Liberty Rotary Supports Sullivan County SEE Project

Having the vision to see the value of providing cultural excursions to youngsters in the Sullivan County community, the Liberty Rotary Club presented a donation of $500 to the local See, Experience, Expand (SEE) Project. The SEE project takes economically disadvantaged youth on cultural excursions and outings seeking to motivate youth to overcome their challenges, enhance student learning, gain a greater appreciation for different cultures and heritages and introduce them to the world of the arts. According to SEE Program Coordinator, Alan Weir, “the generous donation from the Liberty Rotary Club will allow us to expose more young people to a vast array of cultural experiences that include the arts, sciences, history and government.” The donation will help to sponsor upcoming trips to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Immigration Museum as well as the Liberty Science Center, which will be coordinated by Mr. Weir and Co-Program Coordinator Joshua Jones. Liberty Rotary Club members were treated to a program at a recent meeting held at Hanofee Park where students Giselle Caballero and Jaidon Ramirez talked to the group about their favorite SEE project trips. “This is a great opportunity for our youth to visit places they might not be able to experience without the SEE project,” says Rotary president Dave Thomson.

The Liberty Rotary Club is part of Rotary International, which is the world’s first service club organization with over 1.2 million members who volunteer their time and talent to further the Rotary motto, Service Above Self. The club has made donations to the Literacy Volunteers of Sullivan County, the Liberty Interfaith Food Pantry, the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO), Boys and Girls Club of Sullivan County and the WSUL/WVOS heartathon. The club has also provided college scholarships to graduating seniors as well as sponsoring students to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Academy (RYLA). For more information about membership and activities of the Liberty Rotary Club, call 292-5100.

LCS ATHLETIC DIRECTOR HONORED BY LIBERTY ROTARY CLUB

Liberty Rotarians exercised their listening skills as the group was addressed by Liberty High School Athletic Director Jason Semo at their recent weekly meeting held at Charlie’s Restaurant. Mr. Semo spoke about the opportunities that students have to participate in athletics in the school and community. He also touted the many accomplishments. “In particular there has been an increasing effort to work cooperatively with community groups such as the Liberty Parks and Recreation, Elks, and Rotary to provide more opportunities in athletics for Liberty’s youth”, said Semo. He talked about the Spring Fling 5K Run that was held this past weekend and was proud to announce that the event was primarily run by “student-athletes” who wanted to provide an event so that they could give back to their community. The event involved a large number of student and parent volunteers and over 150 kids and adults participated in the 5K run and kids fun run. “Our philosophy is to produce student-athletes” said Semo. “If it wasn’t for the school being here the students would not have the opportunities to participate and excel in athletics. It’s important for the students to do well academically….once they accomplish that the success in athletics will fall into place.”

After Mr. Semo’s program, the meeting was turned over to Liberty Rotary President Dave Thomson who presented the club’s Community Service Award to Mr. Semo. According to Thomson “the award recipient must demonstrate the ideals of the Rotary four way test and exhibit ‘service above self”. Jason Semo fits all the criteria for this prestigious award.”

Recently the Liberty Rotary Club conducted their annual rose sale raising over $2500 to benefit the Rotary Scholarship Funds. In addition the club recently donated $1800 to the Liberty Interfaith Food Pantry, was instrumental in raising over $6000 for the WSUL/WVOS Heartathon and donated $1000 for a Shelter Box to aid the earthquake victims in Japan. The club will be sending 6 Liberty High School students to the Rotary Youth Leadership Academy this summer. For more information about membership and activities of the Liberty Rotary Club, log onto to www.libertynyrotary.org or call 292-5100.

Liberty Rotary Club News Roundup

LMS Chorus Provides Thrills and Trills at Liberty Rotary Meeting

Members of the Liberty Middle School 7th & 8th Grade Chorus performed a program for the Liberty Rotary Club at their weekly meeting recently held at the Sullivan County BOCES campus. According to Liberty Middle School chorus director Emily Ford, the group that performed were representatives of the 7th & 8th Grade Chorus who will be performing at the Thrills and Trills Festival at Dorney Park in May, 2011. The students serenaded the Rotarians with selections from classical to Broadway! After the program the students were treated to pizza and soda.

