Extended Rotary Family

I was an active Rotarian for about 3 years, and I just lost interest in it. We had a nice breakfast once a week, and it was a nice social vacation from the solitude of being an "at home worker". I found it a suitable replacement for the water cooler at the cubicle farm I used to work at.

We moved to Colonie in 2006, and I left my Niskayuna Rotary and never joined Colonie. I felt like I got away with something.

Then I began a series of events that led me to feel much more commited to Rotary than I had been before.

My daughter Sabrina came home from school in September 2006 and told me that she was going to apply for her Study Abroad through the Colonie-Guilderland Rotary. That was erie to me. Here I was feeling the direct benefit of Rotary. Through that experience, I met Tom Dwyer and Bob Moore. They both were so generous with their time. They made this trip happen for Sabrina. On 2 occasions I took Sabrina to meet her Rotary Group. On both occasions there were women who asked Sabrina to sit with them, and I appreciated what a positive model this is for my daughter to see.

As Sabrina began to tell people that she was going abroad, I heard people express doubt. "Don't you know what happened to Natalie Holloway", "I wouldn't trust my daughter to people I don't know." I heard myself saying... "You don't understand, this is a Rotary program." "I am not trusting my daughter to a family I don't know. I trust the club there, and the club here, and the process. If there is a problem, there are people who care, and will resolve it. There is no way that a host club would leave my daughter stranded." I couldn't believe I was lauding this organization, and at the same time didn't think it was a fair investment of my time.

The next nudge along the way came from Blase Mercoglan. Blase was a Past District Governor who was a member of the Niskayuna Club. I never got to know Blase when I went to the Nisky Rotary. Blase lives in Florida half the year, so he was out of town as often as he was in town.

In June, Blase called me and said "The Niskayuna Rotary needs help." Membership had dwindled and there weren't enough members to keep it going. I felt terrible. I thought of the 53 year history, and the members who had kept the organization alive and well. 50 years of scholarships to Nisky High School. It just was really bad news to me. Blase asked if I would commit to help him get it going again.

I agreed in an obliged kind of way. I was going to show up, and hope my attendence was enough. It has been about 4 months now since I have made that commitment, and I feel better than ever about the prospects for Rotary.

Throughout the summer I have gotten to know Blase. We went to the Gift of Life Golf Tournament. We visited other lapsed Rotarians. We talked about mission, and why people become active Rotarians in the first place.

Blase asked our District Leadership to help us out. We ended up with Harriet Noble, Mike Popolizio, John Eaton and others coming to our meeting. I learned more and more about the projects that other Rotarians have taken on. Now I can't imagine a better way to spend my breakfast hour on Tuesdays.

Now my membership is active, and I am ready to go wherever Rotary takes me. I will try to be a building block for Niskayuna to grow with. If that doesn't work, I will go to another club. In any case, I can't imagine turning my back on Rotary ever again.