Rotateller Rotary Club of Owego, NY
Tuesday, August 22, 2006 Gary Williams, Editor

VISITORS AND GUESTS:

• Carole introduced Don Leonard who introduced:
• Bob Moppert PDG – Bob played the piano during the meeting. He used to play for the hockey team and still occasionally plays for the Binghamton Mets
• Robin Alcraft
• Tim Levan
• Bob Banker, guest of Bernie
• Kyle and Kaleb Johnson, guests of Karla (and Kyle won the 50/50)
• Mrinalini and her host mother Kristen Armstrong and her host sister Susan
• Dean Morgan
• The press was also present

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Jan Nolis and Parrish Bridges

Highlights of the August Owego Rotary Board of Directors meeting 8/17/06

• July attendance: 74.7%; 3 meetings in July- July 4 cancelled; 27 with 100% attendance; 59 members at the end of July
• Taste of Tioga: an electronic vote in July approved $200 to be spent for this Cooperative Extension event to be held September 16, 4:30-7. Money purchases full-page advertisement.
• Bike Tioga: Al Sunderwirth reported a very successful day. 50 bicyclists pre-registered and 109 different riders took part, giving many compliments. The total income will be reported in the next few weeks.
• With regret, Florence Rossi’s resignation due to business pressure was accepted.
• A letter was received from Richard Schaal explaining his aim to study for the priesthood in the Episcopal Church and his resignation due to lack of time. Since he meets all the RI criteria, the board opted to give Richard Honorary member status during this study time of several years.
• Requests for financial support –
1. Leadership Tioga 2007: approved $200 (toward the $350 entrance fee) for Leadership Tioga scholarship.
2. Cornell Cooperative Extension Points of Light Youth Leadership Institute – PYLI: approved $150 for T-shirts for the youth program
3. American Red Cross Southern Tier Chapter request for $1000 general operational gift- Motion denied. The club will instead offer to purchase specific supplies, which Owego Rotary could obtain locally, to be used by those in need in Tioga County.
• Tioga Business Show 2006, Thursday October 5, 2006: agreed to participate at a cost less than $150. A display will be needed.
• Club news: Annette has offered to run the Every Rotarian Every Year project under Rotary Foundation.

THE LOTTERY DRAWING IS NEXT WEEK. PLEASE SELL ALL OF THE TICKETS AND GET THE MONEY TO HAL OR JOHN SPENCER PRIOR TO NEXT WEEK’S MEETING!

PICNIC:

Steve announced that our summer picnic will be the following week at the Hickories. This is always a good time and it is a great chance to get to meet our new exchange students.

DISTRICT 7170 BANQUET:

This will be held on October 19.

For those of you who are looking to contribute to an agency which was a tremendous help during the flood, please consider the Red Cross. They came around many times a day with food, water, and supplies.

We regret to share that Bill Nolis’ mother died this week.

WATERMAN:

The Rotary crew will work Thursday evening on cleaning up the flood damage at the Brick Pond.

PROGRAM:

John Spencer introduced Senator Ray Meier from Rome. He shared some of his experiences with Rotary. He is an honorary member and met his wife at a Rotary meeting. She is a Rotarian. Their daughter, Monica, was a Rotary exchange student to Iceland. They have hosted a student from Hungary and feels that is was a very special and wonderful experience. Coincidentally, I was just speaking with one of Celine Theiry’s host mothers. Celine was here in 1982. One of her other host families is visiting her this week in France. Senator Meier’s comments reminded me of a college graduation speech from this year. While I hope it applies to all colleges, it also applies to the experience of the exchange program.

This does not mean that you should not hold strong views; just the opposite. I hope you have found ideas and causes that are profoundly meaningful to you, and that you will not shy away from adding your voice to the public discourse. But we also hope that you have developed the capacity to imagine, even if for only a moment, what must be in the mind of a person with whom you profoundly disagree. If you have learned to do this, you will never be able to hate or defame that person, for you will have looked into, and seen first-hand, the humanity in the other that unites us all.

The Senator has been involved with Social Services, Children, and Families in his committee work in the Senate and has chaired this committee during his 10 years. He is pleased that they have crafted legislation to help move people from welfare to work. Prior to serving in the Senate, he was the County Executive for Oneida County for six years.

This is the 10th anniversary of Federal Welfare Reform. He stated that most of the discussion on welfare is nonsense when it is between the extremes of stating that all people on welfare are lazy to the other extreme stating that changing welfare is heartless and cruel. We need to consider human nature. Most people would not agree to be poor for the rest of their lives and be told what to do. Under the former system, when someone worked, they lost an equal amount of benefits essentially making them the highest taxed people in the country. Under the new system, when people start to work, they can keep some of the welfare money and also get help getting child care. There are 1 million less people on welfare in NY than there was 10 years ago. The cash grants to the Earned Income Fund have been turned around to subsidize those who work.

In restructuring the committee structure, the number of committees has been reduced and Children and Families was added to Social Services. Senator Meier sees the millions of kids who do not have a responsible adult in their lives as one of our biggest crises. He explained why and how the Child Protection System which was not working has been changed. Social workers can now enter a home based on a reasonable cause. If the guardian does not present the child to the designated neutral location to be evaluated, the social worker can get a warrant to enter the home. Also, there is better training for all involved to detect signs of abuse. Child Advocacy Centers have been developed which look more like schools than the squad rooms of busy police stations. While we don’t want to turn people into spies, it is also important for people to speak out about perceived possible dangers.

The Senator characterized Rotarians as different from the citizens who say, “We ought to pass a law.” Instead, his experience with Rotarians is, “What can we do about it.”

Steve asked what he sees as the biggest challenge in NY. Without hesitating, he stated that it is our unfriendliness to business. We have the highest taxes in the nation. We have the highest rates for Workmen’s Compensation combined with the lowest benefits. Our Medicaid costs more than CA and TX combined! The DEC seems to see their role as beating up and prosecuting instead of helping compliance. He said that voters need to use their vote to make changes. State Legislators are scored by the Business Council. Less than 10% get an A. He and Tom Libous are two who have A’s.

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