August 23, 2013 Briar Crier

BRIARCRIER 

August 23, 2013 – Friday 12:15, The Briar's Restaurant, Briarcliff Manor Rotary Club.

                                                                  TODAY IN HISTORY

1959: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order making Hawaii our 50th state.

MEETING LEADER –  President Anne Cargill

PLEDGE – Anne Cargill         PATRIOTIC SONG – Sy Yuter            PRAYER – Bishop John

HAPPY THOUGHTS AND BUCKS:  Ken, happy with ETA of April 2, not April 1, 2014 for his new grand child; Mike Sturm, speaker, happy to be here; Scott, happy to be a member of club; Anne, hopes Thursday operation on shoulder will be successful.

GUEST:  Prospective member Beth Hussain.

ROTARIANS PRESENT AND ANNOUNCEMENTS - 15 Rotarians present. Via Ernie, Community Day is September 7.

SPEAKER AND SUBJECT –  Mike Sturm on Italy battles during WWII

                                              

SUMMARY OF TALK  


Mike Sturm, from Staten Island, delivered a talk about his recent 11 day 
trip to Italy to tour the American World War II battlefields from Sicily
to Rome.  His interest in the Italian Campaign was sparked by the fact 
that his father's first cousin, PVT Sidney I. Heistein of Mount Freedom,
NJ, was Killed in Action on 18 October 1943 during the Battle of the
 Volturno River (13 - 18 October, 1943.)  Sidney was an infantryman in
 Company B, 15th Infantry, the same company as Audie Murphy.  Mike followed 
his cousin's footsteps from the Sicilian landing beach at Licata, to the
 Italian mainland.  He described the bloody battle of the Volturno River,
 Sidney Heistein's last battle.  Mike then spoke of his emotional climb of 
Hill 446 near Roccaromana, Italy, to recite a memorial service where
Sidney and eight others from his company died in a horrific artillery barrage.
 The talk ended with a plea that such sacrifices in the name of freedom 
never be forgotten.  Mike can be contacted at mbsturm@gmail.com.  The
 entire trip, as well as the Last Battle of PVT Sidney I. Heistein, is 
documented in photos at http://www.mikesturm.com.

This Friday at The Briar's Restaurant --  What Marines Do by Charles Paki 

Elinor Yuter, Reporter

Rachel Leihbacher, Expediter

Rotarian Bob Maher in the news

Long time member and past president of Briarcliff Manor Rotary Bob Maher is in the news.     He is the CEO of the St. Christopher's and this Discovery Channel clip highlights the success of the school and his leadership.    Televised nationally in August 2013, this 5-minute profile explores why St. Christopher's, a non-sectarian residential center for special needs students, has become a national model for helping troubled teens succeed in academics, form positive social relationships, and prepare for careers and independent living after high school.

Please click HERE to see the video clip 

Aug. 16, 2013 Briar Crier

                                                                                            BRIARCRIER 

August 16,  2013 – Friday 12:15, The Briar's Restaurant, Briarcliff Manor Rotary Club.

TODAY IN HISTORY

1483:  The Sistene Chapel was consecrated by Pope Sixtus IV.

MEETING LEADER –  President Anne Cargill

PLEDGE – Sy Yuter          PATRIOTIC SONG – Sy Yuter            PRAYER – Rev. Lee Carrozzi

HAPPY THOUGHTS AND BUCKS:  Ken, his son's wife is expecting; Toshi Shishido, speaker, his dream is to be in New York.

GUESTS: Prospective members Lou Fitzgerald , Beth Hussain , Vinnie and Ken Chapin.　

ROTARIANS PRESENT AND ANNOUNCEMENTS - 20 Rotarians present. Soon our club will have more members. Via Ernie, Community Day is September 7.

SPEAKER AND SUBJECT –  Japanese Folk Music by Toshi Shamimaster whose real name is Toshi Shishido.  

                                              

SUMMARY OF TALK  By Dr. Ken Shimazu

Mr. Toshi  Shishido a Tsugaru-Jamisen master came to the Briarcliff Rotary on Friday Aug.16th to give us a flavor of this ever popular form of Japanese folk music played with a Shamisen. Shamisen is a three stringed instrument played with a fan shaped striking stick with which a rather loud sound is possible. Tsugaru-Jamisen is often associated with northern Japan where the instrument accompanied many local folk songs. Kozan Oyama, Mr. Shishido's stage name, signifies that he is an accomplished master teacher of Tsugaru-Jamisen in the style of Oyama. He and his assistant Ms. Mai Tsuboi performed several Japanese folk music songs along with the demonstration of how this instrument can be broken into pieces for an easy travel.

Here is the video of one of his performance "Rokudan-kyokubiki". 

This Friday at The Briar's Restaurant --  World War II battles in Italy by Mike Sturm, whose cousin was killed there.

Elinor Yuter, Reporter

Rachel Leihbacher, Expediter

Aug. 8, 2013 Briar Crier

BRIARCRIER 

August 9,  2013 – Friday 12:15, The Briar's Restaurant, Briarcliff Manor Rotary Club

TODAY IN HISTORY

1815: Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena to spend the remainder of his days in exile.

