Oneonta Rotarians Helping out the Local Salvation Army

Our very own Jim Broe (long time Rotarian) helps out with the annual bell ringing at the Southside Mall to raise money for our Local Salvation Army. Thanks Jim and all the other Rotarians for your service to the club and our local community.

Operation Warm 2010 in Full Swing

So far this year we have delivered well over 100 new coats to children in need at our area schools (Greater Plains, Valleyview, Centerstreet, Oneonta Christian School, Riverside). Thanks to the very generous donations from our own Rotarians, The Elks Club, Kiwanis Club, Marie Lusins-Mclachlan and Richard Mclachlan, we were able to make this happen. This coming Friday December 17th we will be handing out over 30 new coats to children and their parents at Laurens Central School, just before the holidays. What a great gift to give! Thanks to all those who took their valuable time and helped volunteer for this fantastic project.

For more information about Operation Warm or the History of the program go to www.operationwarm.org

Volunteers Needed for the Annual Ross Cordell Rotary Wrestling Tournament

Come help out the Oneonta Rotary Club in this annual event from Friday January 7th to Saturday January 8th. We always have a lot of fun and it's not difficult work at all. The competition is fantastic and we typically get a number of state champions and sectional winners in the finals each year.

Here's what we need

Friday January 7th

Ticket Sales

3:30-4:30PM Two People
4:30 to 6:00 PM Two People

Shirt Sales
4:00 to 5:30 PM Two People
5:30 to 6:30 Two People

50/50
Two People

Saturday January 8th

Ticket Sales
8:00 to 10:00 AM Two People
10:00 AM to 12:00: Two People
Noon to 2:00 PM: Two People
2:00 to 3:30 Two People


Shirt Sales
8:00 to 10:00AM Two People
10:00 AM to Noon Two People
Noon to 2:00 PM Two People
2:00 to 3:30 Two People

50/50 Two People

Finals (Approximately 3:30 PM)
President of Rotary
Mayor Miller
Invocation (Ken Baldwin)

Oneonta Rotary International Dessert Holiday Bash

Come raise a glass of holiday cheer at the International Dessert Holiday Bash on Tuesday December 14 from 6:30 to 8:00, Location: Heritage at The Plains at Parish Homestead "Traditions Restaurant" 163 Heritage Circle, Oneonta NY

It is $2.00 per adult, $1.00 per child and kids under six are free.

We ask those attending to bring and international holiday dessert for sample size tasting for 20 people

October 7th Meeting Notes: First Night Oneonta

David Hayes who is on the board of First Night Oneonta was here to give us a glimpse as to what is going to be happening in downtown Oneonta on New Years Eve. This year's theme is Imagine Oneonta. There will be fireworks at 11 minutes after 10pm. At midnight all the bells in Oneonta will ring starting with Hartwick College. There will be a parade and multiple events around the downtown featuring local talent. To find out more please check their website at www.imagineoneonta.com

First Annual Rotary Disc Golf Tournament at Fortin Park October 24th 2010

The Oneonta Rotary Club will hold the first ever Disc Golf Tournament in this Area on October 24th 2010. Registration is from 8:00 to 9 am. The tournament is open to all levels of players.

There will be a free player clinic held on Saturday the 23rd for those who have never played the sport at 11 am.

There are divisions for everyone from Novice/Juniors ($10 registration fee), Armatures ($30 registration fee) and even a Pro Division($50 registration fee). Each player receives an official player's pack for both which includes an official disc golf Frisbee.

This tournament will consist of two 18 hole rounds of Disc Golf with Prizes for all divisions.

David Coury, who headed up this fundraiser, tells me that there will be professionals coming in from all over the state to come to this tourney.


What is Disc Golf?

Disc golf is played like regular golf, with specialized discs taking the place of clubs and balls. Instead of a hole in the ground the target is a metal basket supported by a pole with a series of chains hanging over the basket to catch the disc. The lowest score for 18 holes wins.

