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MARCH 2019

Forty-four Rotary Clubs Making the World Better - Service Above Self    

It’s still cold outside but a great time to warm up for spring with activities at our 44 Clubs.  Information, events, and projects are featured in this issue.  This newsletter lets you know about what is going on at Rotary and our Clubs.  
 
You and your club are doing great things. Tell us about them.  We’ll let other Rotarians know. If your club’s events are not included in this issue we didn’t hear from you. Email your March 2019 and later events to me at john@ehrlichmedia.com for the next issue ASAP.

John Ehrlich, Editor

 
Upcoming Events
Mid-Northeast Multi-District PETS (President-Elects Training Seminar)
Hanover Marriott
Mar 21, 2019 1:30 PM –
Mar 23, 2019 1:30 PM
 
RYLA
Mar 22, 2019 – Mar 23, 2019
 
2019 District Conference
Apr 26, 2019 3:00 PM –
Apr 28, 2019 3:00 PM
 
DG Krishan Chittur's Message Celebrating Rotaract's 51st Anniversary
 
This is the 51st anniversary of the Rotaract, yet another of Rotary’s phenomenal success stories.  From the first Rotaract Club chartered in 1968 in North Carolina, Rotaract is now a worldwide movement with 250,792 Rotaractors in 10,904 Clubs in 184 countries.  In many places, Rotaract has been so successful in harnessing the energy and passion of youth that Rotaractors have their own District Conference!
 
Rotaractors have made (and continue to make) significant meaningful contributions to advancing Rotary ideals.  Enabling HIV infected women sell their products online.  Running a Model United Nations to address contemporary international issues.  Even running their own international exchange programs.  In the process, Rotaractors also develop personally and professionally:  building leadership skills and organizational abilities.
 
Rotary International Theme Announced
RI President-elect Mark Daniel Maloney’s theme for 2019-20, revealed at Rotary’s International Assembly in January, is Rotary Connects the World.
 
 

 

 
Peace Fellowship Applications Now Available
2020-21 applications are now available for two types of Rotary Peace Fellowships:  (1) a mid-career, three-month Certificate Program; and (2) an eighteen-month Masters Program.  For over a decade, your support of The Rotary Foundation has helped fully-fund 100 Peace Fellowships annually.  To learn more about the Rotary Peace Centers Program visit https://www.rotary.org/en/our-programs/peace-fellowships.  
 
District 7230 has a great track record of getting applicants through this highly competitive process.  Encourage interested applicants to apply!  Deadline:  May 31, 2019.
RYLA Committee Will Welcome 46 Campers!
Forty-six high-school sophomores have registered for this year’s Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Camp to be held on March 22-23, 2019.  That level of participation certainly exceeds expectations and sets an attendance record, at least in recent times!  Co-chairs PDG David Del Monte and Rtn. Nitin Gupta have been ceaseless in their efforts!  Thank you to them, their team, and all the Rotary Clubs that sponsored participants!
Youth Exchange Committee Members Attend NAYEN Conference
Two YESP Committee members attended the NAYEN Conference in Denver (Mar. 14 - 17, 2019).  The Conference was extremely helpful, with informative - indeed, eye-opening - presentations and good networking.  Apart from Rotarians who have been involved (read, running) YESP for several years, the enthusiasm of ROTEX - the clubs of YESP alumni - was remarkable.  One Rotarian, for example, had hosted 32 YESP students, illustrating the wonderful benefits of being a host parent.  A major boost to the program is the launch of a nationwide, centralized website providing information and referrals.  Rotarians, teenagers, and everyone interested in YESP are encouraged to visit the website:
 
 
These conferences are akin to continuing education programs in various professions: Mandatory, if we to continue being effective and uptodate.  Everyone interested in the YESP should make it a point to attend these annual conferences.  The next NAYEN Conference is in Monterey, Mexico."
 
Membership Matters! Seminar Held March 2nd
A ROTARY THANK YOU  to everyone who came out in the snow on a Saturday morning to attend this recent seminar convened by Martin Schulman and Cecily Smith!  Zone 32 Coordinator Carolyn Johnson (pictured right), Rotarator Jennifer Lapper, DGE Mahbub Ahmad, DGND George McKinnis, RC Harlem President Dwayne Norris, RCMNYC President-Elect Valissa Mayers, RCMNYC's Martin Nolan, and RC of White Plains President-Elect Ted Weitzenberg presented.  Well done to them, and our organizers, Marty and Cecily.
District Appointments
 
Membership Chair
 
Martin Schulman, RC of Bronxville, is the new Chair of the District's Membership (Attraction and Engagement) Committee.  Marty has been a successful businessman, and brings his remarkable analytical skills to lay out a deliberative strategy for membership development for the District.  He is a wonderful resource for our Clubs and our District. DG Kris urges every Club to contact Marty directly. His email is martin.schulman@icloud.com.
 
 
 
Outbound Youth Exchange Chair
 
Hugh Maynard-Reid, RC of the Pelhams, will lead the Outbound Subcommittee of the Youth Exchange Scholarship Committee.  Hugh will be responsible for high school students who would spend 3-8 weeks abroad in the Short-Term Program, or a whole academic year in the Long-Term Program.  E-mail him at  hugh.maynard.reid@gmail.com for more information and promote this program in your Club, your community, and local schools.  Help Rotary bring this life-changing opportunity to high schoolers!
 
