This was a zoom meeting only today. There were 22 of us on line.
GUESTS:
Nick Millward, Peace Scholar, calling in from Mongolia.
PRE-MEETING CONVERSATIONS:
Nick Millward still in Mongolia has met with a Rotary club there. He also said it was very cold there at minus 50 degrees.
Bill Weber was on from their Hilton Head home.
Ernie Boll was on from Green Valley, Arizona where they have a 35 degree temperature swing from morning to evening.
It was noted that we had three members named “Bill” on today.
Marlene Heller was stopped at a RR crossing for a train in Vera Cruz; not really a common event.
Gail Micca said that the Youth Exchange Skiing trip a few weeks ago had to be cancelled due to a lack of snow.
Nick Millward said that he used to go on a school bus with Bill Keba’s two children.
OPENING:
President Gail Micca opened the meeting at 7:30 A.M.
Laurie Grube gave a very nice invocation.
Ron Coleman led us in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the U.S.
Marlene Heller led us in reciting the Rotary Four Way Test, adding “Is it fun?” as a fifth.
STUDENT OF THE MONTH:
Nicole McGalla called in from a room at LCTI where our student, her parents, and some guidance staff were together. She introduced Peyton Knowles as our January Student of the Month. Peyton is a Parkland High School senior in the Plumbing & Heating program at LCTI. See separate article.
Peyton said that she plans to go to college for a BS degree.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
VOTE RESULTS:
The results of the Jan 11, 2023 annual voting for our B.O.D. members for Rotary Year 2023-24 are:
President -- Gwenn Carr Committee
President-elect -- TBD
Vice President -- TBD
Treasurer -- Gary Englehardt
Secretary -- Michelle Steiner
Sergeant-at-Arms -- Mitch Huston
Membership Chair -- Tori Morgan
Project Chair -- Debbie Jack
Public Relations -- Marlene Heller
Fundraising -- Len Salines
Youth Services co-chairs -- Sue & Bill Weber
AW Foundation Chair -- Amir Famili
RI Foundation Chair -- Herb Klotz
CELEBRATIONS:
The list of January member celebration events is shown below.
DINING OUT -- FEBRUARY:
Marlene Heller has announced Dining Out for February will take place on Thursday, Feb. 2, at Capo & Co. 1375 Chestnut St. in Emmaus.
RSVP to Marlene Heller (marleneheller@mac.com). The restaurant opened this past summer with a 1920’s vibe, and has an eclectic menu, which will be available for perusal at next week’s meeting.
DINING OUT -- MARCH:
Ralph Witcher is making a plan to go to Sumo Sushi and Japanese Fusion, 3174 Tilghman St · In Village West.
Quentin Sowers will give his classification talk then.
SNACKPACKING:
There was snack packing at Parkland on Jan 11th . There was a record number of Volunteers at 14, with 8 from Rotary. And there were Interact students working too.
NorthWestern is TODAY Jan 18.
KINGDOM LIFE FOOD DISTRIBUTION:
There was a distribution on January 14th with Ron Coleman and Bill Keba there with Jean Masiko. And it was very cold out.
There were over 300 clients that came through. It was almost noon before they were done.
The dates for the next two KLFC Food Bank Giveaways are:
February 18 March 11
Each time we start at 7:00 A.M. and usually are finished by 9:30 A.M..
PARKLAND C.A.R.E.S. PRODUCE DELIVERY:
The Pantry will hold its food distributions on the first Saturday of each month for the entirety of 2023.
Three volunteers are needed each time.
Food collections for Parkland C.A.R.E.S. will be held the third Wednesday of each month at the Pantry on Kernsville Road.
MEALS ON WHEELS:
The schedule for the next 3 months is set. Helen always needs substitutes.
LEHIGH VALLEY CORNHOLE TYPE EVENT:
On January 26 at Brü Daddy's Brewing Company at 732 Hamilton St, Allentown, PA 18101. Meet our District Governor; bring your family; bring member candidates for sure.
