Our Greeter today was Herb Klotz and he did a marvelous job.
President Mike Gschwendtner rang the bell at 7:30 A.M. to open the meeting. Ernie Boll gave a very nice invocation.
President Mike began the meeting having the members recite the Five-way Test with the fifth question, “Is it Fun?” We recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the U.S.
GUESTS:
Wilmer Schultz, Emmaus RC; and Steve LaPierre, Emmaus RC.
And honorary member, Nancy Handwerk, was with us.
President Mike showed photographs from our last meeting including Chris Blechschmidt working at the Food Pantry, and Gloria Zimmerman’s Produce purchases summary.
SIERRA LEONE UPDATE:
Herb Klotz reported with pictures of the roof going on for the classrooms, and the aluminum cover.
FOOD PANTRY VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED:
Please contact Gloria Zimmerman and sign up for this ongoing effort to feed people.
SCHEDULE:
President Mike announces upcoming events at our meetings and a list of them appears on our website. A list of the appropriate contact information appears each week in the A-W bulletin.
THURSDAY EVENING MEETING:
TOMORROW August 10th will be a Happy Hour and business meeting at the Holiday Inn starting at 5:30 P.M. We will work on Membership growth ideas.
ANNUAL AWRC PICNIC:
Sue and Bill Weber are again hosting the AWRC annual Picnic at the Webers’ farm in Vera Cruz on Sunday August 13th starting at 4:00 P.M.
As usual AW attendees are asked to bring food or drink to share if possible. Also some folding chairs are needed.
SIGN UP for the ROTARY LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE (RLI):
Registration is open now for the September 16th training at DeSales. See separate article. P-E Jeanne recommends this highly for all. NOTE, your registration fee will be reimbursed to you in full by our RC.
DICTIONARY PROJECT 2017:
Amir Famili is this year’s chair and he is asking for donations and also for assistance in adding labels and staging the books for delivery.
MEMBERSHIP MINUTE:
Membership Chair, Herb Klotz suggests that one way to talk about Rotary to new acquaintances is to ask if they work with any service groups. If “Yes,” ask for details. If “No,” start to talk about Rotary.
NEXT WEEK:
Our Greeter will be Geoff Legg and the program will be Herb Klotz, our Membership Chair, discussing Membership plans for this year.
President Mike introduced our “Entertainment chair”, S-a-A, Mitch Huston. Mitch again asked any of us who are guilty of Rotary violations to pay a dollar fine. Some did..
LUCK OF THE DRAW:
Our Sergeant-at-Arms, Mitch Huston, conducted the raffle drawings.
The door prize bottle of Malbec wine donated by Herb Klotz was won by Nancy Handwerk.
The $38 pot of the 50:50 was not won by Bill Palmer’s ticket. There now are nine marbles remaining.
HAPPY DOLLARS:
Ron Coleman donated a $52 commission for selling the Webers’ house, plus a $49 commission, all to go to the Food Pantry.
Ron also did a makeup meeting in Charleston, SC and was most comfortable with so much being the same as here.
Bill Weber is happy to point out that the house Ron sold was not the Webers’ principle residence.
Sue Weber is happy to report that she and Bill have been married for 53 years, and that Bill’s birthday is this Saturday. We sang a shaky version of Happy Birthday.
Bill Palmer is most happy to report that after 7 months of 2017 there are only 8 new cases of wild virus Polio reported in the WORLD. In 1986 there were 1,100 new cases EVERY DAY!
Gloria Zimmerman gives Kudos to Mitch Huston for making another Drum Corps competition happen.
Mitch Huston is happy that there were 23 Drum Corps competing, and about 23,500 people attended over the 2 days.
Steve LaPierre was happy when Ron Coleman came up with the TV Show name “Dragnet” that Steve was struggling to remember.
Joe Goll is happy that the family just enjoyed some days at their Rehoboth Beach home.
Mitch Huston told a very funny joke about 11 people hanging from a helicopter on a rope.
PROGRAM:
President Mike introduced Douglas Yingling , Executive Director of the Center for Vision Loss. Dr. Ihor Fedoriw is a member of their Board of Directors, and welcomed Doug to our RC. Ihor attests to the good works that the center does, and urges members to support them with donations of time and money.
Doug is a graduate of Millersville University and his career has moved within a variety of programs in the nonprofit sector. His experience in management includes 30 years in services to those who are blind or visually impaired. Currently he is a board member of the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind and serves on the steering committee for the Disability Friendly Community. He is also Vice President of the Kempton Lions Club.
Doug noted that the Morning Call this morning mentioned the Rotary motto, “Service Above Self.” He then explained that the Center’s service area includes the entire Lehigh Valley and also Monroe County, with an office in Allentown and in Stroudsburg.
Key services provided include comprehensive casework support, an extensive transportation program, support groups, and center based educational and recreational activities. In Allentown there is a low vision clinic and a store featuring a variety of products related to vision loss.
Doug noted that there are continuing research efforts underway to solve vision losses. With the exception of Cataracts, lost vision cannot be restored….yet. They are working on things like a retinal implant, for example. Maybe in 5 or 10 years. He said that most of their clients are over 65 years old, and suffer from Macular Degeneration.
The staff of the Center will go to the homes of folks with vision problems, and evaluate how they might be helped. And patients can make appointments and see an Optometrist at the Center’s Clinic.
A critical service provided by the Center is Transportation for the low vision people who cannot drive. The service must be arranged in advance to go to medical offices. There is a low rate available of $3 each way, and it is one person at a time, not a van pool. This service is “Door-through-Door,” i.e. the person is taken into the Dr.’s office.
The Center’s various programs are listed in their quarterly newsletter. There are educational and social events.
The Center does regular screening of children to identify vision issues as early as possible. They use an Auto-Refractor that works on age 6 months and higher. It works because it does not require a person to provide responses.
The Center also has a room full of low vision devices for people to try out and learn about. There are some magnifying devices available, although expensive there are financial help programs available.
The Center conducts a summer children’s program, Camp” I Can”, for 7 to 17 year olds with vision issues. They experienced white water rafting at the one just completed.
The plan was for members to watch a video which featured 6 clients from all walks of life who have been involved in Center services who spoke of their participation in various programs. We will be sent a link so we can watch it on line.
The Center’s almost one million dollar annual budget comes from state and private grants and donations. Rotarians can help.
Information on the Center for Vision Loss can be found at their website www.centerforvisionloss.org or they can be reached by phone at 610-433-6018.
CLOSING:
We closed the meeting by reciting the saying “One profits most who serves best.”
