Today was a Zoom meeting with 30 of us on line.
After some conversations President Ralph Witcher opened the meeting at 7:30 A.M. Pastor Jean Masiko gave a very nice invocation.
GUESTS ON LINE:
Dr. Kathy Ott, incoming member; Pat Witcher, incoming member; and Capt. Nick Millward. Peace Fellowship candidate calling from Japan.
Pres Ralph began the meeting by leading us in the Pledge to the Flag of the U.S. . Then Ralph asked Marlene Heller to give the 4 Way Test example.
THE FOUR-WAY TEST EXAMPLE:
Marlene asked for a volunteer or two to tell a story indicative of their application of ethical standards recently.
Pastor Jean Masiko said “Is it the Truth?” belongs in our lives every day.
Pat Witcher said that we are consciously aware of the need to be a benefit to our community.
Pres. Ralph displayed the list of members and their September celebration dates.
WHAT ROTARY MEANS TO ME:
Jean Masiko said over her 27 years in Rotary it has been the People she and Joel met during their ravels all over the world. The Friendship Exchange to Turkey is a good example.
MONGOLIAN FLOOD RELIEF:
Pres. Ralph said that AWRC board members have approved a $500 donation to help cover the shipping costs. An additional $420 have been donated by 3 club members.
Capt. Nick Millward expressed his thanks for this special support. Many families around his base there in Japan also have donated. And he spoke at a local church that has donated $3,500.
WALL OF HOPE:
Pres. Ralph displayed this new feature and announced that PDG Bill Palmer has been added to the folks on the list. Bill has served in Rotary for 25 years, and Ralph said he is a silent, powerful leader, and is our RC Historian as well.
LOTTERY RAFFLE UPDATE:
Pres. Ralph reminds us that the goal is to raise $20,000 to fund our community projects.
Tom Friday said that 276 Raffle tickets have been sold with THE LAST DAY TO BUY BEING SUNDAY SEPT. 6TH.. Right now we have $6,760 Gross before expenses,
The winning numbers will be announced during the AWRC Wednesday Sept. 9th a.m. Zoom meeting.
YVETTE PALMER 5K PURPLR PINKIE RACE:
The race this year will be virtual and is on Oct. 24 which is World Polio Day.
Some volunteers are needed; please contact John Scott.
AND we need some Corporate sponsors.
YOUR SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES:
Please take a look at this new section on the left side of this bulletin.
STATUS OF MORNING MEETINGS;
The AWRC B.O.D. has suspended all AWRC face-to-face meetings until further notice. Zoom meetings are now scheduled for each Wednesday at 7:30 A.M.
NEXT MORNING MEETING:
Wednesday September 9TH starting at 7:30 a.m. We will use Zoom to meet Our program will be Michael Schlossberg, State Representative to discuss The Impact of COVID-19 on the Emotional Wellbeing of "School-Aged" Children in the Lehigh Valley.
STATUS OF THURSDAY EVENING MEETING:
No Thursday evening meetings are planned for September and for October 2020.
HAPPY DOLLARS and MEMBER NEWS:
Ralph Witcher called in from his vacation spot in Colorado Springs. There was a deer’s head on the wall in the background.
Ralph said that he went fishing for the first time, and he caught about a 15 inch fish and released it after taking its picture.
Amir Famili still looks relaxed as he recovers from his knee surgery.
When asked, Gwenn Carr said that they had no damage at their Barnegat Bay, NJ home with that last storm.
We had a general discussion about back-up Generators. After Hurricane Sandy Bill Palmer installed a propane fueled generator that comes on automatically and does all his 110 v needs. Amir said that where he lives there has been only one power outage in 30 years.
Sue and Bill Weber had their flight cancelled and had to drive their Hilton Head car back to Vera Cruz last Monday. They were lucky, the car registration and inspection were 5 years old.
Gary Englehardt reported that the EWB fundraiser last Sunday mentioned AWRC many times. And they raised about $8,100 so far.
Brad Maier is happy that the kids are back in school.
Gail Micca is happy that Brad Maier helped her with an insurance problem.
Pat Witcher is happy to see Ralph relaxing during this amazing vacation.
Marlene Heller is happy that Cindy and Chris Hornaman surprised her for her birthday by arriving there with a cake and a complete dinner.
Gail Micca had a great trip to South Dakota to be with her parents for their 60th anniversary.
PROGRAM:
Pres. Ralph Witcher introduced Allentown Chief of Police Glenn Granitz to Discuss the Challenges and opportunities in running the Allentown Police Dept.
Glenn is a 19 year veteran rising to Chief in October 2019. He attended the Allentown Police Academy after getting his BS degree from St. Joseph’s and an MS from the Univ. of Cincinnati. He grew up in center city Allentown. Glenn currently is studying for another degree.
Glenn thanked us for inviting him to speak today. He said that one good thing he got during the covid 19 was a new puppy.
Glenn said that 2019 was the most violent year in a long time. With his initiatives the rate is down by 50% this year. Glenn said they operate with a “Guardian” mindset instead of a “Warrior” mindset.
He now is working on a 5 year plan and uses Cedar Crest College staff to help. They are training Crisis intervention workers to imbed with the Patrol Units. Allentown is unique and models from other cities cannot be just copied. And he is working with State and Local politicians.
Ron Coleman asked about using Tasers. Glenn said that their use has been played down by the manufacturer after some problems in the field.
Glenn noted that the APD do work closely with other area police groups. They meet once a month and plan changes to make us safer.
Glenn said that they are short a few police, but their budget is intact. He has resisted any budget cuts.
APD get 120,000 calls for service every year. He said that he is 110% in favor of “Community Policing”. And he said that APD have never done a “No Knock” warrant.
CLOSING:
Pres Ralph led us in the saying “One profits most who serves best.”
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