The Rotary Club of New York

www.NYRotary.org                                    www.NewYorkCityRotary.org                     

 

 

 

 

February 9, 2004

 

 

 

 

Fellow Rotarians,

 

The speaker at our next meeting on February 10th will be Joye Wagner, who is Regional Recruiter for the Peace Corps. Joye obtained her M.A. in International Affairs at Columbia University (SIPA), with an emphasis on International Science and Technology Policy. Before joining the Peace Corps’ staff, Joye worked in international media as a production coordinator for ABC’s 20/20 and World News Weekend. You can read more about Joye Wagner in the latest Bulletin on the Internet at http://ussterilizer.com/bulletin_02-10-2004.pdf (click on the link).

 

Don’t forget the next meeting of the International Service Division of the Rotary Club of New York will take place on Wednesday, February 18th, at the German Permanent Mission to the UN, top-floor restaurant on First Avenue (between 48th and 49th Streets), from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m. The guest speaker for the day will be Mr. Robert Leigh; the topic is volunteerism and the U.N. You can read more about it in the Bulletin and on the New York Rotary website at www.nyrotary.org/int_service_div/int_service_div.html.

 

There is also a lot of interesting information in the Bulletin including Charo De Pretti’s report about our last meeting, with four color photos.

 

Bill Curry, who is on the Board of Directors of Gift of Life, sent me the following information about the 10th Anniversary of Gift of Life in our District 7230.

 

Dear NY Rotarians,

 

"While the Rotary Club of New York has not had a Gift of Life child in NYC for almost a year, the Gift of Life has been active here in the New York area.  Currently there are SIX children in our area who have been given a lease of life thanks to this great Rotary program. There are 3 children at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, two more at Schneider Children’s Hospital and another at St. Francis Hospital.  This great project of Rotary has saved more than 3,000 children since it started on Long Island in the mid 1970's.


I would like to remind you about the District 7230 Gift of Life Dinner Dance to be held at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown next Saturday night.  This should prove to be a great event as we celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Gift of Life in our District 7230. I would encourage you to attend.  The evening begins with a cocktail reception and silent raffle, followed by dinner, dancing to a live band and some other activities that should make this a Valentine's Day to remember.  We already have almost 200 people signed up for the night but we can accommodate more. The Rotary Club of New York has reserved 2 tables but I hope we will need more.

 

For more information contact Gilda Chirafisi at 718-548-5859 or me at 914-828-8640.

 

I hope to see you next Valentine's Day.

 

In Rotary Service,

Bill Currie

 

Thank you Bill, you are doing a great job with Gift of Life. I appreciate getting updates about the latest activities.

 

The memory from Sweden Day 3 weeks ago reverberates through our Rotary Club. Erik Enroth and I recently received the following message from Tom McConnon:

 

Mr. Eric Enroth
Invest in Sweden Agency
885 Second Ave., 45th Fl
New York, N.Y. 10017

January, 29.2004


Dear Eric and Matts:

Thank you for hosting last week’s fun and informative “Swedish Day”.

With some assistance from the wine and Absolute, the donated airline ticket
helped our Club’s raffle raise $501. This will help to fund our service
projects.

It was a delicious lunch and a fun filled afternoon!

Thanks again.


Sincerely,

Tom McConnon

 

Thanks for the update Tom! He has been a member of our legendary Rotary Club for less than a year and is already busy raising money by managing our Club Raffle. Tom’s classification is Mechanical Contractor and he is President of Thomas Refrigeration, Inc.

 

I received another manifestation of Rotary’s worldwide fellowship with the following message from Louis Piconi, who was Rotary International Vice President during 2000-2001:

Dear Matts

 

I really do like the New York Newsletter and enjoy reading it each week.

 

Please do keep up the great work!

 

Louis Piconi,

Member

Rotary Club of Bethel-St. Clair

Pittsburgh, PA, USA
2000-01 Rotary International Vice President

Please help fulfill the commitments to the Polio Eradication Fundraising Campaign!
Rotarians don't seek personal happiness - they create it for others!

 

Thank you Louis for your message. Please come and visit our Rotary Club next time you are in New York!

 

Rotary is gaining additional prominence through the following act by the U.S. Government:

 

Paul Harris to be honored in U.S. capital for going the extra mile

 

Rotary founder Paul Harris is among more than 70 outstanding U.S. volunteers who will be honored through a new national memorial in Washington, D.C, located on a one-mile path adjacent to the White House and U.S. Treasury Department.

 

When completed, "The Extra Mile" Volunteer Pathway will feature bronze medallions with a likeness of each honoree, a description of his or her achievements, and/or a quotation. Each of the medallions will measure 42 inches (more than 1 meter) in diameter. Dedication is planned for mid-2004.

 

The RI Board of Directors has approved a project to facilitate the construction of the Paul Harris medallion, which will be placed in a block of granite set into the sidewalk. An effort is under way to raise US$50,000 toward the cost of the monument.

 

"More than 1.7 million visitors are expected to see the Pathway each year and the medallion will remain there in perpetuity, creating a wonderful public relations opportunity for Rotary International," according to RI Vice President Frank C. Collins Jr. and Past District Governor Jack B. Blane, co-chairs of the project, in a letter addressed to all U.S. district governors, RI general officers, and The Rotary Foundation Trustees.

