Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Mark Twain

Today’s meeting was nicely presided over by Axel

VISITORS AND GUESTS:

Dr. Matthew Roma who has taken over Phil Collela’s practice.

Brooke Albright, Interact

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Tim Lounsbury and Laura

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND FUTURE PROGRAMS

• Kampai gift certificates are still available. See John Spencer $40 for one $50 certificate and $70 for 2.
• 90^th Anniversary Dinner will be on February 10 starting at 6:00 PM
• January 31: Bill Russell on the progress related to OES
• February 7: Scott McDonald on BSA
• February 14: New member bios
• February 21 Doug Larrison on Columbia projects

We all hope that Charlie Truman makes a speedy recovery after his knee surgery.

I must report that I stopped over to see Paul and Jody the other day and Jody was working and Paul was watching the game. I did not capture it in a photo this time.

HIGHLIGHTS: BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING of January 19, 2012

Currently 62 members; termination due to relocation: James and Jane Znamirowski. 

Food Bank/Backpack Program: donate $1,200 this year; examine making the program more sustainable.  Date for repacking Backpack foods at CHOW Warehouse in Binghamton will be announced soon.

District Simplified Grant: shelving for Coburn Library: shelves in place and final report being written. 

District Flood Grant – ice rink: liner in place; electrical and building repairs to be completed.

Matching Funding for Rotary Foundation donations: match up to $100 per club member for contributions to the Rotary Foundation toward the first Paul Harris Fellowship, up to a total of $1,000 spent.

RYLA tuition:  sponsor three students at 2012 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards conference at $350 each.

Vietnam Veterans Traveling Wall That Heals July 18-22, 2012: donate $250 to the event. 

Next meeting Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 7:30 a.m. at Owego Treadway Inn. 

Shreya and Axel both were accepted into the all-county choir. Shreya went to Trumansburg to spend time with Chelsea Starkweather and her family and also saw a Cornell/Harvard ice hockey game.

Brooke announced that Interact is discussing how they can help other clubs in the school and the creation of a community garden. They are also working on a project to assist the transition of 8^th grade students to the high school.

FINES: Orv led us in a “Team Building” exercise. It was impressive that the members knew as much as they did from The Rotarian about Rotary.

HAPPY DOLLARS:

• Carol Pierson is happy for her new car.
• Laura is happy for another birthday and her birthday check is on the way. She is also looking for props for a Chamber of Commerce event which will be held at the Treadway.
• Carole is pleased that 3 young people protected an injured bobcat.
• Annette is pleased that there is club support towards Paul Harris Fellowship.
• Wendy is happy that she is only days from sleeping in her own bed in our own house.
• Orv is happy for the N. Y. Giants.
• Laura is happy that the Rotary Four Way Test is actualized in the building of better friendships.
• Linda had a happy $5 for the TCYSA plaque that she gave to Keith for the support of Richards Funeral Home. Keith’s daughter is on the team. (I think that Richards is one of perhaps 2 sponsors of Little League since its inception – the other being Rotary)
• Al Sunderwirth (perhaps it is in the name) is happy for the Patriots.
• Carolyn Wright wants to share the fun evening with a table of Owego Rotarians at the Dryden “My Dead Lady” dinner/murder mystery on February 18.
• Keith said that the children all enjoyed playing (even though they did not win a game – do we all remember our children in those “character building” experiences?)

PROGRAM: Jan Nolis shared that she enjoys what she does (even though she appreciates that many of us can’t understand this). She gave her David Letterman top 12 (or so) ways to enhance your chances of being audited.

• Make a lot of money.
• Fail to report all taxable income.
• Make large deductions for charitable donations (especially to your children). Be especially careful of items which need to be appraised.
• Claim an office in your home.
• Claim rental losses.
• Claim business meals, travel, and entertainment without adequate documentation.
• Claim 100% of your car use for your business.
• Make deductions on a business which is not organized as a business and the IRS could consider it a hobby.
• Have a cash business.
• Fail to report foreign accounts (there is currently a period of amnesty for these). Make currency transactions over $10,000. (Banks are obligated to report suspicious account activity.)
• Make higher than average standardized deductions.

Casualty losses: We are declared a disaster area, but it is difficult to claim losses. You have to itemize your taxes and have a loss greater than 10% of your income to consider doing the paper work for a casualty loss. This was timely and did not put anyone to sleep.