The

Handclasp

The Newsletter of Schenectady Business & Professional Women

An organization supporting

women helping women

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Volume LXXXIV Number 5 Founded in 1927 January 2016

Calendar

Jan 5 Board Meeting—5:30 pm

NBT Boardroom--433 State Street, Schenectady

All members welcome

Jan 26 Business Meeting—5:30 pm

The Glen Sanders Mansion

Dinner/$32 member or $35 non-member

Women Helping Women Panel Discussion

Panelists: Nicole Snow—Darn Good Yarn Shop

Ellie von Wellsheim—Moon Catchers

Maria Kagas—Treebu Career Discovery

Socio-Media

Feb 2 Board Meeting— 5:30 pm

NBT Boardroom-433 State Street, Schenectady

All members welcome

Feb 23 Business Meeting—5:30 pm

The Glen Sanders Mansion

Dinner/$32 member or $35 non-member

Eric Flutey, Detective/Schenectady County

Sheriff's Dept. — “Drug problem in Schenectady”

Mar 1 Board Meeting—5:30 pm

NBT Boardroom-433 State Street, Schenectady

All members welcome

Mar 12 Life Unplugged—8:30am to 3:30pm

Schenectady High School

An interactive program for students to learn

about life choices for careers and money.

Mar 22 Business Meeting—5:30 pm

The Glen Sanders Mansion

Dinner/$32 member or $35 non-member

Women’s History Month—Program TBD

MAKE IT A GREAT DAY

In 2005 , I retired the first time after 39-1/2 years of state service. Dr. Joseph S. Gulyas, Northeast Spine and Wellness, Chiropractor, recruited me to prepare a weekly informational newsletter of chiropractic tips. The newslet-ter was distributed by e-mail to patients. One of the first articles that appeared in the newsletter was “MAKE IT A GREAT DAY.” Listed below are some practical tips for making a great day.

Always think that good things will happen.

Express gratitude to people that do a good job.

Leave your complaints at the door.

Be patient with others.

Do something special for yourself like getting a mas-sage or taking a moment for you.

Focus on each moment as being special.

Learn from your mistakes and do better next time.

Enjoy the beauty and wonder of those things around you.

Take three deep breaths before you get mad at a person or situation.

Get adjusted on a regular basis in order to maintain optimal health.

Keep these tips handy. They are a good way to start out 2016. If you have tips to add to this list, let us know. Dr. Gulyas’ office is located in Clifton Park 1741 U.S. Route 9, and 1873 Western Avenue, Albany, Tele-

phone 371-4800 www.Dr. Gulyas.com

———Linda L. Rolfe

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Birthdays January February 8 Lori Reffue 4 Claire Pugliese 10 Tanya Hull 13 Susan Knapik 11 Bonnie Keller 17 Susan Rice

28 Sandy Orminski 19 Shelle Hamil 24 Jill Boyd 26 Deb Best

January 2016 Hi Ladies, Happy New Year!! I hope that all of you enjoyed a wonderful time with your families and friends during the holiday season.

We are off and running with our various projects for the coming months. This month we are hosting a “Women Helping Women” Panel Discussion during our business meeting.

Detective Eric Fluty, from the Schenectady County Sherriff ’s Department , will be our speaker at the February meeting . His topic will be, “The Drug Problem in Schenectady.”

Kim Bellizzi and her committee have been busy planning the next “Life Unplugged.” We need your help!! If you are available to participate, please fill out a volunteer registration form . (Even if you have filled one out in the past, we need one for this year’s event.) It is crucial that you attend at least one of the training meetings so that everyone is ready to help the students to have an effec-tive and successful experience. We need people to staff the booths as well as shadows for students, and sponsors for the booths. Talk to other professionals who might be able to help...we are in need of quite a few adults to make this all happen. If you are not familiar with “Life Unplugged,” please reach out to Kim or myself and we can fill you in. I promise that if you participate, you won’t be disappointed! This program is a real eye-opener for the students and they are so engaged and end up really appreciating that we share our time and knowledge to help them. If you are not able to participate, please consider becoming a sponsor.

Thank you in advance for your participation and support.

