Stories

AG Kevin Mooney introduced DG Mike Slovak from the Bath Club and noted many of Mike’s Rotary positions and awards. 

• Increasing member global perspective
• Increase Foundation Giving, (Mike noted that there was 30 cents in front of every person present.  This represents how much it costs daily for a member to donate $109 per year to the Rotary Foundation.) Rotarians can go to Rotary.Org and click on Rotary Direct to donate monthly to the Foundation.
• Increase Support for Clubs-Mike will have a monthly on-line Q and A for club Presidents.
• Increase personal and professional development through more webinars.
• Improve and increase communication-cleaning up district web site and getting more members to opt in for district e-mails
• Increase development of strategic plans

  Our guest speaker today was Derek Poole, Family Literacy Coordinator for Literacy Volunteers of Wayne County (LV Wayne).  Derek started by expressing his appreciation for Rotary, mentioning that Wayne County Rotary clubs are major sponsors of his organization’s annual spelling bee.  (For the past several years, our club has sponsored the Pal-Mac Interact Club's entry to the spelling bee, and sent a team of our own members.)  If you grew up with books in your home, if you are an average or better reader, then you are privileged, he told us.

   In Wayne County, some 6000 adults (8%) lack basic literacy skills.  These people cannot read a map or their child’s report card.  Neither can they read instructions on forms.  They cannot fill out a job application or read the label on a medicine bottle.  They can’t read a bedtime story to their children.  These are all things most of us take for granted.  And as our society becomes more and more dependent on technology in the information age, those with literacy deficiencies are more likely to be left behind.

 
Pictured, l-r: Derek Poole of LV Wayne; Brian Brooks; Pam Dean, club Literacy Chair; and Club President Bob Yost.
 

   Club member Tom Brighton was on hand today to share some of his experiences and observations on China, where he and his wife Linda spent a year on a humanitarian mission for LDS Charities.  The People’s Republic of China is the most populous country in the world, with a population of over 1.35 billion, and is the oldest continuing culture on Earth.  Currently there are two couples in China, doing work for LDS Charities.

   In order to be granted entry into China, the church had to have an approved organization host their representatives.  Tom and Linda were hosted by the China Women’s Federation.  As a condition of their visas, they taught English 3 days each week.  As part of their efforts with LDS Charities, they provided 20,000 books to a migrant school and delivered wheelchairs to disabled persons, among other things.  The Chinese government requires all labels be removed from donations, so no one can identify the donors.  The wheelchairs that were distributed had “LDS Charities” embroidered into the fabric, making it impossible to remove.  Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

  Tom and Linda were accepted as volunteers during the summer Olympics at Beijing in 2008.

   Our own Mary Courtney, an Honorary Rotarian, spoke to the club today about a science project conceived by students of the Rochester Early College International High School (ECIHS), where she teaches.  First, Mary gave us a small update on the school, which had its first graduation this year.  Also this year, the school started a chapter of the National Honor Society.  Normally, new members of NHS are inducted by current members, but as this was a new chapter, there were no current members.  So, NHS members from Palmyra-Macedon came out to induct the new charter members.  Mary was proud to have Pal-Mac NHS students do the inductions, as she was a member of NHS when she was a Pal-Mac student.
 
   Mary then got into the meat of her program, which was to tell us about the school’s involvement in the Student Spaceflight Experiment Program (SSEP).  SSEP offers students from around the country the opportunity to test microgravity on a chemical, biological, or physical system aboard the International Space Station (ISS).  Students develop proposals, detailing the experiment they would like to conduct and submit them through a two-stage review process.  The proposals are evaluated locally and then nationally.  ECIHS’ proposal was one of only 11 selected nationally for this program. 


Mary Courtney, center, with Colonel Miranda and PM Rotary President Bob Yost.

   Earlier this year, Emily Schuth of Macedon asked our club to help sponsor her trip to Uganda to assist with the Ugandan Water Project there.  Today, she was at our club meeting to tell us about her experience with that project. 

   The Ugandan Water Project has been sending teams to Uganda since 2008 to improve access to drinking water.  Emily showed us pictures of some of the rainwater collection barrels the project has provided.  These barrels collect rainwater from the roofs of large buildings, such as schools.  Each barrel has the capacity to hold 2,500 gallons of water.

   Without these barrels, the villagers would get their water from open wells, which look like ponds, where the water trickles up into low-land areas.  The water in these wells is not safe to drink without boiling.  Often these wells can be hours away from the villages; at one school, it took up to 9 hours to get water each day.  It was 4 hours to the source, plus the time it took to collect the water, then 4 hours back.

Pal-Mac Rotarian Tom Breen introduced guest speaker Dave Heckman, from Berry Plastics.

   Our guest speaker today was David Heckman from Berry Plastics.  Dave grew up in the Palmyra-Macedon area and has worked for Berry Plastics and its predecessors since 1975.  He came to us today to give an overview of the company and some details on the Macedon plant.

   Berry Plastics is headquartered in Evansville, Indiana and is manufacturer of plastic films, tapes, and adhesives.  The company began in 1967 as Imperial Plastics and was purchased by Jack Berry in 1983.  He renamed the company and over the years it has expanded greatly.  The average American handles 5 of the company’s products each day.  They manufacture a variety of packaging materials including pallet wrap, grocery bags, drinking cups, yogurt containers, plastic storage bags, and prescription drug vials, to name a few.   The company has over 16,000 employees worldwide.