Disc golf dates back as early as 1926. In the 1970s the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA)was formed and the first permanent disc golf course was formed in Oak Grove Park, La Canada, California. Today there are over 3,000 disc golf courses throughout the country and the PDGA has nearly 40,000 members.

Currently there are large disc golf clubs located in Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse ares.

For more information about the sport go to http://www.pdga.com/

For any questions about the tournament please contact David Coury at 607-267-7727 or cdavid74@hotmail.com

Also, check out our facebook page at www.facebook.com/oneontarotarydiscgolf.com

Big Dollars Raised for 2010 Operation Warm Coat Program

Marie Lusins-Mclachlan (Past District Governor) and her husband Richard Mclachlan hosted a fund raising event (outstanding turkey and ham dinner with all the fixins plus libations) at their house for the 2010 Operation Warm Coat program. The program was such a success last year (giving out over 70 plus new coats to children at the Riverside Elementary School) that Marie decided it was very important to head up a fundraising event this year to have enough money to help purchase coats for all Oneonta public school children who need them.

The program was originally started in Pennsylvania and has now spread out all over the country. Each new coat is made out of recycled bottle fiber and only costs $15 per jacket. People will attest that the coats are very well made and are built to last. So far, over $3000 has been raised to support the program this year. A very generous donation of $400 was give from the Elks club to support the endeavor.

Right now we are in the process of contacting all the schools to try and get a solid number on how many children could benefit from a brand new coat. There will be more updates to follow....

We are still taking donations if you are interested in participating. Once the coats arrive we will be asking fellow Rotarian's to help distribute the coats.

For more information about Operation Warm go to http://www.operationwarm.org/

Marie presents her incredibly tasty ham that she worked all day on.

President Barbara Ann and Rev. Ken Baldwin have a conversation

Oneonta Rotary Club Steps up to Help Support Local Sock Hop

Thank you to all the Rotary volunteers who assisted in the serving of food at the 2010 Sock Hop sponsored by Central New York Radio Group to support the Local Catskill Area Hospice on September 18th. All profit from the food proceeds went back to our local Rotary club and the admission fees went to support Hospice.

The Rotary Volunteers Include:

Ed Forman

Larry Guzy

Les Grummons

Sarah Patterson

Kathy Schofield

Loree Allen

Steven Belk (and the Job Corps Crew)

Frank Russo

Fred Schmidt

Joe Fodero

Charlie Nocosia

Sally Miliantri

Interesting Program about the SUNY Oneonta's Music Department.

Dr. Robert Barstow gave an interesting program on their Music Industry Major. He started at SUNY in 1966 and was the chair of the department for 19 years. The program itself started in 1982, and has five specialized courses all relating to the music industry from the business side of the equation to the music itself. There is nothing like it in the whole country. To give you an insight into how popular this program has become, in 1994 there were 84 students, 1997 137 students, 1998 200 students, 200 297 students, 2001 397 students, 2003 550 students, 2004 633 students and now approximately 500 students have this as a major. They also have multiple ensembles that play on campus and have concerts. Please go and enjoy their musical talents. this is a wonderful program/major and asset to our community.

Central NY Books of the World Project (8/26/10) Program Notes

8/26/2010 Past District Governor (PDG) Ward Vuillemont was our speaker this past Thursday and he explained a program called Central NY Books for the World. This project is a collaborative effort between Rotary Clubs, affiliated youth clubs, their community and service organizations. They provide K-6th grade picture/story and K-12th grade text books to needed regions of the world to create opportunities for a better way of life.

Books are shipped to Rotary club and district distribution centers in Africa and other locations throughout the world where English is one of their primary business languages. In addition, Spanish and English books are also sent to locations in Latin America.. The Club buys, at cost, all the required packaging materials. At a central warehouse, boxed books are weighed and palletized, wrapped and shipped to the Second Wind Foundation in Houston TX. Here in Houston, books from all USA Rotary collection centers are co-mingled, containerized and sent to third world Rotarian managed distribution centers.

