After several months of recruitment, Walden Rotary has succeeded in establishing a Satellite Club in the Ellenville and Rondout Valley areas of Ulster County. Eight individuals from that area who are a mixture of business owners, self-employed and retired persons, have come together to plant a new club of their own.
The group meets at the Ellenville Public Library, located at 40 Center Street in Ellenville, on the second and fourth Mondays each month from 4-5:30 p.m.
Under the mentorship of Keith Hunter and DGE Peter Sullivan of the Walden Club, and PDG Tony Marmo of the Highland Club, the eight individuals have done the following:
- Received Rotary 101 training.
- Elected Officers: Chair – Helen Kaminski; Vice-Chair – Jonathan Falcon; and Secretary – Bob Mansfield.
- Applied to Rotary International for recognition of the Satellite Club, and added eight names to the Walden Club roster as Satellite members.
- Met five times with occasional speakers, including PDG Bill Bassett and Family of Ellenville Program Director Tiffany Santiago and Assistant Program Director Domnic Pidone.
- Sponsored a RYLA student: Amelia Dunphy of Rondout Valley High School.
- Joined the Ellenville Chamber of Commerce.
- Purchased a booth for the upcoming Ellenville Blueberry Festival on August 13.
- Started providing regular food pickups from the Regional Food Bank drop site in Monticello to the Family of Ellenville food pantry location.
So, quite a good start for this club, and a very promising future is at-hand. The Satellite club’s goal is to continue to grow to 20 members in the next 1-2 years, after which point they will apply for their own club charter from Rotary International.
The first informational meeting of the Ellenville-Rondout Valley Satellite Club had a nice turnout.