 

The Points of Light Foundation, initiator of the program, believes that the memorial will help promote the spirit of volunteerism among visitors who walk along the pathway.

 

More details are available from the official memorial Web site. Contributions toward the special tribute to Paul Harris may be made by check only to Points of Light Foundation, c/o PDG Jack B. Blane, 2750 Ridge Road, Highland Park, IL 60035, USA.

 

I noticed that Jack Blane is one of the co-chairs for this project. Jack visited our Rotary Club last year on April 29th when he on behalf of Rotary’s International Polio Eradication Fundraising Committee picked up a $100,000 check from the New York Rotary Foundation for Polio Plus. You can read more about Jack’s visit to our Rotary Club on our website at www.NYRotary.org and www.nyrotary.org/Foundation/RI_News_Basket_21May_2003.htm.

 

I just received the following information from our District 7230 Webmaster Ted Nygren about the upcoming Rotary District Conference:

 

Greetings,

There is information on the website regarding our District Conference in Bermuda in April. This is the 48th Annual District 7230 trip to Bermuda! This year's Conference is being held at the Fairmont Southampton Hotel in Southampton, Bermuda. The date of the Conference is April 28th – May 2, 2004.

 

Click here for the reservation form (PDF, 105K). The prices quoted on the form are for the land portion only and do not include air or sea transportation. The complexities of such fares just boggle the mind and many of you have expressed various ways of obtaining your air transportation.

 

Any questions concerning the Conference can be directed to the Conference Chairman @ 1-887-523-6303. This year the Rotary celebrates 80 years of service to Bermuda and Hamilton Rotary, along with the other three Rotary Clubs are anxious to welcome all Rotarians of District 7230, their spouses, and friends to Bermuda.

 

Thank you Ted for the information! I just saw Ted’s father Glen Nygren earlier this morning. Glen is of Swedish heritage, but despite this he missed our Sweden Day on January 27th. I therefore gave him a copy of the text and music to the Swedish drinking song “Helan Går,” which Glen told me that he appreciated very much. For those of you, who don’t have your own copy, it can be downloaded from our website at www.nyrotary.org/sweden_day/helan_gar.pdf.

 

Don't forget to reserve your table for our next meeting. You can reserve via e-mail to our office at ny.rotary@verizon.net, or call Andreas or Ana at 212-633-1311. You can also fax in the RSVP form, which you can download at http://ussterilizer.com/rsvp_02-10-2004.pdf. Our fax number is 212-633-1954. At our next meeting, the culinary staff at the Princeton Club will serve us Beef.

 

I recommend that you visit our New York Rotary website every week at www.NYRotary.org or www.NewYorkCityRotary.org. 

 

Rotary is about having fun

and do good things!

 

 

Matts Ingemanson

Chairman

Internet Communications Division

The Rotary Club of New York

www.NYRotary.org

www.NewYorkCityRotary.org

 

Chairman

Group Study Exchange

Rotary District 7230

www.nyrotary.org/GSE7230

 

Senior Vice President, "History Ambassador"

& Depts. General Manager

Rotary's Global History Fellowship

www.RotaryHistoryFellowship.org

 

 

The power of the Internet puts the brains of millions of people together. It also puts 1.2 million Rotarians together. It does not matter where we are and when we are available. The Internet makes it possible for Rotarians around the world to instantly participate.

 

This newsletter has also been posted on our website at www.NYRotary.org or www.NewYorkCityRotary.org.

 

I want to thank our Executive Director Andreas Runggatscher and his Executive Assistant Ana Rivas for working so hard every week creating and mailing the Weekly Bulletin. In addition to mailing it out to our members, they also send me the electronic Bulletin so I can upload it on our website. They have also been working hard with the administration of the World Trade Center - Disaster Relief Fund.

 

In order to read the PDF file of the Bulletin-on-the-Web, you need Acrobat Reader Version 5.0 or later. If you don't have Acrobat Reader, you can download Acrobat Reader 6.0 for free from the web at:

 

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html

 

 

You can find the following interesting websites at:

 

1.      New York Rotary Club at www.NYRotary.org and www.NewYorkCityRotary.org/.

 

2.      Rotary’s Global History Fellowship at www.RotaryHistoryFellowship.org

 

3.      Rotary District 7230 at www.rotarydistrict7230.org

 

  1. District 7230 Group Study Exchange Project at www.NewYorkCityRotary.org/GSE7230/

 

5.      Rotary Youth Leadership Awards at www.rotaryryla.com

 

  1. Rotary Radio every Tuesday 5-6 PM EST or 2-3 PM PST at http://12.162.161.64/cart/ProductList.asp?SearchFor=Rotary+Radio&x=36&y=6

 

  1. Matts Ingemanson, Helen Reisler and Jim Thompson from the New York Rotary Club were interviewed on Rotary Radio Tuesday July 9, 2002. http://12.162.161.64/cart/ProductDetail.asp?PR_ProductID=329

 

You need Windows Media Player to listen to Rotary Radio. Windows Media Player is included with Windows Millennium and Windows XP. If you use Windows 95 or Windows 98, you can download Windows Media Player for free from Microsoft.

 

Click here to download Windows Media Player