   Genealogy is an important matter to members of the LDS church.  The church began its efforts to preserve genealogical records in 1894 with the founding of the Salt Lake Genealogical Library.  At first, the collection consisted of books.  In 1938, they began microfilming the records.  In 1960 construction began on the Granite Mountain Records Vault in the mountains near Salt Lake City.  Completed in 1965, the vault contains over 3.5 billion images stored on microfilm, microfiche, and digital media. 

 
   The practice of medicine is constantly changing.  Over the years, there have been many advances in technology, drugs, and treatments; but the process has changed dramatically as well.  Today, President Pam Dean introduced us to Dr. Amar Munsiff, Vice-President of Medical Affairs at Clifton Springs Hospital and Clinic (CSHC).  In the last 20 years, Dr. Munsiff has spent 10 years in basic science research and 10 years in clinical medicine, and he came to us today to discuss the services available at CSHC.

   Dr. Munsiff pointed out that in those 20 years, much has changed in the way medicine is practiced and it continues to change rapidly.  Clifton Springs Hospital has undergone a great deal of change in its approach to providing medical care for its patients.  When Dr. Munsiff came on, the hospital’s staff was structured to handle triple its actual operations.  Changes in health insurance coverage and tough economic times necessitated some layoffs and restructuring in order for the hospital to remain in business.

Mary Courtney presented our guest Jonathan Schwandt to give us some news about Rehema Home, an orphanage in Kenya.  You may recall Jonathans’ presentation to our club in April of last year.  Mary read about his presentation in the club's newsletter for that week (available here).  Mary teaches at the Rochester Early College International High School.  Rehema means "mercy" in Swahili.  Mary has a student named Mercy, a refugee from Kenya.  Mary suggested that raising funds for Rehema Home would be a good community service project for Mercy to take on.  Through monthly fundraising, from October to May, US$1,100 was raised.

At that April meeting last year, Jonathan told us about the orphanage and its 60 children.  In the months since, Rehema Home has opened a second facility in Kenya.  Our club was awarded a District Simplified Grant to purchase furniture for this second orphanage.  Appearing with Jonathan today was Kilunda, one of the youth living at Rehema Home.  Kilunda had broken his leg when he was younger.  A visiting team of doctors offered to bring him back to the US, where he could undergo a surgical procedure not available to him in Kenya.  Kilunda shared some of his experiences here and answered questions from club members.  Past President Dianne then presented a check for US$2,500 for the purchase of furniture for Rehema Home’s new location.

L-R: Mary Courtney, President Pam Dean, Kilunda, Jonathan Schwandt, Past President Dianne Sloan.

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   Our guests at tonight’s meeting were the members of this year’s inbound Group Study Exchange (GSE) Team.  The team traveled from Rotary District 2410, which consists of 49 clubs in Sweden and 19 clubs in Latvia.  The team consists of 3 men and 3 women, mostly from Latvia.  (One member is from Sweden.)

Club President Dianne Sloan (l) with the GSE Team (l-r): Erik Östman, Karīna Kopmane-Račko,
Indra Kļaviņa, Inese Vētra, Normunds Strods, and Kaspars Gailītis.

   We had the good fortune today to host the director and members of Palmyra-Macedon’s award-winning Select Choir.  They recently took a trip to the United Kingdom, and came to tell us about their trip, and some of the preparations they made for it.

   Jill Davis, the choir director, cleared up any confusion right from the start by explaining that no, the 4 students with her today were not the entire choir.  The full choir is comprised of 28 high school students, all of whom auditioned to be admitted.  In fact, they continue to audition for placement within the choir and for the opportunity to be featured in solo parts.  The four members with us today were Tallis Polashenski, Ben Cook, Jeremy Unterborn, and Abby Snelling.

   Our very own Bob Yost presented our program today, about the Patriot Guard Riders of New York.  Bob showed a brief video explaining how and why the Patriot Guard Riders was formed, and gave us an update on the group.

   The Patriot Guard Riders was originally formed in 2003 in response to the activities of a controversial church in Kansas whose members picket military funerals.  They believe that God is killing American soldiers as a punishment for our country’s acceptance of gays.  While they have the right to that belief and to its expression, the Riders wanted to shield service members’ families from the protestors.  Upon invitation from the family, Patriot Guard Riders provide escort for the funeral procession and stand between the funeral and the protestors.

Rotarian Bob Yost answers a question about the Patriot Guard after his video presentation.

   At our first evening meeting of the year, Camp Onseyawa was the star.  Rotarian Bob Sloan brought a dvd presentation about the camp, featuring campers, counselors, and volunteers.   The touching video helped to show what an impact this camp has on the lives of those campers.
   The idea for this camp was conceived in 1956 by Walt Reitman, who wanted to send his twin daughters to summer camp.  One of the daughters was rejected by camp authorities because she suffered from Spina Bifida.  Walt contacted the Geneva Rotary club president, asking if there was any camp that would admit his daughter.  No such camp existed, but the idea took root.  The Geneva club quickly realized that such an undertaking would be too great for one club and sought the help of clubs in neighboring counties.

Dawn Reeners of Camp Onseywa accepts a check for $1,350 raised at our club's annual murder mystery dinner.  Gary Hopkins, presenting the check, originated the fundraiser 3 years ago.

