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Pay Dues, Fines or Happy Bucks!
Bulletin Editor
Sue Jones
(If you have any comments or questions, please contact the editor)
Speakers
Oct 07, 2024
Jonathan Blair and Dale Yerpe
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Oct 14, 2024
No Noon Meeting
Columbus Day /Indigenous Peoples Day Observed
Oct 21, 2024
TBD
TBD
Oct 28, 2024 12:30 PM
Jessica Kubiak, VP of Academic Affairs
Updates on Jamestown Community College
Nov 04, 2024
TBD
TBD
Nov 11, 2024
No Noon Meeting
Veteran's Day Holiday
Nov 18, 2024
Rotary exhibit at JCC "Go Global" Fair
Rotary exhibit at JCC "Go Global" Fair
Nov 25, 2024
Nellie Brown, MS,CIH
Cornell University
View entire list
 
 
Make Up Opportunities 
 
AM CLUB — Meets at 7:30 am on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month on Zoom or in person at Northwest Arena
 
FALCONER — Meets on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month at 7 AM at the Falconer Fire Department Exempt Hall located at 1 Coleson Drive Falconer NY, 14733.
 
WESTFIELD / MAYVILLE — Currently meeting on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at 5pm via ZOOM. Contact Janese Berkhouse at 716-397-8801 for Zoom details.
 
FREDONIA/DUNKIRK —
Meet Thursdays at 12:00 PM - Zoom Teleconference Meetings - Effective until further notice - Fredonia, NY 14063
 
 
 
Committee meetings or social events can also be used as make-ups.
 
 
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Rotarily Yours - September 30, 2024
 

This has been a MOST busy week for the Rotary Club of Jamestown. On Friday, September 20 our Rotarian representatives took part in one of the most critical initiatives Rotarians can share with the young people in our community. The Club reached out to the Principal of Love Elementary because they have the unique benefit of welcoming students from many parts of the world over the past few years. It was hoped they could relate and put into practice many of the concepts raised in the book “Peace” by Wendy Halperin, which encourages peace within the world, our country, our state, local communities and in our homes.

To acknowledge International Day of Peace, September 21, 2024, nine Rotarians visited S. G. Love Elementary School to read to every child in the school. Our Club hopes to re-dedicate the existing Peace Pole on the school grounds to advance Rotary’s goal to inspire unity among people of all cultures, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

On Saturday, September 24, 2024, Sue and Greg Jones had the honor of visiting the two Peace Poles erected just outside Hendrix’s Chapel in the Quadrangle at Syracuse University.

Monday Evening the Rotary Club of Jamestown welcomed 26 members of the Jamestown Young Professionals and fellow Rotarians from the Greater Jamestown AM Rotary Club for a delightful social event to “Fall into Service” and learn more about the joys of community service at the Southern Tier Brewing Company.

The 50/50 was won by Steve Sandberg and everyone enjoyed good food, great beer and classic rock with the band “Two Towns.” Each JYP received a “goodie” bag that included a certificate for a free lunch with the Rotary Club of Jamestown with the hope it will be the beginning of their interest in Service Above Self.

On September 27, many Rotarians from our Club and the AM Club met at the Reg Lenna to test out their new seats! We were welcomed by Hillary Meyer Executive Director of the Reg and struck several different poses.

The Rotary meeting of September 30 began with the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and the singing of the National Anthem followed by an invocation by Tory Irgang.

President-Elect Michelle Jones introduced visiting Rotarians Wally (from Utah – soon to be new transfer member) and Sara Gilbert, President of the Greater Jamestown AM Rotary and Alyssa Chamberlain of Journey’s End Hotel.

Michelle also announced she will be having a fundraising meeting in the next two weeks to kick around ideas/suggestions for a small Spring fundraiser. Put your thinking caps on and be prepared to come up with some great ideas!

Sara Gilbert then invited everyone to buy a ticket ($50/person) for the Rotary Football Party to be held at Ellicottville Brewing Company in Bemus Point beginning at noon on Sunday, October 6 and then continuing through the Buffalo Bills football party with lots of raffles and prizes, silent auction items and other ways to spend your money to benefit this Club whose ONLY fundraiser is this one!!!! TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR!

Thanks To Sue Jones for writing Rotarily Yours and to Caitlin O’Reilly for serving as official greeter.

New transfer member Wally has stepped up to give the invocations for the month of November and Pauline is still looking for volunteers for October and December. It’s easy – JUST CALL HER AND VOLUNTEER!

Our Club will be participating in the Jamestown Holiday Parade this year. Set up of our float will be Dec. 6 and the parade is Dec. 7 with the theme of LITERACY.

Cheri Krull announced the Youth Services committee will be making plans to interview prospective Exchange students over the next two months. Please get involved.

We have been notified that a young Aussie male from Tasmania will be arriving to spend a year with us just after January 1, 2025.

The committee will also begin making plans for the Jamestown exchange weekend (students from the entire district spend the last weekend of April here, learning the ins and outs of being an exchange student AND learning about our community. VOLUNTEER to help in some way!!!!

October 6 is HIGHWAY CLEANUP. Meet Sunday morning at 8:30 at the Route 60 Park ‘n Ride.

Joni Blackman, Foundation Chrmn. reported that about one dozen walkers met in Buffalo to participate in the walk for Polio and she took our $170 in donations.

