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Bulletin Editor
Al Philpotts
Meeting Responsibilities
Greeter
Ulans, Connie
 
Introduction of Visitors & Guests
Fitzpatrick, Bill
 
Invocation
Schenkel, Bob
 
50/50 Draw
Dolak, Jr., Steve
 
Luncheon Treasurer
Jones, Buck
 
Music (Pledge if no music)
Fenstermacher, Dave
 
Tech Crew
McGovern, Mike
 
Sergeant-at-Arms
Hunter, Don
 
Speakers
Apr 12, 2017
Intersection of Politics & Religion
Apr 19, 2017
Apr 26, 2017
Local Heroin Epidemic
May 03, 2017
Rotary International Experiences
May 10, 2017
Street Medicine
May 17, 2017
May 24, 2017
Classification Talk
May 31, 2017
Greater Lehigh Valley YMCA
Jun 07, 2017
Charter School for the Arts
View entire list
Upcoming Events
District 7430 Conference
Eden Resort
May 05, 2017 – May 07, 2017
 
Rotary International Convention
Georgia World Congress Center
Jun 10, 2017 – Jun 14, 2017
 
Russell Hampton
National Awards Services Inc.
Sage
ClubRunner
Sunday, February 5, 2017
 
Greetings Fellow Rotarians,
 
 
Our February 1st Club Assembly was packed full of Rotary business shared with our membership, including: 
 
  • We ushered in February with the celebration of a few Rotarian Birthdays, including: 
    • Al Philpotts                             
    • Mark Reed
    • Connie Ulans
  • We also celebrated the generosity of four Rotarians – all multiple year donors -- who were presented with Paul Harris Fellowships.  The following Rotarians donated another $1,000 to our RI Foundation
    • Fred Achey +1
    • Paul Florence +2
    • Al Philpotts +2
    • Jack Worsley +3
A special thank you to these Rotarians whose financial support is helping to promote peace, fight disease, provide clean water, save mothers and children, support education and grow local economies around the world through the humanitarian efforts of Rotary International. 
 
  • Jack Worsley presented a Rotary flag from his recent visit to Budapest Hungary where he had a chance to attend the Budapest Center Rotary Club.
  • Maria Nathans announced that our Club’s next Fun and Fellowship gathering, Bowl & Bites, will be held on Thursday, March 2nd from 6-8 pm at Revolutions at Saucon Valley.  Cost is $20 per person and includes bowling and snacks!  You must sign up and pay by March 1st.  See Marie or Buck Jones to sign up.
  • We had a very successful first-time Rotary Mini meeting on Thursday, January 26, with 15 people in attendance.  Paul Ricciardi did an outstanding job leading our first meeting and everyone seemed to enjoy the extra time of fellowship.  Thank you Mark Reed for making this new initiative for our Club happen.  Rotary Mini’s will be held on the fourth Thursday of the month at Taps Tavern located on Route 378.  If you would like to volunteer to lead a future Rotary Mini meeting, please see Mark Reed. 
  • February is designated as Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution Month on the Rotary Calendar.  Conflict and violence displace millions of people each year. Half of those killed in conflict are children, and 90 percent are civilians.  As Rotarians, we refuse to accept conflict as a way of life.  Through our service projects, peace fellowships, and scholarships, our members are taking action to address the underlying causes of conflict, including poverty, inequality, ethnic tension, lack of access to education, and unequal distribution of resources.  How does Rotary make help happen?  Over $142 million has been raised by Rotary in support of peace; Rotary offers 100 peace fellowships each year at Rotary Peace Centers around the world; and over 1,000 students have graduated from Rotary’s Peace Centers program.
  • Our Who’s That Rotarian Question of the Day revealed that it was Rev. Bob Schenkel who had tea in the White House with First Lady Barbara Bush in 1990.  According to Bob, this occurred during the annual Cathedral Dean’s conference that was held at the National Cathedral that year 1990.  It was not a solo event – there were lots of other deans and wives there, but they did have a rather elaborate tea party, and she was a very gracious hostess. President George was not there, the word was he was upstairs entertaining the Archbishop Canterbury.  Also, with them that day was Francis (Frank) Sayre, the retired Dean of the National Cathedral. His grandparents’ home was the Sayre Mansion across the street from Nativity. He was President Woodrow Wilson’s grandson and was born in the White House.
  • If you haven’t done so, don’t forget to register to attend the 100th Anniversary of the Rotary Foundation Gala on Saturday, March 11, 2017, from 6 -10 p.m. at the Pine Crest Country Club, 101 Country Club Drive, Lansdale, PA   Registration for the event is now open through Eventbrite at:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-rotary-foundation-centennial-district-7430-gala-tickets-31004943621?utm_campaign=new_attendee&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eb_email&utm_term=event_name (cut and paste the web address into your browser).   I’m hoping you will join me and Don for a fun-filled evening of fellowship with Rotarians throughout our District!
  • George Mowrer presented the annual report of the Bethlehem Foundation, filling in for Chairperson Pat Connell who was not able to make our meeting.  George explained that the Bethlehem Rotary Club Foundation is different from the RI Foundation.  The Bethlehem Rotary Foundation responsibilities include: 
    • accepting grant applications and reward grants to non-profits
    • overseeing, with prudence, the funds that have been raised and deposited into our Foundation
    • accepting funds that our Member (Bethlehem Rotary Club) raises with a specific goal to eventually release funds to a non-profit type organization, i.e. golf outings, Taste of Tunes, etc.
The 2016 Foundation Board consisted of a nine person board, including:
  • Patrick Connell: Chairperson
  • George Mowrer: Secretary
  • Bruce Palmer:   Treasurer
  • Board members: Paul Florenz, Kerry Wrobel, George Kurtz, Rob Littner, Steve Kalamar  and Michael McGovern
It was also noted that Deb Geiger, Cindy Glick and Dennis Domcheck provided invaluable assistance to the Foundation Board this past year.
 