   Today, our club was honored to welcome Dwight Schwendimen to our lunch meeting.  Mr. Schwendimen is president of the Hill Cumorah Pageant, a post he has held for 7 years.  He joined us today to present a brief history of the Pageant.
   Last year was the 75th anniversary of the Hill Cumorah Pageant, but its root actually go back to the early 1920’s.  The Eastern States Mission held an annual “Cumorah Conference” in late July.  The mission president would take some of his missionaries to Palmyra and the Joseph Smith Farm to celebrate Pioneer Day, acting out scenes from the Book of Mormon as part of the activities.  Over the next several years, the conference attracted more people and was expanded in duration.
   When the church acquired the property in 1934, the pageant moved from the Smith Farm to the hill.  Later, NYU professor H. Wayne Driggs wrote the script, “America’s Witness for Christ” and the first official Hill Cumorah Pageant took place July 23, 1937.  Over the next few decades, technology advanced and was adopted by the pageant.  In 1957, a five-track sound system was designed, built, and installed by Harvey Fletcher, the inventor of stereophonic sound.  Crawford Gates composed an original score for the production, which was recorded by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Utah Symphony Orchestra.

President Dianne, guest speaker Dwight Schwendimen, presented by Richard Searle.

Guests:
Missiy Allison
Students – Cody Yerden, Courtney Jeffery, Matthew Lewellyn, James Fennell, and Mila.

Missing in Action:
Gene Bassage, Kim Clement, Mark Clement, John Denniston, Chase Ellsworth, Gary Haigh, Jeff Johncox, Peter Park, Arnie Pechler, Joan Shaffer, Cindy Surline, Roger Wilbur, Bob Yost.

Please keep the following in your thoughts and prayers:
Cortney tells us her boyfriend’s father has an accident and is in serious condition.
Cheryl’s mother-in-law passed away last week.
Dick Parr passed away on the 11th.  He worked for 50 years at Garlock, then 20 years at Breen’s.

Exchange Student Update:
Mila tells us she attended the Madrigal dinner which was exciting.  She is looking forward to a trip with the Sloans to Splash Lagoon, an indoor water park in Erie, PA.

Singing:
Having sung Silent Night last week, Mila led us in Cicha Noc, which is Silent Night in Polish. 
Cicha noc, święta noc,                        Silent Night, holy night
Pokój niesie ludziom wszem,              Brings peace to people everywhere
A u żłobka Matka Święta                    And at the manger, the Holy Mother
Czuwa sama uśmiechnięta                 Watches alone, smiling,         
Nad Dzieciątka snem,                         Over the Child's sleep,
Nad Dzieciątka snem.                         Over the Child's sleep.

Birthdays, Anniversaries:
None this week.

Fines, Happy Bucks, Confessions:
- Vicky is now officially and happily unemployed.
- Debbie is now officially employed – at Gorbel in Fishers.
- Leslie had a happy buck for all the students and their volunteer work at the breakfast with Santa and at St Patrick’s angel tree.  Also, her daughter Carly earned a National Merit Scholarship, and Juliana was named Resident of the Month for the Binghamton Campus.
- Bob Ike recently purchased a new truck.  He also confessed in advance to a birthday in the coming weeks.  He had further happy bucks as he feels very fortunate to work with good people and good kids.
- Eric gave away his tickets to the Bills game, so no Bills game for him.
- Bill enjoyed the bell ringing at Breen’s and offered a happy buck for the two students from last week’s meeting, who stepped up and filled a gap in our bell-ringing schedule.
- Carol joined our happy buck tradition by pitching in for her son-in-law, who is stationed in Germany.  He will be coming home for Christmas.  You remember Carol – she is one the many people at the Legion who help put on our lunch each week.
- Bob Sloan took Rory indoor rock climbing; they both had a lot of fun.
- Margaret had a buck for her grandson’s basketball tournament in New Jersey; and they won!

Notes and Updates for the Club:
• The proposed candidates for the 2013-2014 Officers and Board of Directors was presented at today’s meeting, and was unanimously approved.  They are:

    President:  Pam Dean
    President-Elect:  Bob Yost
    Vice-President:  Mark Clement
    Secretary:  Joan Shaffer
    Treasurer:  Tom Breen
    Sergeant-at-Arms:  Gary Hopkins
    Past President:  Dianne Sloan

    Directors:
    Through 6/30/14 – Gary Haigh, Nancy Schrader, Leslie Vecchiotti.
    7/1/13 – 6/30/15 – Kim Clement, Margaret Brooks, Vicky Daly

• Our annual Foundation Dessert Auction will be Wednesday, January 16 at Parkwood Heights, in the evening.  This event will be instead of our regular noon meeting that day.

• Bell Ringing has been successful.  Through Tuesday night, $1,350 has been collected.  Thanks to Cindy for organizing this!
• Dianne reminds us that she is happy to take any “Box Tops for Education” you may wish to give her.  She recently turned some in, netting $300 for Rory’s school.
• The Christmas Party will be held at Parkwood Heights in Macedon on Wednesday, December 19.  Social hour begins at 6:00; dinner follows at 7:00.
• The 3 rd annual Murder Mystery dinner is Saturday, February 2.  There will be no club meeting the following week.

Due to holidays, there will be no regular club meetings on Dec 26 or Jan 2.

