The Greeter this morning was Chris Blechschmidt and he did a good job.
President Herb rang the bell at 7:30 a.m. Chuck Ehninger gave a very nice invocation.
GUESTS: Michaela Luzicova, Youth Exchange student; Beverly Dries, guest of Dave Dries. Former member, Mitch Huston was here and he is back working in the LV.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Herb read a letter from our Student of the Month, Emily Wentz’s Father thanking us for the recognition. Also they made a donation to PolioPlus.
Last week the Webers delivered dictionaries. Only NWL SD is left to do.
PLEASE determine the names and contact information for candidates for membership and send them to Mike Gschwendtner. Our big membership Business-to-Business event will be on January 14th. Details to follow.
TODAY is Snack Packing at Northwestern.
FRIDAY December 4th at 6:00 P.M. is the AW Holiday Party at Brookside CC in Macungie. We have 62 signed up.
Dec. 5th we will need volunteers to help at the Lowhill Food Pantry. Tell Gloria.
Our next Thursday evening meeting is December 9th at 5:30 PM at the Holiday Inn in Breinigsville. Bring your friends. Go to the assigned room for this one -- not the Pub.
NOTE, that in December we will meet on the 3rd Thursday evening -- not the 4th, because of the holidays.
Dec 14th is the holiday concert here at Luther Crest that we sponsor for the residents to join us. It will feature the “Tri Cees” choral.
Dec 16th is the next Parkland Snack Packing.
COMMITTEE MEETINGS:
Membership meets today here.
Tempting Tastes 2 meets Dec. 4th a.m. at Jordan Lutheran Church.
Good Shepard Rehab. Center at Noon on Dec 9th.
PolioPlus contributions in memory of Don Grammes are welcome.
The ShelterBox campaign is on through December. Consider donating in the name of family or friend as a Christmas Gift. Barb makes up great cards to wrap.
There still is a $75 match from the club available for a $75 donation to the RI Annual Fund.
Nominations still are open for a Vice President to serve as AWRC President for the Rotary Year of 2018-19.
Ideas for AW District Grant projects for RY 2016-17 are needed; tell Dan Crane.
We are reminded to take a look at our Facebook pages.
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.
Next week our scheduled Greeter is Ralph Wasiakowski, and the program will be
Edward N. Cahn of Blank Rhome LLP Law re Experiences of a Federal Judge.
ROTARIAN of the WEEK:
The AW “Rotarian of the Week” is Dr. Bob Gordon, Ph.D. ABPP, a forensic Psychologist and a Psychoanalyst. He has traveled the world and also teaches.
Bob claims that he was lured into speaking at a district conference in the Poconos. Afterwards the Webers and others brought him into Rotary. He served as our President in 2010-11, was an effective Program Chair before that, and put us on ClubRunner.
Bob says he always is proud when he walks into one of our meetings, since Rotarians are so generous.
LUCK of the DRAW:
The door prize donated by Chris was won by Chuck Ehninger. Then Keith Koepke snagged the only black marble and won $33 in the 50:50.
FINES:
S-a-A Don Davis fined Herb for a wrong date, the Webers for being late, and then Sue for two pictures in the newspaper. Jean Masiko paid a dollar for incorrectly correcting Herb last week.
HAPPY DOLLARS:
Mitch Huston is happy that he came today.
Al Lewis is thrice happy, starting with his visit with his son in Ithaca, NY last week. Also Al asked which side of a jacket is correct for wearing a Rotary lapel pin. And Al claims that Saranac Lake winters are as cold as Siberia.
Bill Weber is not happy that the World Health Organization (WHO) just announced that there are two cases of Polio in the Ukraine. Only half of the children there are vaccinated against Polio.
Bill Palmer is happy that Yvette’s granddaughter, Arista, 17, competed in many dances in King of Prussia last weekend and returned home with FIVE trophies; two First, two Second, and one Third place.
Herb is happy that he and two teachers were on the phone with the Sierra Leone school yesterday making plans for the trip.
Keith made a donation in honor of his winning the 50:50 this morning.
Joe Goll is happy to have spent time in Kansas City last week with family; and another grandbaby is due in June.
Bob Gordon was happy that Jory Berkwits was with us this morning as our program.
PROGRAM:
President Herb introduced Jory Berkwits of Sarasota, Florida. Jory was raised in Allentown until age 15 when he moved to Massachusetts. Later he earned a BA from Columbia followed by an MA from Washington University. He has been in Wealth Management working for Merrill Lynch until his retirement in 2012 when he was a Sr. Vice President.
Jory revisited Allentown in 2010 and found that the city had slowly declined since the economic downturn of the 1970s. Since then he has watched the revitalization as he researched and wrote his book -- available on Amazon.com. The title is “My Bittersweet Homecoming.”
This is the story of Jory’s return to his hometown of Allentown for the first time in almost forty years. He was startled to find just how much things had changed and wanted to understand why and how the mid-twentieth-century boomtown had succumbed to blight, and whether it would ever be able to recover. The book is a moving look at growing up and going home again, and the effect of deindustrialization on middle-class America
Jory told of tracking down people from his past such as his fourth grade classmates and teachers. He even tracked down Victor Tropiano, son of the late Emma Tropiano. He told of the differences between the Latinos and the Whites being a problem. He believes they spent their time complaining about it instead of fixing it.
Companies fought the change away from a manufacturing society to a services society. Bethlehem Steel is a good example of self-destruction. He mentioned the demise of Phoenix Clothes on Linden St. But he also told the story of how the proper spirit and hard work can be successful even during down times. He said that Mona Lisa Fashions started in 1984 and still is going strong manufacturing shirts, trousers, etc, in East Allentown.
Jory said that he is really happy to be with our very active and upbeat Rotary club this morning.
CLOSING:
Halyna once again hit the right note to start a nice rendition of “God Bless America.” This was followed by the recitation of the Pledge to the Flag of the United States and then the saying “One profits most who serves the best.”
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