The Rotary Club of LeRoy gathered virtually on March 17, 2021, with 17 members present and no guests. Past President Scott McCumiskey began the meeting in the absence of President Mary Margaret. Past President Scott briefly shared President Mary Margaret was with her husband an appointment.
He also shared the Rotary board met for their monthly meeting prior to the weekly meeting and Scott Ripley had popped on and looked good. Past President Scott asked Jason Karcher to lead the club in the Pledge of Allegiance and was followed by Jim Ellison, who offered a prayer for the club.
Past President Scott began with announcements. He reminded the club of the guided hike at the Genesee County Park on April 25th. The group will meet at 8:30. The hike will be about 1.5 to 2 miles with little challenge other than mud. He also shared that Hans Kunze from the Rotary Club of Perry and a columnist from the Batavia Daily News will be the program for next week.
Shannon Karcher reminded the club of the upcoming Shred-it event on May 8, 2021, in the parking lot of OrCon. The event will be from 8:00-Noon. It will be a drive-thru event where people will be able to have their documents safely shredded. People will be able to pay $10.00 per banker-sized box or medium kitchen bag. Shannon also shared her experience with participating in Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI). The RLI previously was broken into three in-person days throughout the year. Due to the pandemic, RLI has been changed into 3, 2-hour sessions on Wednesday evenings. Shannon has been participating since January and will graduate in March. Jason Karcher had completed parts 1 & 2 in-person previously and has now joined Shannon for the 3rd part online. Shannon encouraged other members of the club to sign up for the next sessions. It would be great to have more of the club complete RLI. Jason Karcher also shared about the district conference which is occurring this week virtually.
There was also talk about the upcoming Oatka Festival. There has not been a final decision by that committee as to whether or not it will occur in some way. There are concerns around the festival since the village plans to redo Wolcott St. from Route 5 to Route 19. This project was going to occur last summer but had been delayed a year. There was also discussion around when the club can return to in-person meetings. It was requested that something is sent out as a survey to see what the club wants.
Past President Scott began with missed meetings. Missed meetings were sanctioned to Gerry Aron (1), Jim Ellison (1), Dasha Halladay (1). Both Gerry and Jim had make-ups but Dasha was fined.
Jim Ellison called on the services of Past President David Grayson. Jim requested a fine for Past President Scott and his teasing of member, Carol Wolfe. Scott shared he would pay double the fine to be able to continue teasing Carol. Bruce Baker offered to pay the fine for Past President Scott because he enjoys the banter. Past President Scott then moved to his fining session. He called on Gerry Aron to share anything that was going on with his life. Gerry shared he is always happy to be alive. He also shared they are still looking to fill units at LaRosa Villas. Gerry has shared before how much he is enjoying his position there. Lynne Belluscio was then called on to share about the concerns around finding the funding to maintain the billboard on Interstate 90 between LeRoy and Batavia. Lynne shared that due to some funding restraints it became difficult last year to cover the cost, but the supporters of the board were able to make it happen last year. However, this year has become more difficult. Lynne is hoping Rotary would be able to help support it. The billboard drives traffic off the interstate and into the village. Many businesses benefit from the presence of the sign.