March 23, 2022
Reporter: Kelly Buck
Wednesday’s meeting:
Rotary Redistricting and Fellowship
Hybrid Meeting at Coltivare and on Zoom
WELCOME & TRADITIONS
President Catrina opened the hybrid meeting with the Four-Way Test recited in unison by all.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Richard Kops advised the club that we will have an in-person social gathering on Thursday, April 7th from 5 to 7 PM; cost is $10 per person; location TBA. Please let him or Catrina know if you’ll be attending. Then they can select a proper location. This is a wonderful way to reconnect and mix and mingle after being apart for two years.- Our club is partnering with Coltivare for FoodNet’s Mac & Cheese Bowl on May 4th from 4:30 to 7 PM. Coltivare chefs will prepare the macaroni and cheese; we need to help serve it to the attendees. Please sign up! And plan to come to the event for Meals on Wheels!
- Heidi urged Rotarians to attend a Zoom presentation on Wednesday, April 6th at 6:30 PM. All are invited to tune in with famous DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) advocate Dr. Todd Jenkins.
- Bob Gravani issued an invitation to join in the next Highway Clean-Up Day, Saturday, April 23rd, in conjunction with Earth Day. Meet at 9 AM at the Tops on Triphammer Rd; look for folks with hard hats and vests! Safety equipment will be provided; wear sturdy shoes and bring a water bottle (and mask, if desired). For registration and questions, contact Mary-Lynn Cummings: mlcummings101@gmail.com, 607/227-5790.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Kelly Buck shared some thoughts on her recent ski trip to Lake Tahoe, and simply said: “Bloom where you are planted. Love where you live. Find beauty in every moment.”
LAST WEEK’S PRESENTATION
Cal Walker introduced our speaker, Mary George Opperman of Cornell’s Office of Human Resources. Mary has been at the university’s Human Resources office since 1996 and works and advocates for an equitable workplace.
“Human Capital: Challenges and Opportunities in 2022 and Beyond”The pandemic has caused seismic shifts in the workplace and employment management practices. This is the first time in living history that employees have had leverage—there are more jobs open than there are people to fill them. The employment landscape has experienced small applicant pools, high employee turnover, candidate withdrawals, burnout, low morale, and failed searches.
The “great resignation” of 2021 was unprecedented, resulting in 1.7 open jobs for every unemployed person. Two years of COVID have given people time to step back and re-evaluate the importance of work in their lives. HR experts are finding that it’s easy to teach hard skills, but after the pandemic, soft skills are needed most: the ability to respond in a crisis, effective communications, online work, etc. Employees are putting great emphasis on well being, professional growth opportunities, technology, etc. at their places of employment. Remote work—the ability to live anywhere while working virtually—has changed the entire landscape, and HR professionals must respond to these new needs or risk losing workers.
ROTARY REDISTRICTING
District Governor Evan Kurtz reviewed the news that Rotary International has determined that Districts 7150 (Syracuse region) and 7190 (Albany region) have fallen well below the optimal membership count of 1,100 and will be asked to merge. Our District 7170 isn’t far behind.Our District leadership has been discussing the situation with the leadership of both of these Districts as well as Zone leaders. We believe it is in our best interest to present our own redistricting plan to Rotary International before a plan is determined from the RI level; that is, we expect to develop a plan that would merge all three districts into one large district. [Note that we've been referred to the December issue of the District Newsletter for detailed information—but there is one detail that changed! The December issue said that the three districts would become TWO districts; DG Evan said that after much discussion, it was decided to propose merging the three districts into ONE.]
Our club needs to discuss this at our March 30th meeting and then vote for or against redistricting; a deadline of March 30th was given to us 8 weeks ago...
President Catrina rang the bell to close the meeting.
THANK YOU ROTARIANS
Newsletter Reporter: Kelly Buck
Photographer: Mike Brown
Newsletter Facilitator: Loralyn Light
Set-Up Crew: Joe Giordano, Harlin McEwen, Dave Martin
Zoom Team: Brett Bossard
Club Service Facilitators: Beverly Baker and June Losurdo