This week, Mila won $10 in our 50/50 drawing.

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Next meeting:  Noon, January 9, at the Palmyra-Macedon High School.  Parking will be reserved for Rotarians.  Please enter through the main doors.

Our guest students this week were (l-r): Cody Yerden, James Fennel, Courtney Jeffery, Matthew Lewellyn, and Mila.

    If you were to ask several Rotarians what they like about Rotary, you’d likely get several answers.  Each of us has at least one Rotary program that we especially like.  Today, heard our own Anne Morrell tell us about her favorite Rotary program – Youth Exchange.
    Anne got involved in the Youth Exchange program when the club’s previous Youth Exchange officer, Robert Leopard, asked at a meeting if anyone knew Pal-Mac’s soccer coach.  The inbound student was from Brazil and Robert wanted to see if the coach might have a spot for the student on the team.  Anne helped make that happen, and became one of the student's host families, too.  She went on to become our club’s Youth Exchange officer, and is currently the District's Vice-Chair for Inbound Students.
    The Rotary Youth Exchange was started with the idea of bringing the world together through its youth.  Today, more than 8,000 students participate in almost 80 countries.  Through this program, young people learn about family life, school, and culture in other countries.  They develop friendships and bonds that can last a lifetime.
     

Anne Morrell (l), with our current exchange student, Mila Koziarska

     Our guest today was Kelly McClure from Heritage Christian Services (HCS).  HCS was formed in the early 1980’s by a group of parents who had children with developmental disabilities.  When HCS was founded, the concept of group homes was relatively new.  In the past, people with developmental disabilities had been placed in mental hospitals and institutions.  The founders of HCS wanted to provide safe, nurturing homes, which would preserve their clients’ dignity.
     The organization started with one group home in Webster in 1984.  Since then, it has grown to 70 group homes, with 380 residents and a waiting list of 450.  In addition, they provide therapeutic horse lessons in Webster; operate a retreat and vacation center in Inlet, and a health and wellness center in Henrietta; and operate a farm in Ogden.  The farm is an educational facility open to the public and also serves as a day program site for adults with developmental disabilities.
     In addition to these services, HCS also offers day habilitation programs, and respite services for caregivers.  The respite services offer short-term care for children and adults with special needs, providing their caregivers a bit of time to devote areas of their lives.  The organization provides services to over 1600 people in Western New York and the Finger Lakes.  The biggest challenges they face are the long waiting list and upcoming changes to Medicaid.
     If you would like more information about Heritage Christian Services, or would like to volunteer or make a gift, please visit HeritageChristianServices.org

Past President Peter Park (l), with guest speaker Kelly McClure.

   Our speaker today was Bob White, president of Orchestrate Success, a consulting firm based in Ontario, NY.  Bob specializes in process improvement, and personal coaching.  He has over 30 years’ experience in manufacturing, quality control, and management.  He is a second-generation Rotarian (Ontario-Walworth); his father Harry was a member of our club. 

   Bob spoke to us today about leadership, and the qualities of a good leader.  With input from the club members, a list was created.  The list showed that a good leader would need to be: honest, decisive, organized, calm and collected, in addition to being a good listener and communicator with a positive attitude.  Not everyone has these traits, but the traits can be learned and developed.

   Another characteristic of a good leader is open-mindedness.  We are conditioned to see things the way we do.  As children, we were truly open to new thoughts and new ideas.  But, as we age we tend to perceive things by habit.  As a result, we become less open to new ideas.  Bob and his associates work with people to help them open up to new ideas, and to find ways to better plan for success.  We’d like to thank Bob for his entertaining and informative talk today.

Pictured, l-r: Arnie Pechler, President Dianne Sloan, and speaker Bob White of Orchestrate Success.

     We were pleased today to welcome Karin Klock to our weekly lunch meeting.  Ms Klock spoke to us about the brownfield cleanup project recently completed by Garlock.  The company began in Palmyra in 1887.  The first expansion at the current location on Division Street was in 1907; the last new construction there was in 1956.  A modernization of the plant began in 2005.  One can imagine what sort of damage to the surrounding environment could occur over that time.
     Garlock decided to participate in the NYS DEC Brownfield Cleanup Program.  The program uses tax incentives to encourage the private sector to clean up contaminated properties themselves.  The company must identify extent and type of contamination, and then proposes a remediation solution to the DEC.  Once the plan is approved by DEC work can begin; DEC oversees all remediation activities.  At the Garlock facility there were storage tanks with miles of pipes; vacant land at the east end of the property had been used for landfill; there were several types of plating in place; and 13 separate discharges into Red Creek.
     A thorough investigation of the 40 acre site, including soil borings and groundwater sampling/monitoring took place to determine the extent of the pollution and its type.  Most was related to the use of the solvent toluene.  With a budget of $5 million, work began to clean the area.  Much of the soil was hauled away for cleaning, where the contaminants would be oxidized away.  12 of the Red Creek discharges are now gone, and the area has been declared clean by the DEC.  The tax credits will continue, which is how Garlock will recoup some of the costs of the cleanup.  Going forward, groundwater in the area must be monitored and reported quarterly to the DEC.
     Ms. Klock concluded her presentation with some photos of the area, taken on the grounds of the plant.  They showed what a lovely setting the plant is in, with the creek and the wooded areas around it.  Garlock is rightly proud of the fact that it has cleaned up the area around them, which will be beneficial to all concerned.

