This Wednesday, I had the honor of speaking with the Club about our goals and planned activities for the 2015-2016 Rotary year.
At the outset, I highlighted what I believe are the Bethlehem Club's many strengths, including meaningful community service projects, outstanding networking opportunities, engaging (and fun filled) activities and the generosity of members in sharing both their time and treasure.
This year's goals will include increasing membership to a reachable 110 members, lowering our Club's average age by a year or two, earning a Presidential Citation from RI, and achieving 100% membership participation in contributions to the Rotary Foundation.
I won't include the entire list here, but we will continue some familiar ongoing projects this year, including the Dictionary Project, Four Way Test Speech Contest (with Morningstar) and several others. In addition, we have been a major contributor, along with the Morningstar and Allentown Clubs, aided by a District grant) in the Community Bike Works Van Project. Our club will work to secure a van to collect and transport bicycles to needy youth (and adults) in the Allentown and Bethlehem areas.
Our "special events" will again include our very own "Taste and Tunes," scheduled for October 4th at the Hotel Bethlehem, this year benefiting the Boys and Girls Club. In addition, we are planning a gala Centennial Dinner at the Hotel Bethlehem celebrating our 100th anniversary as a Club. This year we will also be hosting Rotary Youth Exchange Student Paula Fabon from Spain, who will arrive in mid-August. We also hope to help in some way the City of Bethlehem's preparations to celebrate the 275th anniversary of the Christmas City.
Thanks to all who have made the Bethlehem Rotary Club one of the best clubs in District 7430, and to all the present Officers, Directors, Committee chairs and many active members who will keep that momentum going.
A Successful Golf Outing
We received very good news on the golf outing that was held on June 22nd after a stormy day canceled our original date. This year's net proceeds exceeded $14,600 (up from about $9000 last year). This means that the beneficiary, the Bridges Foundation of the Bethlehem Area Vocational Technical School (BAVTS, will receive $10,000. The remaining $4600 will be divided equally between the Bethlehem and Bethlehem Morningstar Clubs to support our service projects this year. Great news, and many thanks to the Golf Committee members for their hard work in making the tournament a success.
Other News
Past President Ham Malek announced that he will be hosting a Wine and Cheese reception to solicit support for Rotary International's "Million Dollar Journey" project. Stay tuned for more details.
Ron Bauer continues to update directory information for this year on Club Runner. If you haven't updated your information yet, please see Ron or me to do so.
Meeting This Week:
Our next meeting will be July 29th at Moravian Village. Our own Jeff Parks and Darlene Heller will speak on "Wayfinding: Bethlehem's Citywide Signage System."
Until then, be a gift to the community!
Yours in Rotary,
Mike McGovern, President
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