With much appreciation, Cyndie

President Schenectady BPW

Schenectady Business & Professional

Women's Club, Inc. Invites you to join us at our next business meeting

Where: The Glen Sanders Mansion

When: Tuesday, January 26, 2016

5:30pm – Meet & Greet

6:00pm – Dinner

Cost: $32.00 Members

$35.00 Non-Members

Women Helping Women Panel Discussion Panelists: Nicole Snow—Darn Good Yarn Shop

Ellie von Wellsheim- Moon Catchers

Maria Kagas—Treebu Career Discovery

Socio-Media

Please R.S.V.P. By: January 20th, 2016

to Carolyn Sabol at cwsabol@hotmail.com

or call Robin Quintin at 518-331-9064

Please remember that if you are a member, your reservation

is automatically made for you. If you are unable to attend,

you must contact Carolyn Sabol or Robin Quintin at the

phone numbers or Email above, so that the club will not be

charged for your dinner. Thank you for your consideration.

2015– 2016 Schenectady BPW

Board Members and Directors

President—Cyndie Powell

1st Vice President—Carolyn Sabol

2nd Vice President—Kim Bellizzi

Secretary—Amanda Jeffes

Treasurer—Tammy Krisher

Directors—Christina Meier

Robin Quintin

Susan Rice

Immediate Past President—Bonnie Keller

Parliamentarian—Jane Osterhout

Tips & Tidbits

Schenectady BPW is a member of the Capital Region Chamber of Commerce.

As a member, you are able to attend events as a member, if you are attending as a representative of our club. Here are a few of the upcoming events that might be of interest.

CHAMBER NEWS Tuesday, January 12, at the Desmond Hotel, 660 Alba-ny-Shaker Road, Albany, 11:30 AM-1:00 PM, “Speaking Your Truth: The Power of Authenticity.” Are you a people pleaser and want to keep others happy so you don’t say “no”? Dr. Suzie Mookherjee, Albany Med Car-diologist, will challenge us to explore the true power in being authentic. Doing so allows us to balance priorities, deepen partnerships and embrace good - not bad - stress. You'll walk away from this event with tangible, immediate action items for powerful results. Start the New Year off right.

The chamber will be hosting its first networking event for 2016. The event is an Open House at the new Dou-bletree Hotel by Hilton and will be held on Wednesday, January 13, from 4-7 PM, 100 Nott Terrace, Schenec-tady. Join the chamber and Schahet Hotels, Inc. for tours, food, prizes, connections, and a champagne toast at 6:00 p.m.

Friday, January 15, at the Desmond Hotel, 660 Albany-Shaker Road, Albany, 7:00-9:00 AM, Hugh Johnson, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Hugh John-son Advisors, LLC, will share his forecasts for the econ-omy, interest rates, and the global equity markets for 2016 and 2017.

To register for these events, go to the chamber web site. http://capitalregionchamber.com/

——Linda L. Rolfe

Member Spotlight Jennifer Hanson Deputy Manager/Chez Nous Member Since 2015 The member spotlight for January

features Jennifer Hanson. Jennifer has

been a member of Schenectady BPW since March 26, 2015.

Jennifer was born at Bellevue Hospital and grew up in

Niskayuna. She graduated from Niskayuna High School and

attended Syracuse University (SU), S.I. Newhouse School of

Public Communications. Jennifer graduated from SU with a

major in TV and Film Production and a minor in Political

Science.

After graduating from S.U., she moved to Los Angeles to

work in the film industry. She worked at Universal Pictures

Marketing (during the time when the movies Jurassic Park

and Schindler’s List were released), Universal Studios Holly-

wood theme park, Popcorn Channel and Photo-Sonics,

Inc. After over a decade, Jennifer decided to move back to

upstate New York and returned in 2001. Since then, she has

worked at General Electric, BlueShield of Northeastern New

York, Technical Business Solutions, the Schenectady County

Historical Society and miSci (formerly Schenectady Museum

Association).

A new French restaurant, Chez Nous, has recently opened in

Schenectady and Jennifer is the Deputy Manager. Working

closely with the owners and chef, she runs the front of the

house including taking reservations, coordinating logistics,

and ensuring the restaurant runs smoothly and guests have an

enjoyable experience of French cuisine.