Pictured, l-r: Club President Dianne Sloan, Project Manager Karin Klock, presenter Nancy Schrader

Our own Cortney Surline spoke to us today about her presentations on “Attracting Young Members.”  Cortney has presented breakout sessions at district assemblies and has presented to various club throughout the district.  She is also a member of the District Membership Committee.  She reviewed for us today some of the things she covers in her presentations.

She tells her audiences that one of the best ways to attract young people to their clubs is through social media.  Most young people are on Facebook and Twitter.  These are great ways to reach a large number of people quickly.  She is, in fact, in the process of creating a new Facebook page for our club.  Cortney says that non-meeting events can be used to attract people to your club, regardless of age.  Things like our annual Buffalo Bills outing, or the dessert auction are great opportunities for us to “bring a friend” and introduce them to Rotarians without the rules and formalities of a meeting.

It is important, she notes, to get the Rotary name out.  She suggests that clubs sponsor Interact clubs in their schools – Roteract, too, when possible.  In addition, she suggests that club members invite young people along to help with projects.

Many young people are eager to help out with service projects.  They may not immediately join your club, but they will be exposed to Rotarians doing Rotary things, which could lead to new members down the road.  Some young people will have problems getting away from work and other commitments to attend weekly lunch meetings.  But, Cortney recommends, inform them about your club’s make-up opportunities.  Also, let them know that their help is still appreciated, even if they can’t join your club at that time.

Many of Cortney’s suggestions have been tried by clubs in our district with some success.  As she goes from club to club, she encourages her audiences to contact her with ideas and questions.  These get incorporated into her presentations, allowing her to stay current and recommend what has worked for others.  Many of the ideas presented are intended to attract young members, but could work for new members of any age.

   Our club’s RYLA representative, Faith Meckley, was the guest speaker at our August 22 meeting.  Faith is about to begin her senior year at Palmyra-Macedon High School, where she has been an active leader in the Interact program.  After graduation, she intends to go on to college and then into journalism.

   This June the district’s annual RYLA session was held at RIT, and Faith attended under our club’s sponsorship.  RYLA, the Rotary Youth Leadership Award, give thousands of young adults around the world the chance to attend seminars, camps, and workshops where leadership skills are discussed and learned through practice.

   Faith shared some of her experiences with us, and told us how the participants arrived as a bunch of “lost strangers” who became fast friends by week’s end.  The primary teacher in this course was Ted Baumhauer, who Faith tells us was very inspiring.  He liked to say that the course was more than training, and not just entertainment, but “EnterTrainment.”  Faith was impressed with the way the teachers lifted the students up, congratulating them for their strengths, but also brought them back down for their weaknesses.  This forced them to look at themselves in new ways.

   Listening to Faith’s talk, it was obvious she gained a lot from her RYLA session, and that she was grateful for the opportunity.  Her experiences at RYLA should help her on her way to success as a student, as a leader, and as a member of her community.



       Faith Meckley, with Club RYLA Chair Nancy Schrader.

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   2012-2013 District Governor J Gaven Hurley was our guest this week.  Gaven was invited to join the Rotary Club of Morristown, NJ in 1982.  He later served as President in 1988-1989.  In 1993, he and his wife Kathie moved to the Rochester area.  Gaven believed the fastest way to get to know the area was to join a local Rotary club, and so became a member of the Pittsford club.

   During his time in Rotary, he has held almost every club office and chaired many committees.  He was instrumental in introducing the Dictionary project to our District.  He has been involved with the District Simplified Grants and the Rotary Leadership Institute.

   DG Gaven used his “official visit” to introduce himself to our club, and to relay some information about this year’s Rotary theme: Peace through Service.

   We were joined at our July 11 meeting by Area 11 Assistant District Governor Tim King, who recently served as team leader with the outbound Group Study Exchange (GSE) to the Philippines.  Tim shared some photos and memories from his trip.

   The team visited many local sites and venues during their stay; one which stood out was Bataan.  Very early in the second world war, American and Filipino forces were being overrun and so attempted to hold out there until reinforcements could arrive.  After a 3-month siege by the Japanese, they surrendered.  As prisoners of war, they were forced to march nearly 80 miles to Tarlac, with no provision for food, water, or medical care – the infamous Bataan Death March.

   On the lighter side, Tim told us of some of the food they were served there, including stuffed frogs, water buffalo, goat, and pork.  Bananas are a local fruit there; as are mangoes, which are to the Philippines as apples are to the US.

   The Philippines was a territory of Spain before becoming a US territory.  As such, about 80% of the population is Roman Catholic.  In the area our team visited, that number is almost 98%.  Almost every house visited by the team had a shrine to the Virgin Mary.ree quarters of the children in the area attend a Catholic school.  Most prefer it over the public school system.

   Tim shared many photos and would have told us much more about the trip if only we had another hour or so for our meetings! 

Club President Dianne Sloan with ADG Tim King, GSE Team Leader.

Guests:
Jonatha Szhwandt and Lance Teitsworth of Rehema Home;

Students:
Lindsay Haschmann, Kayla Henry, Breanna Freeman;
And, of course, Joey

Missing in Action:
Gene Bassage, Jim Bilotta, Eric Chapman, Trevor Chapman, Bob Culver, Vicky Daly, Chase Ellsworth, Gary Haigh, Robert Ike, Jeff Johncox, Melinda Meyer, Anne Morrell, Dave Nagle, Arnie Pechler, Steve Selvaggio, Cindy Surline.

