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Rotary International
Ithaca, NY Rotary Clubs :: Rotary District 7170

The official bulletin of the Rotary Club of Ithaca, N.Y.
January 14, 2004
Announcements Featured Rotarians Happy Dollars Credits & Contact
Program Notes: Indian Land Claims Upcoming Programs
& the Rotary Calendar
  • This Week's Trivia
    What Native American Indian tribe inhabited the land that is now Ithaca?
    Hint: It is not the Cayugas. See the program notes for the answer.
  • Notes from President Jeff
    Congratulations to Rotarians in Action: Peggy Haine who, along with Alice Michtom, will be performing with the Harlettes at a Help for Harley fundraiser on Sunday, January 18 at the Rongovian Embassy in Trumansburg. Farewell to Pat Haugen who has taken a position in Portland, Oregon at Portland State University, and will bemarrying her college sweetheart. Best of luck to Pat!
  • New Contact Info for Youth Exchange Students
    Our Youth Exchange students all have new host families and their new contact information will be available on he tables at our weekly meetings soon. If you have not taken the opportunity to spend some time with these wonderful young men, please pick up the new information sheets and make it a date! You won't be sorry.
  • Thank you Holiday Inn!
    Next week we will be taking up a collection for the Holiday Inn staff. We usually do this around the holidays in December, but were delayed a bit this year. Just a reminder in case you would like to thank the Holiday staff for their hard work throughout the year.
  • Call for Meeting Setup Volunteers
    Dave Flinn, John Hays and Mike Billings have been sharing the meeting setup chores on a monthly rotation basis for the past three years and have done an admirable job. Dave and John have announced their need to participate in other ways and will be phasing out of service this year. So, this is a call for any interested Rotarian to serve the club in this necessary and important activity. It requires that the individual be available from approximately 11:45 to 12:15. (Earlier is acceptable) The tasks include preparing the podium and sound system, putting up flags and banners and assisting the President and program speaker as required. Service will continue to be rotated based upon the number of volunteers, i.e. three volunteers equals one month of service out of three. It is desirable but not required that the setup person be available for the entire meeting. Please see Scott Russell if interested. For further, first hand information, talk with Dave, John or Mike.
  • Rotary Board Meeting
    The next Rotary Board Meeting is Tuesday, January 20th at 5 PM in the Boardroom of the Holiday Inn (note change of location). Any interested members are invited to attend. Remember - attendance at a board meeting counts as a make-up too!
  • Pride of Workmanship Nominations
    The nomination period for this year's Pride of Workmanship Awards presentation is now open. Deadline for nominations is January 29th. For the 10th year of the program, there will be 10 awards given to deserving employees from around the county who excel in their work place. Tom Sanford and his committee will also be looking for an extra special employee who will receive a special "Lend A Hand" award this year. If you receive one of the nomination invitations, please consider whether or not you have an employee who deserves this special recognition or whether you know a business with such an employee. If you have any questions or need a nomination form, please contact Tom Sanford (pricelog@twcny.rr.com) who will be happy to help you out. This year's presentation will take place at our meeting on February 11.
  • DUES were Due
    Dues ($85.00 + $40.00 Fair Share) were due by December 31 and any payments received after that date must include a $10.00 late payment fee. Dues notices, which have been mailed out to members who did not pick them up at the meetings, also include a line for a tax-deductible donation to the Ithaca Rotary Charitable Trust. The Charitable Trust funds the James Gibbs Scholarship among other things in the community, so please consider adding a donation to your dues payment. Please get your dues payments to secretary Scott Russell as soon as possible. Thank you.
  • Ithaca Rotary Community Grants
    Once again the Ithaca Rotary club will be presenting worthwhile organizations in the community with small grants to help them achieve their goals. Requests for Rotary Grants are now being accepted and any organization with a need can apply simply by making a request to the Small Grants Committee. A letter detailing the request should be sent to either President Jeff True or Secretary Scott Russell care of the Ithaca Rotary Club, P.O. Box 306, Ithaca, N.Y. 14851. Letters may also be addressed directly to the committee via chair Jessie Ripple, 57 Highgate Circle, Ithaca, N.Y. 14850 If you have any questions about the Small Grants Program you may also call Jessie at 257-6454 or 254-2372. Deadline for requests will be January 31, 2004.
  • Donations to the Rotary Foundation Annual Fund
    The Rotary Foundation Annual Fund Committee recently sent letters to all members of the club requesting donations to the Rotary Foundation. If you are looking for something to perk up your day and don't know where to turn, look in the Rotarian magazine or on-line at www.rotary.org and you will find numerous stories about the great works of the Rotary Foundation throughout the world. Through your contributions to the Rotary Foundation, you become part of those great works -whether it is a well for a dry village or volunteers administering polio vaccine, the Rotary Foundation is helping people all over the world every day. Without your help, the Foundation could not continue its mission. Please consider this request for your help and give whatever you feel you can. Every dollar helps and no gift is too small. Thank you.
  • Rotary Centennial Project Update
    Our Rotary club will be donating a total of 190 trees to the City of Ithaca (one for each year since Rotary was founded and one for each year since our club was founded - 100 and 90 respectively) over the next year and a half as our Rotary Centennial Tree Project. In cooperation with the City Forester, a map showing the location of all the future plantings and describing the types of trees to be planted has been created and Rotarians can purchase a tree as a gift or memorial and choose where it will be planted. Trees are $79.00 each and make great gifts. Please contact Beverly Baker if you would like to purchase a tree and help support this wonderful project.
  • From Member Jim Vorp
    I will retire from Borg Warner Morse TEC as VP of Operations effective Dec 31, 2003 after 33 years of service. I plan to travel to be with my daughter in Denver CO and my son and grandson in Atlanta, GA. I will be President of Generations Corvette Club during 2004. I am active as church choir member and am currently in constant rehearsals for the play "12 Angry Men". We will donate all proceeds from the play to the Trumansburg Library. The play will be held the last 3 days in February at the Trumansburg Elementary School.
  • Rotarian Ambassadors
    1/8: Gene Erickson, Dave Flinn, Jim Johnston (Cooperstown, NY)
  • Visiting Rotarians
    Eric Lindstrom (Ithaca Sunrise)
    Barry Downing (Endwell, NY)

