The Greeter this morning was Mike Henry and he did a fantastic job, even handing out our badges.
President Herb rang the bell at 7:30 a.m. Chuck Ehninger gave a very nice invocation, with special mention of Vern, Dale Utt and Mae Hostetter.
GUESTS:
Ginny Sandoval; Mary Ann Pickal, guest of Mitch Huston; and Dr. Thomas Rushton, our newest member as of today.
There were 32 attendees this morning in spite of the slippery roads.
NEW MEMBER INDUCTION:
Dr. Thomas “Tim” Rushton was inducted as our newest member. See separate article.
FOOD PANTRY COLLECTION:
The monthly collection to buy produce for the Lowhill Food Pantry today totaled $286. Thank you Rotarians.
Herb read to us a thank you letter from the Lowhill Food Pantry folks for our extra cash contribution last week and for the special recognition and plaque.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Jean Masiko announced that there Is a 1-1/2 year old Food Pantry in Parkland, also part of Second Harvest, that is looking for volunteers to stock shelves in the evening. Details will follow.
Last Wednesday we did Snack Packing at Northwestern and had 15 volunteers and packed for one week of need. Next we go to the new 2/month schedule.
The Tempting Tastes 2 team is working hard for the May 15th event. We have added the choice to buy a table for 10 for $950, also VIP treated.
Eight Oaks Craft Distillers held a great open house last Saturday. See separate article.
Dining Out in February will be on the 19th and at Eight Oaks with catering and a Brass Ensemble for entertainment, said Mike Henry.
Our next Thursday evening meeting is tomorrow evening’s Networking Mixer at Wegmans in the Timber Room starting at 5:30 P.M. The format will be different from the prior mixer. Please contact your candidates and remind them to attend. It’s a Cash Bar.
Also, those members who will attend should be prepared to be asked publically why they joined Rotary. Please, only “soft sell.”
Snack Packing at NWL HS is on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays in support of the increase to weekly distribution.
Snack Packing at Parkland starts at 2:25 P.M. on January 20th.
Opportunities to Volunteer now are listed in the weekly e-bulletin.
Jan 22nd is the next TT2 committee meeting.
The Service Committee will meet here today. January 13th.
The next Thursday Evening Happy Hour meeting at the Holiday Inn will be on January 28th.
February 3rd is the AWRC Speech Contest at LCCC. Volunteers for Judging and timekeeper are needed. Contact Gwen Pongracz.
Our Feb 10th regular Wed. a.m. meeting will take place at the Northwestern Lehigh Middle School.
.Each member is asked to e-mail a response to Herb about the Rotarian-of-the-Week program.
President Herb asks us all to e-mail him about any announcements to be made at future meetings so he can include them as part of his planned agenda.
Mike Henry answered a question from last week when Don Davis did a hand salute during the pledge to the flag, instead of placing his hand over his heart. The salute is OK when done by active duty veterans, and a few other circumstances.
Next week our scheduled Greeter is Mustafa Jaffer and the program will be a Club Assembly. Ideas for projects to pursue in 2016-17 will be discussed.
LUCK of the DRAW:
The door prize donated by Mike Henry was won by Joe Goll. Then Gloria Zimmerman very carefully selected a marble from the Keith Koepke inspected bag and it was white and she won the $99 pot of the 50:50.
FINES:
S-a-A Don Davis fined Dottie Bloom for arriving late.
HAPPY DOLLARS:
Chris Blechschmidt was very happy to have attended the Eight Oaks open house and wishes them much good luck.
Halyna told Chad that she saw his picture in the paper and collected the fine, which she turned over to S-a-A Don today in Chad’s absence.
Jean Masiko said that they happily celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary and also Joel’s birthday. We sang a ragged rendition of Happy Birthday.
Ginny Sandoval said that she is happy to have met a Rotarian named Brian from the Nazareth RC.
Dale Heffner – with a broad grin – is happy to announce that their fourth grandchild is due in July. They have heard the baby’s heartbeat.
ROTARIAN of the WEEK:
The AW “Rotarian of the Week” is Chris Blechschmidt, a Structural Engineer and part owner of Lock Ridge Engineering, LLC. President Herb and Chris went with a group from Engineers Without Borders to Sierra Leone two years ago, partly to supervise the installation of the new roof on the Chemistry Building at the Centennial School.
Chris says that he joined Rotary to share his skills and to network. He really likes attending our regular meetings. And he likes volunteering at the Lohill Pantry and Meals on Wheels.
PROGRAM:
Today’s program was a Classification Talk by Chris Blechschmidt. Chris was born in Germany on Friday the 13th in 1975, so he holds dual citizenship and passports. He can travel freely throughout the European Union countries. Their daughter also holds dual passports.
Chris grew up in Lancaster, PA, and graduated High School in 1993. His prior generations were involved in architecture and construction, so he went in that direction. Chris was graduated from Lafayette College where he switched to structural engineering. He said architects make buildings look pretty. Structural engineers make buildings stay standing.
His experience includes working in Heavy Construction in Germany for 3 years where he dug ditches for a while. And in 1992 he was able to visit in China and explore new cultures.
Chris graduated in 1997 with a degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. He followed up with an MS from Lehigh University in structures. He wrote a thesis about the Incan civilization that existed from 1438 to 1532. They had little water and no mortar, and the wheel was not introduced there. Yet they built stone walls high in the Mountains that still are there.
Chris worked 10 years with Liberty Engineering and lived in west Allentown before joining Lock Ridge. Lock Ridge do Structural engineering design, analysis, and investigation for residential, commercial, religious, and other smaller building projects.
Chris met his wife Allison while at Lafayette and they married in 2000. Allison’s early career was in web consulting until she went back to school. She holds a BS degree, 2 masters degrees and is finishing her PhD in Pediatric Neuropsychology now at Widener University.
Allison and Chris have an 11 year old daughter, Amelia, who attends Northwestern Lehigh Middle School. Amelia loves soccer and horseback riding. She also runs with Girls on the Run.
Chris works from home so he can do many family things. Chris likes running (St. Luke’s Half Marathon is coming up), soccer, woodworking, and recently cooking, since Allison is so busy. And they all like to travel. They actually went to Death Valley in July when it was 120 degrees hot. They love animals and have two cats and a greyhound.
CLOSING:
Halyna hit the right note to start us off on a good rendition of “America the Beautiful.” Then we recited the Pledge to the Flag of the United States and then the saying “One profits most who serves the best.”
