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Today, Rob hosted a regular meeting at Cafe Spiga, joined by 15 other club members. Our visiting speaker was Mike Barba, who brought along a prospective Rotary member, Jean-Marie Pfeifer. Among Rob's announcements: Next week, instead of a regular meeting at Cafe Spiga, our club members are asked to sign up for and take part in the Club's Annual Habitat Build, which will take place at the building site: 73 Old Quogue Rd., in Riverhead (Riverside). Mike Burghardt will be sending the Habitat Build sign-up info. to our members today. (John Perkins has already sent out the information, but if you plan to participate in this wonderful activity, please make sure you sign up properly to do so.) Our club members are invited to attend the June 14th Town of Brookhaven special event at The Meadow Club (Port Jeff Sta.), which begins at 6 PM. Club member Judy Betts will be among the honorees at the 36th Annual Brookhaven Women's Advisory Council Awards Night. She will be receiving the award for Volunteer of the Year. (The Women's Advisory Council was created by Edna Gerrard.) The cost of the dinner: $55 p/p. For more information, check out the Town's website: Women's and Youth Services. Be on the lookout for Rob's email regarding the Wed., June 15th Gift of Life Dinner to be held at Flowerfields, beginning at 6 PM on that date. Our club usually fills at least 1 table at this event. Will you be among the celebrants? Pat announced that the Mt. Sinai High School's Rotary Scholarship presentation will take place on June 7th at 7 PM. He is looking for a club volunteer to make the presentation. Deb will be going through the selection process for the recipient of Comsewogue High's Rotary Senior Scholarship and invites help in doing this. Contact Deb if you can join her. Meanwhile, Cindy spent multiple hours reviewing the applications for PJHS's Senior Rotary Scholarship and those for the Interact Scholarship Award, as well. Happily, after much deliberation, Cindy was able to make the selections. They will be announced in due time. Rebecca reminds us that the Village Farmers Market will reopen outdoors in the Harborside Park this Sunday, May 8th, from 9 AM- 2 PM. She will be there, selling $1 tree saplings (and giving them away to youth)- ready for planting. A tree: what a great Mothers Day gift possibility! Nancy sat in on the Rotary webinar that is necessary to attend if a club intends to apply for a District grant. The District has money to help fund a number of Rotary community projects, but each grant-receiving club must match the amount granted. We are looking for suggestions for local projects worthy of a grant request- but the deadline for filing grant applications is May 15th. Among suggestions heard at today's meeting: refurbishing "our" Harbor Bus Stop, and/or adding amenities (ie.,bird feeders) to the Chandler Estate Park. As time is short, perhaps we should start planning for a 2023 District grant. A highlight of today's meeting: the induction of returning club member, Jackie Brown. Welcome home, Jackie!  Our visiting guest speaker, Mike Barba, of the Ronkonkoma Rotary Club, came today to help us (re)learn How To Grow Rotary Membership. Mike, who owns an autobody shop in Lake Ronkonkoma, has been a Rotarian for more than 30 years. He is well aware of Rotary clubs' currently diminishing membership and was eager to share his ideas with us. Also a member of LeTip, Mike uses ideas learned at those meetings at Rotary meetings and manages to bring members of LeTip into Rotary, too. Among Mike's suggestions: Brag about Rotary. Acknowledge that we Rotarians, for all we do for our community, are superior beings- superheroes! What is Rotary? A group of people who make lives easier/better in our neighborhoods and the world. Invite a person/acquaintance for a Rotary lunch. Organize events that attract prospective members. When out in public, shake everyone's hands. Network and exchange business cards. Share your love of Rotary. Speak out about Rotary/your club's activities as much as possible. Invite people to join you at a Rotary event. The best of them will be impressed and will want to learn more and join up. Our members appreciated Mike's inspirational presentation. Deb was our Masterful Sergeant today. Her first questions were about last night's Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum. Do you know who wore the gown that Marilyn Monroe originally wore when singing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to JFK? (a Kardasian) Do you know where this gown is stored? (Ripley's Believe It Or Not in Florida!) Other questions posed had to do with a few of this date's designations: World Press Freedom Day and Teacher Appreciation Week. (Who knew that Sylvester Stellone was once a teacher?!!) Many Happy Dollars (ie., for the return of Jackie Brown) and some Sad Dollars (in memory of member Bill Jaeger and neighbors Jim Coen and Maria Hoffman) were collected. We learned that Sharon's vacation in Aruba had to be extended because she tested positive for Covid and needed to quarantine (husband Michael was healthy throughout). Mike B. and family vacationed in Barbados; Rob vacationed at the Mohonk Mountain House; Dennis and family attended a delightful family wedding in Boston, where the grandkids were especially amazing; Dawn vacationed away, too; Cindy enjoyed working at the 14th Annual Antiques & Garden Show at the Village Center- and also a visit from her daughter, a CPA; and Jenn has continued traveling afar, chaperoning her children who both compete (and win major awards) at national BMX races (They're soon headed for Georgia.) |