She and Marion have devised another fundraising challenge. Starting Oct. 24 through January 21, 2025, each who wants to participate can pledge to donate $1 to polio plus and the Rotary Club of Jamestown for every day that you walk 10 minutes or more. At the end of those 90 days, you will donate a 50/50 split of the total amount you raise – the percentages you choose to donate are ultimately yours to make. Talk to Marion or Joni for the forms and for more information.

Sue Jones pleaded with members to READ the ROTARY magazine for this month and learn more about polio eradication.

Emily Cama announced the 50/50 split was $53 and it was won by new corporate member Jody Osgood.

Jason Sample filled in for Sergeant at Arms Doug Conroe and fined Joni for the Apple Festival; Amy Rohler for the United Ways; CRCF’s Tory for funding for First Lutheran; the BPU for flushing the mains; someone for the Golisano $1.5 million gift to the Humane Society; and CHQ for the first ever Made in Falconer event. He raked in money for winning college and professional football winners too.

Happy bucks were paid by Diana Meckley for her 46th wedding anniversary spent cruising in the Maritimes and now off to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival for two weeks; Kristin Melville paid for hiring Emily Cama as her new assistant at the WCA Foundation starting 10/21; Joni paid for the 7,000 attendees at the Apple Festival and for the upcoming Halloween tours of the Lakeview Cemetery; Amy paid as a thank you for everyone’s generosity to the United Ways; Jim Smith paid for looking so young at his 60th High School reunion; Russ paid because he was happy to be here and promises to be here again; and Mark & Dewey paid for leaving early.
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Andrew Nixon - Chautauqua County Visitor’s Bureau

Tory Irgang stepped in for Vince Horrigan and Randy Sweeney to introduce our speaker Andrew Nixon the President and CEO of Chautauqua County Visitor’s Bureau where he has been employed since January 1991. Prior to that, Andrew was the Managing Director and Marketing Coordinator for the organization. Before working at the Visitor’s Bureau, Andrew worked for Chautauqua Institution for three years as Assistant Marketing Director.

Andrew and his wife Elizabeth (Liz) are graduates of the State University of New York at Fredonia. Both are transplants to the western New York area having originally come to Fredonia from Memphis, TN (Andrew) and the Hudson Valley area of New York (Liz. They now live in Jamestown, NY where they have raised four children.

Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau is a 501 c 6 non-profit association dedicated to promoting Chautauqua County as a visitor destination. CCVB conducts a few programs intended to reach interested vacationers and visitors and to assist them in the process of learning about and visiting the Chautauqua County area.

Nixon began his discussion by indicating that today’s visitation figures are much stronger than before the Pandemic. In 2023, there was $314 million dollars in direct visitor spending in Chautauqua County which is an 11% increase since before the Pandemic. Because of Covid, people couldn’t travel, and many were living in fear. In 2020, there was a 45% loss of local tourism revenue - $125 million was GONE. New York State lost 65% of its travel revenue and New York City lost 80-85% of its visitor revenue – it was CATASTROPHIC!

Chautauqua County tourist revenue is seasonal and therefore it is easier to rebound and therefore not so far to climb back. Outdoor recreation has shifted our income and especially our beautiful lakes.

There was NO programming in the summer of 2020 at Chautauqua Institution. People spent more on lodging because the perception was that rural areas were safer. Travel was not easy, however our county had better pickings.

In 2021, Chautauqua Institution offered a hybrid season, while others struggled. Festivals and outdoor dining increased and helped somewhat, but there were still NO group activities – especially weddings.

In 2022, Chautauqua Institution resumed its programming and considerable outdoor entertainment which was abundant and pervasive. Group travel planning (which takes about a year to come to fruition) began increasing again.

2024 is now on a par with activities in 2023. We will know exactly where we stand by the end of the third quarter in October.

The 150th anniversary of the founding of Chautauqua Institution was a tremendous help and interest in the increase. Nixon indicated the CCVB hosted 6 to 7 groups of travel writers and the Harbor Hotel, and the Athenaeum Hotel reported an increase of 3,000-night stays. Much of their success was also prompted by increased outdoor entertainment in places such as Bemus Point and Truffle Honey Restaurants.

On a less positive note, chain hotel lodging was down and fell flat. The region faced the same challenge as other areas – staffing struggles. As discretionary income has increased, competition from other tourism areas has also increased for those dollars. Our county faces continual need for increases in advertising dollars.

Chautauqua County has negative perceptions to overcome tied to our Lakes such as weeds and algae growth and bacterial closure of beaches affects us as well.  Another negative perception is the increased attention to the homeless situation.

The County still has the opportunity for increased tourism growth by expanding our marketing budget. Currently private organizations and businesses spend approximately $225,000 annually. Part of the county’s occupancy tax goes towards advertising, but we could always spend more.

We also need to expand the visitor experience by improving walking and biking trails, and snow mobile trails in the winter and improving access to those trails. Unfortunately, the lack of cold and snow in recent years has not helped the skiing and snowboarding activities. Product enhancement and improvement is essential such as adding new festivals and attractive destination events.

This area needs to maximize the summer period, expanding the shoulder seasons of spring and fall; expanding group travel, which could provide a huge infusion of dollars to our economy.

One major question from the audience was – how the lack of air service affects our tourism and Mr. Nixon replied that it certainly has an effect. When you compare the difficulty of getting to Chautauqua County with travel to other areas near us, it is obviously much more complicated and time consuming than travel to other tourist destinations.
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