August 22, 2014

BRIERCRIER

                                             August 22,  2014, at The Briar's Restaurant, of Briarcliff Manor Rotary Club Meeting.

                                                   TODAY IN HISTORY

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

MEETING LEADER:  President-elect Mark Seiden for President Eric Lebenson

Pledge: Mark Seiden   Song: Mark Seiden     Prayer: Bishop John

ROTARIANS PRESENT AND HAPPY THOUGHTS: 13 Rotarians present. Happy Thoughts: Our speaker, Dr. Lynda Hood, happy to be with us. Plus other happy thoughts not completely recorded.  

GUESTS:  None.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Treasury in good condition via Treasurer Dr. Bob Maher; Community Day is Saturday September 7, at Law Park behind Atria from 3:30,  we will NOT do the cooking;  joint meeting with other Rotary Clubs at Mount Kisco Rotary on Sept. 18.

SPEAKERS AND SUBJECT: Dr. Lynda Hood and Rev. Todd Young from Hudson Link; will show a movie prepared for HBO on Hudson Link's teaching at Sing Sing prison and the low rate of return of ex-prisoners in maximum security prisons who attain college degrees.

                                                                             

         

                                                         SUMMARY OF TALK

Dr. Lynda Hood outlined Hudson Link's background. Then Todd showed movie after getting speakers for audio.  Mercy College teachers plus students shown. Until recently, had zero percent return to prison of college graduates, and only recently had some returns, one of a professional thief. Plus support from people like Woopy Goldberg and Warren Buffet. Most prisoners come from seven neighborhoods in New York City. Most non-returns got jobs in social work, where their prison background was helpful.        (The Hudson link web site has numbers of video clips similar to the one we saw at the meeting.     See them  HERE.)

This Friday (tomorrow) at The Briar's Restaurant; Rotary Aspects of India Trip by KrisChittur.

Elinor Yuter, Reporter

Rachel Leihbacher, Expediter

Elderact active in Briarcliff

Briarcliff Rotary's first "Act" is an Interact at the Braircliff High School where dedicated high schoolers are very active in various volunteer works.       We now have a second act at the Atria senior living in Briarcliff called "Elderact".        A video was made by the Rotary District 7230 to publicize the activities of seniors in which our Elderact club is prominently featured.    

August 15, 2014 Briar Crier

BRIERCRIER

August 15,  2014, at The Briar's Restaurant, of Briarcliff Manor Rotary Club Meeting.

                                                   TODAY IN HISTORY

1935: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law.

MEETING LEADER:  President Eric Lebenson

Pledge: Mark Johnson   Song: Sy Yuter      Prayer: Bishop John

ROTARIANS PRESENT AND HAPPY THOUGHTS: 16 Rotarians present. Happy Thoughts: Ken, spent time in South Korea and visited briefly North Korea just north of the demilitarized zone; Jenny Doane is happy to be with us; So is our speaker. Plus other happy thoughts not completely recorded.  

GUESTS: George Camp of Ossining Rotary, Jenny Doane, a Rotary member, and Sam Lanoff, Scott's son.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Treasury in good condition via Treasurer Dr. Bob Maher; New American flag via Jim Lupfer; UN day is Nov. 1 and tickets are available; Community Day is September 6 but we will do no cooking; Magic Masters on Sept. 18; joint meeting with other Rotary Clubs at Mount Kisco Rotary on Sept. 18.

SPEAKERS AND SUBJECT: Cap't D. C. Anderson, U.S. Coast Guard, on Climate Change. He was raised in Connecticut and received an MBA from SUNY at Fort Schyler.

                    

                                                                   

                                                         SUMMARY OF TALK

Billions of years ago carbon dioxide (CO2) was in the air and ended up underground in the form of coal and oil. Between China and India, they are building coal burning electric generator plants so battle against the warming of the globe from CO2 in the atmosphere is already lost. Our leaders do not publicly announce a position on global warming but will follow the people if the people make such a demand that it impacts on our leaders. The Captain made a plea for the people making such a demand.  Most of our members thought there was global warming, with the Arctic ice slowly melting, but at least one member (Dr. Amsterdam) challenged that assumption.

This Friday at The Briar's Restaurant. A movie on the low rate of return of ex-prisoners in maximum security prisons who receive Masters degrees.

Elinor Yuter, Reporter

Rachel Leihbacher, Expediter

August 8, 2014 Brair Crier

BRIARCRIER

August 8,  2014, at The Briar's Restaurant, of Briarcliff Manor Rotary Club Meeting.

