ROTOSCOPE

Rotary Club of Williamsville

Meeting of 10/27/14, 2014-2015

6:15PM Meeting Call to Order / RING BELL

• Pledge of Allegiance by:                  Frank_Ralabate
• Rotary  4-Way Test by:                   Mike Prinzbach
• Invocation by:                                  Joe Fiorella
• Fine Master:                                     Bruce Lucsok
• 50/50 (Ace of Heart) Ticket Sales:             Adam Guglielmi

6:20 PM Introduction of Visiting Rotarians and Guests: None at the start of the meeting. Jim Smith (arrived towards the end of the speaker session. Had read about the speaker and wanted to check it out)

6:25  PM Minor announcements;  introduction of Guest Speaker Frank Kowsky  by sponsor.

6:30  PM – 7:10 pm - Guest Speaker ; then closing remarks and token gift presentation;  photograph

• Roger introduced the speaker. Francis Kowsky is SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus. For many years, he taught the history of art and architecture at Buffalo State College. He has written books and articles on 19^th century American architects. The New York Times called his book Country Park and City: The Life and Architecture of Calvert Vaux “a handsome effort to rescue from comparative oblivion the architect who shared – sometimes more than equally – with Frederick Law Olmsted in the design of Central Park and other New York amenities. His book The Best Planned City in the World: Olmsted, Vaux and the Buffalo Park System (University of Massachusetts Press and the Library of American Landscape History, 2013) examines the celebrated urban park plan that the designers of Central Park created for Buffalo in 1868-1870 and the 30 years association that Frederick Law Olmsted and his firm had with the Great Lakes city. Frank Kowsky has been a member of the New York State Board for Historic Preservation and has prepared many nominations for listing buildings in the National Register of Historic places.  His book illustrates the development, details and synergy by which the Olmsted park system of the City of Buffalo was designed.  The author was interested in parks and Olmsted and when he came to Buffalo, it was an opportunity to pursue this interest by writing the book.
• The Buffalo Park system is in the national register. Calvert Vaux discovered Frederick Law Olmsted.
• Olmstead tried to find himself and had various vocation until Calvert Vaux told him that he had a talent for designing landscapes and he partnered with Olmstead to win the competition for the design of New York’s Central Park. The philosophy behind it was that people in cities needed a place which gave them a country type landscape and experience to come together and relax in.
• Olmstead and Vaux also designed Prospect Park as their second endeavor.
• William Dorsheimer in the summer of 1868 invited Olmstead to Buffalo. Vaux was in Europe at that time. Olmstead recommended 3 parks for 3 different perspective:
  • Delaware Park was created similar to Central Park,
  • The parade, also called the Humboldt Park, and currently Martin Luther King Jr. Park; was created for socializing and sports.
  • The third park was for access to the waterfront which is why it was called the Front Park. All 3 parks were connected by parkways and the drive around the parkway to all 3 parks totaled 6 miles.
• The Delaware Park was at its peak during 1901.
• The Parade was a symbol for providing a place where anybody irrespective of their social status could came and join in the social activities of the community. As such there was a big dance hall created in this park. This only lasted for 30 years but due to a fire and a little bit of beer drinking on Sundays it was not considered totally kosher to continue. Humboldt parkway was at one time a globally renowned street but it has decayed now. There are plans to redo it on top of the expressway and turn the expressway into a tunneled road.
• Front Park has pretty much depleted due to a variety of reasons including all the roads and heavy traffic around it. The noise pollution as a consequence of the resulting traffic is also quite high in that area.
• The parks had different paths for horse riders, vs cars vs pedestrian. The American Elm was chosen as the tree of choices and they have been replanted several times.
• When the book was being published they took some current photos and Gates Circle which still looked similar to how it was planned originally.It was an interesting challenge to get the shot from the roof of one of Kalieda Health’s property.
• After Olmstead’s death in 1904 Frank Lloyd Wright built the Darwin Martin House in Parkside.
• The title of the book came from a quote from Olmstead.
• The cemetery forest lawn was already present in 1868 when Olmstead came to Buffalo.
• The golf course came into play around 1916.
• The presentation was full of pictures of before and after views of the three parks through the various stages of the parks lives in the past century.

6:50 – 7:10  PM Dinner :  Continued through the talk.

7:10  Club Business

• Upcoming Events (as needed)
  • Kathy gave an update of the Buffalo Bash
  • Ed Stachura spoke about where we are with the presidential citation
    • Need 90 points
    • 3 categories
      • Membership = 30 points
      • Service = 30 points
      • Family of Rotary = 30 and we have 5 in this category.
      • There are ways for us to make some extra points by participating in a Rotary Day or Host a Rotary Day.  We should review the spreadsheet provided and be ready to discuss next week of what we would like to do. Must be submitted by March 31 and we have 5 months to accomplish the goals. Can the car show be a rotary day? It is a possibility because it has two clubs sponsoring it and the Rotary banner is displayed as well as a Rotary table is setup. Ed will review this as a submission.
    • Vern’s 34^th anniversary of joining rotary is today.
    • Lee Broad has stepped down as president elect due to some personal reason. Gary Skalyo has been appointed by the board as president elect and he has accepted.
    • Coming up November 21^st is the rotary foundation dinner. It is a Friday night and event. People who are active in the district get awards by the Rotary during this event..
    • Our colleague Richard had successful surgery and we should keep him in our thoughts and prayers. Send a card or visit as you are comfortable.
• Committee Reports (as needed)
• Fines
  • Fines for not paying attention to the Introduction of the Speaker (Joe, Mike)
  • Survival of pie weekend (Mike)
  • Marlene came in second in her age Division while running a Marathon.
  • Late fine (Norm, Bob)
  • Lack of pin fine
  • Several family related happy fines.
  • Clean bill of health fine (Vern)

7:32  PM - Ace of Hearts (50/50) Raffle

Starting 50/50 Amount:                $___609_____________

Today’s 50/50 Collection:              $____68_____________

Total in 50/50 Pot:                            $___677_____________

Adam Guglielmi pulled the Ace of Heart and won $338. He donated $38 back to the club and will be issued a check for $300.

Next Week’s speaker:  David Colligan Will provide an update on the waterfront development

7:35 PM - “Any other business for the good of Rotary?”  / Thank You for attending.  You could have been anywhere else, but you chose to be here, honoring your Rotary commitment.  / Close Meeting  

RING BELL:  Bell was promptly rung at 7:35 J