Park Ridge Rotary Club October 30 Meeting at The Courtyard by Marriott
 
Flag Salute: President Vlad Zherenovsky
 
Invocation: Bob Balentine
 
Members Present: J. Bertini, R. Balentine, R. Bustard, I. Chazotte, B. Cohen, J. Doornbosch, S. Fox, S. Gold, R. Guller, P. Jacobsen, L. Kempner, H. Paul, G. Sherman, V. Zherenovsky
 
Visiting Rotarians and Guests: Guest Speakers Shereen Bloom (PHHS Interact Advisor);Kaitlyn Mahaffey (Ass’t. Advisor); Interact Co-Presidents Leigh Siracusano and Olivia Manhart; Steven Meccia (guest of Pres. Vlad); Lois Kempner (guest of Lester).
 
Make-Ups:  Stuart Gold earned a make-up when he attended the Halloween for Hunger event.
 
BE CERTAIN TO ALERT SECRETARY JUNE BERTINI OF ANY MAKE-UPS IN ORDER TO KEEP THE CLUB’S ATTENDANCE RECORDS ACCURATE.
 
Birthdays and Anniversaries: November Birthdays: Susanne Hartmann-Silva (6th), David Acevedo (9th), Ray Falcon (17th), Linda Hanlon (19th), Ralph Padovano (19th), Tara Ciannella Scheuerman (20th);
 
Anniversaries: Susanne and Cesar Silva (22nd).  
 
May your special days be joyous ones.
 
Sunshine: Bob Balentine reported that Cindy Rose is recuperating from her knee replacement surgery.
 
Our thoughts and prayers go out to all who are currently contending with adversity of one type or another.
 
Happiness:
by G. Sherman
 
Steve F. was happy to see Interact advisor Kaitlyn Mahaffey, one of his son’s teachers.
 
Jan D. was happy to have his boat out of the water.
 
June B. was happy about the election campaign in Park Ridge and to have her California grandson coming to visit at Thanksgiving.
 
Bob Balentine was happy that Cindy will be coming home next week, that the cast is off his wrist and that his grandson already has a job lined up with a solar engineering firm.
 
Bernie C. was happy to have visited the Baseball Hall of Fame and other museums near Cooperstown on his most recent trip upstate.
 
Helen P. was happy that her foster daughter Jackie will be graduating from Northwestern Univ. and that she has received several job offers already.
 
Stuart G. was happy to have taken part in the District’s Halloween Against Hunger event.
 
President Vlad was happy that his 3 ½ year old son Allen was able to take part in the Halloween Against Hunger event as well.
 
Announcements:
by G. Sherman
 
Helen Paul reported on her recent visit to see our Gift of Life child, a two and a half year old girl from Bolivia. Helen says that she is doing very well and may be ready to return home within the next 10 days. Dick Beattie has written that “the only immediate and ongoing need is translation as mother and daughter speak only Spanish. If any of you speak Spanish and would be willing to spend some time visiting with our guests that would be enormously helpful. Just dropping in for a few minutes during the day or joining us for dinner would be a big help. Having a Spanish speaker available to confirm that they do, in fact, understand certain things would be very helpful and greatly increase their comfort level. You will be working and interacting with some amazing people. The rewards are hard to put into words.” Contact Dick for further information.
 
Members are reminded that this year’s Lord & Taylor’s Fundraising Shopping Event being held at The Fashion Center in Ridgewood from 9:00 AM until 11:00 PM on SATURDAY, November 14. THE CLUB KEEPS ALL MONEY FROM THE SALES OF THESE $5.00 PASSES. If the club sells 200 passes, we earn $1,000.00. Plus, the club will receive a percentage of the sales credited to our club on the day of the event. Each member is urged to be responsible for at least 10 passes. Sell them or gift them to family, neighbors or friends, or GIVE THEM AWAY to clients or acquaintances as promotional tools. We can't afford to pass this opportunity up!
 
Monday evening, 11/9 at 6:00, club members are invited to Jan’s warehouse to prepare and package dictionaries for 3rd graders in Park Ridge, Montvale and Woodcliff Lake. Contact George or Jan if you want to help.
 
2015 Fresh Fruit Sales are about to begin. Flyer can be downloaded from the club’s website. All orders must be in to Bernie by 11/27. Pick up date will be Saturday, 12/5 between 10:00 and noon in the parking lot at 50 Chestnut Ridge Rd., Montvale. Full cartons of oranges or grapefruit contain about 42 lbs. of freshly picked fruit. Full case: $48.00; Half case: $29.00. Enjoy this delectable treat throughout the holidays and help the club raise some cash.
 
All members are encouraged to attend a NJ Devil’s hockey game on December 19 when they play against the Anaheim Ducks.
 
Mark Your Calendar with These UPCOMING EVENTS:
by G. Sherman 
 
Fri., 11/6 – Club Meeting – Courtyard by Marriott, Montvale – Guest speaker – Marilyn Laquidara – New Hope, Inc.
 
Mon., 11/9 – Dictionary Project gets underway – 6:00 – International Bulb Company (Jan’s warehouse)
 
Tues., 11/10 - RI President, K.R.Ravindran will visit our District on Tuesday November 10, 2015. Greet him at a "Celebration of Rotary Service" Party to be held at Season’s, Washington Township, from 6.30 to 10.30. The "Celebration of Rotary Service" will recognize District 7490 Rotarians with over 40 years of Rotary Service including our own Dr. Robert Balentine, Dr. Stuart Gold and Ralph Padovano.
 
Sat., 11/14 - Lord & Taylor’s Fundraising Shopping Event being held at The Fashion Center in Ridgewood from 9:00 AM until 11:00 PM. Contact Pat DiRosa to purchase $5.00 Savings Passes entitling you to some great discounts.
 
Fri., 11/27 – Orders for fresh fruit from Indian River, Florida are due in to Bernie Cohen.
 
SAVE THE DATES – 2016 District Conference – April 28-May 1, Baltimore Inner Harbor
 
 
Program: 
by G. Sherman
On Friday, Oct. 30, club members had the opportunity to hear first hand of the fabulous work being done by the Pascack Hills High School’s Interact Club. Advisor Shereen Bloom and her assistant Kaitlyn Mahaffey were justifiably proud to introduce their 2 co-presidents, senior Leigh Siracusano and junior Olivia Manhart.
 
The club, which consists of nearly 80 members, meets once a month to plan an inspiring array of activities. Among the most noteworthy: Stop Hunger Now; Thanksgiving Food Drive; Fund-raising for Pascack Valley Mental Health Center; Park Ridge Rotary’s 5K; Holiday Gift Drive for the benefit of Project Paterson; Mother’s Day Drive; One Million Lights.
 
Park Ridge Rotary is indeed fortunate to have the opportunity to sponsor such an outstanding group of young people as they demonstrate their commitment to putting Service above Self. Likewise the students are exceedingly fortunate to have Ms. Bloom and Ms. Mahaffey at their side.