Excerpts from letter to Herb
"Dear Herbert,
I am delighted to inform you that you have been chosen to receive The Rotary 2000 District
Conference Award in recognition of your district's successful and high-quality conference.
Not only did your district conference meet the requirements outlined in the Manual of
Procedure, but it also enjoyed the highest club and member participation of qualifying
districts throughout your zone. This accomplishment demonstrates your commitment to
furthering the program by involving and educating club members.
Please give my personal congratulations to all of the clubs that participated in your
district's conference. Each participating Rotarian is commended for their part in earning
this award. I encourage you and your district to continue to Act with Consistency,
Credibility, Continuity, and live the ideals of Rotary."
What a bizarre feeling today, to stand before you as a member of
Eastwood Rotary for the last time. This club has been and important part of my life for
almost 21 years, and now, I have 5 or 6 minutes to sum it up. Most of you know I can't
even clear my throat in 5 minutes, so this is indeed a challenge. For more than two
decades, I've shared Tuesday lunches with the finest group of people I have ever known,
the members of Eastwood Rotary. In that time, I've paid my share of fines, and collected a
few, made a bunch of friends, and lost a few, attended countless board meetings, and
extended a few.
We truly have a remarkable organization here. Throughout District 7150, Eastwood is
recognized as the hardest-working, most active club. Everyone knows about our work at the
Dome, and Eastwood members have been populating district positions and committees for as
long as I can remember. More importantly, any district governor, or any visiting Rotarian,
who comes to one of our meetings, realizes two clearly evident facts: we do a lot of work,
and we have a lot of fun.
That's the secret to this club, I believe. Every member makes a commitment to help this
club serve the community and serve the world, and at the same time, we know that we'll
have a great time doing it. That's what has madethese 21 years so special.
I've enjoyed the golf and the racquetball and the beach volleyball we've played, the
cleanups of the roadways and the fix-ups at Camp Goodwill. Sue and I have had a great time
at District Conferences with the large group this club always sends, and at other social
events, including picnics, dinner theatre, Foundation dinners, and more.
I'd like to tell you that I've served 16,257 Dome dogs, 18,130 small Cokes, and 7,315
pizzas, slightly more than half of which were pepperoni. I'd like to tell you that, but
even I have limits to the detailed records I will keep. What I can say is that I've
enjoyed working hard with all of you at the Dome, and I hope you will continue to work and
enjoy that project, because in a very large way, it's the Dome project that defines this
club. Without a local community to tie us together, working side-by-side during football
and basketball games has strengthened our club while filling our treasury. Whenever I come
back to visit, I promise I'll try to get on the Dome list for that week.
I don't know how many other members have served this club in all the positions that I
have: president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, sergeant-at-arms, program chairman,
Dome chairman, bulletin editor, membership chairman, board member, avenue of service
chair, and webmaster. But of all the titles, I suppose the one that means the most
to me is to be called an Eastwood Rotarian and a friend.
I've had people say a lot of nice things to me over the last few months, and I don't know
whether it feels more like I'm dying, or heading for the electric chair. Those comments
mean a lot to me, but I'd like to urge you not to wait until someone is on their way out
to tell them that you appreciate them. There are a lot of people in this club who work
hard to make it such a success, and I would hope we could recognize them and show our
gratitude on a regular basis.
I will also take this opportunity to remind you that this is a service club, and it can
only serve as well as its members stand behind it. Make sure that each of you is
contributing to the cause, and help make this coming year, Eastwood's 40th, its best year
ever.
The theme for the new Rotary year is "Create Awareness, Take Action," or, as our
good friend Scott Wisner rephrased it, "Wake Up and Do Something." For a lot of
clubs in the Rotary world, that would be a significant challenge. For Eastwood Rotary, I
suspect it's business as usual. Think of what things could be accomplished, in our
community and around the world, if every club had the energy, the involvement, the people
of Eastwood Rotary.
Now, as I bid you all farewell, I regret that I won't be able to share in the
accomplishments of this club in the years to come. Looking back, I have some regrets, too.
