President Mike B. was joined today at Cafe Spiga by 9 regular members plus 2 guests, Michelle Angeuilo, a friend of Deb's, and our visiting speaker, Allan Varela, representing the Arts Council of Greater Port Jefferson/Northern Brookhaven. Today was also an OPEN CUPBOARD COLLECTION DAY. Dennis thanked our members who brought in their donations. Reminder: Donations are collected on the 2nd Tuesday of each month- and that there is a larger need in the summer for the goods we provide for the community's less fortunate, when schools are closed. Thank you Dennis, for delivering the goods to their destination! President Mike began today's meeting by inviting members to reach out to friends, neighbors, acquaintances, relatives, etc., to see if they'd be interested in becoming members of our club. This is Membership Month, and our goal should be to grow our club by at least 3 new members this year. We agreed that we need to publicize better than we do currently who we are and what we do. We need to reach out to The Patch and TBR newspapers, to the Village and Greater Port Jefferson by any and every means possible and bring public awareness to what Rotary membership means locally, nationally, and internationally. Mike will look into ordering Rotary auto decals for us to place on our vehicles- a practice that we used to do- again, to advertise that we are proud members of this great organization. How many Raffle Tickets have you sold? Judi is ill again and would certainly welcome your healing thoughts- and cards, too! Mike noted that Camp Pa-Qua-Tuck will be holding its 1st Cornhole Tournament Fundraiser on 8/15 from 6-10 PM at Dublin Deck in Patchogue, and you're invited. Admission includes a BBQ dinner, cash bar, games, and prizes. You can form or join a team and compete in the enjoyable tournament. To register, visit https://camppaquatuck.com/first-annual-cornament. The Rotary Club of Southampton invites you to its "Night at the Rogers Mansion" on Thursday, 8/25 from 5:30-8 PM. It begins at the Southampton History Museum, 17 Meeting House Lane, Southampton. Among the activities: the appearance of World Class Mentalist, Kevin Nicholas; Professionally Drawn Caricatures; Open Bar & hors d'oeuvres; and Tours of the Rogers Mansion grounds and New Exhibit. A Single Ticket costs $75, while a pair of tickets will cost $125. For more information, go to: www.southamptonhistory.org/calendar. Our President reminded us that we should advertise other Rotary Clubs' events just as we'll expect them to advertise ours. Mark Snyder will be formally inducted as a new (actually, returned) club member as soon as arrangements can be made. Jen, our new Membership Chair, will have to get a new member packet and pin to present to to him at a ceremony to which he should be invited to bring family members. Mark will also be matched with a club buddy/sponsor. Sharon reminded us that the Past Presidents Dinner will take place on September 29th (honoring Rob Dooley), at Savino's, with festivities starting at 5 PM. Please RSVP to your invitations! Remember: each dues-paying club member is entitled to attend with a guest for free, while Corporate Members will have to choose a member to represent them. Others pay $60 to attend this event. All guests are welcome. Our ANNUAL RAFFLE DRAWING will take place at this dinner!
Have you paid your Annual Dues? Saranto and Debbie took turns at being today's Sergeant. Saranto's questions centered on "What happened today in history?" Among the questions: What American rock singer went to trial on this date in 1970? (Ans.: Jim Morrison); Who became President on 8/9/1974? (Ans.:Jerry Ford); and what important event took place on this date in 1788? (Ans.: The Constitution was ratified.) Many dollars were collected for wrong answers. Many Happy $$$ also were collected for such great reasons as: The Sceifords are expecting a new brother or sister to join Harvey in late January; Dennis' son Chris is expecting his 4th child; and Saranto had a great vacation. There were also some sad dollars collected: Cindy's home air conditioning is broken (but will be repaired tomorrow); and President Mike forgot to call on Al to do the meeting's opening prayer. Sharon's blue raffle ticket won her the chance to pick a card out of the deck, hoping to get the Ace of Spades. She picked a Spade, but not the Ace. So her card got removed from the deck, and the pot will continue to grow. Next week, will you have the ticket that gets you the chance to win a new, bigger pot? "Ya gotta be in it to win it!" Mike B. introduced our guest speaker, Allan Varela, who told us about the Greater Port Jefferson Arts Council (GPJAC), which he leads. The Council actually covers a huge area stretching from the 3 Villages to Shoreham. It was formed in 1986. Allan joined in 1991. The function of the GPJAC was and still is to bring culture and arts awareness to northern Brookhaven. Among the many popular continuing annual activities created and/or supported by the Council: the Fiddle & Folk Festival in Setauket (at Benner's Farm); the sunset concerts at Harborfront Park; The Monday Evening Documentary Series (usually at Theater Three or The Staller Center); Classical Plus; and the Dickens Festival. A new project coming up soon: The Sea Chanty Festival in Port Jeff. Allan reminds us that the arts are surrounding us. Everything you have is created by one sort of artist or another. One of the Council's missions is to expose us to music we've never heard of. Another is to promote a great variety of art. Allan also spoke in detail about the specialness of the Documentary Series. Documentaries to be shown are vetted by the Council and usually comprise famous festival choices and award winners. Each documentary is introduced by the director, producer, or someone closely connected to its production. After the documentary is shown, the audience then gets to ask questions about it- why the topic was chosen, how the filming was achieved, etc. The GPJAC has always led other art councils in its achievements and has won many prestigious awards for doing so. The Council is currently planning for the upcoming fall film festival. Regarding "our" ever-growing Dickens Festival, Allan says that they try to bring skilled people into the activities. This festival brings in as many as 30,000 visitors during the 2 days that it runs, apparently no matter what the weather, and now involves all of the village's churches and the Masonic Lodge, which host a vwide variety of performers all day each day. All of the local schools have become involved, too, providing musicians, singers, actors, and the like. All of the Council's "productions" are meant to raise funds for a great variety of causes. The "World Central Kitchen" documentary raised money for a local Ukrainian church. A recent art show involved students with autism and included a film about autism. This was all produced to raise awareness and understanding but also to raise funds to aid related organizations. The Council often partners with other organizations such as Theater Three, and money raised goes to other nonprofits. The Council is currently in need of a new computer and a new projector. Alan has submitted a form for a club donation and invites our members to become involved with its activities, perhaps becoming a sponsor in addition to being a benefactor. The GPJAC has its office on the 2nd floor of The Chandlery Building, across the driveway from The Village Center (by the harbor) at 101 East Broadway. |