Paul Szmal: And welcome back to FLX Morning, it's 8.39 here on Finger Lakes News Radio and we have loaded up the studio with a pair of couples that are a part of the Geneva Rotary organization and that's what we're going to talk about this morning is being couples and being involved in Rotary. I'd like to introduce you first to Rich and Ashley Austin. Good morning.
Rich Austin, Ashley Austin: Good morning.
Paul Szmal: It would help if I turn the microphones on, people will actually hear you. There you go.
Rich Austin, Ashley Austin: Good morning.
Paul Szmal: There we go. And voices that will be a little bit familiar to you if you listen to Finger Lakes News Radio and have in the past listened to WGBA, that would of course be Mike Rosenko and his wife Carol. Good morning.
Mike Wasgint, Carol Wasgint: Good morning. Good morning. Hi Paul. Hi.
Paul Szmal: Glad to have all of you here.
So I want to start, Rich and Ashley, with you first. Who was the first person to join the Rotary organization of the two of you or did it happen at the same time?
Rich Austin: That was me, yeah. That was me. It was 2009.
Paul Szmal: Wow.
Rich Austin: Yeah. So it's been a while. What compelled you to decide to be a part of Rotary? I think Greg made me. So at the time I was working up here on the hill at Mike Barnard's Chevy Buick and my general manager and owner, Greg Barnard, asked me to kind of get involved, do some stuff with the community. He's been a long-time Rotarian and brought me to a couple lunch meetings and the rest was kind of history.
Paul Szmal: And Ashley, when did you get bit by the bug, so to speak?
Ashley Austin: I joined Rotary probably about six years ago, six, seven years ago.
Rich Austin: Yeah.
Ashley Austin: Yeah. I dragged her in.
Rich Austin: Yeah. It was just something fun for us to do. You know, be able to spend an hour a week, go to lunch. You know, we kind of knew some people in there, so.
Paul Szmal: Yeah.
And of course, those weekly meetings, there's usually a speaker, usually somebody talking about something. So what kind of projects have you been involved in together that you've worked on?
Rich Austin: Most recently, we did the, all four of us did the Santa Train, which we do every single year. Mike and I kind of do the Salvation Army bell ringing. Ashley helped a little bit out when we used to do the Service Above Self dinner, but that kind of went to the wayside and just coming back this year, which is nice. But small stuff that we do anytime that there's, you know, a need for people. We've done trash cleanup before, so.
Paul Szmal: You know, I know that the motto of Rotary is Service Above Self. How good does it feel for the both of you to be able to work on projects that are helping the community and to do it together?
Rich Austin: It's great for that. That's one thing that's really beneficial about Rotary is not only do you get to spend some time with your husband or your wife or whatever it is and socialize with your friends, but you're also part of this incredible group of people that gives back to the community.
Ashley Austin: Yeah. And by couples, so I don't want to restrict that to being just married couples. You can just be a couple, and if you want to be a part of Rotary, you're absolutely welcome to join.
Ashley Austin: Yeah. And they're so welcoming. The group is just, it's a really great group of people.
Paul Szmal: All right. Let me shift over here to Mike and Carol, because I know they've been at this a little bit longer. Mike, when did you first join up?
Mike Wasgint: I want to say, I think I've been in Rotary for, I want to say, 17 or 18 years, something like that.
Paul Szmal: And what compelled you to join up?
Mike Wasgint: Similar to Richard, I was encouraged to join by a couple people here in the community, in the Geneva community, and Greg Barnard was one of them. Bob McFadden, who I was a coworker with at the time, who's now, Bob's now running the credit union. But just people kind of come up to you and say, hey, this is something I think you'd like.
Paul Szmal: And what was your first impressions upon joining?
Mike Wasgint: Well, there was friendly faces. There were people that I knew, but then there were people that I had seen in the community that I had never known and never had any interaction with. So for me, it did have a social component, a fun social component, right away. And that was probably my first impression. But then it was, well, here's this project, we're going to go work on this, we're going to spend some time Saturday this, hey, Tuesday night, we're all going to get together and help with that. And then you feel like, Ashley said, you're actually contributing, and that's good.
Paul Szmal: We're talking with a pair of couples that are a part of the Geneva Rotary Organization, Rich and Ashley Austin, Mike and Carol Racinko joining us here in studio. Carol, did you get bitten by the bug, or was it something where Mike came home and said, you know what, you ought to check this out with me?
Carol Wasgint: No, it's all on me, definitely, because I was interested in one of their projects, which was, it was the radio auction, as I remember it. That sounds like it was 400 years ago, but it wasn't that long ago, that they were raising money by having an auction on the radio. And I got involved in that because I thought it was kind of interesting, and I couldn't believe how much work they were doing for that to make this, whatever they ended up making in profit from that. It just seemed very primitive to me. But I did get drawn in that way, and I hadn't joined yet, but I started going to the meetings. And I was intrigued, really, by the speakers, to tell you the truth. I was learning something every time I went, that great speakers, great programs, and it's not all retirees, even though I was a retiree at the time, and still am. It's not all retirees. It's young, old, working, retired. It's everybody. And so welcoming.
