At our February 21st meeting, we heard from our Artisan-of-the-Month Ryan Brown. Ryan is a student in the engineering program at BAVTS and a senior at Freedom H.S. He and his instructor, Judy Milositz, joined us for lunch.
Buck Jones announced that our Fun & Fellowship Committee has scheduled our annual Bowl & Bites social at Revolutions for March 1st from 6:00 to 8:00. It has always been a fun time, even for us below average bowlers. Please attend.
Paul Florenz thanked our club for the get well card, and reminded our male Rotary members that the only way to protect yourself from prostate cancer is to have an annual checkup.
Our speaker was Carol Hart Metzker, who spoke about Slavery and Human Trafficking. Carol is a member of the West Chester Downtown Rotary Club and was the recipient of Rotary International’s “Service Above Self” award in 2010 for her work on Human Trafficking. There is an excellent summary of Carol’s background on our website and more information on our Bethlehem Rotary Facebook page.
Her key point when speaking to our club was that we can all do something about this problem. Current estimates are that there are over 40 million people in slavery around the world today, which is 4 times the number who were enslaved during the height of the slave trade in 1840. It is important that we first recognize that there is a problem, and then help to call attention to it in our community. Although the U.S. has a relatively low level of Human Trafficking, it is still a surprise to many people that it exists in the U.S. and the Lehigh Valley. Rotary International has taken on the issue as one of its priorities around the world. RI has established the Rotary Action Group Against Slavery, and more information can be found at www.ragas.online.
Later in the day, Carol spoke to a group of Moravian students. The talk was sponsored by Bethlehem Rotary Club, and it is our hope that programs like this will help our club to establish a connection with students on the Moravian campus.
Many thanks to our Program Committee for arranging the speaker and the Moravian Campus visit. Next week’s speaker will be Dee Dee Foran who will deliver her Classification Talk.
Announcements:
Please consider donating an item for the Bethlehem Rotary Basket to be auctioned at the Annual District 7430 Foundation Gala. Dee Dee will be collecting items for the basket at our Feb. 28th meeting.
Our Annual Bowl & Bites event is scheduled for Thursday March 1st at 6:00 at Revolutions, 3717 Rt. 378, Bethlehem. Please plan on attending. Family is welcomed to attend.
Our 2018 Hunger Outreach event at Moravian College is scheduled for March 10th. If you haven’t signed up yet, please contact Past President Gail Evans.
Our District 7430 District Conference is scheduled for April 27-29 at the Crowne Plaza in Wyomissing, PA. Any Rotary member can attend for one day, or all three days. In addition to being a great social event, it is also a great networking event. Please consider signing up for at least one day. Dee Dee and I will be attending, so if anyone would like a ride, you are welcome to travel with us.
Left to Right: President Gerry Foran, Karley Biggs Sebia, Tracy Bozik
At our Club's December 13th Annual Meeting, President Gerry Foran inducted Karley Biggs Sebia as our Club's newest member. Karley is an attorney with the firm of King, Spry, Herman, Freund, & Faul, LLC. in Bethlehem. She has extensive experience and interest in childhood education issues. Please welcome Karly to our Rotary Family.
Left to Right: Diane Donaher, George Mowrer, Brennan Pursell, Gail Evans
At our Wednesday, December 13th annual meeting, Diane Donaher presented a special Paul Harris Award to Dr. Brennan Pursell to recognize his outstanding work on our Centennial Park Project. All members can feel justly proud of the contribution our Club was able to toward improving our Bethlehem community, with his leadership. Thanks to all of our members who participated.
After decades of crafting squash-blossom necklaces, pendants, and bracelets, Jerry Domingo knew he would have to quit making jewelry, because he couldn’t see very well anymore. The sturdy Navajo grandfather lives in the desert of New Mexico, miles from modern conveniences. Although electric lines transverse land just hundreds of yards from his front door, the permissions and work to connect to that power would cost more than $30,000. Read how Rotary members in Durango, Colorado, USA, are teaming up with Navajo Nation to bring solar lights to off-the-grid homes on the country’s largest Native American reservation.