                                                   TODAY IN HISTORY

1974: President Richard Nixon announces his resignation in view of new revelations of Watergate scandal.

MEETING LEADER:  President Eric Lebenson

PLEDGE: Dr. Bob Maher    Song: Sy Yuter      Prayer: Rev. Todd Young

ROTARIANS PRESENT AND HAPPY THOUGHTS: 18 Rotarians present. Eric, his children performed marvelously; Kris, his daughter Rachel in Fiddler and believes in hug therapy;  Plus other happy thoughts not completely recorded.  

GUESTS: Janel Di Benedetto of international Rotary; Amir Sadi, president-elect of Bronx Rotary; George Camp of Ossining Rotary.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Happy Thoughts and Raffle club money goes to international Rotary; Treasury in good condition.

SPEAKERS AND SUBJECT: Todd Young, Alumni coordinator for Hudson Link, on how college education provides for few maximum security prisoner returns.

                                                                                       

                                                         SUMMARY OF TALK

The speaker spent from age 23 to age 48 in Sing Sing prison.  His organization, Hudson Link, assists graduates in five maximum security prisons as they transition back into society. His organization provides for pre-employment resources which includes resume writing and interview skills, job search especially internships. His organiazation partners with various MA granting universities including Mercy, Nyack, Siena. SUNY-Sullivan and Vassar. It assists students in preparation for college level study. It offers preparatory classes in math, English and essay writing. His organization was formed in 1998 and is entirely privately funded so continues to require contributions. His organization's re-incarceration rate is about one percent compared with national rate of about 43%.

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This Friday (tomorrow) at the Briar's Restaurant, hopefully, Cap't D. C. Anderson on Climate Change.

Elinor Yuter, Reporter

Rachel Leihbacher, Expediter

August 1, 2014 Briar Crier

BRIERCRIER

August 1,  2014, at The Briar's Restaurant, of Briarcliff Manor Rotary Club Meeting.

                                                   TODAY IN HISTORY

August 2014: The beginning of World War I.

MEETING LEADER: Ex-Pres. Anne Cargill in absence of President Eric Lebenson

PRAYER:  Anne Cargill    Song: Sy Yuter      Prayer: Paul Rosen

ROTARIANS PRESENT AND HAPPY THOUGHTS: 18 Rotarians present. Speaker Jim, happy to be here; Paul, being a Mason in a new job; Etrusca is going to Italy.  Plus other happy thoughts not completely recorded.  

GUESTS: None

SPEAKERS AND SUBJECT: Boy Scouts of America via Senior Executive Jim Lupfer

                                                         SUMMARY OF TALK

Welcome to the scouting family, beginning with a video of scout camps. Scouting started in New York State led by an Englishman, Lord Baden Powell. It quickly spread throughout the United States via New Jersey, from where Jim comes. Its premise is "I teach you, you teach someone else." Its motto is "Be Prepared" now prepared for life. You can start at 10 and earn merit badges. You start as tenderfoot, then second class, then first class, then star, life and eagle. Eagle scouts do well on their applications to college. A very popular scout camp is Brandt Lake in the Adirondacks. Scouts pay to go to a boy scout camp. Even Queen Elizabeth of England is a fan of scouting. Service to the community by the scouts is huge. Executive get paid, but not very much. Mostly they do it because they support scouting.

This Friday (tomorrow) at the Briar's Restaurant, Todd Young on how college education provides for few if any

                                                                                        maximum security prisoner returns.

Elinor Yuter, Reporter

Rachel Leihbacher, Expediter

In Memoriam Dr. Surendra K. Kaushik

It is with deep sadness and a heavy heart that I pass along the news of Dr. Kaushik’s passing this past Wednesday.  He was in India, with family members by his side at the time.  Dr. Kaushik lived an amazing, exemplary life, and it was an honor to meet and know him, even though it was too short a time.  Please see below the link to the Mrs. Helena Kaushik Women’s College website…There, you can follow the links to information about services, his wonderfully written obituary, and information about contributions to the Foundation which was founded in his wife’s name.  As you can see, Dr. Kaushik truly lived a life of Service Above Self, and made the community around him a much better place.  To borrow from the website, “His accomplishments are unparalleled and he was a true humanitarian, scholar, economist, and visionary.”

Please join me in prayers and best wishes for his family and loved ones.

http://helenakaushik.org/

Warmest Regards,

Eric