Please keep the following in your thoughts and prayers:
- the family of John Chapman (Eric’s father), who passed away on the 3^rd;
- the family of Frank Piccola, who recently passed;
- PDG Ralph Kommer, who suffered a mini-stroke, or TIA, and is now undergoing physical therapy;
- and Cortney’s boyfriend’s niece, who just had a premature baby.

Birthdays:
Dave Pray – April 3

Anniversaries:
Gary and Terri Hopkins, 17 yrs

Fines, Happy Bucks, Confessions:
- Debbie LeMoyne welcomed a new grandson.
- Jim Bush went fishing with Mark Clement, had a great time at the cast party hosted by the Clements for the cast of the Murder Mystery Dinner, and performed recently at the Ohmann Theatre.
- Leslie Vecchiotti seconded Jim’s praise on the cast party.
- Cortney Surline had some friends home for a visit.
- Nancy Schrader visited her grandson.
- Bob Yost also had a good time fishing with Mark Clement and Jim Bush, and confessed to needing rescue from said Mr. Bush, after locking himself out of his car in Sodus.  He also confessed to having his picture in the paper, accepting a donation for Dollars for Scholars.
- Pam Dean offered thanks for all the thoughts and prayers sent her way on her mother’s passing.

Notes and Updates for the Club:

• Our joint Rotary Lions dinner meeting will take place on April 18 at 6 pm at Parkwood Heights. If you have not signed up and want to attend, please let Dianne know.
• Historic Palmyra is having its 13^th annual fundraiser dinner,5:30 – 8:30, Saturday April 21^st at the Alling Coverlet Museum.  Tickets are $25 per person.  Contac Joan for tickets/further info.
• Our Adopt-A-Highway cleanup will take place Saturday morning, April 21^st.  Contact Bob Yost to sign up or for more info.
• The District Conference will take place on May 18-20 in Rochester. You have until April 15 to sign up - visit the District Website to do so.
• Our Rotary Barn Sale will take place on June 1-3. Drop off donations at the Surlines' barn anytime.

Guests:

Students:
Exchange Student Joey 

Missing in Action: Gene Bassage, Jim Bilotta, Trevor Chapman, Bob Culver, Vicky Daly, John Denniston, Bob Ike, Debbie LeMoyne, Melinda Meyer, Dave Nagle, Peter Park, Arnie Pechler, Nancy Schrader, and Steve Selvaggio 

Birthdays: Dick Kirchhoff,  

Notes and Updates for the Club:

• District 7120 Assembly takes place April 14 at Canandaigua Academy. Please see Joan if you have not signed up and want to attend. It is free to all members.
• Our joint Rotary Lions dinner meeting will take place on April 18 at 6 pm at Parkwood Heights. If you have not signed up and want to attend, please let Dianne know.
• The mural in the Dick Kirchhoff Program Room at the Palmyra Community Library is continually taking shape and it looks great. 

• Our Rotary Barn Sale will take place on June 1-3. Drop off donations at the Surlines' barn anytime. 

• We will be reverting back to assigning members to be responsible for securing speakers/programs for our weekly meetings. This will begin within the next month or so, so please begin to consider who you will invite to speak.

• The District Conference will take place on May 18-20 in Rochester. You have until April 15 to sign up - visit the District Website to do so. 

As we have done for many years, the Palmyra-Macedon Rotary Club distributed a new dictionary to every 3rd grader in the district this past month. We also gave a new thesaurus to every 4th grader, an addition to this literacy project that was started just last year. It's a great way for kids to get excited about reading and learning. These books are used by many of the students up through their college years. The Rotary members who visit the school are also able to tell every student about Rotary, and that we help people not only locally in our community but all around the world also!

Sebastian - a Lost Boy from Sudan - representing Building Minds in Sudan (BMIS) was our guest speaker this past week. In 1988 when he was 9 years old, he had to watch his 5-year-old sister be killed right in front of him when his village was attacked by militia. His mother yelled to him to run or he would suffer the same fate as his sister. So he ran, and then he walked – with no shoes - for 3 months until he reached a refugee camp in Ethiopia that would... be his home for the next 3 years. After that, he was forced to return to Sedan because of unrest in Ethiopia. Then, more walking to Kenya where he lived in a refugee camp for another year. When he was 12, he said he wanted to give up – that he wouldn’t have to feel all this if he weren’t here. A friend told him to just keep walking and they would see what tomorrow would bring.

At 14, he was introduced to education for the first time. By 21, he was reading at an 8th grade level. A group of Americans came to where he was living and asked if he wanted to go to America – he said that if he could get an education, he would go. He also wanted to be able to join the military to be able to return to rescue his mother. Sebastian had to learn how to adapt to Western culture – he had never even turned on a light switch. He received his 2-yr degree from MCC and then his 4-yr degree from SUNY Brockport. Sebastian has worked hard and worked in accounting for the last several years. He also took the test to become an American citizen.
 

