Catching Up

Thursday's speaker was Rotarian Larry Levine, talking about teaching origami to cancer patients.

The previous week, see photo above, we had  Lynn Minderman of Qholaqhoe Mountain Connections. a program established to help people in a rural area of Lesotho, in southern Africa. Lynn, left, is shown receiving an $800 check from Malta Sunrise Rotary President Arlene Schmidt and Finance Chair Cynthia Young. This marks the third year in a row we have donated $800 to QMC.

Tomorrow, Tuesday Nov. 1, from 1 to 6 p.m., we'll be helping out a Red Cross blood drive at Malta Community Center. Follow link in preceding sentence if you want to donate blood, or call 1 800 RED CROSS for more information.

Ready to Roll

Malta Sunrise Rotary President Arlene Schmidt and her husband and fellow Rotarian Al show off the newly installed plaque on one of the three benches on the Zim Smith Trail that we put in this spring.

At our meeting Thursday, the speaker was Norm Morey, an 86-year-old fitness instructor at the Malta YMCA. Apart from urging people to take his class, he had some other advice for successful aging, including: "Never act your age," "Have children in your life," and Live long, die short."

Moving Ahead

At Thursday's business meeting, we discussed our upcoming pancake breakfast to be held on Saturday, Oct. 22, and co-sponsored by the Malta Ridge Volunteer Fire Company, which will share in the proceeds.

Hours are 8 to 11:30 a.m., and prices are $6 for adults, $3 for children aged 6 to 12, and free for those aged 5 and under. The breakfast will be at the Malta Ridge Fire House on the east side of Route 9 south of Northway Exit 13, and the menu includes sausages, scrambled eggs, orange juice and coffee, as well as pancakes.

On Tuesday, Nov. 1, we will sponsor a blood drive at the Malta Community Center from 1 to 6 p.m. Prospective donors can call 1-800-RED CROSS or go to redcrossblood.org to schedule an appointment.

We will be raising funds by selling food and drink at the Malta Community Center Arts, Crafts & Gifts Fair on Saturday, Nov. 5 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The club has begun a weekly commitment to the food insecurity BackPack Program at Chango Elementary School.

The club also voted on Thursday to contribute $800 to Qholaqhoe Mountain Connections. 2016 is the third year in a row that the Malta club has contributed $800 to this organization, which assists a poor rural community in Lesotho, southern Africa. Malta Sunrise Rotary also contributes regularly to Rotary International's ongoing program to eliminate polio.

Cleanup Crew

Left to right, we've got Mike Williams, Bob and Barb Conner, Miles Cornthwaite, Helen Endres, Al Schmidt and Doug Martin in the Dunning Street cleanup crew this morning. Also along were Jim Hale and Jackie Williams (who took the picture). We pick up trash there a couple of times a year.

On Thursday, our speaker was  Lauren Carpenter of Home Connection Companions, a division of Baptist Health System. They provide nonmedical care to older adults.

It was also announced that starting next week, we'll be helping out with the BackPack food program at Chango Elementary School. And we are continuing to help raise funds for Rebuilding Together Saratoga County at the Showcase of Homes.