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Today at Cafe Spiga, Pres. Rob hosted 11 members and two guests, Dominic Azzara and his father, John. Our guest speaker, Ira Dunne from The Social Brain, Inc. was unable to attend. Plans for our next fundraiser, the Annual Golf Outing- on September 12th- are still moving along. Rob reminded us that the prices of attendees' participation have gone up ($100 p/p is now $125 p/p. $400 per foursome is now $500.) Please continue to seek participants in our Putt & Pub Crawl as well as volunteers to be "hole referees". Volunteer helpers can still contact Rebecca for pertinent information. Members of the club are also reminded that they are responsible for providing a raffle prize of $100 value or greater for the awards ceremony after the outing, or for selling a sponsorship, or for getting a foursome registered. Regarding our upcoming Golf event, know that Saranto has generously offered to accept raffle basket items at his office: 640 Belle Terre Rd., Building D in Port Jeff. Dropoff hours are Monday-Thurs. 8AM-5PM, Friday-8AM-3PM. NOT LABOR DAY. Absolute deadline must be Wed. 9/8. **Joan called to reiterate that she and Cindy will be collecting the baskets/goods harbored at Saranto's on 9/8. You may call her (631-807-7285) or email (joanelliott56@gmail.com) if you need help or wish to help in preparing baskets.** Meanwhile, Cindy is looking for a large room in which she, Joan, and other volunteers can put together the final versions of the baskets. She will be checking with the Village Center to see if they can donate the space needed for this task. Any other offers of space are welcome. Dennis reported that the Southold Rotary Annual Golf Tourney's original date has been canceled. The new date: October 13th. Contact him for more info. By now you should have received the emailed invitation/reminder about our Annual Presidents Dinner on September 28th at Savino's Hideaway in Miller Place, starting at 5 PM. As part of your Club Membership, each regular member is entitled to 2 tickets to this event. (Corporate members receive 2 tickets for the corporation. Additional tickets are available for $60 each.) PLEASE R.S.V.P. TO SHARON A.S.A.P.- (by 9/18): brennansab@optonline.net) Rebecca announced that she is forming a Volunteer Task Force to spiff up and retain pollinator gardens in the Village. If you are interested in helping out, contact Rebecca for more information. Yvette asks you to save the date and participate in the 17th Annual Kenya/USA Bi-Continental 5K Run/Walk: Saturday, October 16th, at 10 AM on the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway Trail. Here's another opportunity to compete against Kenyans of all ages, who will be running (and walking) seven time zones away! This event will start and end at the Port Jeff Station trail entrance- at the western end of the public parking lot. The lot entrance is located at the Hallock Avenue traffic light, on the western side of Rte. 112, between the Enterprise Car Rental and the 7-11. Registration will take place beginning at 9 AM. The suggested donation: $30. Runners/walkers who can secure more than $100 in pledges run/walk for free. Can't run or walk yourself? Yvette invites you to support Larry with a pledge. He will be walking the distance. Medals will be awarded to all finishers. If you are unable to participate on October 16th, you are invited to do a VIRTUAL 5K run/walk any place, any time thru October 23rd. Donate at www.hopechildrensfund.org or send a check to HCF, P.O. Box 387, Setauket, NY 11733. All proceeds go to support the Jerusha Mwiraria Hope Children's Home in Meru, Kenya. Jen invites you to participate in Family Fun Day hosted by the PJ Station/Terryville Chamber of Commerce. The date has been changed to Saturday, October 16th, from 10 AM to 4 PM at the Chamber Train Park (corner of Rte. 112 and Rte.347, Port Jeff Sta.- Entrance on Rose Ave.) This is an opportunity to celebrate local community, local business, and good ol' family fun! There'll be pumpkin painting, face painting, an apple pie baking contest, a scarecrow contest, and live music. Free Admission. Vendor spots are available. For more info. and a schedule, visit www.PJSTChamber.com (or contact Jen). *(Yvette suggests that you attend this event right after the nearby HCF 5K). Debbie introduced us to our guests, Dominic Azzara and his dad, John. Dominic was our Comsewogue HS 2021 graduating senior Rotary Scholarship recipient. Dominic came to meet and thank us for our award. Among his qualifications: despite having dyslexia and dysgraphia, impacting his processing speed and root memorization, he worked especially hard to achieve the results he wanted, including being a member of the National Honor Society in grades 11 and 12, a member of the Italian National Honor Society, and an Eagle Scout, completing his project 2 years ago. His project was to build equipment for the Adaptive PE Program at his high school. Dominic competed in Varsity Track and Cross Country at Comsewogue HS and was also a volunteer in his church's youth group. He is still interested in reaching his fullest potential. Dominic will be attending Suffolk County Community College and expects to develop the knowledge and skill set needed to be a success in the computer science field. Having a passion for video games and animations, his dream is to eventually get a job with Disney. We wished Dominic the best of luck as he proceeds towards his goals.   While Ira Dunne from The Social Brain was unable to join us today, Dennis informed us about some of the things we ought to know about The Social Brain. This is a Not-For-Profit organization created to help individuals with brain injuries to build friendships through socialization, reducing their isolation, and enabling them to build their independence. The Social Brain allows survivors of brain injury and their families to engage in events of interest such as sports and art programs, nature walks, and picnics. They have ample opportunities to network and improve their quality of life. They also fundraise in order to make life safer for others. For example, in Port Jeff Station recently, members of The Social Brain held a drive, collecting new helmets and then distributing them to promote bicycle and skateboard safety. To help The Social Brain continue in their efforts, we held a check donation presentation.  Rob was today's Sergeant. He so much enjoyed collecting dollars from members as he questioned and taught them about the Rotary flag, the signature Rotary wheel & it gears, and the 4 objects of Rotary, that he was actually giggling by the end of the Sergeant's Report. Many Happy Dollars were also collected. Congratulations to Cindy on the upcoming (this Saturday) marriage of her daughter! Happy Birthday to Judi, who will be celebrating this event on September 8th! (Please keep Judi's brother, who is hospitalized, in your prayers.) Thank You, Shattes family, for donating your 2021 Rotary Raffle 7th Prize, the huge wine basket, back to the club. The bottles will be added to raffle baskets at our upcoming Golf event. Good job, Colton Dooley, 8 year old son of President Rob, whose ball playing prowess delights his dad! We voted to make the Tuesday following Labor Day, 9/7, a NO MEETING DAY. |
