Thank you to Randall Forte, the Executive Director for the Lehigh Valley Arts Council, for taking the time to speak with us this past Wednesday.  The mission of the Arts Council is to promote the value of the arts, foster collaboration in the community and encourage arts engagement for all people of the Lehigh Valley.  Randall’s presentation to us was a report out on the Arts and Economic Prosperity 5 Study.  This is a study that is done to measure the overall economic impact of the arts that are provided by non-profits in the Lehigh Valley.  It was encouraging to see the broad financial impact that can be provided by the offerings provided by the non-profits; however, it was a bit troubling to see the overall decline in performances offered.  If you would like to read more about the Lehigh Valley Arts Council, please visit their website at:

http://www.lvartscouncil.org/who-we-are/about-us/

Thank you to Lisa Jordan for inviting Randall to our meeting.

A special thank you to Deb Geiger, Cindy Glick, Diane Donaher and Pete Mickolay who continue to lead the charge in maintaining the park on Sand Island that was part of our Centennial Park project.  On Sunday, this crew pulled weeds, trimmed shrubs and raked leaves to make the park ready for the winter months.  Thank you for your hard work… here are some photos for us all to enjoy!

Some reminders:

• Our annual Thanksgiving Networking lunch is THIS WEEK!  I have received several RSVPs from members of other clubs, so please plan on attending this special lunch meeting.  The price is $20… $15 for lunch and $5 for Polio Plus.

• Board members, remember there is a Board meeting this Wednesday, 7:30AM at Moravian College.

• The Bethlehem Rotary will again support the Salvation Army by volunteering to ring the bell outside the Moravian Book Shop on Saturday, December 1^st.  Ron Bauer will be circulating a sign-up sheet at our meeting for those who are willing to serve.

• Registration for District Conference is open, and the early bird registration rates expire on 10/31.  The conference this year is in Allentown, so it will be very convenient for us all to attend.  Here is the link to view the event and get registered…

In addition to our Thanksgiving Networking lunch, this week we will also be hearing from Bernie Story and Megan Briggs from the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation. 

We also will be hearing from Biance Kamunida, a Freedom junior and BAVTS Shadow.