Thank you, Open Cupboard donors! Also, thanks to Dennis & Bill, who again delivered the goods to their destination.
Kudos to Debbie, who once again did a great job as Sergeant, especially with her "Who's that Rotarian?" quiz.
Today, club member and new Club Membership Chair Michael Burghardt was our guest speaker. Michael introduced himself by sharing some personal information: He's an Islanders and Mets fan; he grew up in Queens and earned his Bachelor's Degree at St. Joseph's and his Master's Degree at St. John's; in 1991, he began working as an X-ray Technologist and later as an MRI Technologist; he ran a Queens outpatient imaging center, and was employed at South Nassau Communities Hospital and Brookhaven Hospital before Kevin Murray hired him to work at Mather Hospital. Michael credits a near-death experience as a youth for his usual sunny outlook on life. Married for 25 years, he has 3 children- including a married son, an EMT now living in PA who is himself the father of 2 boys- and 2 younger daughters. Michael, who has spent 24 years in healthcare administration, claims that his job at Mather originally was to make Kevin's job easier. Having served as Imaging Director, Michael is now Mather's Ass't. Vice President for Administration. He currently oversees all kinds of clinical and non-clinical departments and works with individual department heads, with pharmacists, nutritionists, etc. He's especially proud of the newest hospital acquisitions, including its relatively new cyberknife service which has treated 225 patients thus far. (The public will soon be invited to Meet the Radon (Radiation Oncologist)- a free opportunity to learn about this available program.) Michael spoke about some of the major changes taking place at Mather since its 1929 founding. Having operated as a smallish community-centered independent institution for 80 some odd years, Mather found that in order to lower ever-increasing medical costs, it had to eventually join 9 other hospitals in a network that enabled member institutions, negotiating as a unit, to obtain better rates. When one of the larger hospitals left this group, however, the network's bargaining position weakened dramatically. Hence, when Northwell invited Mather to join its growing network, after 3 years of study and decision-making, Mather eventually accepted. Mather is now a 248-bed not-for-profit teaching hospital - one of the 23 hospitals in the Northwell Health System- that claims to provide a growing number of healthcare services and alternatives in a cost effective manner to Suffolk's residents. New surgical procedures are constantly being introduced. Northwell allows for lots of training and opportunity for its ever-growing staff. There has been much improvement, yet costs are being cut and controlled. ( Mather claims to have saved around $3 million on the purchase of supplies since joining Northwell.) What's new? An Ambulatory Medical/Surgical Center has been opened in the Washington Medical Park on Rte.112- opening up the capacity for surgeries. Partnerships have been forged with practices such as New York Cancer & Blood Specialists, now housed its new building on Rte.347 in East Setauket. New surgeons are being sought and added to staff continuously. Future plans include expanding the hospital's lobby and its efficiency, redoing the security system, adding new ORs, updating the ER, and even updating the heliport system. Under the Master Plan, there may be a future addition of another wing, an increase in the number of single patient rooms, and, always, the inclusion of new technology. Michael assures us that Mather is always looking to do new things to improve. And it's at this point that Judi passed around invitations to our Rotarians, inviting us to attend another "One Enchanted Evening" fundraising event for Mather. This always elegant affair will take place on November 1st, 7 PM to 1 AM, at East Wind in Wading River. This year's event, which will honor Theodore Roosevelt Award Recipients Sumeer Sathi, MD, and David Shenouda, DO, in addition to Community Honoree David Beneliyahu, DC, will include cocktails, dinner, and dancing. (Black tie is encouraged.) Attendees should RSVP by 10/1 by calling 631-476-2723.
