Paul Szmal: FLX Morning continues now, 8.40, it's sunny and 52. Like to welcome a couple of guests from the Geneva Rotary joining us now. First off, the fundraising chair, Diana Perry. Good morning, Diana.
Diana Perry, Dave Cook: Good morning, Paul.
Paul Szmal: And also, we know him as Santa because of the work that he has done aboard the Santa Train Express for a number of years, and that is Dave Cook. Dave, how are you this morning, sir?
Diana Perry, Dave Cook: Ho, ho, ho, I'm ready to go.
Paul Szmal: Perfect answer. Love it. Yeah. Love it.
Diana, there's been a lot of money that has been raised and distributed to local agencies during the last year by the folks at Geneva Rotary.
Diana Perry, Dave Cook: There has been, yes. We're really proud of the work we've done over the last year. Our grant program provided over $17,000 during our last fiscal year to local agencies. We've provided financial support to the library, to the Ovid fire victims. We're also super proud to support Camp Anciao, which is a two-week overnight camp for children with special needs offered at no cost to their families, supported entirely by Rotary Clubs. We have a great scholarship program. We gave three scholarships to Geneva High School seniors, and we made over $29,000 in new interest-free student loans to Geneva High School graduates. So we're very proud of all that.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. That's a lot of money distributed through a lot of places. Who benefits from Rotary's community support?
Diana Perry, Dave Cook: Sure. Yeah. Dave, did you want to take this one? The question is, who doesn't? Any 501 charity can request a grant from us. We also have a president's discretionary fund for emergency situations. The Smith Opera House, Geneva Light Opera, the Boys and Girls Club, any organization that has children involved is what we look for. And the lunch program, the community lunch program, we help just about anybody in need or any organization in need. We look to help them throughout the year.
So, Paul, I'll just add to that. Some listeners might be hearing about Rotary for the first time, but it's definitely not the first time they've been impacted by Rotary. Like Dave said, if you've attended a free holiday event at the library, if you've received a book from Geneva Reads, if you've attended a program at the Boys and Girls Club or received food assistance from the Center of Concern, just to name a few, you've been impacted by Rotary.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. Rotary does impact a lot of people and helps a lot of people in the area. And there are usually, what, three major fundraisers, Diana, that help make all of this possible?
Diana Perry, Dave Cook: Yes. So, we have the Service Above South Gala, which is our annual dinner held in the spring. We have an annual golf tournament usually held in late summer. And then we have the Santa Train Express. And that is where Dave comes in.
Paul Szmal: Dave, I have to ask, how many years have you been doing Santa for this?
Diana Perry, Dave Cook: You know, that's a good question. I think I've probably been doing it for, oh, 10 or 11 years at least. The one year of COVID, obviously, we weren't able to have the train, but we did a little drive-up, actually drive-up theater at Ventosa, just so the kids would have an opportunity to talk to Santa.
Paul Szmal: No, that's not. Yeah. And this is going to be another year that, unfortunately, we will not have access to the trains. The Finger Lakes Railway sold their passenger trains and have a group that leases trains and have brought them in. And unfortunately, these trains, the cars that they have here now, are spoken for for this year in December. So they're doing fall excursions. They've done summer excursions, and they're going to be doing fall excursions. But unfortunately, the trains will be going back to New Jersey in December. So here's where Diana steps in and comes up with a great idea, and I'll let her take it from here.
Diana Perry, Dave Cook: Sure. Yeah. So we're still going to provide some holiday magic. Now, as Dave alluded to, we've been doing the Santa train for quite a long time. Our club's been presenting it since 2001, and Dave's been joining us as Santa for much of that time. So unfortunately, we're a little sad to not be able to ride the train this year, but we're still going to offer a equally magical event that we're calling the Santa Train Express Cinema.
So this year's guests will enjoy a screening of a beloved holiday movie with a locomotive theme that we are not allowed to name on the radio due to our license. But I'll give listeners a hint, if you're fans of Tom Hanks, you can probably guess the locomotive-themed movie will be screening, and it will be named on our social media and posters as the event draws nearer. And the exciting part is that we're partnering with the school district, so we're going to be holding the event at the North Street School Auditorium. That's going to feature all of the fun of the movies with a concession stand, as well as the visit with Santa that our guests look forward to, and some other surprise guests. We'll still have Christmas carols, and we'll even be doing a family pajama contest.
Paul Szmal: Wow, it sounds like this is going to be a good program.
Diana Perry, Dave Cook: Yeah, we're really excited about it. The event's going to be affordable, it's going to be a fun experience for families. Guests who have ridden the Santa Train in prior years will enjoy this event just as much, and we promise to bring the same holiday magic and memories for the families, just from the comfort of a theater seat instead of a train car.
Paul Szmal: Now, since this is going to be a one-time only event, there's one set date for this, correct?
Diana Perry, Dave Cook: Correct. So, we typically present our Santa event on the first Saturday of December, which this year is Saturday, December 6th, and we'll be offering two screenings, so we'll still be able to accommodate everyone that wants to come and enjoy. We'll have a screening at noon and a screening at 3, and tickets will be going on sale in late October or early November. We'll have that information posted on our website as well as our social media.
Paul Szmal: Excellent, excellent. Dave, are you looking forward to being Santa once again in a slightly different environment?
Diana Perry, Dave Cook: Yes. You know, I can't tell you how much fun it is being Santa Claus. The answers you get from some of the kids, you have to try to be one step ahead of them. You know, I always give the quote, there's two of my favorites. One little boy, I asked him, well, I shouldn't say I, it was Santa, I asked him, have you been good this year? And this kid looked at Santa and his reply was, man, I did the best I could. The answers you get, one kid, Santa asked him, what do you want for Christmas? You know, he was old enough that he was thinking, well, he says, well, I told you last week at the mall and Santa looked at him and he said, well, I know you did, but I wondered if you changed your mind. And that kid, his face just dropped right off. It's always a good experience for the kids to be able to enjoy time with Santa.
Paul Szmal: And Diana, I take it that you're optimistic that next year you'll be able to get the train cars reserved and the Santa train will continue on.
Diana Perry, Dave Cook: Yes, that's right. Unfortunately, the train cars are not available due to circumstances beyond our control this year, but we are optimistic after talking to the, the rail company, as well as the company operating the train cars that they will be available next year. And Santa and Mrs. Claus have promised us that they will be on board the train next year if cars are available to us. So we're looking forward to that. And we're looking forward to seeing everybody at the Santa train express cinema again, Saturday, December 6th, North street school in Geneva, a screening at noon and another one at three o'clock tickets will go on sale in late October, early November with information on the Geneva Rotary website.
Paul Szmal: And Diana, why don't we remind everybody if they want to get involved in Rotary, one of the great ways to do that is to come to a meeting.
Diana Perry, Dave Cook: Absolutely. We would love to see anyone who has any interest in learning more about Rotary. At one of our meetings, we meet every Wednesday at Dana's time out in Geneva, usually from noon until one. And typically on the third Wednesday of the month, we have a dinner meeting from six until seven. And guests are always welcome. We invite anyone who's curious about Rotary to visit us and learn how they can get involved.
Paul Szmal: Excellent. You know, Paul said, maybe you should show up to a meeting. Yeah. Well, you know what? If I'm getting an invitation from Santa Claus, that's awful hard to turn down.
You know, Dave, Diana, thanks so much for joining us this morning. I appreciate it. And best wishes on a successful Santa train express cinema in December. And we'll see. We'll see you at lunch soon.
Diana Perry, Dave Cook: Yes. Yes. Yes, you will. It is 851 on FLX morning.
