The Ken

President Brandon called the meeting to order at 12:22 p.m. with a Pledge to the Flag. Tim Glor led us in prayer.

Announcements: Our guest speaker, Juliet Filosofos, took ill and was unable to join us. She will reschedule.

Cam provided an update on the last Kentoberfest meeting, which was held on the event grounds. Everything is looking good! They planned out placement of the port-a-potties and tents. There are 2 food trucks confirmed and Karen is looking into the donation of small pumpkins for the Kids Corner. Cam is still looking for a beer sponsor and music sponsor. They both come with perks so reach out to Cam or Holly for more information.

Cathy has volunteered to be the committee chair for the centennial, since it falls during her term as President. Linda is helping and they will discuss dates and times for the next meeting. The meetings can all be held at the Ken-Ton Chamber office.

Rotary Club of Kenmore’s Bisons Baseball Night will be on Friday August 18. Tickets are $13 each. Please RSVP with payment no later than August 7^th to sblass61@gmail.com. Tickets will be passed out at the August 14^th meeting.

Kenmore Rotary will be sponsoring a meat raffle in conjunction with Lisa Davidson to benefit the Environmental Project at Aqua Lane Park. This is a 21 & up event that will be held on Friday December 1 at the Knights of Columbus on Kenmore Avenue. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the first round is at 7 p.m. Included is draft beer, wine, and pop. No outside drinks allowed. Bring your own snacks and plenty of singles. Donation is $10 pre-sale and $12 at the door. Table for 10 is $90. There will also be a basket raffle-$10 per sheet or $25 for 3 sheets. To purchase tickets for the Meat Raffle, email Steve at sblass61@gmail.com. Fliers will be at all meetings. Any questions, please ask Pat.

Meeting duties for the month of August: Director-Brandon; Fine master-Karen; Table/Split-Karen; Ken writer-Steve; Invocation-Rick.

Chuck was welcomed up to give a State of the Foundation report. There are 3 board positions with terms expiring in 2023. After careful consideration, the board is recommending the following people for the 2023-2026 term: Robert C Patterson, Michael Hettler, Thomas Lang. A sheet was passed with those nominated and a spot for floor nominations. Since Foundation Board Members should be a member in good standing and a past president of our club, President Brandon nominated Donna DiFrancesco, to be added to the list. We did not have a quorum of club members at the meeting, so Brandon will send out a survey and the results will be presented at the next club meeting. Current board members are: Larry Coon through 2024; Paul Chisholm through 2024; Pat Griffin through 2025 and Ed Markarian through 2025. Officers for the July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024 year are as follows: President Robert C Patterson; Vice President Edward Markarian; Treasurer Edward Markarian; Secretary Michael Hettler.

The foundation currently has approximately $847,000 in assets and grants approximately $38,000 per year. The funds are managed by Courier Capital. Our new accountant is David Arcara with Arcara, Lenda, Eusanio & Stacy, due to the retirement of Ed Hacherl. Last December, money was granted to the following groups:

Tonawanda-Kenmore Historical Society $5,000 for interactive Kiosk

Rotary Club of the Tonawandas $5,000 for bicycle bells

Our Little Roses Foreign Mission Society in San Pedro, Honduras $4,500 for water storage tank

Hearts for the Homeless $2,589 for a meat slicer / $8,085 for a refrigerator/freezer

African Malaika $2,000 for water purification equipment

UB Chapter Food Recovery Network $2,000 for bread crates

WNY Scouts $8,000 for a new staff cabin

Kenmore Rotary Charities $1,500 for Operation Santa

Total given in December 2022: $38,674

Kenmore Mercy Hospital $5,000 (this is the 1^st of 5) for ICU renovations & modernizations (the board committed to making 5 payments of $5,000 over the next 4 years for a total of $25,000)

Total given in April: $5,000

Grand total to date: $43,674.00

Thank you, Chuck, for this information. Many members don’t know how impactful our foundation is.

Split of $13.50 was won by Donna and TJ picked the Queen of Clubs. The pot continues to grow.

Brandon was fine master and asked for confessions. Karen enjoyed a “mini family reunion” with relatives coming from several states and meeting in Rochester.

Cam took a test for NYS Life, Accident & Health and passed and then enjoyed the Polish Festival.

Linda will be enjoying Tuesdays every week while babysitting her new grandbaby!

Cathy is going to Nashville to see the Nashville Indy Car Street Race next week.

Brandon missed last Monday’s meeting due to the Boy Scout’s Golf Tournament. If Dick was here today, he should confess to being at that tournament also and forgetting to tell anyone he wouldn’t be at the meeting to be the fine master. Wait til next week, Dick! Brandon then tested us on travel trivia. The most visited tourist destination in the world is Times Square; the color of the black box on an airplane is orange; the smallest independent nation in the world is Vatican City; Liberty Island holds the Statue of Liberty; and the capital of New Zealand is Wellington. We all missed at least one per table and those without a nametag got fined $1.

Meeting was adjourned at 1:07 p.m.