State of Bethlehem Rotary Foundation as of December 30, 2016:
  • As of the last meeting of the Board, the current value of the Foundation is $ 167,843.  However, a distribution is still owed to Second Harvest Food Bank.  Treasurer, Bruce Palmer, estimates that the Foundation’s corpus value will be $106,000-$108,000 after the distribution to Second Harvest. 
  • The amount available for grant distributions is approximately $5,300.00.
  • The current value of the Schrempel Fund is $ 21, 824.  All grants from that fund have been paid out for the year.
 
Trustee Transitions:
  • The following departing board members were recognized for serving their three-year term on the board:
    • Steve Kalamar
    • Kerry Wrobel
    • Paul Florenz
  • The following individuals have been nominated and have accepted the position of serving a three- year term on the board beginning January 1, 2017
    • Dennis Domcheck
    • Cindy Glick
    • Deb Geiger
    • Mario Stuart
    • Lisa Jordan
  • Paul Florenz reported on the grant-making process of the Bethlehem Rotary Foundation.  He shared that 25 grant proposals totaling requests of over $70,188 were received from various not-for-profit organizations in our community for the $5,300 available to distribute.  Of the nine organizations that were selected, four joined us at our meeting to receive their checks in person, including:
    • Victoria Bastions representing Friends of Johnston
    • Paula Johnson representing Northeast Ministries
    • Jason Walters representing Wesley Church Community Gardens
    • Lisa Jordan, one of our own Rotarians, representing Touchstone Theatre
Other beneficiaries who were selected to receive grant funding included:
  • Bethlehem YMCA
  • Inglesia Esperanza
  • Junior League
  • New Bethany Ministries
  • NHCLV
  • Summerbridge Academy
  • Diane Donaher and Catherine Trawinski shared details of the upcoming food packing service project through a Rotary-endorsed organization called End Hunger NE, the east coast representative of Outreach Program.  This event has been selected as part of our Club’s efforts to alleviate hunger in our community and will be held on Saturday, March 11 at Haupert Union Building at Moravian College in Bethlehem. Rotarians from Area 2 Clubs will join together to package 20,000 basic nutritional meals for local food banks and food programs.  Each serving in the Rice & Beans and Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal packets contains 21 vitamins and minerals and 11 grams of protein.  Our Club’s investment of $2,000 will provide 7,776 meals for the following food pantries:  Salvation Army Pantry, Trinity UCC Pantry, Hispanic Center Pantry, Concordia Church and Central Moravian Church.   We need volunteers for the following shifts.
    • Shifts
      • 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM for Set Up: Two (2) Volunteers Needed
      • 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM for First Shift:  Thirteen (13) Volunteers Needed
      • 10:30 AM - 12:00 Noon for Second Shift: Thirteen (13) Volunteers Needed
      • 12:00 Noon – 1:30 PM for Cleanup: Two (2) Volunteers Needed
Please see Catherine or Diane to reserve your volunteer spot today!
  • Our February 8th program speaker is Mohammed Qahash, DDS, Program Director of the St. Luke’s Southside Dental Program. 
 
Other Upcoming Events/Activities:
  • A Celebration of Life for Bob Cohen will be held on March 25, 2017 at 11 AM at the UUCLVPA located at 424 Center Street in Bethlehem. 
  • Ginny Sandoval, Membership Chair, Allentown West Rotary, is organizing an International Women’s Day at Cedar Crest College on Wednesday, March 8, 2017 in an effort to recruit more women to Rotary.  The event will start with round table discussions form 3:00-5:00, followed by a celebration of women with networking, drinks, and snacks, and entertainment from 5:00-7:00.  Our District Governor, Linda Young, has been invited to join the effort, and Ginny has extended the invitation to area Clubs.  Despite it being geared toward women Rotarians, men are invited to attend as well!
  • Our District is planning a fun, yet impactful, service opportunity. On March 26-April 2, 2017, your fellow District 7430 Rotarians will be leaving for a 7 day round trip cruise, leaving from Miami and sailing to the Dominican Republic on the Fathom Adonia, an elegant, yet relaxed, 710 passenger ship.   Rotarians will have a chance to serve and participate in Impact such as teaching English, helping with tree planting and reforestation, making water filters for home use, pouring concrete floors, aiding a women’s chocolate cooperative as well as a paper recycling and craft entrepreneurship.  When not serving, you can relax at beautiful Amber Cove, a $90 million dollar facility, and enjoy the beach, hiking, touring, zip lining, deep sea fishing, snorkeling, and more!  Cost is $299 pp for an inside or outside cabin*, $599 pp for a room with balcony, $999 pp for a suite! Airfare and onshore leisure activities not included.
  • District Conference 7430, hosted by District Governor, Linda Young, is scheduled on May 5th - 7th, 2017, at the Eden Resort & Suites in Lancaster.  Conference ticket prices are $220.  Special Conference room rate is $169 - $189 per night for Friday, May 5 and Saturday, May 6, 2017. Rooms at this rate will be held until April 4, 2017.
  • Mark your calendars for Monday, May 15 (rain date is May 22) for our annual Rotary Golf Tournament at the Bethlehem Municipal Golf Course.  Proceeds will be benefiting the scholarship program at Bethlehem Area Vo-Tech School and other select Rotary charities.
 
Yours in Rotary Service,
 
 
Gail Evans
President
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Canadian Joel Dzuba credits his Rotary Youth Exchange year in Lower Saxony, Germany, with inspiring him to pursue a career in International Affairs and Policy. Says Dzuba, “my exchange year played a fundamental role in forming and shaping the person I am today.” Read more of Dzuba’s story.