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