FOUR WAY TEST SPEECH CONTEST:
Bill Keba has 8 entries from Northwestern HSD, but none yet from Parkland. We will hear their speeches at our March 8 In-Person meeting at Cedar Crest College.
Peter Wohlsen created a great brochure for this.
STEM YEA FUNDRAISER:
Gwenn Carr reminds us that The 2nd Annual Big Ticket Reverse Raffle (BTRR) will be held on April 15, 2023 at Brookside Country Club, in Pottstown from 5:30-10:00 P.M.
HAPPY DOLLARS:
Gwenn Carr said we need support to continue meeting at Cedar Crest College. Decision will be made at the Jan 25th meeting there.
Ralph Witcher loves that the Cedar Crest College breakfast sausages taste like bacon.
Ralph also is happy to be going to Hawaii next week.
Gail Micca is happy that their daughter will be 25 years old tomorrow.
Ralph Witcher said their son, Solomon, will be 22 years old on Jan.21.
Bill Keba’s daughter turned 30 last week.
Marlene Heller is pleased that things have settled down with their daughter’s in-laws. The Father-in-law was quite ill last November and they have him in a retirement home hospital now in Buffalo and he is getting better.
Nick Millward said that he is having a fantastic trip.
MEETING SCHEDULE:
The first Wednesday of each month will be a Dining out meeting, or equal. It may not be on a Wednesday.
FUTURE TOURS, ETC.:
All members are asked to make suggestions to Gail Micca about other tours, Dining Out events, etc. for future meetings.
NEXT MORNING MEETING:
January 25 IN-PERSON at Cedar Crest College starting at 7:30 A.M. Come early and mingle. There will be a Zoom option.
The program will be Gwenn Carr, Gary Englehardt & Herb Klotz discussing Engagement Planning - What's Your Role in Rotary?
PROGRAM:
Program Chair, Ralph Witcher, introduced Bill Keba to give his Classification talk.
Bill had a 37-year career in the anthracite mining and supply chain industries of NE Penna, beginning in operations and ending in executive management. Most of his time was spent developing an anthracite refining/ preparation company which was very “hands on.”
Formerly he was a board member of other coal companies and the Pennsylvania Anthracite Council and a member of the Penn-Anthracite section of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME).
Bill was a member of church council and a member of the mutual ministry committee, a volunteer correspondent for a non-profit in the green energy sector, Advanced Biofuels USA, had a short stint as a volunteer for Lehigh Valley Hospital Center in the N.O.D.A. program (No One Dies Alone.)
Bill has been a member of Toastmasters International since 2017, is a member and held several leadership positions in the Lehigh Valley Toastmasters club and was a Toastmasters District 38 Club Coach. Recently, Bill earned his Master of Arts in Philosophy & Applied Ethics from West Chester University.
He resides in Lowhill Township with Debby, his wife of 37 years. They have 4 adult children.
Bill presented slides to tell his story.
Classification Talk
Perspective, Persistence, Transition, and Aspiration
Bill Keba, Public Philosopher
A Misspent Youth?
My neighborhood and the people in it.
Youth vocations and what I learned.
Paperboy
Dishwasher
Driver / Parts Delivery
Family
Married for thirty-some years, but it seems like only yesterday.
Four children – parenting paid dividends.
I knew three of my grandparents and many of their “stories”.
Vocational History – Job Titles
When in College
- Clerk
- Truck Driver / Equipment Operator
- Supervisor – Flood Recovery
- Car Sales
- After College
- Supervisor
- Superintendent
- General Manager
- President & Board Member
- Under and Unemployed, Retired, Career Transition, who knows what to call this?
- Graduate Student
What is next?
Aspirations
Help me help myself.
&
Help me help you help others.
Conclusion
Help me help you help others.
Bill answered some questions from the members.
CLOSING:
Pres. Gail led us in reciting our motto “One profits most who serves best,” and adjourned the meeting.
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