Today was a Zoom meeting and there were 34 of us on line. After 15 minutes of talking amongst ourselves our Greeter and President Amir Famili, opened the meeting at 7:45 A.M. Rev. Jeffrey Kistler gave a very nice invocation.
GUESTS ON LINE:
PA Rep. Mike Schlossberg, today’s speaker” and Capt. Nick Millward, a Peace Fellowship candidate calling in from Japan.
Secretary John Scott began the meeting by having the members recite The Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag. Then he led us in reciting the Four Way Test.
Pres. Amir thanks all “first responders” and other Essential Workers for what they do and asks all to pray for them.
SNACK PACK UPDATE:
Gail Micca reports: Today, June 23 several AW Rotarians delivered snackpacks at the Parkland C.A.R.E.S. Food Pantry drive thru event. A special thank you goes to Barb and Jeff Kistler, Jeanne Shipe and Jude Sandt who joined me in the heat to pack four vehicles with bins filled with snackpacks and help with the drive thru.
Over 150 snackpacks were delivered. Katrina Sundstrom and her team did a great job, setting up tents, offering water and providing a very smooth delivery for everyone.
Sixty more Snackpacks will be delivered to LCCC on Thursday. If any member would like to help with snack packing and produce in the next few months, please reach out to Gail Micca.
HELP OUR TEMPTING TASTES FRIENDS:;
Restaurants and providers are now hungry for our support. Please consider ordering from them when you are looking for a break from your own cooking! You can also support them with the purchase of gift cards, for yourself or others.
COMMUNITY GARDEN PROJECT:
Gail Micca reports: The community garden is coming along nicely. With the addition of the garden beds, we have more than doubled the amount of produce we will provide. Amanda Lawler and Casandra Moyer have joined the team and are helping to get the final plants in and watering frequently. Look how far this garden has come in two months:
More help is needed. Please email Greenthumbsgardenproject@gmail.com for more information and directions. Amanda is setting up Sign-up Genius to scheduled watering and a Facebook page to share our progress. This is a great opportunity for young families or anyone interested in gardening.
MORNING MEETINGS;
President Amir Famili has suspended all AWRC face-to-face meetings until further notice. ZOOM meetings are now scheduled for each Wednesday at 7:30 A.M.
THURSDAY EVENING SCHEDULE:
TOMORROW, June 25th at 5:30 P.M. we will hold a ZOOM Happy Hour meeting. Just show up and smile with a drink in your hand optional..
NEXT MORNING MEETING:
Wednesday July 1st starting at 7:30 a.m. We will use Zoom to meet together with appropriate distancing. Our program will be our annual changeover from the Presidency of Amir Famili to that of Ralph Witcher, and some new officers.
HAPPY DOLLARS and MEMBER NEWS:
Pres. Amir conducted this part and kept score on who owes how much money.
Murtaza Jaffer says that their customers like the new EBC offices.
Bill and Sue Weber are back from Hilton Head.
Halyna and Mike Stegura’s son, Mike Jr. will run about 52 miles from Philadelphia to Allentown. He has run some 100 mile events already.
Barbara and Jeff Kistler appeared today with AW Rotary shirts on.
Barbara explained that a 51 year old Pyrex dish exploded as she removed it from her microwave resulting in her receiving multiple stitches to close a cut on her arm.
Ralph Witcher was calling in from N.J.
Al Lewis was on the line today.
Bill Palmer’s son and two grandchildren went to an Emmaus restaurant Saturday eating outdoors for Father’s Day. On Sunday his step-family came to his house and cooked out on the deck to celebrate.
Pres. Amir said Halyna owes $1 per mile for her son’s running distance.
Amir Famili said the Lehigh Graduate students with whom he works gave him a sour cherry tree as a gift.
Marlene and Gary Heller had a background for this meeting which was a photo of an old cabin in Wisconsin.
Herb Klotz said that he enjoyed listening to the pre-recorded RI annual Convention sessions last Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Jeanne Shipe said that she listened to them as well.
Bill Weber said that at Monday’s district Council of Governors zoom meeting, all of the great District accomplishments this Rotary year were very impressive. For all of us, Bill thanks DG Herb Klotz for his leadership and drive.
Herb Klotz said that AWRC is about $1,000 short of our Rotary Foundation goal for this Rotary year. He asks us to donate right away if possible.
DG Herb said that the official D7430 annual Changeover will take place on Zoom on July 27 at 7:00 P.M. This is a big celebration with many awards.
PROGRAM:
Pres. Amir introduced State Representative, Mike Schlossberg to discuss the economic impact of the pandemic crisis on the PA economy and a path forward.
Michael H. Schlossberg is a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 132nd district since 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Before his election to the PA House of Representatives in 2012, Mike was employed by the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce as Vice President of Member Relations and Applied Technology. He also served as a member of Allentown City Council,
Since taking office, Mike has brought $53 million in new revenue to the financially challenged Allentown School District, helping local leaders to avoid teacher layoffs. This session, he has advanced bipartisan legislation to increase mental health services for first responders. In 2015, Governor Tom Wolf signed Mike’s Rape Survivor Child Custody and Support legislation into law.
Mike is an alumnus of Muhlenberg College (2005, magna cum laude) and Lehigh University. Mike’s wife, Brenna, is a teacher in the Allentown School District. They have a son Auron and a daughter Ayla. The Schlossbergs are homeowners in Allentown.
Mike thanked us for inviting him to speak, and said he was at one of our meetings about 5 years ago. He said that he was using his i-pad as he was in a hotel room in Harrisburg this morning. He said that today was the first time that he did a pledge to the flag using Zoom.
Mike says he thinks that PA is a bit better off that some states to weather this pandemic. He said that the PA GDP number will be down about 5%, but should recover that much in 2021.
Mike believes that the loss of payroll jobs will not fully recover. There was some improvement last month.
Mike said that he thinks that Governor Wolf has done the right things with the shutdown and the slow reopening. He believes that most states in the Northeast will come out PK. He said that Lehigh County goes “green” on Friday June 26. Mike made the point that we can have health and still go out.
Mike discussed some PA budget issues saying it is almost impossible to forecast any budget values. We had a shortfall last year that has carried over to join this years’ problems. We need Federal assistance to get us out of the hole. We lost PA Turnpike income, Lottery income, and State Liquor store income.
Mike answered some questions. Jeanne Shipe thanked Mike for his daily radio briefings.
CLOSING:
Pres. Amir led us in the saying “One profits most who serves best.”
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