I regret that I haven't brought in more new members to help the club grow and prosper. I
regret that I haven't spent more time socially with many of you. I regret that I couldn't
improve my golf game enough to compete with Karl or Whitney, or at least to finish a round
with the same ball I started with. And I regret that I won't be here to observe, enjoy,
work with, and support my dear friend Jenny Doane in her year as president of our club. I
hope you will all give her the support she needs and deserves, and together, you'll make
this club stronger than ever.
As a resident of the State of Florida, I am required to make this announcement (pay
attention now, Jeannie, Steve, Jim, Danielle): Federal law mandates that all children must
be taken to Disney World at least twice before their 14th birthday, and also that all
adults must make at least one trip to the Sunshine State when contemplating retirement or
when fed up with another Syracuse winter. Therefore, I am pleased to offer to each of you
my open invitation to come down, stay at our house, play some golf, soak up the sun, get
out of the snow and cold, and make up at Mandarin Rotary whenever your travels take you
south. Eastwood Rotary has been one of the finest experiences of my life, and will always
be one of our fondest memories of the Syracuse area. Thank you all for the privilege of
being one of you.
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PDG Herb Jerry presents Al with |
Jenny Expresses appreciation!!! |
Eastwood Rotary President Gary Katz accepted the first annual "Good
Samaritan" award presented by the Samaritan Center on Friday, April 14th. Eastwood was one of six individuals and organizations honored for their contributions to the Samaritan Center. Master of Ceremonies Dan Cummings, from WIXT-TV 9, cited Eastwood's purchase of tables and chairs, its renovation of the entranceway and other refurbishing projects, and its continuing commitment to feed the hungry as the reasons why Eastwood was chosen for the inaugural award. A video was also shown that spoke about the six honorees. Eastwood represented the Civic Organizations category.In accepting the award, President Gary called Rotary "the best kept secret in Central New York" and indicated that Eastwood was but one of 44 clubs in the area. President Gary also mentioned that Eastwood had won the J. C. Penney Golden Rule award and that the $1000.00 award is what funded the renovations at the Samaritan Center. The entrance revisions were extremely difficult since the old stairs were solid stone and had to be removed before new footers and stairs could be placed. President Gary cited Rotarians Peter Crissey and Jerry O'Donnell for their work on the entranceway, Bennett Bishop for his turkey tetrazini recipe, and Rosalie Rubenstein for her chairmanship of the Samaritan Center project.
President Gary also cited Jim Robb, from the Dewitt Rotary Club, as being instrumental in getting Eastwood started with the Samaritan Center and indicated that incoming President Jenny Doane's Board of Directors had already ratified the first date for serving the hungry during her upcoming year. Jenny, Rosalie, Dee Petta, Jim, and Gary's wife Pat were all in attendance at the award ceremonies, held at the Carrier Circle Wyndham Hotel Grand Ballroom before about 180 guests. The were also other Rotarians from other clubs in attendance. President Gary closed his remarks by thanking the club and the Samaritan Center for the award and stated that the club would continue to support the Center.
Lots of pictures from a very fun weekend.
I love Rotary. Mostly I love Rotary International. But — I realize that as much as Rotary does to help people across the globe, it needs also to attend to the people who live right here in our community. This club does both. Why else do you all belong?
The Dome work provides Rotary with the opportunity to help those people less fortunate than we. This Eastwood Club has the determination, mostly from proceeds from the Syracuse University Dome, to put money (and time and personnel) into the community in which we live.
The money that we make at the Dome goes to Camp Goodwill, the Samaritan Center, the Food Pantry, holiday shopping for needy children, our youth — Eastwood Girls Little League and others, the Create-A-Book program for little kids just starting out in school, holiday flowers for those in hospitals at a difficult time in their lives, winter underwear for those men who need it at the Rescue Mission, nursing scholarships for men and women wanting to further their education in order to help people who are ill, and so forth and so on.
I said – the money that "we" make. I am not a Rotarian, nor do I ever need to be. I have been asked by my family, by friends, and even by Rotarians, why I am willing to work at the Dome. It is because I am convinced that Rotary makes a difference in our community, and I am willing to commit my time and energy, with Rotarians, to effect that difference.