Bettsie Park (host) was happy about so many things (the list was two pages long!) that she brought along 50 dollar bills which she used to match all of our happy dollars for the day. Happily enough, she used up all of her dollars and we still kept coming!

Ralph Jones ten for his alma mater's football team (Colgate) which went undefeated this past season and came up one win short of a national championship.

Sue Munson one for just getting back from vacation and feeling very, very relaxed.

Mary Berens two to ask for help with the riddle of the rutabaga. A Cornell alum wrote her asking for help remembering where in Ithaca there might have been a large sign (ten foot letters, atop a building in collegetown perhaps) that said "Rutabaga." If anyone has a clue, please contact Mary.

Percy Browning three to announce the opening of "Trestle at Polk Creek" at the Kitchen Theater this week.

Dave Flinn two to announce that as of July 1, 2004, he will become the Chair of the International Computer Users Fellowship of Rotarians. Not that he desperately wanted the job, but nobody else ran against him.

Tom Sanford one to announce the arrival last Monday of Ryan Thomas Sanford in Doylestown, PA and to share with us a picture of the new addition to the clan.

Rod Ghearing four for spending half an hour walking around downtown Ithaca this morning in 10 degree below zero temperatures talking to Ithaca Journal editorial writer Joe Schwartz about new transportation shelters.

Chuck Nocera two because his snowblower is finally out of the shop.

Bob Baker a few for being elected to the International Hall of Fame (anyone know which one?)