ANNOUNCEMENTS/REMINDERS: ***NEXT TUESDAY, on Aug. 20th, we will have a regular meeting at noon at Cafe Spiga. Our program will feature the presentation of Certificates of Appreciation to Winter Golf Outing sponsors. This is also a day for the collection of donated goods for the residents of the Woodhaven Nursing Home.***Judi asks that each club member bring a bottle of wine to this meeting as a donation to our 7th Raffle Prize: The Wine Basket. ***CLUB DUES ARE NOW DUE!!!! ***Kindly let Yvette know, at your earliest convenience, if you've made up any missed meetings.***Today, the pot stands at $60. It will continue to grow until we have a new winner. Will it be you? Ya gotta be in it to win it!***YOU are welcome to Join the members of the Winter Golf Classic Committee this Thursday,8/15, at Nancy's office ( 815 Hallock Ave., Port Jeff Sta.) at 8 AM. You can help with the planning of this awesome fundraising event. Paul invites you to attend the Exec. Board Meeting this Friday, 8/16, at 7:30 AM in his office. ***Bill reminds you to sell your Raffle Tickets and turn in the stubs and money to him a.s.a.p. The more successful your sales efforts, the more expanded our ability to serve our community this year! ***Dennis reminds us that we'll have members participating in the Wednesday, August 28th Southold/Greenport Golf Outing at Island's End. If you'd like to register to join them, contact him immediately at 631-831-2075 or dbren24706@aol.com.(Dennis also reminds us that our next Camp Pa-Qua-Tuck Clean-Up is scheduled for Sunday, 11/17.)Paul thanked Archana and her minions for purchasing, packing, and delivering the backpacks requested by Vicky to Infant Jesus' Social Ministry office (The Open Cupboard). Paul and Sharon ask that you consider attending "Autumn Splendor", the annual fundraiser that benefits the Parish Social Ministry, to be held on 11/2 at The Waterview at the Port Jeff Country Club from 7-11 PM. The cost is $125 p/p and will include a sumptuous harvest dinner, live music, raffles, a silent auction, and more. Sharon pointed out that last year's "Can Do Award" of $500 went to a single mother of 3 who was studying to become an RN. Sharon provided an update: the lady is now working on her Master's Degree. ***Our Past Presidents Dinner & the Raffle Drawing will take place on September 19th at Savino's Hideaway. We will also be celebrating at this event Al Kopcienski's 60th year as a Rotarian! You must be a paid-up member to attend. Your membership dues include your attendance plus that of a guest at this event. *** Please RSVP to Sharon in a timely fashion!***(The Past Presidents Dinner Committee would be meeting after today's luncheon.) Paul has suggested that we look into whether or not we could be of help to the Terryville/Port Jeff Station Chamber of Commerce as it attempts to refurbish the Terryville Rd. Garden.Meanwhile, we must also remember our commitment to keeping up our now cleaned-up Chandler Estate Park in Mt. Sinai. We may soon be welcoming 2 new members who have expressed an interest in becoming PJ Rotarians, Chris Buzzanca of BSA Suffolk, and Debbie Nadal, from Maryhaven.Bob announced that this month's Evening Meeting will take place on Tues., 8/27 at Archana's HSBC bank. Further info. will be forthcoming. Bob also reminds us that we will not have an evening meeting in September due to the fact that we have our Past Presidents Dinner that month, however,we do need an October evening social gathering venue for the month of October. Offers or ideas, anyone?Paul requests that you save the date and plan to attend our Tuesday, 10/15 meeting at Cafe Spiga. Why? We'll be receiving a visit from the new DG on that date. Dennis tells us that the 3 young ladies who attended RYLA Camp enjoyed the program so much that they extended their stay for an extra week. They would like to become RYLA facilitators and plan to stop by soon at a noon luncheon just to say "Hello". At a later time- in September, perhaps- they will return to tell us about their camp experiences.Michael B. is collecting and preparing Welcome Committee materials destined for new club members. He is seeking definitive lists of club members, mentors, committee chairs and their members, etc. Jim's news: Kara Sommerstad, Port Jeff champion swimmer and a recipient of our Most Motivated Student Awards in the 6th and 8th grades, has just qualified for the Olympics. She will be attending The Ohio State University this fall.Sharon pointed out a few possible opportunities for our club: We can share (for free) in Newsday's LI Business Section, in the "People On The Move" column, information about our new officers and/or new members; and we can join the PJ Chamber of Commerce's efforts to coordinate with businesses across The Sound, perhaps connecting with the Bridgeport Rotary Club. Check out our Club Calendar for summer activities that you might want to join, for example: Theater Three will present "Woodstockmania" on 8/16 & 8/17; The Annual Old Field Farm Horse Show & Clambake will take place on 8/18; and from now until Labor Day, you can visit the Mather House Museum and Consignment Shop, open Wednesdays-Sundays, 2-4 PM.
RI's 2019-2020 theme: "Rotary Connects The World".
***Please check out our page on Face Book- and Like Us. ***Photos from our 2018 and 2019 Winter Golf Classics are posted there as are photos of the inductions of our newest members, presentations of honors to special club members, participants at our most recent Camp Pa-Qua-Tuck Clean-Up, and other delights.
Thank you, Open Cupboard donors! Also, thanks to Dennis & Bill, who again delivered the goods to their destination. Kudos to Debbie, who once again did a great job as Sergeant, especially with her "Who's that Rotarian?" quiz.
