April 11 TRI-GEAR REPORT
Flag Salute: Stuart Gold
Invocation: Bob Balentine
Members Present: Michelle Albergo, Bob Balentine, Ryan Cangialosi, Mauro Cappitella, Pat DiRosa, Stuart Gold, Linda Hanlon, Ann Kilmartin, Fay Logan, Cindy Rose, George Sherman, Brittany Vozza, Peter and Phil Wells.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests: PDG Emil Geering and Linda Port (Paramus Rotary); Guest Speakers - Rotarians Alicia Sansarricq (Wayne PM), and AG Dr. Pierre Guibor (Secaucus); Youth Exchange Students Emilie Henrard and Mateus Laurino; Rotarian guests: Nancy Kilmartin; Joe DiRosa; Helen Logan; Pam Sherman; Evelyn Sinaldi.
Make Ups: Earning Make-Ups at the meeting of Charitable Foundation Trustees were Joeen Ciannella, Jan Doornbosch, Bernie Cohen, Pat DiRosa, Vlad Zherenovsky, Stuart Gold, Ray Falcon, Bob Bustard, Linda Hanlon and George Sherman.
(Please be sure to report your make-ups for our records and to improve our percentage of attendance!)
Birthdays and Anniversaries: None ReportedSunshine: Thoughts and prayers go out to all who are currently contending with adversity of one type or another.
Happiness:
by George Sherman
Cindy Rose was happy to have attended the Lincoln Dinner in NYC.
Ryan Cangialosi was happy that his brother and fiancée had bought a house.
Joe DiRosa was happy that he and Pat will be attending an Elton John concert during their stay in Las Vegas.
Linda Hanlon was happy to have Dr. Pierre Guibor and other guests with us tonight.
PDG Emil Geering was happy to see Ann Kilmartin once again.
Linda Port was happy to be visiting Bibi’z with Emil.
Pat DiRosa was happy to be here with Joe.
Ann Kilmartin was happy to have so many guests here tonight.
Mauro Cappitella was happy to have Evelyn with him tonight.
Fay Logan was happy for the active involvement of our newest members in helping to refurbish the Little Ferry Fire House.
Exchange Student Matteus was happy to be a guest of our club tonight.
Alicia Sansarricq was happy to have been invited to speak about Youth Exchange tonight.
Michelle Albergo was happy to dine with three such enthusiastic, energetic and inspiring Rotarians as Brittany, Phil and Ryan.
Your editor was happy to have Pam with him tonight and for the successful removal of the in-ground oil tank in his front yard today.
Peter Wells was happy to have sold 200 50/50 Raffle Tickets thus far.
Dr. Pierre Guibor was happy to be a guest of one of the premier clubs in District 7490.
Stuart Gold was happy that the club was able to host our Youth Exchange visitors tonight and reminded us all that The Rotary Foundation is the driving force behind this great program – just one more reason to contribute to EREY.
ALL WERE HAPPY THAT SGT. AT ARMS PETER WELLS COLLECTED NEARLY $200.00 TONIGHT!!!
Announcements:
by George Sherman
· Registration brochure for this year's District Conference in Mystic, Connecticut is now available. Download the brochure from our website or contact Judy Messineo at bergentravel@optonline.net for more information on the availability of bus transportation or on the conference itself.
· Peter Wells reminded us about our 2013 CASH RAFFLE. This is our biggest fund-raiser of the year and something that we ALL must get behind. Potentially, we can raise $7500.00! Tickets are only $50.00 apiece and only 300 will be sold, so your chances of winning are quite good. The drawing will take place at our June 14 luncheon meeting at The Courtyard. By starting early, we hope to have them all sold by June 1. EACH MEMBER IS ENCOURAGED TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PURCHASE AND/OR SALE OF 5 TICKETS. So far we’ve sold 213.
· Stuart Gold reminded club members about the upcoming Montvale Street Fair. The Fair will be held on Paragon Drive in Montvale on Sunday, June 2 between 9 and 5. Arrangements have been made for the Park Ridge Rotary Club to have a table in a prime location. Set up will begin that Sunday at 8:00. We are considering selling chances for one or more gift baskets at our table. Further discussion will occur at Tuesday’s Board meeting.