Shirley Egan one because she survived her daughter's choosing of a wedding dress last week in New York.

Dale Flinn two for visiting two more opponent's rinks to watch Cornell men's hockey play this season - part of a quest along with his wife to visit all of the ECAC rinks where Cornell plays, they have now visited 9 of the 12 arenas.

Gary Stewart whose church, St. Paul's United Methodist, and fellow Rotarian Cal Walker's church, Calvary Baptist, will be receiving the Community Dispute Resolution Center's annual Martin Luther King Peacemaker Award at their annual Martin Luther King breakfast for the two congregation's efforts at tackling racism through a variety of joint work projects.

Simonetta Antenucci one because her son will be flying up from Florida next week to spend some time with his mother for her birthday, and one for enjoying a lovely night cross country skiing last night.

Heidi Goldstein one to thank Bettsie Park for the great job she is doing.

Judy Pastel ten because none of the pipes in the school district froze, the fuel additives in the fuel tanks of the buses has kept them running in the cold, and all of the furnaces in the schools are working fine. Ten more because she will get to go skiing with her 6 year old grandson for the first time this weekend.

Cathy one for not being on Mount Washington this morning where it was -95 degrees with the wind chill - makes -10 seem not so bad!

Jack Burns one for the lights going out last night and having a very romantic evening with candlelight dinner and conversation.

Siu-ling one to thank Bettsie for doing a wonderful job and to thank all of the people who have sent in their checks for Pancake Day, bringing the total to $9,214.00!

"Indian Land Claims"

Bob Venables

Our guest speaker today was Bob Venables who shared with us his views and experiences after working for more than 30 years on Native American rights issues. Bob reminded us of the many broken treaties and promises that the United States government has visited upon the Native Americans over the years.

In just the last thirty years, the government has either reaffirmed or "settled" various Native claims and then refused to follow through with their agreements. It was 1934 before Native Americans were even considered citizens of the United States. The list of inequalities visited upon Native American tribes over the years continues to grow, despite the best efforts of people like Bob to get state and federal governments to treat Native Americans fairly.

Bob Venables on Native American rights.
The Native tribes have already made many concessions in their various fights, one of the most important being actually using U.S. courts to argue their cases. For the Native Americans, most of the issues in question should be resolved in their own court systems, but the U.S. entities involved do not recognize Native court systems and refuse to be a part of any such proceedings.

Another very important issue that comes up in these various disputes has a very fundamental basis - the way in which the concept of land "ownership" is considered. In the Native American view, no one can own land, but everyone has a responsibility to maintain the land. When the Cayugas agreed to allow the Tutelos (trivia answer) to settle at the southern end of Cayuga lake, they did not give or sell them the land, they agreed to allow the Tutelos to maintain the land. It is very difficult to even discuss issues like land when the parties involved have such disparate beliefs. Yet, the Native Americans have made many concessions in order to try and get some sort of equitable solutions to their claims. Trying to settle the problems in U.S. courts is only one.

While the problems are complex, there are some solutions that are not so complex - or at least should not be so complex. Simply complying with various treaties and agreements made over the years would go a long way towards bringing resolution to both parties and bringing equality to all people of the United States. This brief summary can not begin to cover all of the problems and inequalities that Bob has been witness too, but he is clearly very passionate about his work and very knowledgeable as well. His talk was very informative and eye-opening. Our sincere thanks to Bob for sharing his passion with us and taking the time to answer our questions. If you would like to know more about Bob's work or have any more questions for him, contact President Jeff.
  • Please view the calendar posted on the main page of this website for the most up-to-date information. [View Rotary Calendar]

Program Chair: Jeff True
Kettle Watch: Dalene Covert
Greeter: Ken Horst
Thought: Don Kompf
Introductions: Harlin McEwen
Happy Dollars: Bettsie Park
Music: Jack Burns and Bill Cowdery
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.

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The Ithaca Rotary Club website is maintained by Matthew T. Dearing