The Dome is not my favorite recreation; it requires more time than I would like to give and more energy than I would like to expend. However, besides the knowledge that I am helping my community, I always have a good time. The camaraderie that comes with working together toward a common goal, is extraordinary. I have friends whom I would not have had otherwise. This Club has become a "family", a tight group working together toward a common goal. Not an exclusive one – no way – but as inclusive as we can make it. And – the benefits are: the good feelings, the warmth of friends, and best of all, the knowledge that I am making a difference right here where I live.
Why else do you all belong?
Eastwood Rotary extends greetings to our newest member, Lucille Browning. Lucille was inducted Tuesday, April 11th, under the classification of "Director - Not for Profit". She was sponsored for membership by Dee Petta.
Lucille is a graduate of Syracuse University and is a member of the Alumni Board of Directors. She is the Executive Director of the International Center of Syracuse. She is also a financial planner for the Guardian Insurance and Financial Planning Co., and is a member of the Association of University Women and the Diabetes Foundation.
Welcome, Lucille, and congratulations on becoming part of the world's oldest and most international service organization. Your contributions to the work of the Eastwood Rotary Club will bring you multiple rewards for many years to come. Your fellow Rotarians look forward to getting to know you.
Aren't you glad that you visited the Eastwood Rotary website? Just for doing so, you can now avoid any and all fines assessed against you on Tuesday, April 4th. Just print out the coupon on the right, and present it when the fining past president tries to extort some money from your wallet.
A little hint, though: you may want to right-click on the coupon, and "save it to disk" or "copy" it, rather than just clicking the print icon of your browser, which will print this entire page (and there's a lot of stuff here!)
So, thanks for checking in with the website. And remember Rotary's new motto, "He profits most who surfs best."
On Wednesday, February 16th, a group of volunteers from the Eastwood
Rotary traveled to Heman Street Elementary School in East Syracuse to distribute
personalized books to about 100 kindergarten students in five different classes. The
Rotarians had the pleasure of passing out these books to each of the children. To say they
were excited would be an understatement. They were elated and as enthusiastic as any 5-6
years olds can be (see pictures)!
For those of you not familiar with this program, our Club works with Morrow Graphics and
the teachers in the school, to develop a book with the child’s name along with about
3 friend’s names scattered throughout the book. This personalization makes the book
more than just a book, but a journey about themselves. We fund the project (your time
working at the Dome make this possible) and then have the pleasure of seeing their
beautiful faces when they receive the books.
If you have never been involved, put it in your to do list for the future. Speaking of the
future, we will be repeating this process at Elmwood School on Thursday, March 9th from
9:15 am to 12:10 pm. (Each session last about 40 minutes). Volunteers are needed to
distribute the books. You can come for all the 4 sessions or just for 1…whatever
works for your schedule. We've got pictures from Elmwood too! Click here.
A great big thank you from me to Bob Batley, Gordie Ketchum, Kathy King and Dick Lendy for
their participation on Wednesday. I’m sure the hugs and smiles they received from the
children will keep them warm until spring.
The Eastwood Rotary Club leadership has been set for 2000-01, and the club once again will be in excellent hands.
Our President-Elect is Jenny Doane, Vice President will be Peter Crissey, Past President Bob Batley will serve as Secretary, Mary Lou Gordona will continue in her role as Treasurer, and Paul Stephens will act as Sergeant-at-Arms. Elected to new 3-year terms on the Board of Directors are Russ Cook, Jeanne Williams, and Past President Tom Barone.
All officers and directors will take office on July 1st, of course, as leadership posts throughout Rotary change on that date.
We are proud to welcome into the world the newest member of our extended Rotary family. Alec James Williams, newborn son of Mike and Jeanne (Morelli) Williams, arrived just in time for the new year millennium celebration, born New Years Eve 1999
Parents and son are doing fine, and the new grandparents (who have moved into the area in what is clearly not a coincidence) are ecstatic. Congratulations to Jeanne and Mike and especially to Alec, one of the final babies of the 20th century.
