Today was a Zoom meeting with 26 people on line.
Pres. Gail Micca opened the meeting at 7:30 A.M. by ringing a real bell. And she welcomed us all.
GUEST ON LINE:
Citizen Nick Millward, friend of the club; Carrington Smith, Pres. Lehigh Valley Passport RC; and Carolyne Jordan, Pres. West Reading-Wyomissing RC.
OPENING:
Tom Friday gave a very nice invocation with special mention of the Haiti earthquake and the Afghanistan crisis. Then Pres. Gail led us in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the U.S.
AWRC HISTORY STORY:
Past President, Ernie Boll delivered today’s story about Rotary attendance requirement history.
Pres. Gail then led us in the recitation of the Four Way Test to which we added “Is it fun?”
CELEBRATIONS:
Pres. Gail displayed the list of August member events.
YOUR SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES:
Here is an update for service opportunities in the coming weeks:
Community Service:
Habitat for Humanity – Any Tuesday or Thursday morning
contact Amir, familiamir@gmail.com
August 14th (Sat.) 7:15am – 10:30 am Kingdom Life Food Pantry Drive Thru, contact Jean Masiko, masiko@aol.com
August 15th (Sunday) Harvest at garden for Jordan Lutheran Church Pantry
August 17 or 18th (Tuesday or Wednesday) - Harvest for Lowhill Pantry
August 19-29 - Harvest for Family Promise, The Caring Place or and Allentown Rescue Mission
**Garden any time: Weeding and watering is always needed – bring friends and family
Garden opportunities, contact Gail, gailmicca@gmail.com or Amanda, lawlerfamilyof4@gmail.com
Collect baseball equipment, send emails to friends and neighbors to help collect, contact Nick Millward, nick@ycaps.org
Meals on Wheels - we still need a few more volunteers, low level of commitment, fun to do with family or friends, contact Kathleen Ott, avalon104@verizon.net
Highway cleanup - please consider leading the effort in October. Training provided. contact Gail at gailmicca@gmail.com
Club Service:
Sunday Aug. 22nd 7pm, Fundraising planning session at Gail's house, contact Len Salines - LenMary3657@ptd.net
Thursday, Sept 30th: Help to make the first social at Eight Oaks a huge success - form a team for the Cornhole tournament - ask your friends, coworkers, family & potential Rotarians to join us for a fun night, contact Tori Morgan, torimorgan1@verizon.net
Purple Pinkie, Contact John Scott, JohnScottL@msn.com
FUNDRAISING:
Chair, Len Salines said that there is a committee meeting this Sunday.
Kathy Ott said that there will be a fundraiser at next week’s in-person meeting at Brookside CC. Her special chocolate covered cake balls will be for sale.
The Wings of Hope fundraiser is on Sunday, Sept. 12th. Butterflies will be set loose.
ROTARY MEANS BUSINESS:
Tori Morgan said that this is our first social event with 3 other RCs. Please bring your friends. A cornhole contest will be attempted.
PURPLE PINKIE D7430 ANNUAL 5K:
Race Director, John Scott, said that the race and walk will take place on the Schnecksville Fair Grounds near LCCC in the morning. OktoberFest will follow.
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY:
Amir Famili reports that they will finish four town houses by Sept. 30, and then will start on four more. He showed a picture of Nick Millward laying flooring.
GARDEN REPORT:
Pres. Gail said that the crops have been great and harvesting is fun. All are welcome to visit.
Amir Famili delivered 300 lbs of fresh produce to the Lowhill Food Pantry. He thanks Burkholder farms for their continued support.
MEALS ON WHEELS:
Kathy Ott said we will deliver on their Route #19 on two Tuesdays each month starting in October. On Aug 26 at 8:00 A.M. there will be a zoom meeting to provide operational details.
SNACK PACKING STARTS:
Kathy Ott said we are starting with Parkland H.S. and Volunteers are needed.. Also Family Promise needs our help.
MONGOLIAN YOUTH PROGRAM:
Nick Millward said that Katrina Sundstrom has created a flyer. And Tori Morgan is meeting with someone from the Iron Pigs. Nick asks us to bring donations to our 8-25 meeting. Nick also has a contact that may ship the donations to Mongolia for us.