The project costs $65 for the materials and $100 to ship the books. The CNY Books for the World project started two years ago and they have since shipped 90 tons of books to date.

Rosalie Higgins is going to check with the school to see if they have text books they are getting rid of.

If you have any contacts with our local school district administrators and they are looking to get rid of slightly used or worn books please contact Barbara Ann Heegan and let her know. Also check out the Website at http://www.cnybooksfortheworld.org/

Two New Rotarians Inducted on August 26th

Pictured on the left is Joe Fodero, a retired professor at SUNY Oneonta in Health and Exercise, and on the right is Stephen Belk, the new director at Oneonta Job Corps. Please introduce yourself to them and make them feel welcome.

A Fresh Batch of Rotary Exchange Students Hit the Ground Running

Front row Left to Right: Naomi Seki from Japan, Adrain Dei Agnoli from Australia, Barbara Ann Heegan from Worcester :), Marco Di Bert from Italy, and Maria Carbajal from Argentina.

Back Row Left to Right Kristy Cable (Naomi's Counselor), Dick Breuninger, Paul Patterson (Marco's Counselor), and Sarah Manchester (Maria's Counselor).

Each student is here for an academic year at OHS. People interested in meeting the students should contact their counselor. If you see them please make them feel welcome to our country.

Rotary Golf Tournament POSTPONED until Spring

The golf committee has made an executive decision to postpone the September 9th golf tournament until the Spring of 2011. The reasons were due to lack of participation and the general state of the economy. At this point we only had six teams participating, very few tee signs and only a small amount of prizes.

Our hopes are that in the spring time The Rotary Tournament will be one of the first of the year and we can get more than a few Rotarians helping to organize the event. More news to follow in the coming months...

Fourth of July Speedies in the Park a Success!

Fourth of July has come and gone for now, but thanks to the hard work and help of many Oneonta Rotarians, the speedies in the park was a success for 2010.

At the end of the day after all expenses and receipts accounted for we netted over $1000 for the club. Plus Rotarians were able to build some great commradrie and fellowship while doing having fun doling out speedies on a beautiful day.

Special thanks goes out to Howie "Grillmaster" Gelbsman for cooking all 100 lbs of spiedies.

Thanks for Secretary PDG Sam for getting the Salvation Army Canteen for us.

Thanks for all the volunteers that signed up and did a great job.

Also a special THANKs to those who worked double shifts (Fred Schmidt, Dave and Connie Mattice, Rosalie Higgins) and an extral special Thanks for those who worked triple shifts Jacquie Gibson and Dick Breuninger. )

New members Sarah Manchester, Tootsy Bridges and Eric Jervis pitched in too and we appreciate all your help.

Excellent Turnout for Pass the Gavel Night

Thursday, July 1st, 2010, Barbara Ann Heegan officially took "the gavel" as the 2010-2011 Oneonta Rotary President. She will do a fantastic job this year.

Some of her goals for the 2010-2011 year include:

1) Aligning her Rotary goals with the incoming Rotary International President.

2) She would like to create a manual that will capture all the projects that we do throughout the year that can be passed along from President to President.

3) Barbara Ann would like to get more of our new members with the programs committee and up and coming projects.

4) There is more to come....

Also, we had a great speaker John Kingsland speak for a few minutes about his school in Ghana, For more information please speak to Marie Lusins.

David Ranieri speaks about Headwaters Soccer Club

Dave Ranieri, long time resident of Oneonta, spoke to us today about the Headwaters Soccer Club. Mr. Ranieri is currently an assistant for the women's team at Oneonta State after being the assistant for the men for four years. He played for Oneonta State from 1978-1981 and was a member of the Mayor's Cup All Star team for two years and was All Conference his senior year.

