Our Greeter today was Ray Stock and he did a marvelous job.
President Dan Crane rang the bell at 7:30 a.m. Again we sort of sang the National Anthem as we watched a video of an artist creating a patriotic painting upside down in the time it took to sing it. It still is a beautiful sight.
Then we said the Pledge of Allegiance and Pastor Jean Masiko gave a very nice invocation that included a prayer for Mike Gschwendtner and his family.
President Dan says that the word from the country comes from President Abe Lincoln who said “No man has a good enough memory to be a good liar.”
GUESTS:
Steve LaPierre, Emmaus RC; and Ron Coleman’s girlfriend, Nancy.
We were pleased to see Vernon Fenstermaker with us today, and also Shirley Randall.
ROTARY SERVICE CRUISE OPPORTUNITY:
Join your fellow District 7430 Rotarians for a 7 day cruise, March 26-April 2, 2017 to the Dominican Republic. It combines all the amenities of a first-class cruise ship, beautiful port and beach facilities, and so important to all Rotarians, a chance to serve and participate in Impact Projects with the local inhabitants. Contact Mike Seidner at mrseidner@gmail.com or 215-350-1660 for more information
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
President Dan showed a slide of Greeter John Scott, our Student of the month, and then two views of “Old Herb” on the Appalachian Trail from last week’s great program.
Dan noted that our friend from 29 Cooks, Cindie Feldman, was on TV last week and competed and won a $10,000 prize.
The Centennial School in Sierra Leone has received 120 Dictionaries for the High School students. Herb Klotz will tell us more next week.
President Dan reminds us that as usual we have a lot of things to do. Please refer to the Nov 29th corrected version of the list e-mailed to us.
DATES TO REMEMBER:
The next Thursday Evening Happy Hour meeting is on December 8th.
Dec 2 we volunteer for the Kingdom of Life Food Pantry. Jean Masiko needs one more volunteer.
Dec 3 we volunteer for the Lowhill Food Pantry.
Dec 4th is our Holiday Party at 29 Cooks. Dress is casual. BYOB.
A special treat will be Dale Hostetter entertaining us with his Yip Stick story.
Gloria Zimmerman reminds us about providing gifts for a program run by the NWL High School students.
AND, of course, you can have your breakfast at our meetings sitting with Arch Klumph for a donation of $26.50 to the Rotary Foundation.
Dan reported that overall, the Purple Pinkie 5K event raised $17,253 for Polio Plus! AWRC gets credit for $1,300. See separate article.
NEXT WEEK our Greeter will be Dale Utt and our program will be Prabha Sinha, Pratyush Sinha Foundation about Yoga & Mindfulness Education in Schools/Transformative Learning.
LUCK of the DRAW:
Today’s door prize bottle of wine donated by Ray Stock was won by Wendy Weaver. Then Vernon’s ticket was drawn and he selected a white marble and did not win the $30 in the 50:50 pot.
FINES:
Substitute S-a-A Geoff Legg worked the room for some fines, but everybody was OK.
HAPPY DOLLARS:
Ginny Sandoval’s daughter has received her first -- of many, we hope -- scholarship award for college.
Ron Coleman is glad that Nancy is with him today, and also that he gives his Classification Talk today.
Ralph Witcher is happy that Nancy came to hear Ron’s talk.
Sue Weber is happy that she will introduce Ron for today’s presentation. And Sue also is happy that she met Ralph Witcher at Costco.
Halyna Stegura asks for prayers for her eye surgery tomorrow.
Joe Goll is doubly happy having spent time last week with the grandkids in Kansas City. He also finally bought Peggy the new car she wanted.
Steve LaPierre is happy that today is his Granddaughter’s 3rd birthday.
Steve also flaunted his Wisconsin Badgers necktie and predicted a win over Penn State.
Wendy Weaver put up $5 to Steve’s $1 that PSU will win.
Mitch Huston told an almost-funny joke.
Geoff Legg’s daughter appeared on TV CH 69.
Dan said he saw Halyna at Costco and then PDG Gary Fedorcha. They are calling it a mini Rotary meeting.
PROGRAM:
Our program today was introduced by Sue Weber and featured Ron Coleman presenting his Classification Talk. Sue and Bill have known Ron “The Realtor” for a long time, and sponsored him into AWRC. They even worked with him on some transactions.
Ron began with tales of his Father who was Police Officer and then a bus driver, and how they ended up in Allentown. Ron was born there in 1951. Early on he learned to play basketball and how to swim.
As a youth Ron loved that the Allentown Fair equipment was unloaded near him. He thought that the elephants were great to see. He at one time was a Barker at the Fair.
He started playing football in the 5th grade and continued through William Allen High School, where he was co-captain of the team.
Ron has two older sisters, Laura May and Sandra Kay, 15 and 10 years older. So he says he essentially was an only child growing up.
Ron was graduated from William Allen H.S. in 1969 and he went to college for a year and was not happy. In 1972 he began behaving like a Rotarian when he volunteered for weeks to help in flood ravaged Wilkes-Barre.
Ron then went to Paris Island -- not his favorite place -- from 1972 to 1975 serving in the U.S.M.C. leaving as a Corporal with an honorable discharge. He had assignments as an Armorer in Panama, and then at Quantico.
Ron then attended LCCC where he was on the Dean’s List for 4 semesters. He earned a two-year Real Estate degree. He has been licensed continuously since 1980. Ron worked for Century 21, then ERA and now is with The Frederick Group in Allentown. His specialties are Residential, Commercial and Investment properties.
Ron was married for 32 years and has a daughter and a son. He bragged about their many accomplishments.
In 2010 Ron received the Chamber of Commerce award as Pioneer of the Year which related to the Hamilton and Main Street projects. Ron likes what is happening in downtown now. He also is a board member of the Neighborhood Center. In 1986 he started basketball tournaments to benefit Special Olympics.
Ron likes to run, and has done two marathons. He likes to SCUBA dive…… and he likes Nancy.
CLOSING:
We recited the saying “They profit most who serve the best.”
