Today was a ZOOM meeting and there were 34 of us on line. After 15 minutes of talking amongst ourselves our Greeter and President Amir Famili, opened the meeting at 7:45 A.M. Pastor Jean Masiko gave a very nice invocation.
GUESTS ON LINE:
DGN Bob Hobaugh, Kutztown RC.
Secretary John Scott began the meeting by having the members recite The Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag. Then he led us in reciting the Four Way Test.
Pres. Amir thanks all “first responders” and other Essential Workers for what they do and asks all to pray for them.
OUR NEWEST RC HELPS AT KINGDOM LIFE:
Jean Masiko reports on the Kingdom Life Food Bank June 7 Giveaway---
Thanks so much to Herb Klotz who invited and encouraged the new Lehigh Valley Passport Rotary Club Members to come and help us distribute food. There were eight of these new Rotarians who came. Their help was really appreciated. Over 350 Families were served on that very warm Saturday.
s
The Allentown West members who participated were: Rick Bloom, Ralph Witcher and myself. Thank you to all for supporting this worthwhile cause. The next distribution will be on Saturday June 20th. MORE AWRC members are needed to help.
GREEN THUMB GARDEN PROJECT:
Gail Micca reports “The Green Thumbs Garden Project is coming along nicely. This past Monday, two young gardeners, Claire Svetz and Kelly Micca helped to weed and water. They also planted a thick row of radishes and beets, and seeded some basil near the tomatoes.
Beautiful hand crafted garden signs were painted by Lori Peter’s daughter and they will be placed this week.
Water barrels were filled by friends of the garden. This makes watering so much easier because we don’t have to haul water from the trough. I have also purchased a hoe, a hand shovel and watering can so you can stop by any time to sprinkle the plants or pull a few weeds.
So far, we have planted onions, garlic, zucchini, tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, lettuce, kale, radish and beets.
Please let me know if you have any interest in helping.”
Gail Micca also needs Rotarians to help distribute snackpacks and cereal on Tuesday, June 23rd as Parkland C.A.R.E.S. Food Pantry holds their drive through event along with Rotary and other community supporters at Kernsville Elementary School. Please reach out to Gail if you’d like to help - gailmicca@gmail.com
LOWHILL FOOD PANTRY:
This is one of our many hunger projects that needs our support regularly.
HELP OUR TEMPTING TASTES FRIENDS:;
Our leaders have agreed to publically ask members and friends to support the Restaurants and food suppliers that have supported us in the past. Using Facebook, our weekly A-W Bulletin, and by buying gift cards and food from them.
Restaurants and providers are now hungry for our support. Please consider ordering from them when you are looking for a break from your own cooking! You can also support them with the purchase of gift cards, for yourself or others. Our TT Food Partner this week is New York Gyro at 513 North 7th Street in Allentown. See separate article.
MORNING MEETINGS;
President Amir Famili has suspended all AWRC face-to-face meetings until further notice. ZOOM meetings are now scheduled for each Wednesday at 7:30 A.M.
THURSDAY EVENING SCHEDULE:
TOMORROW, June 11th at 5:30 P.M. we will hold a ZOOM Happy Hour meeting. Just show up and smile with a drink in your hand optional..
VIRTUSL RI 2020 CONVENTION:
DG Herb Klotz reminds us that RI will be conducting the planned Honolulu Convention virtually starting June 20th. The speakers will be amazing, and there is no cost to participate.
NEW D7430 CLUBS BEING CHARTERED:
DG Herb Klotz has announced that we will be virtually chartering two new district Rotary clubs:
Montgo-New Britain on June 15 at 5:30 P.M.
Lehigh Valley Passport club on June 16 at 6:30 P.M.
These are Zoom Webinars and you must register to get the website login.
SIERRA LEONE PROJECT ZOOM MEETING:
Gary Englehardt announced that Engineers Without Borders on June 16 at 7:00 A.M. will conduct a status report on the Matru Hospital project that AW Rotarians support. Contact gary for login information.
Bob Hobaugh said that the annual antique car show in Macungie -- Das Awkscht Fescht has been cancelled.
Pres. Amir said that right now Luther Crest still is not allowing any guests to enter their buildings.
Ralph Witcher said that Music Fest this Summer has lost its key performers. There will be some music covered by Service Electric TV.
NEXT MORNING MEETING:
Wednesday June 17 starting at 7:30 a.m. We will use ZOOM to meet together with appropriate distancing. Our program will be
HAPPY DOLLARS and MEMBER NEWS:
Pres. Amir conducted this part and kept score on who owes how much money. BTW it is $2 for ZOOM happiness.
Amir Famili explained about trees and late frost and a poor yield.
Amir is happy to announce that Dr. Bob Gordon will be with us on July 15th.
Halyna Stegura has been working in their garden and frequently finds herself saying “Didn’t I just pull out that weed?”
Bill Palmer complimented Gary Englehardt on finding a barber to give him such a great haircut. It turns out that Gwenn is that barber.
Marlene Heller noted that men can get nice haircuts from their wives, but it seems that wives won’t let their husbands cut their hair.
Gwenn Carr is happy that Gary likes his haircut.
John Scott is very happy that school is over tomorrow.
Jeanne Shipe is happy that she attended the Whitehall Area RC Zoom meeting on Tuesday.
Gail Micca is happy that Penn DOT has approved our Highway Cleanup Project again. She will e-mail the details.
Sue Weber congratulates Gail Micca for the Green Thumb Garden project progress.
PROGRAM:
Pres. Amir introduced Liesel Gross, the Chief Executive Officer of Lehigh County Authority. They are a regional water and sewer utility in eastern Pennsylvania. They serve a population of 200,000. In an industry led predominantly by engineers.
Liesel brings a unique non-technical perspective to utility management, focusing on collaboration, community involvement and employee engagement as her key tools for success. Her service to the utility has included developing communications, customer care and billing programs. Also she has been implementing new technology and knowledge management programs, negotiating contracts, and driving a teamwork culture.
Liesel is an active member of a variety of national and state professional organizations within the water industry. She holds degrees in journalism, public relations and public administration.
Liesel thanks us for inviting her to be here today. Using a series of slides, she began with some history. The Lehigh County Authority (LCA) was created in 1966. Before then both the drinking water and the sewer systems in the county were small stand-alone companies.
The Lehigh County executives created the LCA and a board of directors to lead it. About 34 water distribution entities and 20 sewer systems are included over the 1970s and 80s.
LCA acts independently and uses no tax revenues, but does get an occasional grant. It has no shareholders. Today they serve 20 municipalities and about 200,000 customers. The[r latest operating budget is about $38 million.
Liesel said their current challenge is that the infrastructure has reached its limit on volume. There is a 5 year plan underway to address the needs of the next 30 years. They operate the Allentown Water system and their original Suburban Division, The new infrastructure is quite expensive with an estimated $129 million expense over 5 years.
CLOSING:
Pres. Amir led us in the saying “One profits most who serves best.”