Today was a Zoom meeting with 38 people on line. After some conversations President Ralph Witcher opened the meeting at 7:30 A.M.
GUESTS ON LINE:
Capt. Nick Millward, Rotary Peace Fellowship winner calling in from Japan; DGE Bob Hobaugh, Kutztown RC; Geoff Boyer, Emmaus RC; Karen and William Rodgers, guests of Gail Micca; Tori Morgan, Mike Stoski, Andrea Tinininow, Rose Galeano-Phillips, and John Nann-Delaware.
HAPPY DOLLARS AND COMMENTS:
During the conversation, Ralph Witcher admitted to being born circa 1955. He and Bob Hobaugh were discussing collectibles, e.g. baseball cards.
Ihor Fedoriw and Ron Coleman, each with family, met by chance as they ate at the 3501 restaurant
Tori Morgan is happy and excited to be on today. She is part of the South Whitehall Twsp. Government.
Bill Palmer is happy that his son, Richard, has been promoted to Vice President of the construction company for which he has been the Tunneling Division Manager.
Jean Masiko is happy that there should not be any fresh snow this Saturday as they distribute food at Kingdom Life Food Center.
Karen Rodgers is most happy that husband Bill made it a great Valentine’s Day for them.
Michelle Steiner is happy that she received the AW Valentine Raffle card in the mail last week.
Ron Coleman said he saw on TV that Bill Gates is working on ways to use the CO2 being created.
Marlene Heller is happy to report that their daughter and family all are doing OK as they have contracted covid19.
OPENING:
Pres. Ralph gave a very nice invocation. Then he led us in the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S.
CELEBRATION DATES:
Pres. Ralph displayed the list of February members and their celebration dates.
Pres. Ralph again said “The world needs more Rotarians.”
THE FOUR-WAY TEST EXAMPLE:
Pres. Ralph played 3 different videos about the 4 Wat Test. The one with Japanese Sumo wrestlers dancing was a hit.
Ralph then played a 1-1/2 minute video story promoting RCs to post the Rotary 4-Way test on school classroom bulletin boards.
Marlene Heller then read to us the 4 items and asked for volunteers to tell about a recent application of the 4 Way Test in their life.
Marlene told of neighbors of her daughter calling and offering to help in some way. Marlene at first said everything was under control But she was fibbing and corrected herself. Those neighbors took food and supplies to her daughter and family.
MEMBERSHIP:
Pres. Ralph welcomed our guests who were on with us today.
AWRC VALENTINE’S DAY RAFFLE:
Kathy Ott had this idea and she and Gail Micca made it happen. They addressed and mailed Valentines to each member that included a raffle number.
During this meeting Kathy had a bag with tickets with numbers and a list of member names and drew the winning name -- Amir Famili. The prizes are a dinner for two plus a special cake by Kathy who is a Master Baker. Amir will donate these prizes to the staff at the Lohill Food Pantry.
SNCK PACKING:
Pres. Ralph reported that over 240 snack packs were prepared for distribution in Parkland outlets.
CONGRATULATIONS TO BARBARA KISTLER:
Barbara is scheduled to receive the highest award on National Women’s Day next month. Great work Dr. Kistler!
KINDOM LIFE DISTRIBUTION:
AW and friends are asked to volunteer to distribute food items on Saturday morning Feb 20th. Contact Jean Masiko please.
NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION:
Pres. Ralph announced that next Wednesday we will have a new member induction ceremony.
And on March 6th there will be a new member orientation session.
NEW MEMBER INCENTIVE PROGRAM:
D7430 Membership Chair, Gary Volpe, announced S.T.A.R.T. This is an acronym for Simply Talk About Rotary Today. There is no better way to grow membership than to talk about the good we do. Over the next three months we will be receiving bi-weekly emails with tips and best practices to help us attract new members.
District 7430 will provide a $100 to our RC as an incentive to attract each new member joining between February 1st to April 30th 2021.
ROTARY LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE (RLI):
Please see the separate article.
YOUR SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES:
Service Chair, Gail Micca, asks that you take a look at this section on the left side of this bulletin.
STATUS OF MORNING MEETINGS:
The AWRC B.O.D. has suspended all AWRC face-to-face meetings until further notice. Zoom meetings are now scheduled for each Wednesday at 7:30 A.M.
NEXT MORNING MEETING:
Wednesday February 24, 2021 starting at 7:30 a.m. We will use Zoom to meet. Our program will be Erin Harris, SVP & CFO discussing Preventative Measures, Challenges & Triumphs of Providing Essential Mental Health and Home Health Services during Covid-19.
STATUS OF THURSDAY EVENING MEETING:
No Thursday evening meetings are planned until after the pandemic..
PROGRAM:
Pres. Ralph Witcher introduced Dr. John (Jack) Cunningham, New Castle Police Chief (Retired) to provide Reflections on 45 Years of Public Safety. Jack was a member of a Rotary Club for 5 years. And he supposedly is a good singer.
Dr Cunningham shared innovative insights and best practice ideas that work towards improving Public-Private Partnerships and Organizational Accountability.
With almost five decades of policing experience Jack shared his personal journey through last year. He offered his thoughts and reflections on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the murder of George Floyd. Hegave his unique perspectives on the evolution of policing in the United States, how the police community is currently situated and suggestions for improving the state of the profession.
Jack is a twenty-nine-year veteran of the New Castle County Police Department (Delaware), retiring in 2003 after serving his last seven years as Chief of Police. During his career Colonel Cunningham served as a police cadet, uniform patrol officer, patrol and detective sergeant, platoon commander, Research, Development and Inspections Unit Commander, and Criminal Investigations Section Commander. While serving as Detective Sergeant, Jack was assigned to the Serial Homicide Task Force which culminated with the arrest and conviction of Stephen Pennell for the murder of five women.
Dr. Cunningham retired as an Assistant Vice President of Administrative and Legal Affairs at Wilmington University in 2020. He has also served several area colleges and universities as an adjunct faculty member. Dr. Cunningham is a 2006 Graduate of Wilmington University and holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Innovation. He also holds an Associates Degree in Police Science.
When the pandemic arrived last year Jack took himself out of retirement and talked to people all through 2020. He saw fear, kindness, hand-wringing, and some positive things. The question was and is how to get back to normal. He said that it is a new normal ahead.
For example, some businesses that are working from home now have found that it is OK. So when they can go back to their work places, only a small percentage of workers will go to an office. And a lot less office space will be used or needed.
Jack told stories from his experience. He concluded with saying that today is the highest Security Military model. Jack specifically said that Defunding Police Depts. Will NOT provide the right reforms.
CLOSING:
Pres Ralph led us in the saying “One profits most who serves best.”
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