Bethlehem Rotary got a sneak preview last Wednesday of the big plans for Bethlehem's 275th anniversary celebration in Spring, 2016. Lynn Cunningham, Senior Vice President for Bethlehem of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and Chairperson of the 275th festivities, filled us in on the upcoming events for the celebration. A gala fundraiser will be held at the Hotel Bethlehem on April 5th, and the community wide celebration at Steel Stacks will take place on June 20th. Lynn invited Rotary to participate in the anniversary. Given our own 100th anniversary in 2016, it seems like a nice fit and a very Rotarian thing to do. More details to follow...
We also inducted Brennan Pursell into our club on Wednesday. Brennan's classification is business consulting, and he serves in that capacity at Glenser technologies in Bethlehem. Brennan is also a historian by profession who teaches history at DeSales University. His sponsor for Rotary is Dennis Morton. Welcome, Brennan, to the Bethlehem Rotary Club.
Other News
Veda Sutliff and Emily Viola, two "shadow" students from the Bethlehem Area Vocational Technical School, attended the meeting and briefly introduced themselves. They thanked the Club for its support of Vo-Tech student over the years.
Speaking on behalf of the Bethlehem Rotary Foundation, Pat Connell asked for our help in seeking out proposals for funding support from local not-for-profits for the upcoming year. Applications are on the Bethlehem Rotary Foundation's website (not the RI website) and the deadline for submission is October 15th. This is a nice opportunity for local or area organizations to get some additional help in meeting their goals.
Megan Best from Taggert Associates is asking for Rotary's help in a "Clean the World" project, offered in cooperation with the Sands Corporation. Recycled and unused soap, shampoo and other hygiene products from the Sands Hotel will be packaged and sent to families in need in our area. The date for assembling the kits is Saturday, September 26th in a tent adjacent to the hotel. Volunteers are asked to commit to a two hour shift. We will have sign up sheets available next week at the registration desk. Please consider helping for a few hours.
Help Wanted
It's not Rotary election season yet, but we are in serious need for newer or veteran Rotarians to step up to serve as Assistant Secretary and Assistant Webmaster. We need help for the remainder of this Rotary year, and ideally the Assistant Secretary would be willing to be nominated for the position of Secretary next year.
At the conclusion of Wednesday's meeting Rotarian Hal Funt volunteered to serve as Assistant Treasurer. Please consider joining Hal in volunteering for these two positions.
Upcoming
On Wednesday, September 16th, new Rotarian Chris Brown will give his classification talk, and we'll have our first "Happy Bucks" session of the year. Come prepared to share some happy news about yourself, your family, your career, or anything else that made you sing in the shower recently.
Wine Needed
The Tastes and Tunes Committee requests that all of us bring at least one bottle of wine (unopened, please) to Wednesday's meeting. The wine will be added to the silent auction items for the big event. Thanks in advance.
Important Upcoming Dates:
October 4: Tastes and Tunes
October 7: District Governor Doug Cook comes to Rotary
October 8: District 7430 Golf Outing at Silver Creek
Until Wednesday, continue to be a gift to the community.
Nigeria and the continent of Africa have gone a year without a polio case caused by wild poliovirus. But as significant as these accomplishments are, we have not yet reached our goal of a polio-free world. To mark World Polio Day, Rotary will host a streamed global status update on 23 October, sharing information about these recent milestones and focusing on the work that remains to be done.
.jpg)