October 26 TRI-GEAR REPORT

Flag Salute:  President Joeen Ciannella

Invocation: Bob Balentine

Members Present: M. Albergo, B. Balentine, B. Bustard, J. Ciannella, B. Cohen, P. DiRosa, J. Doornbosch, R. Falcon, S. Fox, S. Gold, A. Kilmartin, F. Logan, G. Sherman, Peter Wells, Phil Wells.

Visiting Rotarians and Guests:  PDG and Past Rotary International Director Ray Wells and his wife Betty, Rotarian Ted from Florida, District Literacy Chair; Nancy Kilmartin (guest of Ann), Linda Wells (guest of Peter).

Make Ups: Dictionaries - M. Albergo, P. DiRosa, J. Doornbosch, S. Gold, P. Little, Peter Wells; Interact Conference - M. Albergo, S. Gold, Peter Wells; Oct. Bd. Mtg. - P. DiRosa, F. Logan.  (Please be sure to report your make-ups for our records and to improve our percentage of attendance!)

Late Fines: Jan Doornbosch

Photo Fines:  None

Birthdays and Anniversaries: None

Sunshine: E-mail from Linda Jones - Dislocated & broke 2 bones in my ankle in Chania, Crete 2 days ago.
> Heading to the hospital in Rome for surgery.     Very scary since I
> don't speak the language.

 Our thoughts and prayers go out to all who are currently contending with adversity of one type or another.

Happiness:
by George Sherman

PDG and former RI Director Ray Wells was happy to be a part of the induction of his grandson Phil into the Park Ridge Club.

Ann Kilmartin was happy to for the new inductees and to be back with us today.

Jan Doornbosch was happy for the new members and for the help in applying the bookplates to the dictionaries.

Stuart Gold was happy for the new members, for the successful Interact Conference, and to have Ann back with us.

Michelle Albergo was thrilled to have two new members to help her in her 2013-14 year as Club President.

Linda Wells was happy to be here to witness the installation of her son into Rotary.

Bob Balentine was happy that another generation of the Wells family has joined Rotary.

Bob Bustard was happy for the new members and for a letter he received from Mercy Sicat thanking the club for all that was done on Noreen's behalf last year. Noreen recently celebrated the first anniversary of her heart operation and is doing well.

Bernie Cohen was happy for the new inductees and for the growing number of orders for fresh fruit that he is receiving.

Ray Falcon and Fay Logan were happy to have participated in the Tough Mudder competition last week.

Pat DiRosa was happy to have Ann and Nancy Kilmartin back with us.

President Joeen Ciannella was happy for our new members, for our guests and for the support she is receiving as president this year.

Announcements:
by George Sherman
Thanks to the efforts of several Rotarians, bookplates have been applied to the dictionaries that were delivered to Jan's warehouse. We hope to complete distribution by Thanksgiving. The tentative plan is for Michelle Albergo and Vlad Zherenovsky to make arrangements to deliver dictionaries in Woodcliff Lake, Steve Fox to deliver them to Memorial School in Montvale, your editor and Dick Beattie to deliver to OLM while Stuart Gold and Steve Hopper will be taking care of East Brook and West Ridge in Park Ridge. If you want to be part of the process, please e-mail glsjr2@optonline.net or call 201-664-7924.

Fay Logan has announced that plans are in place for our 2nd annual St.Paddy's Day celebration to be held on Friday, March 15 at the Park Ridge Elks Club. Nightingale Catering will be providing the food once again.

Bob Bustard is in the process of arranging for an afternoon or evening of trap and skeet shooting at Thunder Mountain in Ringwood State Park sometime in the next few weeks.

Bernie Cohen has prepared a flyer for this year's Fruit Sale. It has been sent as an e-mail attachment to all club members and District Presidents as well as to friends of the club. Additional flyers may be downloaded from the Download section on the left sidebar of our website. Members are encouraged to forward flyers to friends, relatives and business contacts. Orders will be accepted until November 24. Delivery is scheduled for Saturday, December 1 between 10:00 and noon at the Merrill Lynch parking lot, 50 Chestnut Ridge Road, Montvale. Call 201-391-4249 for additional information.

Mark Your Calendar with these UPCOMING EVENTS:

by George Sherman

Sat., Oct. 27 -The Rotary Foundation seminar will be held at the Passport Cafe at West Milford Airport. The Rotary Foundation is changing to Future Vision in July and it is VERY important that all Rotary Clubs who want to ask for a grant attend this seminar.It starts at 8:30 am and goes to 1:30 pm. Only $20 includes breakfast and lunch!

Fri., Nov. 2 - District Governor Bonnie Sirower will be visiting our club. This will be the Governor's Official Visit for Rotary Year 2012-13. All Officers and members of the Board of Directors are asked to arrive at The Courtyard at 11:00 that day for a preliminary meeting with the Governor.

Mon., Nov. 5 - District Staff Meeting - Holiday Inn, Hasbrouck Heights - 5:30 cocktails; 6:00 dinner/meeting - $25.00. Featured speaker will be former RI President ('07-'08) Wilf Wilkerson.

Thurs., Nov. 8 - Club Meeting at Bibi'z Restaurant, 284 Center Ave., Westwood. Cocktails at 6:00; Dinner at 6:30.

 Fri., Nov. 30 - 2012-13 Club Photo will be taken.

Program: Newly inducted Philip Wells demonstrated his commitment to putting RI's motto of Service Above Self into practice as he shared with club members his recent experiences in Haiti.

Following the devastating earthquake in 2010, his uncle Tom Wells, ran a clothing drive which brought in over 7000 boxes of donated clothes and shoes, enough to fill twelve 40-foot containers. At that point, the decision was made to purchase the containers and to retrofit them in Haiti to become YMCA's, community centers and schools.

 

This past June, Phil, his uncle Tom, and team of 8 other volunteers traveled back to Haiti to begin the retrofitting of three containers that will ultimately become a new community center in the town of Croix-des-Bouquets. What started as a napkin sketch evolved into plans that would maximize the the containers' potential by creating a 60'x60' multi-purpose space surrounded by the three re-purposed containers. For a cost of about $25,000, this new structure will ultimately serve 1400 people. Over time another 3 structures are planned.

In December, Phil will be traveling back to Haiti to continue this project. You can find out more by visiting http://www.ridgewoodymca.org/haiti-container-project 

1/3;1/3;1/3 - Won by President Joeen. The Joker has yet to be found however.