Rotary's vital work

Guest speaker on Thursday was Ian Williams of the Glens Falls Rotary Club, which helps support Pure Water for the World. Ian has made three trips to Haiti and one to Honduras on behalf of this organization, which provides filters like the one pictured above that he brought to our meeting. They can be a family's permanent source of clean water, preventing diarrhea and diseases that are often fatal to children and other people in these poor countries.

The non-profit trains "community agents" to provide hygiene education and monitor the filters to make sure they keep working. Ian spoke movingly about the life-changing and uplifting experience of making these trips, and noted that the Schenectady Rotary Club is also involved in providing clean water to Haitians. Providing clean water worldwide is a major focus of Rotary International and the Rotary Foundation.

After you're gone ...

On Thursday our guest speaker, second from right in photo, was Robert Hafner, an attorney specializing in estate planning. One of his key pieces of advice was to get copies of your beneficiary designation forms, for things like IRAs and pension benefits, to make sure they are up to date.
Hafner was the guest of Paul Sausville, left. Also seen are club members Bob Bonney, right, and Tom Disinger. Also present was our club member and Hafner's new law partner, Tom Peterson.

Business in New Year

Thursday's business meeting discussed various issues, including where to put two benches we will be purchasing thanks to a grant received last month from the Town of Malta/GlobalFoundries Foundation. One is likely headed for a spot near the Sausville Gazebo at Routes 67 and 9, but the other's location is still up for debate. Last year, we used the same grant program to buy and install three benches for the Zim Smith Trail.

We are taking applications for the one-time $1,000 scholarship we award each year to a graduating senior. The application deadline for the 2017 scholarship is Feb. 15.
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.

And Qholaqhoe Mountain Connections, which we've been helping out in recent years, has a new Facebook page.