Meeting of November 7, 2018

 

 

 

Co-President Scott opened the meeting with the pledge led by Gus Fishel, and grace by Werner Kumbrunn. Guenka Guentcheva’s guest was her grandson Martin, Josie Titcomb brought Kara Winter, and Pat Brennan joined us again.

 

 

Holiday Gifts – We are collecting holiday gifts for the disadvantaged folks at the Madonna Heights facility in Dix Hills. Megan Noble is coordinate the effort again this year. As before, you can purchase gifts yourself, or Megan will shop for you. If you prefer the latter, get your check to Megan by Thanksgiving so that we can deliver the gifts to the SCO Family of Services by early December.

 

Bulk Food Shopping – Scott Lockwood will be organizing another bulk food shopping run to Restaurant Depot with several reps from local food pantries and soup kitchens. If you’d like to join the group, 9 AM next Wednesday, November 14th at 1966 Rte.110 in Farmingdale, please contact Scott asap. We will also purchase several hundred Thanksgiving turkeys next month, partly with funds from a District grant.

 

No Meeting November 21st – We will not hold a regular meeting on Wednesday, November 21st; all are encouraged to join the BBCC Turkey Dinner prep event instead (see below).

 

BBCC Turkey Dinners - The Babylon Breast cancer Coalition and the BBQ Brethren will be cooking, boxing, and delivering Thanksgiving dinners for cancer survivors, veterans, and others in need on Wednesday, November 21, 2018 from 2-6 PM at the Community Presbyterian Church, 1843 Deer Park Ave. in Deer Park. In addition to donating 60 turkeys to the cause, some Babylon Rotarians have volunteered to work at the event. If you would like to join in, please contact Frank Seibert (fjseibertcca@hotmail.com) asap.

 

Holiday Party – Our Annual Holiday Party will be held at the home of Kelly and Scott Lockwood on Friday, December 7th; details to follow.

 

Thanks From BVYP – We received a beautiful plaque from the folks atf the Babylon Village Youth Project commemorating our club’s generous support over many years.

 

 

Our own Dr. Krishna Gujavarty spoke about “Values in Leadership”.

 

He began by explaining how the lack of values in the health care industry has worsened over the years, emphasizing the social and political forces that impede one’s ability to “do the right thing” in all circumstances.

 

Dr. Krish has been working with various schools teaching students skill sets, values, and good citizenship, and how to apply them in social interactions within the community.

 

He described the programs and workshops he helped fund at Stony Brook University, working with students from “non-privileged” backgrounds. He established the Gujavarty Family Seminar Fund, matched by the Simons Foundation Challenge Grant. The fund is designed for undergraduate students, seeks to foster values-based leadership from inside and outside the Asian Indian community, and to develop a sense of shared purpose.

 

He related how his medical education in India taught that  “healing” can only occur when the physician brings compassion and positive values to the patient’s bedside. He stressed the importance of effective communication, consisting of the five “E’s” – Engaging, Empathy, Encouraging, Educating, and Enlisting, in treating patients – an attribute rarely seen in medical practices today.

 

Dr Krish concluded by explaining how his long term membership in Rotary is largely motivated by the values inherent in the organization and exhibited by fellow Rotarians.

 

 

At our next regular meeting on Wednesday, November 16th, Terry Prag and Allison Baber will give an update on the Babylon Breast Cancer Coalition.

 

Mallomar Day! – It finally arrived – our annual celebration of Mallomar Day. This month marks the 105th anniversary of the first Mallomar sold in West Hoboken, NJ. Over the years, the chocolatey marshmallow treat has gathered a cultlike following.

 

Scott Lockwood recounted a brief, yet reverent history of these unique confections, explaining why they only appear at this time of year and mysteriously disappear after a short six-month life on market shelves. Among the little known facts about Mallomars recited by Scott is that they are produced in Toronto, but not sold in Canada (do they know something that we don’t?). The mystique surrounding these honored mounds is greatest in the Northeast U.S. where 95% of their production is sold each year.

 

With homage duly paid, we all popped a few of the little buggers to see if the hype was well founded -Well?