Rotary governor praises Warwick club

WARWICK — Rotary District Governor James Damiani, who heads the 60-club, eight-county Rotary District 7210, gave a glowing report of Warwick Rotarians, praising them for membership growth, impressive community projects and service efforts of Rotary International “while having so much fun.”
Damiani also updated the local Rotarians on the battle against polio during his visit with the club on Sept. 27.
“There were 350,000 cases of the crippling disease in 1986 when Rotary began its quest to eliminate polio worldwide,” said Damiani. “Last year there were 35 known cases and this year only five cases have been reported.”
Warwick Rotarians have been active with the Polio-Plus project from the start. During the presidency of Leo Kaytes Sr., in 1986-87, the club raised more than $10,000 with fund raisers, including a rock and roll concert.
In what is hopefully a final effort to totally eliminate polio, Rotarians from 35,000 clubs internationally are seeking to raise $150-million in a matching grant challenge from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Proceeds from the Oct. 25 Warwick Citizen of the Year celebration honoring Stan Martin and Outstanding Community Service Honorees Tom Buchanan and Paul Orthmann will benefit Polio Plus. Tickets at $60 per persons are available by calling Kaytes at 629-6491 or online at Warwick Valley Rotary Foundation.
Damiani also spoke of Rotary International President Ian H.S. Riseley’s challenge to every Rotary club to plant a tree for each of its members before Earth Day on April 22, 2018. There are 1.2-million Rotarians in 200 countries.
“We are optimistic the additional trees will have a positive impact on environmental degradation and global climate change,” Damiani said.