On June 28th, the Liberty Rotary Club held its Member Longevity Celebration and induction of the incoming executive board for the 2023-24 Rotary year.
The evening, with a 1960's theme, featured many important moments. Highlights are listed below:
1. Dedication of the newly renovated kitchen in the Charlie Topper Rotary Pavilion at Hanofee Park. Supporters of this renovation were our club, Resorts World Catskills, The Town of Liberty Parks and Recreation Department and Dave Thomson. We thank all those that contributed to this great project. Dave Thomson, a former long term member of Liberty Rotary Club left some funds to our club after his passing. Dave was a huge supporter of making improvements to our local parks and a connoisseur of good food. It seemed appropriate that some of his generous donation be used to improve the park kitchen and that he be noted on the commemorative plaque.
2. In what we believe will be an annual tradition, members were recognized for their years of service to Rotary. Members with five or more years of service were given pins to recognize their milestone years of longevity in increments of 5. Each rotary pin had a special commemorative tag to recognize the long term contributions of the recipients. Below are some pictures of some of the members receiving their pins.
3. As each Rotary year begins, another is ending. The past year has been served by a great board under the direction of President Terry Grafmuller. Terry did an exceptional job of running meetings, coordinating events and keeping all things running well. We thank him for his leadership and commitment to our causes. We further thank all those that served on the board to provide judicious decisions to keep our club growing and vibrant.
4. The Liberty Rotary Year 2023-2024 will be a bit different, because it will be the first time our group will have co-presidents. Last night Co-Presidents Bill Silver and Gary Silverman were inducted to the role. They look forward to continuing the incredible momentum that our club has been building for many years. Shown below are Gary, Bill and District Governor Peter Sullivan.
5. Also inducted was an outstanding board of directors. Shown below are: Director Jack Strassman, Secretary Tony Sinacore, Immediate Past President Mr. Terry Grafmuller, Director Meg Gavin, Vice-President Gary Siegel, Treasurer Matt Sush, and Sergeant at Arms Barbi Neumann Marty. Additional executives include Alyssa Thalmann and Jessica Thalmann-Osterhout who were not available for this event. Incoming District 7210 Governor Peter Sullivan presided over the induction ceremony. We thank all board members for donating their time and efforts to making the forthcoming year productive, fun, and full of opportunities to provide "Service Above Self".
6. Beyond all the other exciting moments, we were delighted to welcome two new members to our club last night, Hope Blecher-Croney and Beth Bernitt. Shown are Hope with her mentor Matt Sush (left) and Beth with her Mentor Barbara Blakey. We were fortunate to have incoming District 7210 Governor Peter Sullivan(right) perform the induction ceremony. We are all looking forward to Hope and Beth joining us in doing good in this world.
Thanks to all that contributed to making this evening a success. As we begin the 2023-24 Rotary year, the future looks very bright.