Next Meeting
When............ March
17, 2009, at noon
Where.......... The
Franklin Hotel
Program...... Technology Challenges in Cyber
Space — Dr. Kamal Jabbour (AFRL)
Coming Events
Mar 13......... Board Meeting at noon at
the Savoy
Mar 13-14... PETS (President Elect Training
Seminar)
Mar 19......... Interact Haiti Water Project Fundraiser Dinner,
RFA, 6:15 PM
Mar 31......... American Red Cross, Lisa
Kramer-Lape
Apr 04.......... Rotary Leadership Institute
at BOCES
Apr 07.......... Syracuse Symphony — Daniel
Hege, Conductor
Apr 25.......... District Assembly
May 12......... Mr. Gillison — DFAS
Director
Jun 23.......... USAF Computer Technology —
Dr. Richard Linderman (AFRL)
Dec 04......... Rome Rotary’s 90th
Anniversary Celebration at The Beeches (PDG Mike Occhipinti)
Attendance: Total Membership: 101. Absent
or [Excused or Exempt]: Adamo, Bauer, Bird, [Boguhn], Bottini, Burns, Cantor, Carnevale, Casadei,
Coon, Corbett, [DiPerna], [Donovan], Faldzinski, Fariello, Geller, Glasso,
Graves, Hairston, Henry, [Kryczkowski], Martin, Matt, Mattson, McMahon,
Mercurio, Miller, Mitchell, Moore, Neiley C, Neiley N, Nolan, O'Hair, Pabon, [Pfendler],
Puma, Ramos, Reames, Recco, Riley, Rouillier, Schonewetter De, Schonewetter Do,
Simons J, Simons K, Skogland, Smith, Speicher, Taylor, Till, Toukatly, Trela,
Tuthill K, Vescio, Winberg, Wolf, [Zaleski].
Guests and Visiting Rotarians: Guests:
Lt. Michelle Crippen, SSgt Alyssa Crippen (CAP & club guests); Mary Centro
(Speaker) and Aaron Bahr (Bahr). Rotarians: None
After-Work Meeting 3/5/09: Rome Rotarians: Bird, Carey, Corbett, Neiley C, Neiley N, Occhipinti,
Schonewetter De, Schonewetter Do, Speicher, Townsend, Trela, Tuthill W, and
Tuthill W.
50/50: Dee Mammolito won the
50/50 and took the cash. You have to play to win!
Make-ups: Carnevale
(UW 2/26, 3/3 & Am. Heart 3/6); Glasso (Root Farm 3/4); Tuthill K (R Reader
3/5); Tuthill W (US Army Band 3/8); Panara (KC Bingo 3/11); Weber (Nat’l
Railway Historical Society 3/3); Mooney (R Reader 3/9); Packer (R Reader 3/7);
Butters (R Reader 3/9 & Science Fair Set-up 3/6); Butters, Carey, Foreman,
Fusco, Henry, Herrmann WR, Kahler R, Kobernuss, Mead, Normand, O’Hair, Packer,
Schonewetter De, Tuthill W (RFA Science Fair 3/7).
Happy Birthday in March to: Donna Cole (4);
Maria Dailey (11); Michael Geller (25); Missy Graves (6); and Clark Speicher
(30).
Anniversaries of Rotary Membership
in March: Debbie Adamo (1998); Glen Bahr (1990); Devon Coon (2006); Maria
Dailey (2000); Bob Gilchriest (1987); Jerry Haritatos (1999); Subbarao Ramineni
(1980); Kevin Simons (2008); Ron Townsend (2002); George Waters (1998); Shirley
Waters (1998); and Ed Weed (1996).
Quote of the Week: "It is
easy to do things for our own families and loved ones, but to give of our
substance for the stranger who is in need is the real test of our charity and
love for our fellowmen." — N. Eldon Tanner.
Rotary Information
Paul
Harris — First but not First — Was
Paul Harris the first president of a Rotary club? No. Was Paul Harris the first
president of Rotary International? Yes. There is an easy explanation to this
apparent contradiction. Although Paul Harris was the founder and organizer of
the first Rotary club in Chicago in 1905, the man selected to be the first club
president was one of the other founding members, Silvester
Schiele.
By 1910, there were 16 Rotary
clubs, which formed an organization called the National Association of Rotary
Clubs. Two years later, the name was changed to the International Association
of Rotary Clubs to reflect the addition of clubs in Canada, England, Ireland,
and Scotland. In 1992, the name was shortened to Rotary International.