Headwaters Soccer Club is a non-profit organization, for boys and girls ages 7-17, formed to benefit and develop the areas youth by offering numerous soccer camps, clinics and indoor/outdoor tournaments. Since its inception of the club in December of 1989, they have gone from having 52 kids to 1134 kids in 2010. Everything at the camp is paid for through a grant or a sponsership from a local business. Kids are bussed in for the day, 5 days out of the week, from June 28th unit August 13th. There is a total of seven sessions. Camps have been instituted at Schenevus Central School, Otego Elementary, Edmeston Central School, Oneonta State and there are three at Mine Kill State Park High School. . The cost per child is only $60/per week due to the many sponsorships.

If you are interested in learning more about the club please contact Dave Ranieri, Director, at 607-437-5669 or go to their website at http://external.oneonta.edu/headwaters/index.asp

David Wu, Exchange Student from Thailand, Delivers an Excellnet Presenation.

David Wu has come a long way since first setting foot in the United States. When he came to our area, David had a very tough time with the English language, but not any more. David delivered a fantastic presentation at Thursdays meeting. Here are some things we learned: His father is an electrical engineer, he has a brother and a sister both going to college, he loves to play chinese chess and is master at the Rubix Cube. Some unique holidays that we learned about were the Chinese New Year, Lantern Festival, The Dragon Boat Festival, and The Moon Festival. David lives very close to Taipei. He will be heading out very soon on a cross country trip with many other exchange students to see the United States. Some of his stops include, Myrtle Beach, Chicago, Las Vegas, The Grand Canynon and California. Good Luck David!

Sign Up for July 1st Pass the Gavel Night!

Come to the Elks Club on Thursday July 1st for a good meal, music, to get to know your fellow Rotarians a little better. President Chad will pass the Gavel on to Barbara Ann for the 2010-2011 year. Cocktails start at 6:00. the cost is $25 per person and the choices are Chicken Florentine, Salmon or Prime Rib.

So please come and support your new President as she rings in the new Rotary Year.

New Rotary Website Unveiled by Vibrant Creative 5/27/10

Last Thursday Chris Quereau and Bijoy Datta unveiled the latest and greatest Oneonta Rotary Website. The entire cost of development was donated by their organization. The normal cost of creating this type of site would have been in the thousands of dollars, so we are very thankful for their generosity. You can view their website at http://vibrantcompany.com. This new site will give us all the latest social marketing tools available to help promote our club and keep in contact with our members. For example, this blog will automatically post to twitter and facebook and we now have an account with flicker to post recent pictures.
If you have any feedback or questions please let Chad or Catrina know.

Oneonta Outlaws look to join community

Keith Rogers, owner of the Oneonta Outlaws, recently described to Rotarians how the New York Collegiate Baseball League team will help Oneonta.

The Outlaws will play home games at Damaschke Field after the Oneonta Tigers announced it will move to Norwich, Conn. The 14-team, two division NYCBL is meant to prepare players for professional baseball. The players are unpaid, but the team will support eight jobs and manager Greg Zackrison is paid.

"It's not a business. We don't need to make a dollar here. We're looking to build a tradition here," Rogers said at the March 19 Rotary meeting.

Admission at NYCBL games is frequently less than $5, and the team will offer a beer garden and other concessions.

The team will include Jeff Wiltsie, a 2009 Oneonta High School graduate playing for SUNY Cortland.

The team needs families to host players. If interested, call 432-6326.

Rotary joins in Haiti relief

Several area organizations recently joined with Rotary to help buy shelter boxes to send to Haiti following its earthquake Jan. 12.

Oneonta Rotarians and the Otsego-Delaware Job Service Employer Committee joined forces to help Haitians with the ShelterBox packages, which include a 10-person tent, plus water-purification tablets, cooking and eating utensils, basic tools and school supplies.

ShelterBox is a project of Rotary International. The nonprofit relief organization is based in Cornwall, England, according to its website, www.shelterbox.org.

Meetings

The Rotary Club of Oneonta normally meets at 12:15 each Thursday at the Oneonta Elks Club 84 Chestnut St., Oneonta. The cost of lunch is $10 per person.