Jennifer got married on June 6, 2015 to her husband, Matthew

Hamzaoui, and they live in Schenectady with our two cats,

Luna and Loki.

During her leisure time Jen enjoys the natural beauty of the

world through photography, yoga, meditation and all holistic

and sustainable life-affirming activities. She also enjoys

spending time with her husband and cats, going for walks,

being with friends, cooking, going to movies, and letting her

inner artist run wild.

Jennifer noted on her membership application that she wanted

to learn to play the violin. Jennifer’s response, “I have not

begun violin! I’m glad you brought it up because that is

something I still want to do. I’ll put it on my 2016 goal

list. It interests me because I like the sound of the violin, but

also because the violin can travel and be played. Right now I

play the piano and I cannot travel with the piano. I’m limited

in sharing my musicality. I would like to be able to pick up

an instrument anywhere and be able to play it. I also like the

cello and string bass, but again, those are not easy instruments

to travel with.” (Continued in next column)

Jennifer Hanson—Cont’d

Jennifer is a member of the Electric City Food Co-

Op, Schenectady and Mindfulness Based Stress Re-

duction Meditation Group, Albany.

In 2014 and 2015, Jennifer volunteered for “Life Un-

plugged,” after which she decided to join the BPW

since she so strongly believed in the organization’s

concept and vision. She is not sure how she heard

about “Life Unplugged” – she thinks that maybe she

saw a flyer somewhere or heard someone talking

about the concept and got interested. “It is crucial for

kids today to understand how important money is and

how you need financial skills to have a successful

career and life – Life Unplugged shows teens the

basics of living life...and how much it costs. After

volunteering for two years for the LU event, I realize

how naïve kids are about money. They learn so

much in one day – I think every kid should be ex-

posed to this eye-opening reality of how much it

costs to live life.”

Since joining BPW, Jennifer has served on the Life

Unplugged committee.

In addition to learning to play the violin, Jennifer

would like to take some art classes, make more art,

and travel to France, again.

Scholarships/Christina Meier, Chair We will be announcing our 2016 Scholarships soon.

Tammy is busy tabulating the Fashion Show receipts

and will let us know the amount of Scholarship

Money that will be available.

The Committee has decided to name the High

School Scholarship The Aldona Vaitulis Memorial

Scholarship.

The committee has made revisions to the scholarship

application. The corrections will be passed on to the

President for review and comments, before the appli-

cation is posted on the website.

The committee and board have also agreed that the

scholarship monies will be paid out to the recipients

at the Scholarship Ceremony, rather than at the end

of the student’s first semester.

Fashion Show/Cyndie Powell, Chair The wrap-up meeting has not been scheduled yet.

We are planning on holding it after the “Life Un-

plugged” program.

YWCA was thrilled with pillow donations—this

year they will be collecting shoes again.

Wrap-up/Kick-Off Meeting Date & Location TBD.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Cyndie Fashion Show Chair

Programs/Carolyn Sabol, Chair

The programming committee met over the summer to

brainstorm and plan program speakers for this BPW year.

Carolyn and her committee took suggestions from mem-

bership into consideration when deciding on which speak-

ers to choose to speak at our meetings. We hope that our

membership finds the topics interesting and meaningful.

Please mark your calendars for these meetings dates.

01/26/16 – Women Helping Women Panel Discussion

- Nicole Snow, Darn Good Yarn

- Ellie von Wellsheim, Mooncatchers

- Maria Kagas, Treebu Career Discovery

Socio-Media 02/23/16 – Eric Flutey, Detective/Schenectady County

Sheriff's Dept. “The Drug Problem in Schenectady”

03/22/16 – Women’s History Month—Program TBD

04/22/16 – Autism Awareness Month, Sara Mae Hickey,

owner, Puzzles Cafe & Bakery 05/24/16 –Installation of Officers and New Member

Induction Ceremony / Guest Speaker - TBD

06/28/16 –Scholarship Awards Banquet

For more information on any of our programs, please visit our website at

www.schenectadybpw.org

(From Left to right) Leesa Perazzo, Rayn Boncie,

Martha Jo Asselin & Susan Watson

Schenectady BPW Women of the Year 2015

and those who nominated them.