In 2007, he returned to South Sudan to look for his mother and father to see if they had survived the wars; his mother was still alive, but his father had been killed right in front of his mother in 1993. He found his mother and also discovered he had a brother – his mother had been pregnant when he left at the age of 9. His brother wanted an education also, so Sebastian was able to fund his brother’s trip to Kenya for college. When in Sudan, Sebastian visited the “school” – which was children meeting under a tree – no building. Their pens were their fingers, and the dirt was their paper. Sebastian told them about how he went to school and how his brother was able to go to college, and they asked, “What about us?” So Sebastian built a school – he said, however, he would not build the school if girls were not allowed to attend; 98% of the women in Sudan at the time could not read or write because they were not allowed to go to school. Girls are allowed to attend up to age of 14, and there are currently 766 children attending his school.

 His life makes us remember many things: that we live in the greatest country in the world (how lucky we are), to never give up, that one person can make the biggest difference, that life is short and not guaranteed to anyone, to spend time with the people we love, and to continue helping others in any way we can.

   “The wheels on the bus go ‘round and ‘round,” the song tells us.  But there is no such thing as a “magic” school bus; it takes a whole transportation department to keep those wheels going.  Today, it was our honor to welcome Jeremy Bricks, head of the transportation dep’t for the Palmyra-Macedon Central School District.  Mr. Bricks oversees all the drivers and maintenance people, and coordinates with the government agencies which regulate school bus operations.

   There are three main agencies to deal with:  the state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), the state Education Department and the US Department of Transportation (USDOT).  Each has its own set of regulations, which sometimes overlap with the others.  The DMV deals with licensing the drivers; the Education Dep’t supervises training of all employees; and USDOT deals with the safety of the vehicles.

Guests:
Potential Member Tom Brighton, Speaker Jeremy Bricks, Mila.

Missing in Action:
Gene Bassage, Eric Chapman, Mark Clement, John Denniston, Chase Ellsworth, Cheryl Ford, Gary Haigh, Gary Hopkins, Jeff Johncox, Debbie LeMoyne, Anne Morrell, Peter Park, Dave Read, Bob Yost.

Please keep the following in your thoughts and prayers this week:
Arnie’s mother-in-law – had a heart attack;
Bob Daly’s sister, who is very sick;
Bob Campbell passed away.

Birthdays/Anniversaries:
Bob Ike’s daughter turned 2 on the 11th.

Singing:
“Let Me Call You Sweetheart”, with special second verse by Jim Bush, “I Can’t Wait Till Wednesday (‘cause It’s Rotary).”

Fines, Happy Bucks, Confessions:
• Cindy offered a couple bucks because she was happy to be here with us again after a while, and for another grandchild on the way.
• Arnie was happy to hear that Cortney is thinking of naming the baby Arnold.  How seriously she is thinking about it did not come up.
• Bob Sloan had fun taking Rory ice fishing.  Rory caught his first Northern Pike.

Notes and Updates for the Club:
   Our regular club meeting on March 13 will be an evening meeting at the American Legion in Palmyra.  A sign-up sheet was passed around at today’s meeting, and will be available at the next meeting, so that we can make a more accurate estimate for the dinner count.  This is part of an effort to attract new members by having one evening event each month.  If you know someone who might be interested in meeting us, please invite them along.
   The Sodus Rotary Club would like you to know about an upcoming fundraiser concert featuring Russell Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out.  The Bluegrass performers appear at the Sodus Central School Auditorium March 23.  Tickets are $20 and available at the Sodus Rotary website: http://www.sodusrotary.org/events/
   Our annual joint Lions/Rotary meeting will take place on April 16.  Details to follow – watch this space!
   The District Assembly is scheduled for April 13 at the Red Jacket High School in Shortsville.  There is no charge for any member of our club to attend this informative event.  We will start sign-ups at the club assembly on the 27th.
   The GSE Team from Sweden and Latvia will be with us March 23 – March 26.  The team is made up of 3 women and 2 men.  Pat is still looking for someone to host; please contact her if you can help.

Dave Pray won $10 in the 50/50 drawing.

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Next meeting: Club Assembly - Noon, February 27 at Parkwood Heights in Macedon.

A handful of Rotarians and a few spouses spent a recent Saturday evening dealing cards, spinning wheels, and giving out loads of fake money - all in the name of raising some real money! The Monroe Golf Club hosted a Vegas night for its members, and in turn, our Rotary Club was able to benefit from it. We went and set up some game tables, hosted the games for members (Black Jack, Texas Hold Up, Over Under to name a few), and broke down the game tables. Everyone had a great time, but Pal-Mac Rotarians were the real winners of the evening - making $1,000 for our efforts!

Thanks to Rotarian Gary Hopkins and his parents for giving us the opportunity for this great fundraiser. Most of the Rotarians and spouses there would say it was more play than work that's for sure.

Picture from left to right: Mark Clement, Dianne Sloan, Gary Hopkins, Spouse Dave Morrell,
Leslie Vecchiotti, Kim Clement. Not pictured: Spouse Terri Hopkins

And here we are receiving the check for our hard-earned money!

Everyone who attended, Rotarians and non-Rotarians alike had a great time at our 2nd annual Dessert Foundation party. We charge a $5 admission to the event for each Rotarian - this is used for our member's Strive for $5 donation. Rotarians are welcome to bring guests for free in order to introduce them to Rotary in a fun, relaxed atmosphere. Rotarians were asked to make 2 of the same dessert: one to sample and one to auction off.