GAIL’S BIKING CHALLENGE:
As a fundraiser Gail is still seeking sponsors for her 60 miles a week biking as part of our 60 year celebration next May. She is approaching her $5,000 goal. Gail biked 60 miles all on last Sunday.
HAPPY DOLLARS & NEWS:
Since Gail Micca and Tori Morgan were the first on line, they had a nice planning session together.
Jeanne Shipe is back at her Allentown home.
Gail Micca is heading to North Dakota next Friday.
Amir Famili’s two chickens still are laying more fresh eggs than he can use.
Tom Friday’s new granddaughter had a health scare that has since gone away.
Tori Morgan is a proud Mom. Their daughter is beginning her senior year in Nursing at Villanova, and their son is starting in Law School.
Amir Famili is proud that he can now get his pontoon boat into the Lake Nockamixon waters in about 5 minutes.
Ernie Boll still just is happy.
Marlene Heller is most happy to report that her second surgery was successful, and no chemo is needed.
Ralph Witcher is happy that son, Seth, had 5 successful events at MusikFest.
STATUS OF MORNING MEETINGS:
There will be hybrid meetings twice a month, plus all-zoom meetings for two more Wednesdays each month.
NEXT MORNING MEETING:
Wednesday August 25, 2021 and it is a hybrid meeting with the in-person part at Brookside CC in Macungie starting at 7:30 a.m. Our program will be Janet Brown, M.Ed., TEACH Rwanda Founder & President to discuss Teacher Mentoring in Rwanda.
PROGRAM:
Pres. Gail Micca introduced Edward Pullin, Cyber Security/Date Protection -- Fundamentals of Cryptography - Part 2.
Cryptography is defined as the art of writing or solving codes.
Protecting our data has never been more important. Edward will discuss the techniques criminals use to pierce our information shields and teach us how to protect our valuable data.
Edward is a product line marketing manager for security acceleration. Edward reviewed the history of Cryptography, covered the basics of its common use, and discussed some techniques that malicious actors use to attempt to pierce our information shields and uncover our data.
Ed says that “The world has come to realize that our data is an extension of ourselves. Its language like “anti-virus” ware to name software elements meant to protect the health of our systems , our data, our communication and our storage.”
Ed described both the Public key and Private key that form a communication between computer users.
If someone gets the private key, they get access to all your stuff.
DDOS attacks: change your passwords on baby monitors often, also on children toys.
Certificate attacks: If you get a message saying the certificate alert, saying the site is not safe due to certificates not matching, leave the site immediately. These rarely happen due to upgraded security, but they do still happen.
Phishing attacks: Never click on links that are suspect. They will download viruses to your computer and steal your information. Always report them. There are reporting tools in every email protocol. If in doubt, check with the company before clicking. Go to the actual site, i.e., FedEx.com, and check your information from there.
SQL Alerts: If your information in a database starts to fill in with strange characters, it has been hacked. Get off the site immediately and let the company know, by phone, that they have been hacked.
Ransomware: Always in the news. Always have MULTIPLE backups of your data. Backup your data regularly with your own extended hard drive. Store your files encrypted.
Pegasus: Israeli software, invented by the Mossad. It has the ability to hack your cellphone. If someone out of nowhere sends you a video, don’t click on it.
• Always keep your OS (operating system) up to date.
• Set up VPNS.
• Always have the latest anti-virus security.
• Encrypt data when possible.
• Don’t click on links from someone you don’t know.
• Go to https:haveibeenpwned.com to see if you have ever shown up in a hack.
• Always use random passwords, the strongest possible, and never reuse passwords on other sites.
• Keep cameras covered when not in use.
• Use 2-factor authentication whenever possible.
• Never give out your passwords!
A lively Q & A followed the presentation, started by Marlene reminding us that even emails and texts from people you think you know might be “clones”; don’t click on the links until you have checked the name and email to be sure it’s the right person. Ed said this is a major issue that is very easy to fall prey to, and the simple answer is, don’t click on links, period.
Thanks go to Marlene Heller for writing most of the foregoing notes.
CLOSING:
Pres Gail led us in the saying “One profits most who serves best.” And she rang a real bell.