· Kelley O’Donnell’s induction will take place next Friday at The Courtyard. There will be an Orientation Meeting beginning at 11:15 for Kelley, other new members, and any Rotarian who would like to take part. Keep in mind that April 19 is also PICTURE DAY for the club. This will be our first group picture since 2009. All are encouraged to make a special effort to be there.
Mark Your Calendar with these UPCOMING EVENTS:
by George Sherman
Tues., 4/16 – Board Meeting – Pascack Historical Society – Dinner at 6:00; Meeting at 6:30.
Fri., 4/19 – 2013 CLUB PICTURE
Sat., 4/20 – RLI at Seton Hall Prep. To register visit www.rlinea.com.
Thurs.,4/25 – President’s Ball – Season’s - $90.00
Mon., 5/6 – District Staff Meeting – Holiday Inn – Hasbrouck Heights – 5:30-8:00 - $25.00
Th., 5/16-Sun., 5/19 – District Conference – Mystic, CN
Sun., 6/2 – Montvale Street Fair – Paragon Drive, Montvale
Tues., 6/18 – Banner Exchange – Macaluso’s
Sat., 6/22 - Clearwater Sail HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR 2013
Program:
The Club’s first guest of the evening was Dr. Pierre Guibor, District 7490 AG and member of the Secaucus Rotary Club. Dr. Guibor spoke of the upcoming Rotary International Convention being held this year in Lisbon, Portugal from June 20-26. Nearly 20,000 Rotarians from all over the world are expected to take part. All members should make the effort to experience an RI Convention to better appreciate the global reach of our organization. RI Conventions become treasured memories of all who attend. To learn more and to register online, visit http://www.riconvention.org/en/2013/Pages/ridefault.aspx
Alicia Sansarricq, Youth Exchange Chairperson for RI District 7490 was then introduced. In her talk, Alicia described both the Long Term and Short Term Youth Exchange programs that have been a part of RI since 1929. Every year, 8,000 high school students from around the world ages 15 to 18 participate in exchanges to over 100 countries courtesy of Rotary International. As the world becomes a smaller and smaller place, the value of such exchanges becomes increasingly important. Successful applicants rank in the top 25% of their class, have excellent study habits, are stellar citizens of their community and can become fine ambassadors for their country.
The sponsoring Rotary Club's responsibility is to sign up host families (they do NOT have to be Rotarians), and a budget of $2,000. Rotary encourages each student to reside with three families. This gives the student a better perspective of life in America and gives more families an opportunity to learn about another culture.
Host family responsibilities for a long term student aren't much different from their responsibilities for their own kids: provide a comfortable and nurturing home environment; have the student share a bedroom with not more than one person (must be the same gender); treat the student like one of their own, provide 3 meals a day, emotional support, a place to study and helping the student study if needed; provide transportation to and from all school activities.
It's important to realize that while in the US, the Inbound students are Rotary's kids and Rotary's responsibility. All Club members should participate in entertaining them and making them part of the community. Each student and their parents sign an extensive set of behavior commitments which include the four "D"s: No Drinking, No Driving, No Dating, No Drugs. Each student has a return ticket which can be activated within 24 hours for either a family emergency or unacceptable behavior.
Tonight, the club was fortunate to have as its guests, two of this year’s Youth Exchange students – Emilie Henrard and Mateus Laurino. Emilie, who was born and raised in Belgium, has long wanted to visit the United States. She will be a part of River Dell’s graduating class in June and hopes to pursue a career in medicine. Mateus calls Sao Paolo, Brazil home. Originally housed with a family on Long Island, he was forced to relocate after Super Storm Sandy. Since then, he has been staying in Fair Lawn and will be part of their graduating class.
Both students spoke glowingly of their experiences in the United States and expressed – in excellent English - their great appreciation for this opportunity to learn more about the people and culture of the U.S.
To learn more about Youth Exchange, visit http://www.rotary.org/en/studentsandyouth/youthprograms/rotaryyouthexchange/pages/ridefault.aspx