Allentown West Rotary
Meeting, Notes -- March 13, 2019
Our Greeter today was Marlene Heller, and she did a marvelous job.
President Jeanne Shipe rang the bell at 7:30 A.M. to open the meeting and welcomed all to AWRC. Then Marlene Heller gave a very nice invocation
Pres. Jeanne began the meeting having the members recite the 4 Way test, followed with our saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag.
GUESTS:
District 7430 Governor, Cindy Hornaman, Emmaus RC; Andrea, our Youth Exchange student from Croatia.
Pres. Jeanne introduced DG Cindy to discuss the May 3 to 5 annual District Conference. Cindy noted that so far only 5 AW Rotarians have registered for that conference. She explained the many ways one can attend the conference depending on your time and interests.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
District Governor Cindy presented a certificate to President Jeanne Shipe thanking AW Rotarians for our total of $3,200 of donations to the RI PolioPlus Fund this year.
CONGRATULATIONS GO TO BARBARA KISTLER:
She received the National Women’s Day award from the Emmaus RC on March 7, 2019.
DISTRICT CONFERENCE 2019:
DGE Herb Klotz has explained that the conference offers a single day option for Saturday. Herb said that the more AW Rotarians that go, the better it will be for us to help plan and run the 2020 District Conference -- His.
OTHER PLANS:
We are working on an updated strategic plan.
May 15th will be an Open House Mixer meeting here at Luther Crest.
DINING OUT:
March 28, Thursday, at Gio's Italian Grill, 6465 Village Lane, Macungie, (Route 100) at 6 P.M.
April 28, Sunday TT5 at the Holiday Inn 4 to 7 P.M.
TT5 --
Gwenn Carr distributed copies of a list of the food and drink suppliers that have agreed to be there. Gwenn said that we now have two gift certificates for bowling parties for the Auction.
YOU ARE INVITED:
Please join Gwenn Carr and Gary Englehardt for a great afternoon of friendship, food and fun. Bring a great gift to the Carr-Englehardt residence from 4-7PM on Sunday, March 24th. We need about 150 items for the Tempting Tastes 5 auction and we currently have about 30 items. Gift cards and baskets of goodies are especially appreciated as they bring exceptional value to our auction.
Please let Gwenn know by March 20th if you will attend. Their address is 138 Deer Run Road, Kutztown, PA.
Also, please let Gwenn know if you need an Auction request document or any other marketing material.
We've NETTED over $125K dollars over the lifetime of Tempting Tastes. Help us make this year's event the best one yet.
Our TT5 website is www.temptingtastes.net where there is more information. Our Facebook page is Rotary Tempting Tastes. Please visit and "like" our age.
TT5 AUCTION ITEM PREVIEW: See separate article.
FOUNDATION GALA IS MARCH 23rd:
The annual D7430 Foundation Gala will be held on Saturday March 23rd at the Pottstown Brookside CC. It is a costume event for those who wish to do so. We donated a basket of cheer for the auction that evening.
THURSDAY EVENING MEETING TOMORROW:
The next one is on March 14th at the Holiday Inn at 5:30 P.M.
RLI MARCH 30th:
Rotary Leadership Institute training is on March 30th at the Radisson in King of Prussia. Give it a try, if you have not done it yet. Your registration fee will be reimbursed to you afterwards.
NEXT MEETING HERE:
March 20th -- Our Greeter will be Gary Heller and our program will be Bernie Story and Chris Borick discussing Community Assessment Reports.
Pres. Jeanne introduced our Sgt-at-Arms, Mitch Huston who conducted the drawings and collected Happy Dollars.
The door prize donated by Marlene Heller in recognition of National Pie Day tomorrow was won by Gwenn Carr.
The $87 pot of the 50:50 was NOT won by Bill Palmer’s ticket being drawn followed by a white marble. Five marbles will be around for next week.
HAPPY DOLLARS:
Dorothy Bloom asks for some volunteers to work at CHECKOUT for TT5. We need to be efficient for our guests.
Cindy Hornaman is just plain happy today.
Marlene Heller said something nice about Bill Palmer.
Chuck Ehninger truly is happy:
They had a great time in Florida
He just celebrated his 78th birthday
He and Judy became Grandparents last Tuesday
In April he will be six years cancer free
David Haight sends regards to all from Al Lewis who could not attend today.
PROGRAM:
NEW MEMBER INDUCTION:
Katrina Sundstrom was inducted as the newest member of AWRC. She was sponsored by Gail Micca President Jeanne Shipe conducted the ceremony, and DG Cindy Hornaman presented Katrina with her member certificate. Welcome to AW Rotary Katrina.
CLASSIFICATION TALK:
Katrina thanked us for inducting her into Rotary this morning. She loved the Thursday evening Mixer that had so much information about AW Rotary. And she thanks Gail Micca for bringing her in. Using photos she told her story.
She described her early years as Born and Raised in California. She has two brothers and Jack helps at Parkland CARES Food Pantry. She describes all as a large Italian family.
Katrina married her High School Love 19 years ago, after they were graduated from Pepperdine University. In College she started her volunteer work with Meals on Wheels and Make a Wish Foundation.
Then Came their “Little Family.” First is daughter Sydni Mae. And then there is son Andrew Jack (AJ). Sidni was just accepted by a Girls ensemble. And AJ loves baseball.
Goodbye California, Hello Pennsylvania and Adventure---
Husband Rich asked for a job transfer to NY, PA or NJ. When offered Allentown, they said “Yes.” Then said to each other “Where is Allentown?” They moved here in 2011 and love it all.
Katrina descried a food drive she ran by putting donation boxes into neighbors’ mail boxes. And she is affiliated with a Church. Then she learned about the true need for food by about 2,300 students of the 9,400 students in the Parkland School District. So she started “Parkland C.A.R.E.S. Food Pantry.” She is the Executive Director.
Parkland C.A.R.E.S. Food Pantry strives to feed and serve every member of our school community affected by and suffering from hunger. It is a nonprofit organization run by volunteers. It operates as a Choice Pantry. Families have an opportunity to shop the Pantry for the items that best suit their needs. Allowing families the opportunity to make their own choices of food reduces the amount of food possibly being wasted.
The Building has been secured and is expected to begin operations in June. Next will be a “Truck Pantry” to support those who cannot get to the Pantry. Also Snack Packs will be provided for weekend and Summer support.
On April 26th there will be a fundraiser at the Holiday Inn. It’s a Friday evening starting at 6:30.
Katrina says AW Rotary “Speaks to me.” And she believes that life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all.
CLOSING:
We closed our meeting by reciting the saying “One profits most who serves best.”