Today was a face-to-face meeting where AW Rotarians had a breakfast together. We also had a Zoom meeting. There were 22 people at the Starlite Diner and we had 16 people on line that participated in the meeting remotely.
Ron Coleman was our Greeter. Mitch Huston handled registration and 50:50 tickets, and Happy Dollars. Ralph Witcher made sure that the P.A. system and the Zoom signals worked for us.
GUEST:
Kathy and Glen Rader and Ben Long, guests of Tori Morgan; Nick Millward and his Parents via zoom; William Deslatte, a.k.a. “RED” guest of the club; Andrea Danic, our 2018-19 Exchange student from Croatia; Helen Papathanasiou, guest of Gail Micca; and Rose Phillips, Emmaus RC.
OPENING:
Pres. Gail Micca rang the bell at 7:30 a.m. and welcomed us all.
Ralph Witcher gave a very nice invocation,.
After some time to chat and eat, Pres. Gail had us recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the U.S. and led us in the recitation of the Four Way Test to which we added “Is it fun?”
AWRC HISTORY STORY:
Past President, Ernie Boll, via zoom delivered today’s story about our Grants and projects with E.W.B. in Sierra Leone. Diana Dunn provided the write-up.
CELEBRATIONS:
Pres. Gail displayed the list of December member celebration events.
She then called up Gil Keller and presented him with a plaque for his 50 years of service as a Rotarian.
CHRISTMAS CAKE:
Herb Klotz took possession from Kathy Ott of one of Kathy’s famous Christmas cakes.
AWRC EXCHANGE STUDENT:
Rose Phillips announced that we will be sponsoring an Exchange student to go out next year.
VOTE FOR AWRC BOARD:
Pres. Gail said that the vote will happen in January.
HAPPY DOLLARS & PRIZES:
S-a-A Mitch Huston had a number drawn and Geoff Legg won $8 from the 50:50. Then Len Salines won the bottle of wine door prize donated by Ron Coleman.
Geoff Legg is happy that he won. So is Len Salines.
Ben Long is happy that he soon will be a Dad.
Bill Palmer is happy that on Christmas Eve morning, nine Palmers and significant others will participate in the 51st consecutive family bowling event..
Herb Klotz is happy that he just experienced a great week with Gwenn and Gary on the Caribbean island of St. Martin.
Gail Micca is happy that their son is home for the holidays.
“RED” is happy for his great family and community.
Glen Rader is happy that the Marine Vets donated over 400 bags of toys for children.
INDUCTIONS:
Laurie Grube on line conducted the induction ceremony that added Debbie Jack -- sponsored by Gail Micca -- and Clay Reilly -- sponsored by Herb Klotz -- as the AWRC’s newest members. The pinning ceremony will happen at a face-to-face meeting.
HONORARY PAUL HARRIS FELLOW AWARD:
Nick Millward was awarded an Honorary PHF award in recognition of his continued service projects here and abroad.
AWARD TO “RED”:
William Deslatte, otherwise known as RED was our guest today to recognize his generous donation of a huge amount of used baseball equipment for the children of Mongolia.
The award is a special hat saying “3rd Neighbor Project” and AWRC.
MONGOLIAN BASEBALL EQUIPMENT:
Nick Millward has an arrangement to transport the massive pile of equipment to the group in Mongolia, and the cost is $2,500. One member volunteered to donate $100. And in two minutes the committed donations were over $2,000. AND about $900 of that was from our non-Rotarian guests!
The items will be shipped in January and arrive about 5 months later.
SNACK PACKING:
Monday Dec.20th was at Parkland High School and Kathy Ott said we assembled 256 snack packs.
CASINO NIGHT AT THE WHEELS MUSEUM:
We still are proceeding with the date of January 29th. We continue to seek sponsors.
Please register and invite family and guests. We still need more sponsors.
DISTRICT CONFERENCE:
Please consider attending this great event in April 2022 at the Hersey Lodge.
Save $50 by registering before January 15, 2022.
SERVICE PROJECT:
See the left side of this bulletin.
Habitat for Humanity – Any Tuesday or Thursday morning
contact Amir, familiamir@gmail.com
STATUS OF MORNING MEETINGS:
The first and third Wednesday meetings will be via Zoom. The second and fourth will be in-person
NO MEETING ON DECEMBER 29.
NEXT MORNING MEETING:
Wednesday January 5 via Zoom starting at 7:30 a.m. Come on at 7:15 and chat. Our program will be .
MEETING SITE CHANGE:
Our January 12th in-person meeting will take place at the Parkland Community Library at 4422 Walbert Ave, Allentown. This was arranged by Debbie Jack.
We will continue our in-person meetings there through March. Stephanie Fenstermacher of the Buttered Crumb will supply some breakfast food.
We need some volunteers to set up a coffee station each time.
PROGRAM:
Program Chair, Ralph Witcher, introduced Christina 'Tori' Morgan, South Whitehall Township, to deliver her Classification Talk. Ralph said that “Tori IS life.”
Tori introduced us to her husband, Jeff, and their twins. She said that her Mother is her hero.
Tori Morgan -- My Story -- a.k.a. Christina
Attended Loyalsock Twp. High School, Williamsport PA
Then to Muhlenberg College 1990, and earned a B.S in Biology/Psychology. This allows her to talk with the animals.
Tori’s career includes:
Entech Engineering – 2020
Senior Project Manager/Compliance Coordinator
SUEZ Environmental – 1995-2020
Certified Water, Wastewater, Collection System, Industrial Operator; Compliance Manager
Tori’s Community Service work:
South Whitehall Tsp (SWT) Planning Commission- 4 years
Board of Commissioners- 14 years
Community of Distinction
Twp Manager of the Year
Governor’s Award- 2021
Campus Renovations/Parkland Community Library partnership
Police Dept. Accreditation
Jordan Greenway
Covered Bridge Park & pocket parks
Streamline Ordinances
Comprehensive Plan
Covid Business Grant
Enhancements to Open Space
Building strong relationships with Community Stakeholders
Volunteer Fire Incentive Program
As a member of the Western Lehigh Chamber of Commerce, Tori was the Events Committee, and served on the Energy and Environment Committee.
Tori is Proud to be a Part of the Positive ---
Parkland Education Foundation
Parkland Business Advisory Counsel
Lehigh Valley Planning Commission
Travis Manion Foundation
Meals on Wheels
Mikala’s Voice Tri for Inclusion
Allentown West Rotary Club --
CLOSING:
Pres. Gail led us in reciting our motto “One profits most who serves best.”, rang the bell and adjourned the meeting.
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