Mike Wasgint: Yeah, yeah.
Paul Szmal: So what kind of projects have you worked on together since the both of you have been part of Rotary?
Mike Wasgint: Together, we've worked on a highway cleanup, which is one of our favorite things to do. What else, honey?
Carol Wasgint: Some of the fundraising events.
Mike Wasgint: Well, as Richard said, just the Santa train, that's one of the Rotary's signature events that we do at Finger Lakes Railway at Christmas time. We were all involved in that. There have been a couple other projects. I'm trying to think of one that very recently that we did together. That was kind of an all-dayer. We have worked on the Service Above Self dinner together in the past. The idea here is that there's something really quick that you can go help out with, or there's something that you can kind of be on a committee and work on a long-term project with. And we try to mix that up.
Paul Szmal: How about you, Rick and Ashley? Do you kind of do the same thing, mix it up between smaller projects and looking at some of the bigger things and getting involved in those?
Rich Austin: Yeah, I mean, if you're a part of the Rotary Club, there's a kind of distinct core of individuals that you're usually always seeing at the same asks, if you will, the projects. So if it's something where we can steal away from either our day jobs or something where we can steal away some time with the kids at night, it requires very little commitment and effort to just lend a quick helping hand. And many hands make light work. So I mean, it's rewarding. It's fulfilling. It's fun to do. You like seeing the people. And it's afforded us great friendships, which is nice.
Paul Szmal: Now, you mentioned you're working on the comeback of the Service Above Self Dinner currently?
Rich Austin: Yeah, so not something I'm directly involved in. I'll probably do some stuff with sponsoring some stuff from the restaurant. But I know the Service Above Self Dinner is coming back. It's going to be April 5th of this year up at Ventosa. And we're really looking forward to that. We've got some great people in the community that we're honoring. And it's, I think it's the first time we've had it in five or six years. It was pre-COVID. We took a break at COVID.
Carol Wasgint: Yeah, we took a break at COVID and did some smaller stuff. But we're coming back now and they're doing sponsorships and they're selling tickets and we're looking forward to it.
Paul Szmal: And Mike, I know you've been involved with the Service Above Self Dinner on a couple of different occasions. For people that aren't familiar with the concept, can you kind of elaborate on what that's all about and what it entails?
Mike Wasgint: Right. We've had it for a number of years, and I'm sorry if it's seven or eight. The idea here is we wanted to have a recognition initially of maybe someone who in the community did a lot of work but maybe didn't get a lot of immediate praise and recognition. And it was named for Ralph Springstead, who worked in banking here in the area. And Ralph, although certainly did get recognition and was a very prominent person, also did a lot behind the scenes that people didn't see. And that was why his name was chosen and why we decided to honor him originally back years ago. So that's the theme that's run through the Service Above Self Dinner. We now are honoring organizations, individuals, and we're trying to draw some, shine an appropriate light on some people that have accomplished a lot in the community.
Paul Szmal: All right. Let's wrap things up here. Rich and Ashley, if you could give an elevator speech to someone who was considering joining Rotary and convince them that it's a good deal, what would you tell them?
Rich Austin: Try it. You'll like it. You know, it's like anything else is that, you know, unless you're there and you just try it out, you never really know what it's about. You know, it's, and anyone can afford to take an hour out of their week. And not only on one side of the coin is it feel good to be involved in stuff and be a part of a service organization, but on the other side, you know, we've gained quite a few friendships from being in Rotary. You know, I doubt I'd have a strong of a friendship with Mike and Carol if I wasn't part of Rotary. You know, he came on a little before me, but it's just a nice thing to do. It's a nice thing to be involved in. Low maintenance, you know, you can kind of set your level of commitment. If you want to be heavily involved, it's great. If you want to be a little lighter involved, that's okay too. They're welcome into everybody.
Paul Szmal: Ashley, do you want to add anything to that?
Ashley Austin: Yeah. I mean, I would just add if you're, if you just want to meet some really good, kind people, they're all at Rotary. They're there.
Paul Szmal: All right. Carol, Mike, how about you?
Mike Wasgint: I would certainly offer anyone to come to Rotary at any time for a meeting and to see what it's like. It's very welcoming.
Carol Wasgint: We'll buy you lunch.
Mike Wasgint: Yep. You could be our guest.
Paul Szmal: There you go. Fantastic.
Thank you to the four of you for coming in and sharing your experiences with Rotary this morning. And by the way, when's the next meeting? If somebody wanted to come check out a luncheon or just find out more about Geneva Rotary in general?
Mike Wasgint: It's 12 noon on Wednesday at Dana's Time Out Restaurant on Hamilton Street in Geneva.
Paul Szmal: All right. Fantastic. Thank you all for being here this morning. Much appreciated. It is 8.50 on FLX Morning.
