Earlier this year, a police officer protecting vaccination campaigners was shot by motorcycle gunmen in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa. In Afghanistan, a 16-year-old girl involved in an anti-polio vaccination campaign in Kapisa province was shot six times in the stomach outside her home last December and died later in hospital.

In March this year the Afghan government was forced to abandon its polio vaccination campaign in Nuristan province where, it said, Taliban opposition had made it impossible.

Opposition to the vaccination programme has been driven by conservative clerics who claim it is a plot to sterilize Muslim children, and Taliban commanders who fear it is being used to gather intelligence in their strongholds. Those fears increased following the 2011 killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad where Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi was arrested for running a fake hepatitis vaccination campaign to help the CIA collect DNA samples of members of the bin Laden family.

But, in a sudden U-turn, the Taliban leadership issued a statement offering its support for polio eradication campaigns as long as foreigners were not involved and that all volunteers respected local Islamic culture.

“According to the latest international medicine science, the polio disease can only be cured by preventive measures ie the anti-polio drops and the vaccination of children against this disease.

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan supports and lends a hand to all those programs which works for the health care of the helpless people of our country,” said a stament issued by the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”

But, it warned the WHO and UNICEF to employ only “unbiased people” in a campaign “harmonized with the regional conditions, Islamic values and local cultural traditions.”

It also ordered its fighters to give polio workers “all necessary support.”

Mohammad Younas Fakor, an independent political analyst, said the move was aimed at boosting its popularity among Afghans as the withdrawal of foreign troops draws closer.

“I think the Taliban looks towards 2014, and they know that they will not have any other option rather than coming to the political process,” he said.

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Meeting of May 16, 2013

Meeting at Quigley’s Restaurant
593 Columbia Turnpike
East Greenbush

Attending (17): Peter Brown, April Dowd, Murray Forth, Pat Bailey, Debbie Brown, Jim Leyhane, Terry Brewer, Geoff Brewer, Dick Drumm, Charlie Foote, Bill Dowd, Doris Calamaras, Dean Calamaras, Carole Spencer, Stewart Wagner, Julius Frankel, Debbie Rodriguez.

Guest (3): Paul R. Huey, Bill Nathan, Efrotini Frankel.

Announcements/Business:

• This Sunday, May 18, is the annual Rotary Run at Green Meadow School. President Peter Brown requested help from everyone on Saturday morning putting together the packets at his house on Clove Road; five members volunteered, more are welcome. This year a timing company will be responsible for registrations and timekeeping. Jim Leyhane asked about runners getting a discount for a second race (some run both the 5K and 5-mile). It is possible they won’t need to pay again and probably would not get a second event shirt. All hands are needed to help out for the event, beginning at 7:30 a.m.

• The Lansingburgh club has requested our attendance on Tuesday, June 11, at their dinner for Rotary visitors from Brazil who are touring the area.

• On Thursday, June 13, we will hold our meeting at either Maple Hill High School or Middle School, where Bob Horan will present a program on distance learning. Details to be announced.

• Beginning next Thursday, we will begin scheduling our summer meetings. Our presidential changeover dinner meeting, when Peter hands off to April Dowd, will be held June 27.

• Peter circulated a Nominating Committee form with information about candidates for RI President for 2015-16.

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Program: The Excavation of Fort Orange

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PHOTOS BY BILL DOWD

Paul R. Huey (above), who led the historic 1970-71 excavation of the Fort Orange site, was our speaker. He used a selection of maps from the 1600s to establish the site where Fort Orange — a Dutch trading post — was built on the west bank of the Hudson River on a distinctive curve of land.

He spoke of the difficulties of finding the original site of the fort, since it had fallen into ruin and was buried under succeeding land uses with only two of its four corners still existing in any form.

He used old maps and photos to show how the fort site had changed over the years, with only a sliver remaining and that actually under a road.

The construction in 1970-71 of Interstate 787 and the changes in approach roads and a replacement Dunn Memorial Bridge provided an opportunity for some archaeological excavation before construction resumed.

During the dig, Paul and his crew unearthed remnants of the surveyor Simeon DeWitt’s large house that was built on the site of the old fort and later burned down in a large fire that swept the neighborhood.

Numerous Dutch artifacts were unearthed — porcelain, earthenware, yellow Dutch bricks and red colonial bricks, clay pipes, wampum, etc. An old fort guard building also was unearthed.

Excavation continued throughout the winter of 1970-71 as the state Department of Transportation provided a cover and heat for the archaeologists to enable them to work through the snowy, freezing weather.

Digging was completed in March 1971 just before construction of 787 resumed.

(Photos of Paul Huey’s PowerPoint slides.)

The Fort Orange excavation site near the 787 construction project.

Workers sift through mud and rubble, looking for artifacts.

Historic artist Len Tantillo’s sketch of presumed interior of the fort.

Red colonial bricks and yellow Dutch bricks unearthed.

Brick fireplace built on top of floorboards of old guard house.

DOT shelter allowed work to proceed through the winter.

Earthenware fragments, including a skillet handle.

Remnants of a Dutch faience plate.

Remnant of a James I coin (full coin seen at right).

Part of a Dutch pottery pitcher with typical pinched handle.

NEXT MEETING: 6:15 p.m. Thursday, May 23. The speaker will be Kevin Post of the international organization Youth for Christ.

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Polio detected in a new spot in Africa

A case of type 1 polio has been reported in the Banadir region of Somalia, accrding to Rotary International. Is is the African nation’s country’s first case since March 2007.

Genetic sequencing suggests the virus is closely related to a type 1 virus strain circulating in Nigeria.

In response to the outbreak, an immunization campaign took place this week, aimed at reaching more than 350,000 children in the Banadir region.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a surveillance alert for Somalia and bordering areas of northern Kenya and eastern Ethiopia, highlighting the need for urgent searches for additional cases of acute flaccid paralysis and suspected polio in all health facilities. WHO has also advised all countries in Africa and the eastern Mediterranean region to heighten their surveillance for poliovirus.

While only three countries remain polio-endemic — Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan — the world is at risk of outbreaks until all three stop the virus. Continued support for polio eradication is needed to ensure that the progress gained is not lost.

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Fort Orange excavator our club’s guest this week

PAINTING BY LEN TANTILLO DEPICTING FORT ORANGE

The excavation project headed up by Dr. Paul Huey exposed the origins of the City of Albany — the Dutch installation called Fort Orange, their first outpost in the New World.

The portion of the Fort Orange Archeological Site that was the area of the fort was declared a National Historic Landmark, and therefore added to the National Register of Historic Places, on November 4, 1993.

Join the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club on Thursday, May 16, when Dr. Huey will present a talk on this most exciting of historic excavations.

Be sure to RSVP your dinner meeting reservation as soon as you get the weekly e-mail request on Monday, And, as always, please feel free to bring a guest and/or a prospective Rotary Club member.

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