Today, club member and new Club Membership Chair Michael Burghardt was our guest speaker. Michael introduced himself by sharing some personal information: He's an Islanders and Mets fan; he grew up in Queens and earned his Bachelor's Degree at St. Joseph's and his Master's Degree at St. John's; in 1991, he began working as an X-ray Technologist and later as an MRI Technologist; he ran a Queens outpatient imaging center, and was employed at South Nassau Communities Hospital and Brookhaven Hospital before Kevin Murray hired him to work at Mather Hospital. Michael credits a near-death experience as a youth for his usual sunny outlook on life. Married for 25 years, he has 3 children- including a married son, an EMT now living in PA who is himself the father of 2 boys- and 2 younger daughters. Michael, who has spent 24 years in healthcare administration, claims that his job at Mather originally was to make Kevin's job easier. Having served as Imaging Director, Michael is now Mather's Ass't. Vice President for Administration. He currently oversees all kinds of clinical and non-clinical departments and works with individual department heads, with pharmacists, nutritionists, etc. He's especially proud of the newest hospital acquisitions, including its relatively new cyberknife service which has treated 225 patients thus far. (The public will soon be invited to Meet the Radon (Radiation Oncologist)- a free opportunity to learn about this available program.) Michael spoke about some of the major changes taking place at Mather since its 1929 founding. Having operated as a smallish community-centered independent institution for 80 some odd years, Mather found that in order to lower ever-increasing medical costs, it had to eventually join 9 other hospitals in a network that enabled member institutions, negotiating as a unit, to obtain better rates. When one of the larger hospitals left this group, however, the network's bargaining position weakened dramatically. Hence, when Northwell invited Mather to join its growing network, after 3 years of study and decision-making, Mather eventually accepted. Mather is now a 248-bed not-for-profit teaching hospital - one of the 23 hospitals in the Northwell Health System- that claims to provide a growing number of healthcare services and alternatives in a cost effective manner to Suffolk's residents. New surgical procedures are constantly being introduced. Northwell allows for lots of training and opportunity for its ever-growing staff. There has been much improvement, yet costs are being cut and controlled. ( Mather claims to have saved around $3 million on the purchase of supplies since joining Northwell.) What's new? An Ambulatory Medical/Surgical Center has been opened in the Washington Medical Park on Rte.112- opening up the capacity for surgeries. Partnerships have been forged with practices such as New York Cancer & Blood Specialists, now housed its new building on Rte.347 in East Setauket. New surgeons are being sought and added to staff continuously. Future plans include expanding the hospital's lobby and its efficiency, redoing the security system, adding new ORs, updating the ER, and even updating the heliport system. Under the Master Plan, there may be a future addition of another wing, an increase in the number of single patient rooms, and, always, the inclusion of new technology. Michael assures us that Mather is always looking to do new things to improve. And it's at this point that Judi passed around invitations to our Rotarians, inviting us to attend another "One Enchanted Evening" fundraising event for Mather. This always elegant affair will take place on November 1st, 7 PM to 1 AM, at East Wind in Wading River. This year's event, which will honor Theodore Roosevelt Award Recipients Sumeer Sathi, MD, and David Shenouda, DO, in addition to Community Honoree David Beneliyahu, DC, will include cocktails, dinner, and dancing. (Black tie is encouraged.) Attendees should RSVP by 10/1 by calling 631-476-2723.
ANNOUNCEMENTS/REMINDERS: ***NEXT TUESDAY, on Aug. 20th, we will have a regular meeting at noon at Cafe Spiga. Our program will feature the presentation of Certificates of Appreciation to Winter Golf Outing sponsors. This is also a day for the collection of donated goods for the residents of the Woodhaven Nursing Home.***Judi asks that each club member bring a bottle of wine to this meeting as a donation to our 7th Raffle Prize: The Wine Basket. ***CLUB DUES ARE NOW DUE!!!! ***Kindly let Yvette know, at your earliest convenience, if you've made up any missed meetings.***Today, the pot stands at $60. It will continue to grow until we have a new winner. Will it be you? Ya gotta be in it to win it!***YOU are welcome to Join the members of the Winter Golf Classic Committee this Thursday,8/15, at Nancy's office ( 815 Hallock Ave., Port Jeff Sta.) at 8 AM. You can help with the planning of this awesome fundraising event. Paul invites you to attend the Exec. Board Meeting this Friday, 8/16, at 7:30 AM in his office. ***Bill reminds you to sell your Raffle Tickets and turn in the stubs and money to him a.s.a.p. The more successful your sales efforts, the more expanded our ability to serve our community this year! ***Dennis reminds us that we'll have members participating in the Wednesday, August 28th Southold/Greenport Golf Outing at Island's End. If you'd like to register to join them, contact him immediately at 631-831-2075 or dbren24706@aol.com.