SOUTHERN RENSSELAER COUNTY ROTARY CLUB #4919
eMail: SRCrotary@gmail.com
USPS mail: P.O. Box 71, East Greenbush, NY 12061
Board of Directors for the 2015-16 Rotary Year
President: Terrance Brewer
President-elect: Debbie Rodriguez
Treasurer: Murray Forth
Secretary: Patricia Bailey
Immediate Past President: William M. Dowd (webmaster)
Directors-at-Large: James C. Leyhane, James Butterworth
The Rotary Club of Southern Rensselaer County, NY, was chartered on March 2, 1960, as the East Greenbush Rotary Club. The name was changed in the 1990s to reflect the expansion of its area of membership and service.
We conduct dinner meetings at 6:15 p.m. each Thursday from September through June. The venue is Quigley’s restaurant, 593 Columbia Turnpike, East Greenbush, NY.
Also from September through June we hold one-hour continental breakfast meetings at 7 a.m. on the third Thursday of each month at the Greenbush YMCA, 20 Community Way, East Greenbush, NY.
If you would like to attend a meeting, please call President Terry Brewer at (518) 465-0934 no later than Tuesday each week to book a reservation for a Thursday dinner ($18 per person) or monthly breakfast (no charge).
During July and August, we meet at various members’ homes for informal picnic-style events, or participate in clubwide excursions — summer theater performances, professional baseball games, etc. — and, we hold an annual December holiday party and gift basket silent auction event, with proceeds from the latter going to the club treasury.
The Southern Rensselaer County club is part of Rotary District 7190, which covers 42 individual clubs and which itself is a segment of Rotary International, a global organization of more than 1,230,000 members.
Rotarians focus our efforts in six areas:
1. Promoting peace
2. Preventing diseases
3. Providing access to clean water and sanitation
4. Enhancing maternal and child health
5. Improving basic education and literacy
6. Helping communities develop
We are especially dedicated to ending polio in our lifetimes. Rotary members have persevered in this fight since 1979 and now have helped eradicate endemic polio in all but two countries worldwide — Pakistan and Afghanistan, stymied there by ongoing terrorist attacks against polio volunteer workers and their police protection.
In Southern Rensselaer County and environs we are involved in sponsoring a variety of community activities. Here is a sampling — and it truly is just a sampling:
• Winter Indoor Simulator Golf Tournaments: Each winter, we hold a series of such events open to the public at the Burden Lake Country Club. Revenues have gone to a variety of charitable organizations, such as Ronald McDonald House in Albany, ShelterBox, PolioPlus and others.
• Bowling for Vets: An annual bowl-a-thon open to the public to support programs for a local service working with the Wounded Warriors program, and the Blue Star Mothers military family support efforts.
• Scholarships: We provide grants of varying amounts to cover student participation in such programs as the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) training academy, summer enrollments at camps run by the Boys Scouts and the YMCA, college study, and vocational training programs.
• Community CPR Certification: A bi-annual workshop and practical examination for all in the community needing official Red Cross certification. It draws many from the local medical and education communities.
• Scouting: Support for the local Troop 41 to encourage following the ideals of the Boy Scouts of America, and sponsorship of plaques at Columbia High School honoring the highest achievers in Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts organizations.
• Food Programs: Semi-annual community drives in support of a number of local food pantries.
• Ronald McDonald House: We provide a series of financial grants and hands-on culinary services to the family facility aiding resident out-of-town people temporarily using Albany Medical Center’s facilities.
In addition, the club provides financial grants for a variety of community projects and activities each year — family shelters, emergency services, local and global relief aid, historical groups, civic projects, local schools’ programs, libraries, etc. — supported by annual membership dues, individual member contributions, and various fundraising projects.
You can keep up with Southern Rensselaer Rotary’s activities via our website or our Facebook page.
SO, YOU THINK YOU MAY WANT TO JOIN US?
A guide for prospective members
Organization
Rotary International is a global association of independently-run Rotary Clubs. The administration of the international organization is handled by officers, directors, and committees chosen from areas all over the world, in worldwide elections. The purpose of the administration is to provide not only a framework for clubs to build on, but also to service all clubs in consistency and effectiveness. Rotary holds an International Convention once a year to transact the business of the organization. Each club in the world may send delegates in proportion to its membership. The central offices for the international organization are in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, IL.
District Organization: Groups of clubs in an area are divided into segments called districts and are serviced by an elected District Governor and a set of District Officers and committees. Each Rotary Club is guided by officers and directors nominated and elected by the club members. Annual elections are held. The club has a constitution and by-laws controlling its actions.
To Qualify for Membership in a Club
We are very ecumenical. The individual may be involved in a business or profession, or be a homemaker or even a self-supporting non-worker to be invited to join Rotary.
Attendence Requirements
Membership in Rotary is an honor and a privilege. There is no privilege that does not involve a set of corresponding duties. One of the outstanding obligations is regularity of participation. Being busy is no excuse, for all Rotarians are busy persons. However, there are numerous ways to stay active without attending every weekly meeting. Among them are makeup visits to any other Rotary club in the world, participation in Rotary-sponsored activities, being active online with an “e” club, and other possibilities. And, beginning in the 2015-16 Rotary Year, we introduced monthly breakfast meetings to accommodate the personal and business schedules of prospective members unable to attend our weekly dinner events with regularity.
Dues
Annual dues in the SRC Rotary Club are $125 for the first year of membership, rising to $150 in the second year, and $175 thereafter. Dues are payable by July 1 for the Rotary year commencing on that date. Dues may be paid in two installments — $87.50 on July 1 and $87.50 on January 1. Dues help support the club, the district and Rotary International.
If you are interested in learning more about Rotary and membership in this global service organization, please select one of these links:
• Rotary International
• District 7190 (Capital Region)
Or, simply call or email the current club president. For the 2015-16 Rotary Year that is Terry Brewer ( 518-465-0934 — tlbrewer12piseco@gmail.com ).
Download Your SRC Membership Form Here
Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club 