Our first speaker of the night was CNY Rotary President, Bob Balk. He began his speech by encouraging members to support the Uganda Project so they can keep their global grant. Its a great cause that helps fight homelessness. Please make a donation or come out to the pasta dinner fundraiser if you can. He then discussed the vision of CNY Rotary which is to support clubs and members who serve both the local and international communities while also prioritzing service, public image, and fellowship. He enouraged members to reach out if they need help with service projects and to come out to the district events happening this spring. The three events mentioned were the CNY Rotary Learning Assembly on March 7th (Johnson City, NY), Empire Multi-Distric PELS on March 14th (Syracuse, NY), and the District Conference on April 11th (Syracuse, NY). These district events are a great way to connect with other clubs and work together.  

 

Our second speakers of the night were Scout Leader Sean Perham and the Scouts from Troop 61 - Andrew Perham, Owen Cherry, and Hannah Cherry. This hardworking group discussed all the ways you can support the local community, have fun, and learn by being a part of Scouting for America. The current troop has 11 scouts and they have participated in many activities to support the local community this year. Some of these notable events included expanding the garden at the Skaneateles Community Center, cleaning up the road between Kane Avenue and Andrews, and planting trees for the CNY Land Trust. They definately had their share of fun this year via snowtubing in Ithaca, ice fishing on Cayuga Lake (they even caught a 17 inch perch!), mining for quartz crystals at the Herkimer Diamond Mines, and particpating in the Tournament of Champions. The tournament of Champions consisted of fishing, chess, artery, shotgun, etc. They also did plenty of learning by earning merit badges on their trip to a camp in West Virgina, bringing home fossils from the Jamesville Quarry, participating in Eagle Scout Projects, and of course having an iron chef cookoff. A fellow Rotarian asked what each of the scouts favorite merit badge was, for Hannah it was Nuclear Chemistry, for Owen it was cooking, and for Andrew it was both fishing and aviation. These scouts had a very successful year and are currently looking for more kids in the area to join in on this fun! There is even a cub scout group forming in the area and they are also actively recruiting. If you know anyone who might be interested please pass this information along. 

 

 

Andy thanked our speakers Bob Balk and the Scouts from Troop 61, as well as the entire staff at the Sherwood. The meeting ended with Ward leding us in the Four (Five) Way Test.