(Dennis also reminds us that our next Camp Pa-Qua-Tuck Clean-Up is scheduled for Sunday, 11/17.)Paul thanked Archana and her minions for purchasing, packing, and delivering the backpacks requested by Vicky to Infant Jesus' Social Ministry office (The Open Cupboard). Paul and Sharon ask that you consider attending "Autumn Splendor", the annual fundraiser that benefits the Parish Social Ministry, to be held on 11/2 at The Waterview at the Port Jeff Country Club from 7-11 PM. The cost is $125 p/p and will include a sumptuous harvest dinner, live music, raffles, a silent auction, and more. Sharon pointed out that last year's "Can Do Award" of $500 went to a single mother of 3 who was studying to become an RN. Sharon provided an update: the lady is now working on her Master's Degree. ***Our Past Presidents Dinner & the Raffle Drawing will take place on September 19th at Savino's Hideaway. We will also be celebrating at this event Al Kopcienski's 60th year as a Rotarian! You must be a paid-up member to attend. Your membership dues include your attendance plus that of a guest at this event. *** Please RSVP to Sharon in a timely fashion!***(The Past Presidents Dinner Committee would be meeting after today's luncheon.) Paul has suggested that we look into whether or not we could be of help to the Terryville/Port Jeff Station Chamber of Commerce as it attempts to refurbish the Terryville Rd. Garden.Meanwhile, we must also remember our commitment to keeping up our now cleaned-up Chandler Estate Park in Mt. Sinai. We may soon be welcoming 2 new members who have expressed an interest in becoming PJ Rotarians, Chris Buzzanca of BSA Suffolk, and Debbie Nadal, from Maryhaven.Bob announced that this month's Evening Meeting will take place on Tues., 8/27 at Archana's HSBC bank. Further info. will be forthcoming. Bob also reminds us that we will not have an evening meeting in September due to the fact that we have our Past Presidents Dinner that month, however,we do need an October evening social gathering venue for the month of October. Offers or ideas, anyone?Paul requests that you save the date and plan to attend our Tuesday, 10/15 meeting at Cafe Spiga. Why? We'll be receiving a visit from the new DG on that date. Dennis tells us that the 3 young ladies who attended RYLA Camp enjoyed the program so much that they extended their stay for an extra week. They would like to become RYLA facilitators and plan to stop by soon at a noon luncheon just to say "Hello". At a later time- in September, perhaps- they will return to tell us about their camp experiences.Michael B. is collecting and preparing Welcome Committee materials destined for new club members. He is seeking definitive lists of club members, mentors, committee chairs and their members, etc. Jim's news: Kara Sommerstad, Port Jeff champion swimmer and a recipient of our Most Motivated Student Awards in the 6th and 8th grades, has just qualified for the Olympics. She will be attending The Ohio State University this fall.Sharon pointed out a few possible opportunities for our club: We can share (for free) in Newsday's LI Business Section, in the "People On The Move" column, information about our new officers and/or new members; and we can join the PJ Chamber of Commerce's efforts to coordinate with businesses across The Sound, perhaps connecting with the Bridgeport Rotary Club. Check out our Club Calendar for summer activities that you might want to join, for example: Theater Three will present "Woodstockmania" on 8/16 & 8/17; The Annual Old Field Farm Horse Show & Clambake will take place on 8/18; and from now until Labor Day, you can visit the Mather House Museum and Consignment Shop, open Wednesdays-Sundays, 2-4 PM.
RI's 2019-2020 theme: "Rotary Connects The World".
***Please check out our page on Face Book- and Like Us. ***Photos from our 2018 and 2019 Winter Golf Classics are posted there as are photos of the inductions of our newest members, presentations of honors to special club members, participants at our most recent Camp Pa-Qua-Tuck Clean-Up, and other delights.
***The following is a list of donation "assignments" for members' once-a-month donations via the Club to the Open Cupboard: (*If you don't see your name on this list, select an item from it for your donation.)***NOTE: This list will be updated as needed:
Black Beans- Bob H., Pat (& brown rice), Yvette
Baby Wipes- Jim, Tom
Canned Fruit- Dennis
Cereal- Jennifer, Paul, Amanda
Oatmeal- Lisa, Sean
Soap- Kathy, Paul
Canned Chicken- Sharon, Michael B.
Jelly- Debbie, Michael
Shampoo- Saranto, Nancy
Conditioner- Nancy
Toilet Paper- Judi
Diapers- John Perkins
Apple Juice- Bill C.
***Check the list for your name and assigned item. (If you are not listed, you may donate any listed item. Corporate members are encouraged to donate individually. If you would like to be listed with a specific item, contact Debbie and specify your item of choice.)
***Bring contributions to Cafe Spiga on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, or give to another Club member who will be attending.
*** If you would like to be reimbursed, bring receipt(s) to the meeting.
...DONNA MCKEOWN, who celebrated her birthday on August 9th; BILL CURRY, whose birthday is August 16th; KEVIN MURRAY, who observed his anniversary while visiting Colorado on August 6th; JEN DZVONAR, who will be celebrating her anniversary on August 14th; CHRISTINE AUSTEN, who will become the PJ School District's new Ass't. Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction; and AL KOPCIENSKI, who this month is celebrating his 60th year in Rotary!!!
