Twin Bridges Rotary Club

Upcoming Events

March 14^th Pasta Dinner Fundraiser at CP Senior Center

April 3^rd Breakfast with the Easter Bunny fundraiser at CP Elks Club on McElroy Road

April 6^th 5:30 Board Meeting – Coldwell Banker Rt. 9 Clifton Park

April 30^th – Foundation Contributions due – have you given?

May 1^st District Conference and Assembly – Our club to subsidize 1^st 6 members paid – 50% of cost

May 4^th 5:30 Board Meeting – Coldwell Banker Rt. 9 Clifton Park

June 7^th – Changeover Dinner – Fairways of Halfmoon

January Meetings

January 7th - David Mysliwiec- tax planning & new tax rules

January 14th - Pine Ridge Industries Michael Schulman- Tonia

January 21st – Rotary Foundation, Dawn Shannon

January 28th - Nick’s Fight to be Healed – Janine C.

Holiday Meetings

Holiday Party - Thursday December 17th at our usual Lunch time / place

No Meetings:

• Thursday December 24
• Thursday December 31

Breakfast with Santa and Mrs. Claus

The Twin Bridges Rotary along with Salty’s Pub and Bistro will be having a BREAKFAST WITH SANTA AND MRS. CLAUS ~

Sunday December 20th ~ 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM at Salty’s Pub and Bistro at 215 Guideboard Rd. #1 in Clifton Park ~

Cost for Breakfast Buffet:

• Adults 13 and older $6.00
• Children 6 to 12 are $3.00
• Children under 5 are FREE

For questions, contact Dawn Shannon at 688-2223

Ronald McDonald House Dinner and More

Christina Homer – living with Polio

Christina Homer, who lives with Post Polio Syndrome, shared her powerful and inspirational story with the Twin Bridges Rotary and several other clubs from District 7190. 

This is the first time that Christina has shared her whole story publicly.  We thank her for her courage, her frankness and for being such an inspiration to so many.

Christina was stricken with polio at the age of 4 months. She was hospitalized in a polio ward until the age of 5 where she spent most of her time in an iron lung. During this time period,  parents were urged not to maintain contact with their children, so the most Christina ever saw of her parents was an occasional face in a window. She received no human contact nor affection from her care givers and she was not taught anything, not even how to speak. When she finally appeared to be cured of polio at the age of 5 she became a “polio poster child.” 

Christina suffered criticisms from her peers growing up.  She was always “different”.  She later attended high school and college and lived a few decades of a “normal life”.  She beat the odds!  She was told she’d most likely not survive to see 40 nor ever give birth.  She acheived both and now lives with her loving husband, remains active in the Polio Survivors community as well as the arts.

You can help Rotary International erradicate Polio from the planet.  We have 4 countries to go. 

• Gates Foundation:  $200 Million Dollar Challange
• Global Polio Eradication Initiative spearheading partners
• Help Eradicate Polio by Giving now

Below is a small clip from today’s presentation (turn up your volume).

November 12th – Christina Homer – living with Polio

SPECIAL TWIN BRIDGES ROTARY MEETING:   November 12th – Christina Homer – living with Polio

Where:  The Century House, Route 9, Latham

When:   Noon, November 12th

Serving:  choice of: Sliced grilled pork loin with potato & vegetable  or Grilled chicken over tossed greens

Cost:   $12

RSVP is needed by Tuesday, Nov. 10th

Christina Homer:  A post-polio syndrome victim who has recently become aware of the great work Rotary is doing to eradicate polio and wants to inform and inspire Rotarians to keep up the great work.  No one can possibly understand a polio victim’s life better than a survivor.  She is a retired teacher who enjoyed a good life despite the horrible childhood, who married a teacher and who now has become a prisoner in her own body.

Christina was stricken with polio at the age of 4 months.  She was hospitalized in a polio ward until the age of 5 where she spent most of her time in an iron lung.  At this period of time parents were urged not to maintain contact with their children and so the most Christina ever saw of her parents was an occasional face in a window.  She received no human contact nor affection from her care givers and she was not taught anything, not even how to speak.  When she finally appeared to be cured of polio at the age of 5 she became a “polio poster child.”

Christina was released from hospital into the care of an Armenian foster family and was sent to an Armenian church school.  She did not learn to speak English until she went to high school where she had to work doubly hard to learn English and catch up to other children of her age.  Despite these handicaps she graduated at the top of her class and went on to a top college and became a teacher.  It was not until later in her life that Christina realized that polio had come back to haunt her again in the form of “post polio syndrome.”

Until that time Christina was physically active  and tried to live life to the utmost not realizing that she was taxing her body to the point where it began to fail again.  Today she must lead a very circumscribed life for fear that she will wear out the last remaining nerves connecting to her muscles and leaving her with an almost useless body.

Upcoming Events

• September 3rd – 11am sharp – Board Meeting at Salty’s prior to regular club meeting
• September 3rd – Induction of New Member;  speaker: Crystal Everdyke – Haynes House of Hope
• September 10th – Alzheimer’s Assoc. Marc Kaplan – Tonia Kelley
• September 13th – Gift of Life Sunday Brunch ($45) 11am-2pm
• September 17th – Tony Dileva Profile & Karaoke Pep Rally
• September 18th – Last call for Sponsorships & $30 Karaoke ticket price expires
• September 24th – open
• October 1st – final prep for Karaoke
• October 2nd – Karaoke Night!!
• October 6th -  Board Meeting
• October 8th – Club Assembly
• October 15th – Cindy Fun Program
• October 22nd – Open
• October 24th – Rotary Leadership Institute – Siena College
• October 27th – Ronald McDonald Dinner Night – Paul team leader
• October 28th – New Member Orientation 6pm-8pm Clifton Park

Karaoke 2009

5th Annual Karaoke Contest October 2nd

The Twin Bridges Rotary Club 5th Annual Karaoke Contest at Phelan’s Banquet House, Route 9, Clifton Park, on Friday, October 2nd, at 7pm.

Click here to download our Karaoke Flyer

This event is the Club’s major fundraiser of the year with proceeds supporting Rotary’s involvement in local community efforts and international service.

We proudly sponsor the “Spirit of Thanksgiving” dinner at Salty’s Pub & Bistro, so no one eats Thanksgiving dinner alone. We also support local charities such as:

• Hannah’s Hope Fund
• Chamber Angels
• Mechanicville Domestic Violence Shelter
• Jonesville & Mechanicville Food Pantries
• Ronald McDonald House
• Regional Food Bank
• Ms. Shen Softball
• Shenendehowa Senior Center
• Interact Involvement for our future Rotarians
• Big Brothers/Big Sisters
•  …and international outreach and development
  programs like:
• Shelter Box
• Birthing Kits
• Gift of Life

We hope you will join us for great food, cold refreshments, fabulous entertainment,  and …even as a contestant!