Murray Eitzmann To Be Rotary President

 

Left to right: Jim Frey, Lisa Elam, Paul Phillips, Murray Eitzmann, Rick Handley, Dwight Havens and Barbara Conner were some of the local Rotary leaders gathering at Larry Levine's house on the south shore of Saratoga Lake Thursday (June 25), to mark the changeover on July 1 to a new Rotary year. That means Dwight's presidency of Malta Sunrise Rotary is coming to an end, with Murray taking over as president and Lisa as president-elect. (Lisa, who chairs our scholarship committee, recently returned from Rotary International's annual convention, held this year in Taiwan.)

Abner Doubleday

Ballston Spa native Abner Doubleday was the subject of Robert C. Conner's talk on Thursday. Doubleday moved away to Auburn as an infant and later went from there to Cooperstown. But his 28 Washington Street birthplace, with a historical marker out front, still stands on the west side of downtown Ballston Spa.

Best known for his now disputed contributions to the development of baseball, Doubleday's most solid claim to fame is his Civil War service. As a captain in 1861 and second-in-command at Fort Sumter, he passed on the order to fire the first Union shots of the war, responding to a Confederate artillery barrage.

Promoted to general in 1862, in August and September of that year he fought at the battles of Second Bull Run, South Mountain and Antietam.

After General John Reynolds was killed on the morning of July 1, 1863, at Gettysburg, Doubleday took command of the First Corps for most of the day, during which time it was heavily engaged in combat. He reverted to command of his division for the second and third days of the battle.

Robert C. (Bob) Conner is a former journalist, current Rotarian and author. His first three books -- two biographies and a novel -- were focused on the Civil War. His fourth book, published earlier this year, is a historical novel set in 1975 called The Detective and Dorothy Day.

Helping Education Programs in Schenectady

Gretchen Belanger, executive director of Rise High, was our speaker last week. Rise High is a program started in 2018 in Schenectady County that is designed to expose "under-resourced youth" to learning opportunities and potential careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). 

Gretchen herself is a mechanical engineer with extensive experience at the Naval Nuclear Laboratory in Niskayuna and in the private sector. A Ballston Spa resident with three grown children, she has also volunteered for City Mission of Schenectady, Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child, and the Schenectady Rotary Club.

Rise High students are mostly from the city of Schenectady, but meet on Saturday mornings on the Mohonasen campus in Rotterdam. They do not pay anything for the program or transport. Rise High is mostly privately funded by businesses and foundations, along with a grant from Schenectady County rising to $10,000 this year. It is reliant on fund-raising and volunteers.

She also told us about the upcoming Cornhole for a Cause event of Schenectady Rotary, benefiting educational initiatives at the Keane Elementary School in the city. It will he held on Sunday July 12 at Rivers Casino & Resort.