Rotateller Rotary Club of Owego, NY
Tuesday, April 29, 2008 Gary Williams, Editor

Instead of counting your days, make your days count. Author unknown

In addition to our regular members, we were pleased to have Mati, Joao, Paul Stear, and Kayla Pauly (OFA Interact) join us for lunch and fellowship

MUSIC:

Matt and Carolyn led us in, “America, the Beautiful”

FINES:

After threatening us with 10 questions from the Old Testament, Terry fined those:

Who were not displaying Rotary other than their name tags

CLEAN-UP:

Matt paid a happy dollar because 22 members showed up to help on Saturday morning making the clean-up of the road and the flower beds fun and fast. Special thanks to Ed Kuhlman.

Carole will be playing for the Memorial Service on Sunday.

Harry was happy to have a chance to work with Tara and get to know a new club member.

Joao had a great two weeks (he loved that weather)

Mati enjoyed helping Jody and Paul but the invisible shield kept the lawn mower from crossing the line. He also enjoyed visiting Green Lakes State Park in Syracuse.

INTERACT:

Kayla reported on the Heart Walk.

STUDENT EXCHANGE:

Suzanne Schagen will be visiting from June 18, to July 7. Laura hopes to get her back to the Club to make a presentation.

2008 BOARD ELECTION:

Those present at the first meeting of May will elect three (3) members 
from those nominated to serve on the board of directors.  
Those selected will serve a two-year term from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2010.
Terms expiring are held by Laura Costello, Judy Kip and vacant.  

CANDIDATES for ELECTION – in alphabetical order
Those present will vote for three (3) of the following:

Carol Cavataio  
Laura Costello 
Susan English 
Judy Kip
Janelle Malia  
Bill Russell 
Donna Townsend

Other members of the board
Serving for Rotary year 2008-2009:

President: Annette Schweiger
President-elect for 2009-2010: not filled 
(because of recent unavailability of Maria Dixson)
President Nominee for 2010-2011: to be determined 
Immediate Past President: Matt Adler 
Treasurer: Jan Nolis-Rathke 
Secretary: Orv Wright  

Board members with one year left to serve: 
Jody Rose
Carolyn Galatzan 
Merle Lessler

PROGRAM:

Steve had arranged for Michelle Evans from LM to speak, but she was called out of town for a meeting. He had also contact Norfolk Southern who did not send a speaker but did send a video and some literature. The video, and Steve’s answers, were very interesting. I suspect that there were others in the Club whose ignorance was close to mine. Ed mentioned that the company helped the village to purchase Stackmore Lane for the legal costs. That had been tied up since 1992. Steve mentioned that this is a better company to deal with than Conrail. They make a significant tax contribution to the community each year. 40% of their cargo is coal. They can move a ton of freight at 410 miles per gallon. Steve answered John Spencer’s question about the torpedoes that used to be set on the track to warn oncoming trains of a train stopped ahead.

Moore & Steele still make components for the rail lubricators which they used to manufacture. They also make parts for tracks and for box cars. They will soon start in the car repair business. There are a few electric trains in the country, but the vast majority are diesel.

SPEAKERS:

May 6: Bill Russell on the school budget

May 20: Ed Arrington on the state of the village

50/50: Richard, who donated his winnings to Interact

Once again, the conversations at the table today were one of the highlights of my day.

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