When the first organization of
Rotary clubs was created in 1910, Paul Harris was selected as the first
president. He served in this position for two years, from 1910 until 1912.
Thus, the founder of the Rotary idea, who declined to be president of the first
club, became the first president of the worldwide organization, Rotary
International. (Rotary ABC’s, RI 2006, p. 5)
Thank you to Rome Rotary
Lt.
Michelle Crippen and SSgt Alyssa Crippen from the Rome City School District Civil
Air Patrol joined us today at Rotary to thank Rome Rotarians for a donation
which purchased eight fiberglass rifles for the CAP drill team. We will look
forward to seeing these in action at the CAP demonstration at Canalfest. Also, today the Club donated $1,000 to their summer
camp program.
RFA Science Fair
VP
Joe Fusco reported on a successful Science Fair at RFA last Saturday. He was
very impressed with the work these students presented. “Thank you” to those
Rotarians who participated. Joe is convinced — he is going back next year! The
Rome Rotary Club provided almost half of the judges for the Science Fair!
Rotary Announcements
·
Mike Occhipinti announced that as of 1 Mar,
District 7150 is only $7,500 short of the goal for 2008–09 for the Polio Plus
Campaign. Our goal for this year was $50,000.
·
The Rotary Leadership Institute will be offered
this spring on 4 Apr at BOCES. The content of this program is useful for life
in general and is not limited to those who aspire to leadership roles in
Rotary. The Club pays the tuition. See PP Dennis.
·
The Rotary Interact Club of RFA will sponsor a
dinner at the RFA cafeteria on 19 Mar from 6:15–8:15 PM. Cost is $7 per person.
Proceeds will be used for “Clean Water Haiti,” a matching grant water project
that will provide a pipeline and water filtration to an area in Haiti where
women are currently walking five miles each day to get polluted undrinkable
water. See PE Bob Herrmann for dinner tickets.
Community Announcements
·
Rome Community Theater will present a two act performance,
“A Day in Hollywood” and “A Night in the Ukraine.” Performances will be 13–14
Mar at 8 PM, and on 15 Mar at 2:30 PM. Tickets are $15. See Peter Costianes or
Fred Normand.
·
Oneida Civic Chorale will perform at St. Patrick’s
Church in Oneida at 4 PM on 15 Mar. The program will be a selection of hymns.
Tickets are $10. See PP Glen Bahr, chorale member.
·
The Rome VFW will hold a dinner on Saturday, 15
Mar at the VFW Hall from 4–7 PM. The menu includes corn beef or ham with
cabbage.
Program
The Lost
Village of Delta, Mary Centro
Mary
Centro was born in Rome, and grew up hearing the stories about the Village of
Delta which now lies under Delta Reservoir. She became fascinated with the
history and has spent the last two decades doing research on it. She is the
author of a book bearing the same title as her program.
By legend, Lake Delta got its name from the Village
of Delta, so named because the waterways in the valley when viewed from the rim
formed a “D” or in Greek, “Delta.” The Lake was named in honor of the village
that was sacrificed for its formation.
In the early part of the last century, it was
determined that better water supplies were needed to maintain the barge canal
system, and a series of upstate reservoirs were created. Because of the natural
structure of palisades through which the Mohawk River and Black River Canal
flowed, the Delta Valley was ideally suited and naturally contained for this
purpose.
In order to build the dam and flood the valley,
which was some of the best farmland in upstate New York, two hundred families
were uprooted, and over 300 buildings were destroyed. Businesses, churches, the
school, offices, homes, and farms were demolished or in the case of a few structures,
like the Empire Hotel, now the Western Town Hall, and the Methodist Church, now
in Blossvale, were labeled, disassembled, transported, and reassembled at new
locations. Construction began on the dam in 1908, was completed in 1912, and
the first water flowed over its rim in May 1916.
Joan Kahler reported that in 1960 when the Lake was
drained for repairs to the dam, she walked the land that forms the floor of the
lake. The roads, stumps, and building foundations are still visible. Canal
locks were never filled, and the Palisades themselves create significant sudden
drop-offs in the water depths of the lake. (Something to keep in mind for those
who use it.)
Lake Delta is a 3000 acre body of water, and as we
learned from last week’s speaker, is now a recreational area for summer and
winter sports, as well as providing needed water to the canal system.
Mary had copies of her book with her, which is
filled with wonderful pictures of the old village. “Thank you”
Mary for a very enjoyable presentation.
Cindy Roubian, Editor
PP Dennis
Schonewetter, Technical Editor