Nominating Committee Selects Future DG's
 
 
Mary Eileen Shackleton is District 7230 Governor Nominee and will be Governor for the Rotary year 2020-21. Mary currently serves as District 7230 Executive Secretary and chairs the District Grant & Stewardship Subcommittee.  She is a member and Past President of the Rotary Club of Metro New York City (2015-16), when the club was awarded a Presidential Citation.  Mary is also a two-time Assistant Governor (2016-17, 2017-18).  She graduated from the Rotary Leadership Institute in 2018.  Mary is a Paul Harris Fellow and member of both the Paul Harris and Bequest Societies.
 
Judge George C. McKinnis is District 7230 Governor Nominee Designee and will be Governor for the Rotary Year 2021-22.  He is a lawyer who is a member of the Bronxville Rotary Club for which he has been President three times, the last being for two terms. Judge McKinnis has been District Secretary and has been an Assistant Governor multiple times.  In addition, he has been parliamentarian and District Counsel for many District Governors. Judge McKinnis lives in Bronxville.  He and his wife have two grown sons.
Remembering PDG Marilyn Masiero
The District is saddened by the passing of Past District Governor Marilyn Masiero (2015-16) on February 17th.  A member of the Rotary Club of Larchmont, she was a committed Rotarian, Rotary leader, and Arch Klumph Society member.  Marilyn will be sorely missed. 
 
Born in the Bronx, Marilyn received an Associate Degree in Textile Science from The Fashion Institute of Technology.  Marilyn continued her studies at New York University, receiving B.S. and M.A. degrees in Education. After a 22-year teaching career with N.Y.C. Board of Education, Marilyn obtained a Master' Degree in Art Therapy from the College of New Rochelle and then opened a counseling practice in Sarasota, Florida.
 
Marilyn loved traveling, museums, concerts, and the opera. Recently, Marilyn became a Patron of the Textile Conservation Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Marilyn was a member of the Varsity Fencing Team at NYU and married Richard Gradkowski, her widower, at a 1971 international fencing championship in Vienna.
 
March Membership Minute

This is my first column in the District Newsletter. You may know me, in my business life, I am an Optician with offices around the district, in Westchester and in Greenwich Connecticut, or as a Rotary member since ’83 in the Rotary Club of Bronxville. Forgive me if I overuse optical or visual cliches..
 
I like puzzles, mazes, clever challenges and fun games. Sometimes. we can write in a way that is different.
  • Different than the usual, drama in 250 words, stories of Rotary heroes and heroines.
  • Different than the finger-wagging hectoring about what you “should be doing.”
  • Different than the data charts and scratchy, raw numbers thrown at us to impress.
Sometimes, we will try to catch your eye, spark a flame, energize a thought. See things through the lens of others who share our core values, our ethics, our dedication to a life long pursuit of the 4-Way Test.
 
Is that you?
 
Around the district, some clubs are meeting in the same place, same time, with the same group of rotary members, week in and week out.
 
Do you see the alternate members?
 
Around the district, the great Port Chester-Rye Brook club is serving the community. Packing hundreds of lunches. Delivering these packed lunches to needy school kids. They do this with the cooperation of Old Souls Church, and alongside community helpers.  Maybe there’s someone there interested in the Club but can’t make the weekly meetings? Answer: service membership.
 
The Bronxville club picks up custom orders of coats, shoes, shirts for the homeless seeking job interviews and appropriate clothing. Then on Wednesday evening, delivers these curbside in Midtown Manhattan as a team of two. Father/son, Member/spouse, Member/friend, Member mentoring younger member.  How about a family membership?
 
Last clue
 
I was complacent, thought all Rotarians were active members, honorary or additional active. Had no clue about inclusive membership changes that were about to happen. Well, here they come! Reach out to me to talk to your club about ways to expand, include, get more diverse, grow into the 21st Century. My lovely spouse, in the photo, will be joining as a family member to serve Rotary, My contact info is below. Our committee will meet you and share valuable tools to help. write and share your thoughts.
 
Until the next MEMBERSHIP MINUTE, all the best!
 
Martin Schulman
District 7230 Membership Chair
 
RC of Chappaqua Celebrates Charter Night with Awards
At its March 2nd gala, the RC of Chappaqua honored Ben and Debbie Lieberman, who turned the painful traffic death of their son into a campaign against distracted driving, with their Joan Corwin Community Service Award. They also recognized two Horace Greeley High School students with a "Be the Good" award.  Dan Griffin became a Paul Harris Fellow.
International Partners Bring Basketball Court to Yonkers
In 2015, the RC of Yonkers - East Yonkers endorsed Rtn. Pete Spano’s idea of working Nancy Lieberman Charities to replace basketball courts in Yonkers.  The club received a Global Grant from The Rotary Foundation, with support from Rotary Districts 6310 (South Korea) and 7230, along with the RC of Yeocheon, making Rotary International the largest single donor. Leonard Spano, executive director at the Westchester School for Special Children, joined the partnership, seeing the need for refurbished courts in the community.  This entire project took four years from concept to implementation. 
Human Trafficking Panel Discussion
The Rotaract Club at the UN, along with the RC's of Harlem and New York, jointly organized this March 7th event. The presenters were Mary Carparas, Project Manager at Womankind; Rachel Lloyd, President and Founder of G.E.M.S.; Lois Rowman, The Law Offices of Lois Rowman, Esq.; and Connor Cashel, Social Worker Anti Tracking/Safe Horizon.  The panelists made clear the human tragedy behind trafficking and set-forth the available law-enforcement tools. Their solutions focused on early education and long-term counseling, focusing on victim healing, rather than prosecution and “hammer down solutions.”
Russell Hampton
National Awards Services Inc.
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