Membership/Kim Bellizzi, Chair As of January 1st, 2016 our club has 57 members.

We are always open to new members. If you know of

someone who might be a good fit for our club, please

direct them to our website at www.schenectadybpw.org.

Welcome New Member(s)

This month we welcome the following new members:

Mary Mortka—Office Manager, Audiology Endeavors

Mary is a long-time friend of Susan Daly and has attended

many of our events in the past, including the Fashion Show.

She states that many of our members encouraged her to

join. We look forward to seeing more of Mary at our meet-

ings and events in the future.

Woman of the Year/Jane Osterhout, Chair Jane and her committee have chosen two well-deserving

women as our 2015 Women of the Year.

Dr. Martha Asselin, Vice President of Student Affairs,

Schenectady County Community College

Rayn Bonce, Founder and President, Things of My

Very Own.

Please join me in congratulating both of these ladies! We

honored these ladies at our Fashion Show and Woman of

the Year Celebration on Sunday, November 8th, 2015.

Dr. Martha Asselin Rayn Boncie

Status of Women Committee We are looking for a Chair for this committee.

It is the duty of the Status of Women committee to support

women through community involvement for women facing

hardships including, but not limited to, economic and

domestic.

If you are interested in chairing this committee, please con-

tact Cyndie at cyndie@nycap.rr.com

Career Development/Elena Alvarez, Chair This program has been postponed until the fall of 2016.

As Elena and her committee formalize the agenda, we will

be announcing the details.

\

BPW Foundation/Bonnie Keller (liaison)

Check out the Foundation’s new and improved

website at www.bpwfoundation.org

Foundation plans on the new website becoming

available after Sept 10th, 2015.

Youth Leadership/Kim Bellizzi, Chair

The next “Life Unplugged” is scheduled for Satur-

day. March 12th, 2016 at Schenectady High School.

Kim reported that a “Mail Chimp” email campaign

was emailed to all members and past volunteers to

relay applications and information regarding orienta-

tion meetings. The mandatory orientations are to be

scheduled for Monday, February 22th & Thursday.

February 25th. Volunteers are required to attend one

meeting. Donations from Stewarts Shops, Panera and

Freihoefers/Entemann’s have been offered, but more

are still needed. Elena Alvarez will be helping with

the fundraising by writing a few grants. Depending

on the number of students participating, they will be

split into two groups for a.m. and p.m. sessions.

When not visiting the booths, the students will be

participating in an interactive career-oriented

computer lab and will have the opportunity to listen

to a presentation by a college planner. Cyndie will

look into finding out how to create the forms in

Googledocs to be put on BPW website. The Youth

Leadership Committee needs MORE Member partic-

ipation for planning and for the actual day of the

event.

You can reach Kim at kimbellizzi13@gmail.com

or 518-859-8254

Among our Members/ Announcements

Thank you note from our Woman of the Year, Dr. Martha Asselin…

Dear Members of Schenectady BPW, Words could never express how deeply you have touched my heart. I

write to thank each of you for making this past Sunday such a special day for me and my family. I loved

every moment of the day. You paid full attention to every detail and made the Women of the Year 2015 and

Fashion Show absolutely perfect. Being selected for this honor, and being selected with Rayn Boncie, means

everything to me. I could not feel more honored than I do. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Cyndie

Powell, Robin Quintin, Susan Watson, Heather Peterson, Christina Meier and Jane Osterhout, who went to

every length to make me feel extremely special. I greatly appreciate the love, thoughtfulness and support.

You made the day most spectacular. Than you. This recognition is, by far, the most special award I have

ever received. I am honored deeply. I look forward to working with you all and hope to make someone else

feel all I experienced this past Sunday with all the same love you showed me. Thank you very, very much

for all that you did. With Much Love, Martha Asselin

.