Photo: The members of the Liberty Middle School 7th & 8th Grade Chorus have a photo opportunity with Liberty Rotary President Dave Thomson (Back Row left standing) after
their performance for the club at their recent weekly meeting. In the photo is (back row l to r) Dave Thomson, Elizabeth Grese, Zytoria Reynolds, LMS Chorus Director Emily Ford, Crystal Torres, Andrew Monteiro. (Front row l to r) Ally Sammann, Miyanna Vernon, Amanda Jackson, Kyle Rolland. The ensemble performed a variety of music old and new for the members of the club and represented their school with “Liberty Pride.”

Liberty Rotary Raffle Delivers Donation to Local Food Pantry

The Liberty Interfaith Food Pantry was the recent recipient of an $1800 donation from the Liberty Rotary Club. The club conducted a raffle which raised the funds to benefit the local pantry. The pantry collects and distributes supplemental and emergency food to local residents in need. “Without this donation we would be closing our doors. Thanks to organizations like Rotary we will be able to provide much needed food to those in need in our community” says Liberty Interfaith Food Pantry Director Henrietta Phelps. The donation was presented to Ms. Phelps at Garry’s Great American where supermarket owner Gary Cassevah has set up an account for the pantry to purchase quantities of canned and non-perishable goods to be distributed locally. “This partnership between the food pantry, Garry’s Great American and the Liberty Rotary Club is just another example of our Club’s commitment to help our community” says Gary Siegel who co-chaired the fundraiser along with fellow Rotarian Jack Strassman. The $1000 grand prize winner of the raffle was Peggy Cooper from Monticello. Peter Blakey from Liberty won the second prize of $250 and the third prize of $50 went to Liberty’s Karen VanCraenenbroeck.

Photo: Liberty Rotary Raffle 1st prize winner Peggy Cooper (2nd from left) and 3rd prize winner Karen VanCraenenbroeck happily display their winning checks at a recent Rotary meeting. Presenting the checks to the winners are Liberty Rotary President Dave Thomson (left) and raffle co-chairs Gary Siegel (2nd from left) and Jack Strassman (far right). Absent from photo is 2nd prize raffle winner Peter Blakey.

Liberty Rotary Pedals Roses for Scholarships

The Liberty Rotary Club is now conducting their annual Rose Sale to benefit the Liberty Rotary Scholarship Fund. According to Rotary Rose Sale Chairperson Pat Abbott, the orders are being accepted through Wednesday April 6th and will be delivered on Thursday, April 21st, 2011. The roses will come nicely boxed with a dozen multi-colored roses per box. The price per dozen is $16.

“Each year the Liberty Rotary Club presents several scholarships to seniors at the Liberty High School that have exhibited “Service Above Self” to their school and community” says Abbott. Scholarship applications will be available at the Liberty High School Guidance Office. The club also donates many dozens of roses to patients and staff at Catskill Regional Medical Center.

The Liberty Rotary Club is part of Rotary International which is the world’s first service club organization with over 1.2 million members who volunteer their time and talent to further the Rotary motto, Service Above Self. Recently the Liberty Rotary Club conducted a raffle that raised $3700 to benefit the Liberty Interfaith Food Pantry as well as other community organizations and rotary projects. In addition the club participated in the WSUL/WVOS heartathon raising over $6000 toward the annual event. To order roses you may contact any member of the Liberty Rotary Club or call Pat Abbott at 292-8253. For more information about membership and activities of the Liberty Rotary Club, call 292-5100

Photo: Liberty Rotary Club’s past president Jack Etter loads the multicolored boxes of roses into the van for delivery during last year’s Annual Rotary Sale to benefit the Rotary Scholarship Fund.

Rotary Pasta Profits Benefit Local Youth Groups

The Liberty Rotary Club hosted leaders from two of the outstanding youth programs of the community at a recent meeting held at Charlie’s Restaurant on Main Street in Liberty. The two organizations became the benefactors of the club’s recent spaghetti dinner profits.

