Contributed by: Tom Seeley / Skaneateles Sunrise Rotary Club

UPCOMING EVENTS, INFORMATION AND OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST

Bulletin #2010-5               Date:  August 20, 2009

Programs
August 20 – DG Fred Cholet Visit
August 27 – Stickley, Streisand & Skaneateles, Marion Krauter!
September 10 – Milfoil Eradication, Chris Scholz

Suggestions for future programs are always welcome.  Please forward your ideas to Marion at amkrauter@verizon.net.

News & Notes

Preventing identity theft requires constant guarding of personal info
With the increasingly digital world we live in, all of us are increasingly vulnerable to identity theft.
So says Juanita Williams of the New York State Attorney General’s Office, who addressed our club August 6.
Williams identified some of the primary ways in which identity theft occurs.  The first discussed involved gadgets identity thieves have created  in which a tiny gadget is placed in a credit card scanner, which can take all of your personal information as soon as the card is swiped.
Another common situation in which identity thieves strike is through fake telephone calls and/or e-mails.  With these, the identity thief will call and pretend to be a credit card company, etc. advising falsely that your card was used without your consent as a means of convincing individuals to reveal their personal information.  This has also occurred with fake phone calls advising of missed jury duty.
More and more, personal information is stolen via the Internet, almost always involving emails that look legitimate and feature links purportedly to an official site.  The link is always to a fraudulent site from which the thieves will steal personal information.
Similarly, identity thieves have stolen identities through mailings of fake sweepstakes and secret shopper awards.  Finally, identity theft can occur when stores resell private information.
With the nearly constant threat of identity theft, we must be more careful about sharing our personal informaiton, Williams says.
To combat this threat, the Attorney General’s Office advises all of us to check our credit reports as often as possible.  Doing so will give you insight into who is checking your credit and reveal whether there is any fraudulent activity.  By checking her credit, Williams discovered that someone had opened a Macy’s Card in her name.  Consumers can obtain up th three free credit reports per year by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com.  Seniors are also able to freeze their credit report, preventing anyone from researching your credit.
Individuals should also be guarded at all times about giving away their personal information.  For example, if you sign up for a free raffle at the Great New York State Fair, you can be sure that information will be resold, jeopardizing your identity.
In the event you discover your identity has been compromised, Williams says you can put a quick freeze on yoru credit report  to prevent any new accounts being opened.  She also advises filing a police report to combat any argument that you consented to the use of your personal information.
Ultimately, however, the thieves are difficult to catch since most operate from remote overseas locations making the problem much more difficult to combat through prevention.

Staging Home for sale leads to higher prices, quicker sales
Nancy Schafer has always loved showcasing homes for sale.  What she didn’t know until earlier this year is that she could make a career out of it!
Together with husband and Sunrise member Mark, she has sold six homes, all of which she was able to sell quickly.
After  moving to this area, Nancy worked briefly selling Real Estate with Realty USA.  But she quickly discovered that her true passion was in preparing the home for sale, or home staging as it is called.  After learning about home staging, Nancy enrolled in a course in Philadelphia and earned the Accredited Staging Professional accreditation from StagedHomes.com.
Home sellers can only control two things, Nancy says: the sale price and how the home looks.   The general concept of staging a home acknowledges that the way we live in our homes and the way we market them are two different things.  As we live in a home we typically accumulate volumes of personal effects that make the house a home.  But buyers are typically looking for a move-in condition home that is clutter free and clean, especially in the kitchen and the bathroom.
As an ASP, Nancy will typically de-personalize a home to remove its clutter and allow buyers to fall in love with what they see.  Statistics have shown that properly staged homes typically sell for more money and more quickly than those that are placed on the market without this service, Nancy says.
For more information on home staging, visit www.stagedhomes.com.

Club Business &
Dates to Remember

Call to Order; Pledge of Allegiance & Invocation
Introduction of Guests/Visitarians
Happy Dollars & Fines

District Major Events
September 13 – Eastern Cities Fellowship Dinner Rochester, NY
September 24-27 – District Conference, The Desmond, Albany

Old Business

Committee Reports

Club Administration
President – Tom Seeley
Treasurer – Toni Feldmann
Secretary – John Paddock

Service Projects
Food Pantry – Daryle Pickering
Sea Scouts – John Paddock
Programs – Krauter/Beckwith
Early Act – Tom Seeley
Fire Equipment –

Service Committee – Mark Shafer
Winterfest & Craft Fair – Seeley/Krauter
Membership (& Retention) – Beckwith/Feldmann
Foundation/Community Recognition
Social Chair –
Sergeant at Arms – Daryle Pickering

New Business/Program
DG Fred Cholet Visit

Evening Club Programs
TODAY –  Athaeneum of Skaneateles, Cheryl Silvestrini
August 27 – TBD
September 3 – Club Assembly
September 10 – TBD
September 17 – Pancake Breakfast Thank You, Lourdes Camp

Officers & Directors

Officers
President – John Rooney
President-Elect –
Past President – Thomas W. Seeley
Treasurer – Toni Feldman
Sergeant-at-Arms – Daryle Pickering
Secretary – John Paddock

Committee Chairs
Club Service –  Mark Shafer
Food Pantry – Daryle Pickering
Membership –  Beckwith/Feldmann
Program Chair – Marion Krauter
Rotary Foundation –
Social Chair –
Youth Exchange/RYLA – John Paddock

Members
Sidney Beckwith, Robert Brown, Toni Feldmann, Paul Frickey, Maggie Gilson (visitor), Marion Krauter, John Paddock, Daryle Pickering, John Rooney, Thomas Seeley, Mark Shafer, Paul Torrisi, Rhett Weiss

Exchange Students
Miguel Rodenas (Spain), Charlotte Linden (Germany), Bruno Caetanno Alves de Melo (Brazil)

TRY OUR ROTARY WEBSITES
Our District Website: http://www.rotarydistrict7150.org/
Rotary International: http://www.rotary.org/
RYLA:    http://www.rotaryryla.com/
Skaneateles Rotary: http://www.skaneatelesrotary.org/
e-club:    http://www.rotaryeclubny1.com

SUNRISE EDITORS
Thomas W. Seeley
685-2311
Fax: 685-2460
tws@mlsattorneys.com