Andrew O’Grady, CEO of Mental Health American Dutchess County (MHA) and Executive Director of the Med-Hudson Recovery Centers, Inc. (MARC) returns to the RadioRotary microphones to tell more about those two organizations and also to help promote fundraising for MARC and for addiction/alcoholism prevention and recovery through the MARC Foundation. With about 200 employees, MHA and MARC make a significant impact on problems that affect about 1 in 7 of residents of the Mid-Hudson Region. The organizations, primarily funded by New York State, are unique in not requiring insurance for their services, which include many community mental-health caseworkers, family therapy, and a veterans program (MHA) as well has a crisis center for short-term addiction/alcoholism recovery, three half-way houses for longer-term residence, and more than 30 sober apartments throughout Poughkeepsie. The MARC Foundation, which raises money with an annual luncheon, a golf tournament, and appeals to donors, primarily provides supplemental funding for MARC, but also assists prevention and recovery efforts throughout the region. 

Learn more:

Mental Health America Dutchess County: https://mhadutchess.org/

Facebook Page for Mental Health America: https://www.facebook.com/MHADutchess/

MARC Foundation: https://marc-foundation.org/

CATEGORIES

Addiction Recovery

Health

Housing Assistance

Support Groups

On Election Day 2018 fire ravaged the Pleasant Valley Free Library building. Pleasant Valley Rotarian, Dave Kruger, president of the library board, received the first notice at 6:45 a.m. but the 150-year-old wooden structure was already in flames throughout the interior. Although sentimental artifacts were recovered by brave firefighters, most of the 52,000 books were damaged beyond what repairs would cost. In this program, Pleasant Valley Library Director Daniela Pulice and Mr. Kruger tell RadioRotary the story of how, within a few months, the Town’s residents and the Library Friends working with a dedicated staff brought the library back into operation in donated quarters. Meanwhile architects have been working on ways to rebuild the historic library building within the standing exterior walls. The recovery  is a remarkable achievement, and this is  a radio program well worth everyone’s attention. 

Learn more:

Pleasant Valley Free Library: http://pleasantvalleylibrary.org/

Pleasant Valley Library on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pleasantvalleylibrary/

Friends of the Pleasant Valley Library on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FriendsofthePVLibrary/

Mid-Hudson Library System: https://midhudson.org/

Pleasant Valley Rotary Club: https://portal.clubrunner.ca/50045/clubinfo/pleasant-valley

CATEGORIES

Arts & Letters

Community Planning

Disaster Relief

Literacy

Wappingers Falls Rotarians Sue Bennett and Steve Crew visit RadioRotary to tell about two great fundraisers and how their club uses the funds to support community and international projects. One of the fundraisers, suggested to Rotary by Dutchess County Tourism, is “A Cup of the Valley,” a coffee-and-tea festival recognizing such local suppliers as Greenwood Lake Roasters Craft Coffee and Harney & Sons for teas. This event is so big that it has two Rotary sponsors, with the Poughkeepsie South Rotary joining Wappingers for the occasion. This is a fairly new, but popular event, staged at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America). The long-term fundraiser for the Wappingers Club is its annual golf tournament at The Powelton Club in Newburgh. The Roy C. Ketcham High School Interact Club, which Wappingers Falls Rotary sponsors, is also a big part of both projects. With the money raised, the Club offers scholarships, five annual Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA), help with local food panties and Meals on Wheels, other local projects, and such international programs as ShelterBox and polio eradication. 

Learn more:

Wappingers Falls Rotary: https://portal.clubrunner.ca/2259

Wappingers Falls Rotary on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/Wappingers-Falls-Rotary-861729083896352/

Poughkeepsie South Rotary: https://portal.clubrunner.ca/50045/clubinfo/poughkeepsie-south

Dutchess County Tourism: https://dutchesstourism.com/

CATEGORIES

Events

Nutrition

Rotary Club Projects

RadioRotary welcomes Red Hook Rotarian Susan Simon and her partner Beth Jones, both of Third Eye Associates, to discuss the important topic of financial planning. High on the list is dealing with the new (2018) tax law. Many families were surprised to learn that they had failed to have sufficient funds deducted for taxes, causing them to face large payments needed in the spring of 2019. Dealing with taxes properly is only one of the issues people face in financial planning. Two others of considerable significance are saving for emergencies and saving for retirement—both involve saving, but are best approached differently. The earlier saving starts the better, and parents should help children learn to save for specific goals. All this and more is discussed with the RadioRotary cohosts in this useful program. 