June 30, 2016

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

Name _____________________________________________________________ Street Address ___________________________________________________________ City ________________________________ State ________ Zip Code ___________ Birthday (MM/DD)_______Home Phone_______________ Cell Phone:_______________ Employer________________________________ Job Title_________________________ Work Phone___________________ Email Address:_______ _______________________ What would you like to gain by joining the Schenectady BPW?_______________________ How did you learn about us? _________________________________________________ People would be surprised to learn that I ________________________________________ If I had to do it all over again, I would ___________________________________________ This year, I am going to learn _________________________________________________ Who encouraged you to join? _________________________________________________ Signature ________________________________________ Date ___________________

By signing this form I am acknowledging and consenting that my contact information will be shared with other club members on the membership roster, as well as posted in the Club’s Newsletter which will be available to the public on the Schenectady BPW website.

********************************************************** Which committee(s) would you like to serve on? (see next page for descriptions of committees)

__ Foundation __ Membership __ Status of Women __ Fashion Show ___ Programming

__ Public Relations __ Youth Leadership __ Scholarship __ Fundraising __ Career Development

********************************************************** For more information, please contact our membership chair: Kim Bellizzi at (518) 859-8254 or email at kimbellizzi13@gmail.com

Dues - $72 per year

Please make your check payable to Schenectady BPW and mail to: Schenectady BPW, 2215 Nott St. #117, Schenectady, NY 12309

www.schenectadybpw.org

______ scanned ______added to Roster ______added to email ______welcome email

______emailed to board ______added to Shutterfly _____emailed to Committee Chair(s)

For Office Use Only

Schenectady Business & Professional

Women’s Club, Inc.

Schenectady Business & Professional Women’s Club, Inc.

COMMITTEE DESCRIPTIONS

Foundation Committee - to promote interest in and support of the Business and Professional Women's Foundation by reporting updates at board meetings. Membership Committee - to promote, expand, stabilize and orient the membership.

Prepare and perform the induction ceremony of new members as needed. Status of Women Committee - to support women through community involvement for women facing hardships, including,

but not limited to, economic and domestic. Fashion Show Committee – to assist in the planning of our largest fundraiser of the year. All members should assume that they are part of the planning and implementing of the various activities to raise money for our Scholarship Fund. Programming Committee - to plan and implement a well-coordinated program calendar. Public Relations - to market the club through available news media, the Club website and newsletter. Youth Leadership Committee - to encourage recruitment of young people into membership; organize and coordinate

youth leadership programs; and promote activities that involve the participation of young people. Scholarship Committee -to allocate scholarship funds which have been authorized by the board. a. Prepare applications and determine recipients. b. Prepare and perform the award ceremony. Fundraising Committee – to present ideas for fundraising for the operating expenses of the club and implement them once approved by the board. Career Development – to create ideas and implement continuing education for women in the club and the community to help them to advance in careers and life. Meeting Information for Members of Schenectady BPW

We usually hold our business meetings on the 4th Tuesday of each month, except for July and August, .Meetings are

held at The Glen Sanders Mansion. Meet & Greet starts at 5:30 and dinner is usually at 6 pm. Our hospitality committee works with the restaurant directly and has to provide a number count for each meeting by the Wednesday before each meeting. Please be aware that as a member, your reservation is automatically made for you for each meeting. You would only need to contact our Hospitality Committee if you cannot make it to a meeting by either emailing Carolyn Sabol at cwsabol@hotmail.com or by calling Robin Quintin at 518-355-9064 by the Wednesday before each meeting. (Also, please be aware that occasionally our business meetings will be held at an alternative location. You can check our website any-time to find out where and when the next meeting is being held.) Our Board of Directors Meetings are held on the 1

st Tuesday of each month (except July and August) at the NBT Bank

Board Room at 433 State Street in Schenectady. Only Board Members are required to attend these meetings, but all mem-bers are welcome to attend if they choose. This is when we discuss the recent and future business of the club. No reserva-tion is needed to attend the board meetings, but do realize that if you have something to bring to the board that you should contact Cyndie at cyndie@nycap.rr.com to be added to the agenda. (Also, please be aware that occasionally our board meetings will be held at an alternative location. You can check our website anytime to find out where and when the next board meeting is being held.)