Here's how the evening went:

The sampling of desserts along with coffee and drinks began. (We put the experts on the job for this!)

Pal-Mac High School Technology Education
Communications – TV and Video Production

   Living up to the Rotary in our club’s name, our May 16^th meeting took place in the library at the Palmyra-Macedon High School.  This was so that we could be shown around the high school’s TV and Video Production studio by Technology Education teacher Kevin Schlegel.  Another bonus of meeting at the school library – this meeting was to be run by the Interact Team.  They didn’t have far to travel.

   Mr. Schlegel explained that Technology Education has changed since most of us were in school.  There are 3 paths available now – Traditional, Engineering, and Communications.  Wood shop and Metal shop, which many of us remember, are now just a part of the Traditional path.  That path now includes courses dealing with construction and with the ever-changing role of technology.  The Engineering path instructs students in design, digital electronics, bio-technical engineering, civil engineering, and architecture.  The third path is Communications, which includes digital imaging, mass communications, web page development, and TV and video production. 

   Students involved in the TV and Broadcast classes put together the morning announcements program each day.  This is a 6 minute live show seen in every classroom in the high school.  It can also be seen on FLTV, cable channel 6.  Students have different roles in the production: on-air talent, camera operators, director, writers.  The students collect information and write a script covering school events, sports and weather.  Once the script is written, rehearsals begin, and at 9:10 each morning, the show goes live.  Our club got to see a re-creation of Wednesday’s broadcast performed for us, right in the studio. 

   It is a fully-functional studio, with multiple hi-definition cameras and green-screens on two sets.  Using the green-screen technology, a digital news studio or other graphics can be placed behind the performers.  For the weather segment, a weather map is displayed behind the performer just like the professional newscasts. 

   The TV and broadcast program is growing in popularity as well as in size and scope.  It started with 9 students and 1 handheld camera.  Now they have a full studio and production facility, with 29 students signed up for next year’s course. 

   Mr. Schlegel is to be commended for his efforts in leading this program for our students.  They put on an entertaining and informative presentation each day, and our club enjoyed getting a behind-the-scenes look at how it is done.

• Edwin Concepcion, Jr., 31.  Edwin is the Director, Office of Legal Affairs, Executive Assistant to the President, and Associate Professor at the University of Northern Philippines.
• Maria Cielo Sarion, 28.  She is a Medical Social Worker and Child Protection Specialist at Rafael Lazatin Memorial Medical Center.
• Cindy David, 40.  She is a pediatrician and a diplomate of the Philippine Pediatric Society.
• Annabelle Sim, 40, who is an author of textbooks.

    The Rotary Foundation’s Group Study Exchange (GSE) program is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for businesspeople and professionals between the ages of 25 and 40 who are in the early stages of their careers. The program provides travel grants for teams to exchange visits in paired areas of different countries. For four to six weeks, team members experience the host country's culture and institutions, observe how their vocations are practiced abroad, develop personal and professional relationships, and exchange ideas.

 
   An example of the ways the GSE experience helps foster goodwill and peace through cultural exchange happened during this team’s visit to our district.  During the week before they came to our club, they were hosted by the Fairport Rotary club.  During a visit to the Golisano Children’s Hospital, Dr. David was impressed with the hospital’s “Giraffe Incubators.”  These incubators are very high-tech and not inexpensive.  Dr. David asked many questions about the incubators, as the hospital where she works is still using antiquated incubators, which have been in service for many, many years.  A couple of days after their visit, she received a call from a social worker at Golisano Children’s Hospital, informing her that the hospital would be donating two Giraffe Incubators to her hospital in the Philippines.  Such a generous donation would not have happened without the visit the GSE program provided.



Pictured, left-right:  Edwin Concepcion, Eric Chapman, Annabelle Sim, Pat VerPlank, Cielo Sarion, Cindy David, Eric Rodriguez

Wayne County League of Women Voters

At our regular meeting on May 2, our guests were Sandy Keller and Ellie Drake from the Wayne County League of Women Voters.  They came to talk to us about how the league came to be, and its mission in Wayne County and the state.

After passage of the 19^th Amendment in 1920, which gave women the right to vote, the League of Women Voters was formed.  Its first goal was to equip women to exercise their new right to vote.  Until the 1970’s the League was open only to women, but since that time, membership has been open to men and women, and men now make up a significant portion of the members.  There is a League in every state, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

The LWV is nonpartisan, and works to encourage informed and active participation in government as well as to promote increased understanding of public policy issues.  To these ends, the League organizes
     - voter registration drives
     - candidate forums and debates
     - voter’s guides, with information on election requirements and issues up for vote.

New York has had poor voter turnout in the past, and one innovative way the Wayne County LWV has tried to improve turnout is to encourage young people to get interested in voting.  They recently offered a program for 4^th graders, called “Take Me to Vote Please!”  Students were given a special “ballot” to take to the polling place along with a voting adult.  The student mark their ballot, and indicate their classroom and school.  These ballots were then counted and an award given to the classroom with the most participation.

The League of Women Voters continues to work toward an informed, active electorate, with equal access for all.  More information about the League of Women Voters of NY State is available at their website, www.lwvny.org



Left to right, Ellie Drake and Sandy Keller from the Wayne County League of Women Voters, with Rotarian Vicky Daly.