Learn more:

Third Eye Associates: https://www.thirdeyeassociates.com/

Red Hook Rotary Club: https://www.redhookrotaryclub.org/

Financial Planning: https://www.investor.gov/additional-resources/free-financial-planning-tools

Filing Federal Taxes: https://www.usa.gov/file-taxes

CATEGORIES

Business Assistance

Financial Planning

John Flowers was one of the most important community organizers in recent years in Poughkeepsie. In this interview, his son Frankie Flowers tells some of the history of his father’s charities and describes how he and his sister Yvonne, a Council representative in the city, are continuing his legacy. It started 25 years ago when John Flowers observed a lonely and unhappy woman in Vassar Hospital. He decided to cheer her up—and also the other patients—with stuffed animals. Somehow this original charitable impulse, which has been repeated every Christmas since, inspired other holiday celebrations—an Easter egg hunt, roses for Mother’s Day, a march on Father’s Day, a picnic for Labor Day, and (with the help of Eileen and Dan Hickey) dinners at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  All of this, as well as “Christmas in February for Veterans, is accomplished by dedicated volunteers, known as John’s “Band of Elves.” 

Learn more:

John Flowers Community Events on Facebook: mailto:https://www.facebook.com/johnflowerscommunity/

John Flowers Obituary: mailto:https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/poughkeepsiejournal/obituary.aspx%3Fn=john-flowers%26pid=175641649%26fhid=27389

Liberty Medal for Flowers: https://trackbill.com/bill/new-york-senate-legislative-resolution-3988-honoring-john-m-flowers-posthumously-as-recipient-of-a-liberty-medal-the-highest-honor-bestowed-upon-an-individual-by-the-new-york-state-senate/1272903/

CATEGORIES

Children

Humanitarian Service

Volunteers

Matthew Swerdloff and his wife Elisa Gold return to RadioRotary to tell about the many activities and events that the Maya Gold Foundation has been sponsoring in the past couple of years and into the future. They created the Maya Gold Foundation in honor of their daughter Maya who committed suicide at the age of 15, but the Foundation is not primarily involved with suicide prevention. Instead, they work with youth to help them access their inner wisdom and realize their dreams—suicide prevention is a side-effect. Because Maya had become involved in efforts to stop human trafficking in Nepal, the Foundation has developed a close relation with groups in Nepal, including the Kathmandu Rotary Clubs. Both youth and adult trips to Nepal work with Nepalese nonprofit organizations that support youth. Back in the Hudson Valley, the foundation sponsors empowering events of all kinds, including film screenings, live theater, improvisations, and panel discussions in various locations. The Foundation also offers grants and scholarships.

Learn more:

Maya Gold Foundation: http://www.mayagoldfoundation.org/

Kathmandu Rotary Clubs: http://www.rckne.org/ & https://rotarymidtown.org.np/ & http://therotarynepal.org/78-therotarynepal/88-welcome-to-rotary-club-of-kathmandu-north

Maya Gold Foundation on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaSCIiksR99BV8WceGRNbvg

CATEGORIES

Education

Events

International Programs

Support Groups

Youth

Photohistorian and local history activist David Rocco visits RadioRotary to tell about the project to mount a plaque in Veterans Park, Beacon, NY, to commemorate two airplane crashes on Mount Beacon. Mount Beacon, named for its role in the use of a fire atop the mountain during the American revolution that would notify Washington’s army of British advances toward West Point, is the highest peak of the Hudson Highlands. In 1935 two Navy reservists lost their lives when their biplane crashed high on the mountain; then, ten years later, a twin-engine Navy plane carrying 6 Navy aviators, including legendary Captain Dixie Kiefer, also crashed on the mountain, killing all aboard. Mr. Rocco has been spearheading a group that is mounting a commemorative plaque. Mr. Rocco has been involved in a number of local projects, including developing the Walkway on the Hudson, a local dog park, and restoring the Mount Beacon fire tower. Recently Mr. Rocco has taken 10,000 photographs documenting the replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge with the new Mario Cuomo Bridge, including six showing the dramatic explosions used to bring down the last span of the Tappan Zee structure.

