Paul Szmal: Good morning, 749. It's AFLX Morning Tuesday and we're joined in studio by Renee Domback from the Waterloo Rotary Club. Their fly-in breakfast at the Finger Lakes Airport is this Saturday. Good morning.
Renee Dombek: Good morning.
Paul Szmal: So I do a monthly segment with our Geneva Rotary Club, so I always like to ask Rotarians about their journey. So tell us about what got you interested and how long you've been a Waterloo Rotarian.
Renee Dombek: Well, as a friend will say, they did a three-hour tour on their boat and told us all about Rotary and we were kind of looking for something more to be involved in in our community. So my husband and I have been in approximately six years.
Paul Szmal: So this event's been going on now for over 20 years. It's a partnership between the Waterloo Rotary Club and FLAPS, which is the Finger Lakes Area Pilots, and it's this Sunday, or Saturday, I'm sorry, it's this Saturday at the Finger Lakes Regional Airport. So tell us about the event.
Renee Dombek: Sure. We take over one of their smaller hangars and we go in and set up and we serve breakfast from 8 to 12 and it's all you can eat, pancakes, sausage, eggs, and drinks to go along with that. We also do this in conjunction to give back to our first responders. So we invite anyone to come down with ID or in uniform and we would love to give them a complimentary breakfast. And for pilots, you can go on Facebook and it's got all of the codes and everything and the things you need to know, radio frequencies and all that kind of thing.
Paul Szmal: And then you do a bunch of different rides and stuff. Tell us about those.
Renee Dombek: Well, they're doing helicopter rides. Of course, it's all weather permitting. The Finger Lakes helicopters will take you up, travel you around a little bit, come back down. It's a lot of fun. It's $50 per ride and they'll be doing that all morning.
Paul Szmal: Which by the way, that's not very much for a helicopter ride. I mean, helicopters are expensive to run. That's a good price. And then you get all you can eat, pancakes, sausage and eggs. And then I assume that the Rotary Club will be talking about some of the things you do.
Renee Dombek: Yes, we'll have a little area set up to advertise some of our upcoming events and some of the community projects that we help with. People listening to our Geneva segments know that there's local projects and then there's Rotary International. Clean Water has been a big project in Rotary International. Ending polio, we are this close. There's about two countries or something left on earth. Talk about some of the local projects that the Waterloo Club's focusing on this year.
Renee Dombek: Some of the upcoming projects we have doing, we've reinstituted the local Halloween parade. And that will be Monday, October 28. And last year was the first year back after COVID. And we had a great turnout. We also do a pumpkin walk. We do Easter egg hunt. So those are some of the community projects for the kids that we do. We are also working on a larger project to put some exercise equipment along the canal trail. But of course, that's in the planning stages, the logistics of that, in conjunction with the state and county is quite involved. And we also, as a group, support international projects as well. Our most recent grant was for some dialysis machines to be placed in the Indy area.
Paul Szmal: Oh, that's neat. I always say one of the things I really like about Rotary is that there's not pressure. Because some people go, if I sign up, they'll want me to volunteer on everything. You don't have to be on every committee. Some people, in fact, at least in our club in Geneva, they maybe have one annual thing that they're really, really locked in on. Or you just serve as your abilities and time allow, which I like.
Renee Dombek: Oh, of course, of course. We meet every Monday night in Ciccino's upstairs at 6 p.m. And you're welcome. We would love to have anybody come that would like to help out or serve the community. Or, like you say, any time that you can give at all possible is absolutely wonderful, as little or as much as you want. We have a lot of people that come in that just, you know, want to give back a little bit. Or, like you say, there are a lot of people that come in gung-ho for every project. And that's where I'm at.
Paul Szmal: And the social aspect's great as well. I mean, when I joined, it was a little different because doing this show, I mean, I knew a lot of the people. But there's a pretty good chance if you join a club like Waterloo, you're going to find some people there that you already know.
Renee Dombek: Oh, of course, of course. There are a lot of interconnections with the business people and local community members, school people. Every facet of the community is involved.
Paul Szmal: So the Fly-In Breakfast is a partnership between Waterloo Rotary Club and what's called FLAPS, the Finger Lakes Area Pilots. Remind us again, date, place, and time.
Renee Dombek: It's this Saturday morning. We will be serving breakfast from 8 to 12 at the Seneca County Airport. And we invite everyone down. First responders, obviously, complimentary breakfast.
Paul Szmal: Terrific. And I'll work on Kevin. Last I knew, we're supposed to have a pretty good week. I don't know if that lasts into Saturday. I hope it does. Thanks for being with us and best of luck with the event. And best of luck, you said, Chichinos, Monday night at 6?
Renee Dombek: 6 p.m., yes. Every Monday night. So stop by. Any Rotary Club would love to have you and let you know more about being a membership.
Paul Szmal: We thank you for your time and best of luck for a good breakfast.
Renee Dombek: Oh, thank you so much for having us. It is now 7.54. It's the Monday FLX morning on Finger Lakes Newsradio.
