Today was an In-Person meeting at Cedar Crest College starting at 7:30 A.M. There were 24 of us present, plus 1 more on line.
Our Greeter was Gary Englehardt. Mitch Huston handled registration, prizes and Happy Dollars.
GUESTS:
Nick Millward, peace scholar in Australia; Earnie Bliss, who is transferring to our club; and Joanne Dillman, candidate for membership.
Earnie Bliss, Director of Operations for Amcor PET attended this morning. He was formerly a member of the Winchester, VA RC and would like to transfer to our club.
Joanne Dillman is the Training Manager for the German American Chamber of Commerce. She represents nine manufacturing companies in the area, including Pepsi/Keurig, and B Braun.
OPENING:
Pres. Gail Micca opened the meeting at 7:30 A.M.
Ernie Boll gave a nice invocation.
Ron Coleman led us in the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag.
Gail led us in reciting the Four Way Test, and added “Is it Fun?”
CELEBRATIONS:
Pres. Gail reviewed the member celebrations for April. see list below.
QUICK FUNDRAISER -- MARCH MADNESS SQUARES :
Pres. Gail reports that we had no cash winners in the march madness squares that were sold. But we had fun playing and we raised $1,140 for Snack Packing which covers the cost for one month!
Our kiddos are the winners!!
Thanks go to all who played to support this cause!
D7430 ANNUAL CONFERENCE -- MAY 5 to 7:
Registration Deadline is April 13th.
AWRC GREEN THUMB GARDEN:
Rotary Day of Service on April 29th will be at the Green Thumb Garden with Interact students. All are welcome to come and work.
PRIZES:
The $10 door prize donated by Gary Englehardt was won by Herb Klotz.
The $15 50:50 prize also was won by Herb Klotz.
HAPPY DOLLARS:
Sue Weber is happy to be back here.
Gail Micca is happy that their daughter is going to Portugal on Thursday.
Ralph Witcher is happy that son, Seth, is performing in N.J.
Ralph also is happy that Bill Keba brought in our speaker.
Ralph also is happy to report that our Speaker, Jon and his wife celebrated 48 years of marriage yesterday.
Bill Keba is happy to finally meet the Webers today.
Gwenn Carr is happy that Earnie Bliss and Joanne Dillman are here today.
Herb Klotz is happy to get to know Earnie Bliss today.
Tori Morgan is happy to report that she will have a helicopter parked in her parking lot.
Ernie Boll is happy that we soon will have two “Ernies” in our club.
Len Salines is happy for this nice Spring weather.
HIGHWAY CLEANUP APRIL 16TH:
Sharon will lead this effort starting at 7:30 a.m. this Sunday.
POTATO PROJECT ON APRIL 22:
Meet at St. Peter’s Church in Fleetwood.
PET SHOW MAY 7:
Tori Morgan announced this for the Chamber of Commerce.
DINING OUT – MAY:
Bill Keba said we plan to go to the Casa Catrina Mexican Restaurant on Brookside Dr.
SNACK PACKING:
The next Snack Packing event at Parkland is on April 12th.—TODAY.
After that it is on May 17th.
If anyone wants to help, they should email Diana Dunn at dunndianas@gmail.com
The NWL Snack Packing dates are - Wednesday, April 19th at 2:05 and Wednesday, May 17th at 2:05.
STEM YEA UPDATE:
See separate article.
ROTARY DAY OF SERVICE:
April 29th is this district-wide event. Pres. Gail has scheduled work at the Green Thumb Garden. Please come help.
KINGDOM LIFE FOOD DISTRIBUTION:
The upcoming dates for Kingdom Life Food Pantry Giveaway are:
Saturdays – April 15 and May 13.
Each time we start at 7:30 A.M. and usually are finished by 9:30 A.M. Volunteers are needed.
PARKLAND C.A.R.E.S. PRODUCE DELIVERY:
The Pantry will hold its food distributions on the first Saturday of each month for all of 2023. The next date is May 6.
Three volunteers are needed each time.
Food collections for Parkland C.A.R.E.S. will be held the third Wednesday of each month at the Pantry on Kernsville Road.
MEALS ON WHEELS:
Meal delivery by AW Rotarians takes place twice each week. Helen Papathanasiou needs substitute volunteers. Helen thanked Ron Coleman for filling in.