Learn more:

Mount Beacon Eight Remembered: https://medium.com/thegroundhog/mount-

beacon-eight-remembered-5ae37428ed35

Beacon Historical Society: http://beaconhistorical.org/

David Rocco Tappan Zee Bridge Exhibit:

https://www.theexaminernews.com/dramatic-tz-bridge-construction-photos-on-

display-at-white-plains-library/

David Rocco on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavidAllanRocco

The Indestructible Man: https://smile.amazon.com/Indestructible-Man-Story-

World-

Captain/dp/1548322598/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Indestrctible+Man&qid=155

2405409&s=books&sr=1-1-spell

CATEGORIES

History

Hudson Valley

Abby Nathanson revisits RadioRotary to talk about the new Grace Year program that allows recent college graduates to spend a year of intentional living, focusing on spirituality, religion, and justice. Ms. Nathanson previously was interviewed on RadioRotary about another program that she has instituted, EPIC (Engaging People in Change), which provides leadership training for high-school students in northeastern Dutchess Country. Both programs are run from a base in Grace Episcopal Church in Millbrook, NY, although they are nondenominational, not especially Episcopalian. Grace Year is a year-long opportunity to live in a small community of young adults as they prepare for lifelong journeys of sustained leadership for the common good. Each of the five fellows, who are fully funded by local nonprofits and donations, spends 32 hours each week working with local organizations and also develops an independent project. During the year, the fellows live together along with Ms. Nathanson in the Grace Church vicarage. Applicants for the 2018-2020 year can apply at [email protected] or by phoning Ms. Nathanson at 845-420-4280.

Learn more: 

Grace Year: https://www.graceyear.org/

Grace Year Program (Instagram): https://www.instagram.com/graceyearprogram/

EPIC Justice (Instagram): https://www.instagram.com/epicjustice/

Grace Episcopal Church in Millbrook: https://www.gracemillbrook.org/

CATEGORIES

Humanitarian Service

New Generations

Quality of Life

Youth

RadioRotary’s co-host Jonah Triebwasser interviews three members of the staff of Literacy Connections of the Hudson Valley: Debra Paskowski, Katherine Stikkers, and Marian Thompson. A surprising number of adults are unable to read English, either because they did not learn to read as a child or perhaps they grew up speaking a language other then English. Literacy Connections helps resolve reading problems in various ways. The Book Buddy program, which brings adult readers into elementary schools where they read along with children or have children read to them, gets children on the path to reading success.  For most children, the transition from first-grade struggling to third-grade proficiency is the key to lifelong reading success. Other volunteers and staff members work with adult nonreaders or with those for whom English is not their first language. For the past 18 years, the largest fundraiser for Literacy Connections has been the annual Spelling Bee for high-school students and adult teams. Various organizations, such a Rotary, pay to sponsor a team. The Spelling Bee is one of the major annual events in the mid-Hudson valley, fun for both participants and the audience. 

Learn more: 

Literary Connections of the Hudson Valley: http://www.literacyconnections.org/

Book Buddies: https://www.childtrends.org/programs/book-buddieshttps://www.childtrends.org/programs/book-buddies

Dyslexia (inability to learn to read: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dyslexia/symptoms-causes/syc-20353552

Teaching English as a Second Language: https://teach.com/become/what-can-i-teach/tesol/

CATEGORIES

Children

Education

Events

Literacy

By New York State law, every county, city, town, and village in the state must have a historian. Will Tatum, Country Historian for Dutchess County, visits RadioRotary to describe the many ways that he and his fellow historians promote the story of our own past. Dutchess County, settled in Colonial Days, was most famously the site of battles and developments in the Revolutionary period, but also hosted many of the major players in the 19th and 20th centuries. Some of this history took place in the taverns and inns that have graced the county over its long history; a program called “The Dutchess County Historical Tavern Trail” takes advantage of these, some still operating as taverns or distilleries, to provide an enjoyable way to learn more about county (and national) history. The program also describes the “ancient documents,” which are—despite the name—the historical records of the county, not available online. 

Learn more: 

Dutchess County Historian: https://www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/History/HSindex.htm

Ancient Documents (of Dutchess County): https://www.dutchessny.gov/DutchessCountyPublicAccess/HistoricalDocuments/HistoricalDocuments.aspx

Dutchess Country Historical Society: https://dchsny.org/

Country, City, Town, and Village Historians: https://www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/History/22592.htm

Dutchess Country Historic Tavern Trail: https://www.meetup.com/DutchessTavernTrail/

CATEGORIES

Dutchess County

Education

History