John Kane, Regional Director of Operations of the Boys and Girls Club that serves Liberty, Monticello, Fallsburg, Pine Bush and Wallkill along with Peter Racette, the American Youth Soccer Organization’s (AYSO) Regional Commissioner presented programs to the club with separate “state of the organization” addresses. Mr. Kane’s address featured information about all the local Boys and Girls Clubs and most specifically the one year old Liberty Club and how their existence and activities benefit our youth. He sang the praises of Liberty’s club program director Shannon Harman, and the 58 students in the Liberty Club who participated in helping to make the Spaghetti Dinner a success by making centerpieces, serving and clearing and by selling tickets.

Mr. Racette in his presentation to the club stated that the Liberty AYSO teams include kids from ages 6 to 18. The organization is run by volunteer coaches and referees that help the organization to thrive. He stated that the organization is always looking for additional volunteers to coach the teams whose season stretches from the middle of August to the end of October. AYSO is also hoping to be able to provide assistance to those students that are not able to participate due to economic hardship.

After the addresses, Liberty Rotary Club President Dave Thomson and one of the newest members of the club, Barbie Marty Neumann who is the Program Director of the Monticello Boys and Girls Club, presented a donation of $718 to each of the organizations. “Youth organizations such as Boys and Girls Club and AYSO provide great opportunities and positive experiences for the youth of our community and we are proud to support them” said President Dave.

Currently the Liberty Rotary Club is conducting a raffle to benefit the Liberty Interfaith Food Pantry as well as other community organizations and rotary projects. The club collected and donated 5 shopping carts full of food to the local food pantry this past month. In addition the club will be participating in the WSUL/WVOS heartathon on February 26th and will be selling roses in the spring to raise money for scholarships which are awarded annually. For more information about membership and activities of the Liberty Rotary Club, call 292-5100.

Photo: Liberty Rotary Club’s President Dave Thomson (left) and Barbie Marty Neumann (right) present the club’s donation of $718 to Boys and Girls Regional Director of Operations John Kane and $718 to the American Youth Soccer Organization’s (AYSO) Commissioner Peter Racette at a recent meeting held at Charlie’s Restaurant on Main Street in Liberty.

Honorable Judge McGuire Honored by Liberty Rotary Club

It was quite the judicious meeting as County Court Judge Honorable Michael McGuire addressed the members of the Liberty Rotary Club at their recent weekly meeting at Charlie’s Restaurant. Mr. McGuire spoke about the responsibilities and jurisdiction of all the courts from the New York State Court of Appeals to our local county and municipal courts. His informative address helped to educate the membership in the area of judicial responsibilities and assignments. Judge McGuire fielded an array of questions from the membership and answered them eloquently and thoroughly.

After Judge McGuire’s program, the meeting was turned over to past president Jack Etter who presented the club’s first Community Service Award to Judge McGuire. According to Etter “the award recipient must demonstrate the ideals of the Rotary four way test and exhibit ‘service above self”. Judge McGuire fits all the criteria for this prestigious award.”

Currently the Liberty Rotary Club is conducting a raffle to benefit the Liberty Interfaith Food Pantry as well as other community organizations and rotary projects. The club collected and donated 5 shopping carts full of food to the local food pantry this past month. In addition the club will be participating in the WSUL/WVOS heartathon on February 26th and will be selling roses in the spring to raise money for scholarships which are awarded annually. For more information about membership and activities of the Liberty Rotary Club, call 292-5100.

Photo: County Court Judge Honorable Michael McGuire is presented with the first Liberty Rotary Club’s Community Service Award by Past President Jack Etter. Provided by the Liberty Rotary Club

Liberty Rotary Inducts New Members

The Liberty Rotary Club inducted two new members recently bringing their membership to over 26 members.  Jeremy Gorelick and Barbie Neumann were welcomed into the club at a ceremony led by District 7210 ADG (Assistant District Governor) Barry Foster.  The ceremony took place at the club’s recent weekly meeting at Charlie’s Two (Former Cobbler’s) on Main Street in Liberty.  ADG Barry recognized Liberty Rotary Club membership chairperson Judy Siegel and club past president Karen VanCraenenbroeck as the sponsors of the new members stressing the importance of membership development.  Most recently the club has donated to Literacy Volunteers of Sullivan County, Boys and Girls Club of Sullivan County and Liberty AYSO.