INTERACT AND OTHER BREAKFASTS:
On Wednesday, April 19th – NEXT WEEK - we will hold an In-Person meeting at LCTI starting at 7:30 A.M. The event is to honor the Student of the Month and to discuss their plans.
We will hold an Interact breakfast on May 31 at the Parkland H.S. Library. Start time is 7:30 A.M.
SPONSORS ARE NEEDED TO PAY FOR THE STUDENTS’ MEALS.
D7430 TRAING ASSEMBLY:
This is open to us all. It is on April 22 at the Bucks County Community College. Registration fee will be reimbursed by the club if you attend.
YOUTH EXCHANGE ISSUES:
Please work with Chris Blechschmidt to take our Y.E. student, Sam, to complete his “bucket list.”
ALSO, while we have one host family, we need a second family to take in next year’s Y.E. student. The Blechschmidts are not available for 2023-24.
MEETING SCHEDULE:
The second and fourth Wednesday of each month are In-Person meetings at Cedar Crest College.
The first Wednesday of each month will be a Dining Out meeting, or equal. It might not be on a Wednesday.
The third Wednesday of each month will be a ZOOM ONLY meeting with a program, unless we have a better idea.
FUTURE TOURS, ETC.:
All members are asked to make suggestions to Gail Micca about other tours, Dining Out events, etc. for future meetings.
NEXT MORNING MEETING IN-PERSON:
April 19 IN-PERSON at LCTI -- Lehigh Career & Technical Institute, 4500 Education Park Dr, Schnecksville, PA. We start at 7:30 A.M. Breakfast will be available.
The program will be The Student of the Month.
PROGRAM:
Program Chair, Ralph Witcher, introduced John Dancey, Former Detective in the N.J. State Police to talk about “The Mysteries of Being a N.J. State Trooper.
John Dancey is a decorated retired N.J. State Trooper, having served in several capacities after graduating the Academy. While stationed in uniformed duty in Central N.J., he patrolled rural areas of the State, and was responsible for handling everything from motor vehicle accidents to minor and major crime investigations.
Required to have toll road experience, he was transferred and stationed on the Garden State Parkway for several years. He then transferred to his final road posting at Ft. Dix, where a State Police barracks was located outside of the Ft. Dix Military Base.
He was later promoted to Detective, and served in the Intelligence Bureau for the remainder of his career,. There he and fellow members of his unit worked against organized crime figures, drug runners and outlaw biker gangs.
John also was trained in hostage negotiation. One of the highlights of his career was meeting and speaking with David Wilentz, who was the prosecutor in the Lindbergh kidnapping in the 1930's.
His interests include music, amateur radio and hunting. He is married and has 4 children and 9 grandchildren.
John thanked us for this invitation and told a joke. Without slides John told us the story about the Training and evolution of the N.J. State Troopers.
On March 29, 1921 N.J. created the State Police concept for the state. They started with 1,200 applicants and graduated but 20.This severe training and low results continues today.
At the beginning trainees had to learn about horses and about motorcycles. That is how they moved around.
In the 1930s there were only 208 Troopers in the whole state of N.J. BTW, Troopers who wanted to get married had to have their fiancée approved first. The background checks were deep and thorough.
In 1932 a Trooper had a flat tire and was heard cursing loudly. He was terminated.
In the 1940s they formed an Intelligence Bureau among others.
In 1975 they added the first female Trooper. Then in 1977 John joined up.
In 1980 they graduated their first all-female class.
John said that the Training Academy was the toughest in all of the U.S. One year 18,000 tested to start. Only 85 finished.
The candidates and their family members were extensively checked. The training itself was very hard. They were up at 6 a.m. doing exercises, and had classes all day, and more chores in the evenings. They had to learn to box and to wrestle. John‘s training lasted 17 weeks, and he hated every day. Today the training lasts 25 weeks.
John lost 20 lbs. during his training.
At that time a Trooper had a pistol and 36 cartridges, a pair of handcuffs, and a radio. Depending on the geography, the radio sometimes did not work.
He noted that they insisted that every Trooper always looked well dressed. Their shoes were shined as well as their belt. Also their employment has to be reapproved every two years.
In 1982 John went under cover with a partner. Then he let his hair grow as well as his beard. He also was trained and was part of the D.E.A.
John said that he has enjoyed his career immensely. He answered a number of questions.
CLOSING:
Pres. Gail led us in reciting our motto “One profits most who serves best,” and closed the meeting.
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