Happy Holidays and New Year

We began this year with an appearance from Justice Williams, reporting on his volunteer work in South Africa, and as the year now approaches its end, Justice (see photo above) stopped by our meeting last Thursday to report on his studies and internships in the field of industrial engineering. He's a senior at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and a former recipient of our scholarship award. We are currently taking applications for the 2017 scholarship.

We also got a report from Bob Bonney on our new fund-raiser via CLYNK and Hannaford, recycling bottles and cans. If you need information and collection bags and stickers, let Bob know.

Qholaqhoe and other business

The December newsletter from Qholaqhoe Mountain Connections, which our club has been helping out for the past three years, has a mix of good news and bad. The drought continues there, in the southern African country of Lesotho, which has caused great hardship, but progress is being made on the educational front, as in the school pictured above.

We held a business meeting Thursday, at which upcoming events were discussed (see updated list to right). Anyone interested in the Jan. 1 Bowl Over Polio or Polio Plunge fund-raisers should contact Doug Ford from the Ballston Spa club (who was visiting our meeting) or Sandy McAlonie at smrotary1213@gmail.com

Before that, we have our holiday party on Wednesday evening Dec. 14 at Andy's Adirondack Grille, and there will be no regular breakfast meeting the next morning, Dec. 15. We will, however, hold our regular meetings on Dec. 22 and 29, and into the New Year.

Scholarship and other business

     We discussed housekeeping matters at Thursday's meeting, including a possible bottle-and-can redemption fund-raiser through Hannaford, and a thank-you letter from ShelterBox for our recent $1,000 donation.

     And Bob Bonney did one of his member "interviews," this one with Tom Disinger, who talked about his career in the Air Force and in the television business, and giving away a baseball that had been signed by Ted Williams to a Red Sox fan who was scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan.

     In other news, our scholarship program is open for business. Applications should be in by Feb. 15 next year. Barb Conner says:

      Will you help us spread the word? There is a scholarship available for a deserving Town of Malta/ Round Lake high school student. Read more below.

The Malta Sunrise Rotary Club expects to award one scholarship to a graduating senior in the Class of 2017. The selected student will be awarded a one-time scholarship of $1,000.
Applicants should:
(a.) Demonstrate excellence in their core curriculum ... education as well as strong involvement in community service. Consideration will be given to those students who participate in Rotary organizations for young people, i.e. Interact Club, RYLA or Rotaract, but any qualified student may apply. Consideration may also be given to financial need.
(b). Be a graduating high school senior who resides in the Town of Malta, including the Village of Round Lake. This may include students enrolled at Ballston Spa High School, Shenendehowa Central Schools, any accredited private or parochial schools, and students participating in an accredited home-school program, as long as their legal residence is within the Town of Malta or Round Lake.
Applications are now available in local high school guidance offices or from: Scholarship Committee, Malta Sunrise Rotary, P.O. Box 671, 49 Burlington Avenue, Round Lake, NY 12151.