Festival of Lights in Pleasant Valley (Aired On November 24 & 25, 2018)

Many of the hamlets and villages in the Mid-Hudson region celebrate the
holidays with a parade and a visit from Santa Claus, but few combine the parade
with a full-day community event like the Festival of Lights in Pleasant Valley. For
this RadioRotary program, Sandy Coe, Director of the Recreation Department in
Pleasant Valley and volunteer Mary Albrecht tell all about the event, one that
brings together community groups including—but not limited to—Pleasant Valley
Rotary and Lions clubs, the local fire department, the library, the churches of the
hamlet, the town government, Boy Scouts, the Arlington High sports teams, the
Historical Society, and local merchants. It starts at 8:00 a.m. with a pancake
breakfast and ends with the big parade, starting at 6:30 p.m. Food is available
all day from cookie sale, chili cook off, various food trucks, and hot chocolate.
Visitors can purchase a wristband that enables discounts and freebies at most
local businesses. There will be music and dramatic readings related to the
season all day. Not only can visitors be photographed with Santa, there is even
a chance to have a pet photographed with St. Nick. Listen to the program for all
the ways this community comes together for a very special day.

Learn more:
Pleasant Valley Festival of Lights: https://www.pvfol.com/
Pleasant Valley Recreation Department Activities: http://www.pvrec.com/info/default.aspx
Pleasant Valley Rotary: https://portal.clubrunner.ca/50045/clubinfo/pleasant-valley

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November 29, 2018 · Posted in Events  

Donating to The Rotary Foundation (Aired On November 17 & 18, 2018)

RadioRotary welcomes Pleasant Valley Rotarian (and occasional RadioRotary
cohost) Dave Kruger, co-chair of individual giving for District 7210, to its
microphone to tell the audience about the principal charity arm of Rotary
International, The Rotary Foundation. The Rotary fellowship was founded in
1905 by Paul Harris principally as an informal club for business and professional
men, but soon its members began to perform community service. In 1917 then
Rotary president Arch Klumph started The Rotary Foundation to finance good
works locally and around the world. Since then, the Foundation has spent $3
billion on projects to promote peace, fight disease, provide clean water and
sanitation, save mothers and children, support education, and grow local
economies. The money comes mainly from individual Rotarians and others, with
special help from members of the Paul Harris Society, who pledge to donate
$1,000 a year to the Foundation. One reason that giving to the Foundation is
popular is that it has the highest rating from organizations which rate nonprofits,
such as Charity Navigator.

Learn more:
The Rotary Foundation: https://www.rotary.org/en/about-rotary/rotary-foundation
Charity Navigator: https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4553
Paul Harris Fellows and Society: https://www.rotary.org/en/about-rotary/history/paul-harris-society
Pleasant Valley Rotary: https://portal.clubrunner.ca/50045/clubinfo/pleasant-valley

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November 29, 2018 · Posted in Global Polio Initiative, Humanitarian Service, Rotary Foundation  

Vassar-Haiti Project (Aired on November 10 and 11, 2018)

For eighteen years, the Vassar-Haiti Project, started and still directed by Lila
Meade and her husband Andrew, assistant dean of international students at
Vassar College, has improved the lives of Haitians in the remote mountaintop
village of Chermaitre and its surroundings. Vassar sophomore Mary McCarthy,
publicity director of the project, and Lila Meade were the guests on RadioRotary
for this show. Ms. McCarthy was inspired to work on the project by reading
Mountains Beyond Mountains, a biography of Paul Farmer, founder of Partners
in Health. As a result of the project, which raises funds primarily by selling Haitian
paintings and crafts, Chermaitre and the surrounding area is served by a 250-
student school, a clinic that treats 3,000 patients annually, and clean water, the
last from a Rotary Global Grant sponsored by the Poughkeepsie-Arlington
Rotary. Vassar now has a Rotaract Club, which is seeking grant money from
Rotary to provide the clinic with electricity. It is inspiring work.

Learn more:
The Vassar Haiti Project: http://www.thehaitiproject.org/
Poughkeepsie-Arlington Rotary: http://rotary7210.org/arlington/
The Rotary Foundation Global Grants: https://my.rotary.org/en/take-action/apply-grants/global-grants
Mountains Beyond Mountains: https://www.tracykidder.com/mountains-beyond-mountains.html
Partners in Health: https://www.pih.org/
Rotaract: https://www.rotary.org/en/get-involved/rotaract-clubs

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November 20, 2018 · Posted in Education, Health, International Programs, Rotary Club Projects, Rotary Foundation, Water Projects  

Rhinebeck Rock the Runway (Aired On November 3 & 4, 2018)

Rotary Clubs are volunteer nonprofits that support local and international
needs in the community service, health, education, nutrition, clean water,
and peace. One event created by the Rhinebeck Rotary to raise money for
these causes is “Rock the Runway,” a fashion show featuring local models
and clothing from Rhinebeck Dept. Store, Winter Sun & Summer Moon,
Darryl's, Willow Wood, Joovay, Pegasus, Williams Lumber, Haldora, and
Elizabeth Boutique, with hair and make-up by Xanadu. Rhinebeck Rotarian
Lou Trapani visits RadioRotary to discuss the event, which will fund such
Rhinebeck Rotary local projects as food banks and Meals on Wheels,
scholarships, and community organization as well as international projects,
including disaster relief and polio eradication. Since Mr. Trapani is also the
Artistic and Managing Director of the Center for Performing Arts at
Rhinebeck, listeners also get a brief introduction to the good work that
organization does.

Learn more:
Rhinebeck Rotary Club: https://portal.clubrunner.ca/2252/
Rhinebeck Rotary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rhinebeck-Rotary-Club-204608949564070/
Shopping in Rhinebeck: https://enjoyrhinebeck.com/directory/shop/
Center for the Performing Arts at Rhinebeck: http://www.centerforperformingarts.org/

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November 8, 2018 · Posted in Events, Rotary Club Projects  

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