• New Member Proposal
  The Ithaca Rotary Club Board of Directors will be considering membership application from the person listed below. Any concerns about these membership proposals should be made in writing to the Secretary of the Club by August 15, 2003.
  
  Name: Neil Tarallo
  Sponsor: Larry Baum
  Classification: Photography/Retail
  Employer: Ithaca Photo/On Paper Printing
  Title: President
  

• Rotary Membership Roster Update In Progress
  Scott Heyman announced that the new roster is being put together and copies of the current roster are being circulated at club meetings for the next two weeks to allow members to check the status of their listing and make any additions or corrections. If you are not going to be in attendance over the next couple of weeks, please be sure to contact Scott (Scott.Heyman@ppfa.org) and make sure your information is correct. You will also be hearing from John Ziegler if you do not have a current photo available for the roster. Please make sure that you respond in a timely manner so that we can get the roster published as soon as possible. Also, please be sure that your e-mail address is correct as this will be used for your E-News subscription unless you request otherwise. Thank you all!

• Upcoming Ithaca Rotary Board Meeting
  The next meeting of the Ithaca Rotary Club's Board of Directors will take place on Tuesday, August 19 at 5:00 p.m. at the Chamber of Commerce Board room. All members are welcome to attend and the meeting counts as a make-up for those of you a little short on attendance.

• Our district is planning a group trip to United Nations Day in New York City on October 3 and 4. This will be an overnight trip and interested Rotarians should visit the district web site as soon as possible for details (www.district7170.org). Last year our district was honored at this event for our participation in the Wheelchair Project and we are looking for good attendance from our district for this year's event as well. Rotary's Polio Eradication Project works with and through the United Nations and is also an integral part of this day of celebration. Check it out!

• Meeting Location Announcement!
  Reminder that on Aug. 27, we will be having an out-of-room experience as we will be meeting at Stewart Park instead of the Holiday Inn. The lunch prices will remain the same - $8.00 for members, $10.00 for non-members and guests - however children will be welcome for half price - $5.00. Reservations will be requested soon, so please mark your calendars and plan ahead for any guests you may wish to invite. Leslie Chatterton, the city's Historic Preservation Planner, will share with us "The History of Stewart Park" as our guest speaker that day. There will also be an ice cream social to follow, with members of the Red Badge Society doing the serving. We will meet in the large pavilion at the park, rain or shine and we hope to see you all there!

• President Jeff, standing in for Past President Jean, presented Phil Meyer with a framed certificate that Jean created for him. The certificate thanks Phil who, along with Perri LoPinto and Gene Erickson, did so much for helping our club raise over $50,000 for the Rotary Polio Eradication Campaign. Our sincere thanks to Phil for his contributions to this great effort.

• Paul Harris Fellow Presentation
  Nancy Potter, on behalf of the Rotary Foundation and the Ithaca Rotary Club's Foundation Committee, presented our own Janet Steiner with the latest Paul Harris Fellowship. In recognition of her commitment to the ideals and programs of the Rotary Foundation, as represented by her financial contribution of at least $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation, Janet received the pin, the medallion, and the certificate signifying her achievement of this important goal. Through contributions like Janet's, the Rotary Foundation is able to promote its mission of Peace and World Understanding with programs like Group Study Exchange, Ambassadorial Scholarships, and the new Peace Scholarships. Our thanks and congratulations to Janet Steiner on becoming our newest Paul Harris Fellow!

• Special Guests
  This week we hosted two more students at our meeting, Sam Fabens who was our fourth RYLA recipient and Greg Billing, son of our own Mike Billing, who is an outbound Youth Exchange Program student bound for India. Sam echoed his compatriot's feelings about the RYLA program, but also had a slightly different perspective as he was one of only a few of the participants who took on public speaking as a focus that week. Judging from his poise and speaking ability, his experience there clearly paid off. Greg is very excited to be leaving soon to begin his year abroad, and has been working hard to prepare himself for what is likely to be a very different way of life from what he has been used to. He has spent time with our district's inbound student from India who has been in Binghamton this past year and he fully expects that this year off after high school will be a defining moment in the rest of his life.
  
  Our thanks to these two young men for taking time to speak to us and we wish them all the best in the future. As part of our club's effort to maintain a better relationship with our outbound Youth Exchange, Joanne Lamoreaux has volunteered to be Greg's pen pal while he is in India, so we can all look forward to hearing about Greg's experiences from Joanne throughout the year.
  

• August Birthdays
  John Hays presenting.
  
  8/1: Ray Van Houtte
  8/6: Fran Clines
  8/9: Barbara Thuesen
  8/10: Barny Cole, Bob Porteus, Steve Thayer
  8/11: Fred Antil, Bob Gravani
  8/14: Bob Cowie
  8/15: Cal Organ
  8/19: Bob Sprole, III
  8/27: Tony Fraboni
  8/30: Matt Braun, Jagat Sharma
  
  Happy Birthday to all our August babies! Thank you to the Holiday Inn for providing a birthday cake for us all to share (this will happen on the first Weds. of each month) and congratulations to Matt Braun and Jagat Sharma for splitting the $1,000 birthday bonus from the club this month - they were the only ones present!

• Ambassadors
  8/5: Barbara Caldwell (Ithaca-Cayuga)

• Visiting Rotarians
  Allan Bruckner (Bend, OR)
  Barry Downing (Endwell, NY)

• Our Visiting Exchange Students
  Sam Fabens, RYLA; Greg Billing, Outgoing to India.

"An Update on Downtown Ithaca"

Gary Ferguson, Executive Director of the Ithaca Downtown Partnership

Some of the ideas floating around for the future include a real trolley on rails, a Federal Historic District for the central, downtown area, and building new and better bridges between the local community and the college communities. With future talks from Scott Whitham of Historic Ithaca and Mack Travis, a downtown developer, we will see more connections to Gary's talk and a continuation of some of his thoughts as the month progresses. Our thanks to Gary for his informative and interesting talk and for taking the time to speak with us.

• Please view the calendar posted on the main page of this website for the most up-to-date information. [View Rotary Calendar]

Program Chair: Doug McDonald
Kettle Watch: Binni Rana
Greeter: Jess Esposito
Thought: Beverly Baker
Introductions: Stew Underwood
Happy Dollars: Perri LoPinto
Music: Don Hinman and Siu-ling
Photography: John Ziegler
Setup: John Hays
Editor: Dale Flinn
Website: Matthew Dearing

• Please address all correspondence to the club to:
  Ithaca Rotary Club P.O. Box 306
  Ithaca, N.Y. 14851
  Attn.: Scott Russell, Secretary
  
  
• For eNewsletter comments, questions or corrections, and subscription requests please contact the Editor at bigd@starflinn.com.