MEETING LEADER – Past President Kris Chittur

PLEDGE – Sy Yuter          PATRIOTIC SONG – Sy Yuter            PRAYER – Bishop John

HAPPY THOUGHTS AND BUCKS:  Scott, his sons left home for camp on an island in Maine; Bishop John is happy by being a member of the Briarcliff Rotary Club.

GUEST: Prospective member Lou Fitzgerald

ROTARIANS PRESENT AND ANNOUNCEMENT - 16 Rotarians present. Dr. Surrendra Kaushik's wife is in a hospice.

SPEAKER AND SUBJECT – Dr. Ken Shimazu on Witnessing the Birth of New Technologies

                                                 

SUMMARY OF TALK

Due to a faulty projector Dr. Shimazu's talk will be repeated on September 6, this time with a projector that works. Anyway, his four technologies are the airplane (Wright Brothers), the Xerox copier, the IBM personal computer and the three-D copier, the latter with surprising future possible uses.

This Friday at The Briar's Restaurant --  Japanese Folk Music by Toshi Shamimaster

Elinor Yuter, Reporter

Rachel Leihbacher, Expediter

Aug.2, 2013 Briar Crier

BRIARCRIER 

August 2,  2013 – Friday 12:15, The Briar's Restaurant, Briarcliff Manor Rotary Club

TODAY IN HISTORY

1907: The U.S. Army Signal Corps established  an Aeronautical Division, forerunner of the U.S. Air Force

MEETING LEADER – Past President Kris Chittur

PLEDGE – Sy Yuter          PATRIOTIC SONG – Sy Yuter            PRAYER – Reverend Lee Carrozzi

HAPPY THOUGHTS AND BUCKS:  Eric, will be with father in Las Vegas next week; Jeff Taylor, was with Eric 34 years ago.

GUESTS: Beth Hussain, a Kris neighbor; June Amsterdam, the speaker's wife

ROTARIANS PRESENT - 16 Rotarians present. New member, Dr. Surrendra Kaushik, installed as Rotarian

SPEAKER AND SUBJECT – Dr. Bob Amsterdam on DNA Geneological Analysis

                                                 

SUMMARY OF TALK

Bob Amsterdam credited the National Geographic Magazine with his initial interest in his own genetic markers. We all originated in East Africa. Women have the XX chromosome and men the XY chromosome. Women can trace back to 180,000 years and men to 140,000 years. He does not know why there is a 40,000 year difference. Our ancestors slowly travelled to the Middle East. From there they spread to Europe and Asia. Surprisingly, his own family originated in Iran (Persia) and Sicily. Interestingly, we are all 1.8% Neanderthal and 1.1%  Denisouvan.  It has been suggested that the famous Lucy is our oldest female ancestor. Apes are 97% the same as us. He noted genetic markers of Puerto Ricans, Peruvians, Northern Indians and people from the Roman and Ottoman Empires.  People get stronger as they mix. The bottom line is that we are all closely related. To discover our own Genome DNA we can order a kit for $199 including a swab inside our cheeks. See https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/

This Friday at The Briar's Restaurant -- Witnessing the birth of a new technology by Ken Shimazu

Elinor Yuter, Reporter

Rachel Leihbacher, Expediter

July 26, 2013 Briar Crier

BRIARCRIER 

July 26, 2013 – Friday 12:15, The Chapel of the Presbyterian Church on Route 9, Briarcliff Manor Rotary Club.

TODAY IN HISTORY

1952: Puerto Rico becomes a self-governing commonwealth of the United States.

MEETING LEADER – President Anne Cargill

PLEDGE – Sy Yuter            PATRIOTIC SONG – America, Anne Cargill on the piano           Prayer – Bishop John

HAPPY THOUGHTS AND BUCKS: Elinor, hosted oldest son Alan and his new wife Cynthia and her two daughters, all from California; Jeff Taylor, his wife did not get laid off from her job.

GUESTS: None

ROTARIANS PRESENT - 10, eating pizza, fresh fruit salad, cookies and drinks arranged for by our president. 

SPEAKER AND SUBJECT – Amie Siniscakhi, chief program officer of My Sister's Place in White Plains on stopping partner abuse.

                                                                            SUMMARY OF TALK

The charming speaker combined her own personal experiences with many of the reasons for women stopping their partners' abuses.

Abuse can result to gain power and can cause physical injuries like face slappings as well as psychological injuries, and even religious abuse like forcing attendance at religious services. Control of family finances also occurs. There is even elder abuse of long-term marriage or relationships. The abuse often starts subtly and not right away. It is complicated because there is often alot of affection for partners but he tells her what he wants her to do. Some of the abused are men abused by women. Immigrant's often do not know or understand that help is available. My Sister's Place is an organization that provides hope, achievment of justice and changing of lives. My Sister's Place pledges to help build a world free of relationship abuse, mostly against women and girls.

Friday at The Briar's -- Dr. Bob Amsterdam on DNA Genealogical Analysis

Elinor Yuter, Reporter

Rachel Leihbacher, Expediter