Currently the club is conducting a raffle to benefit the Liberty Interfaith Food Pantry as well as other community organizations and rotary projects. In addition the club will be participating in the WSUL/WVOS heartathon on February 26th and will be selling roses to raise money for scholarships which are awarded annually.  “We are proud to welcome Jeremy and Barbie into our club,” says Liberty Rotary Club President Dave Thomson.  “Our club continues to work on projects that contribute to making our communities, country and world a better place to live.  We look forward to Jeremy & Barbie’s participation in these projects.”  For more information about membership and activities of the Liberty Rotary Club, call 292-5100.

Liberty Rotary Fundraiser

 From our friends at the Liberty Rotary Club:

The Liberty Rotary Club is conducting our winter fundraiser raffle to benefit the Liberty Interfaith Food Pantry as well as other local projects and organizations.  The 1st prize of $1000.00 will be awarded to the winning ticket holder with 2nd prize being $250.00 and 3rd prize being $50.00.  There will be a maximum of 100 tickets sold.  Donation is $50/ticket and the drawing will take place on Saturday, February 26th at a location to be announced at a later date.  

The Liberty Rotary Club has been involved with helping the Liberty Interfaith Food Pantry for many years.  The club has participated in preparing and serving dinner at their weekly dinners as well as collecting food donations to help provide the needy with canned and non-perishable goods.  Currently the Interfaith Pantry is in great need of help and the club has commited to donate half the profits of the raffle to the pantry with the other half of the profits to be designated to other local Rotary projects. 

If you would like to "Get In It To Win It", please make out your donation check to: 

Liberty Rotary Club 

and mail it to:

Gary Siegel – Raffle Co-Chairperson

3 California Avenue

Liberty, NY  12754

When we receive your check we will send you your ticket(s) as a receipt.  Please provide an accurate return address with your donation check. 

Tickets can also be purchased from any Liberty Rotarian. 

If you have any questions about the raffle or about the Liberty Rotary Club, please do not hesitate to contact us by email.

Thank you for your support of the Liberty Rotary Club.

Rotary to Honor Bob Blank at Polio Eradication Dinner

 For the past 2 years the Liberty and Livingston Manor Rotary Clubs have teamed up to raise money for Rotary International’s Polio Eradication Campaign.  This year the two clubs will be holding their 3rd Annual Polio Eradication Campaign Dinner on Friday, November 5th at Albert’s Liberty House Restaurant.  The evening will begin at 6 PM with a cash bar followed by a buffet dinner being served at 7 PM.  This year the clubs will be honoring long time Liberty Rotarian and respected community member Bob Blank who has actively supported Rotary International’s efforts to rid the world of polio as well as numerous other international, regional and local community projects.  The evening will also feature a spectacular silent auction that will also benefit the Polio Eradication Campaign.  

Rotary is a volunteer service organization of 1.2 million men and women worldwide who made a commitment to immunize the world’s children against polio in 1985 and became a spearheading partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative three years later.  The other partners are the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UNICEF.  Rotary’s primary responsibilities include fundraising, advocacy and volunteer recruitment.  To date, rotary has already contributed more than $800 million to the polio eradication effort.  The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be matching the donation to the District 7210 Polio Eradication Campaign.  

The donation for the event is $40 per person.  “This will be a great night to share Rotary friendship, honor a fine community member and have a good time, while helping eliminate the scourge of polio from the world,” says Bob Freedman, Livingston Manor’s Rotary Foundation Chairman.   For more information or to make a reservation, please contact the event co-chairs Sue Kraycer Liberty Rotary Polio Eradication Campaign Chairperson at 845 701-1799 or suekraycer@hotmail.com or Bob Freedman, at 845 439-5708 or mrfreed@aol.com.