Today was an In-Person meeting at Cedar Crest College starting at 7:30 A.M. There were 21 of us present plus 6 more on line.
Our Greeter was Christopher Blechschmidt. Mitch Huston handled registration, prizes and Happy Dollars.
GUESTS:
Samuel, our Y.E. student from Germany; Allison Blechschmidt, Chris” wife: Claire, and Amelia – guests of Gail.
OPENING:
Pres. Gail Micca opened the meeting at 7:30 A.M.
Chuck Ehninger gave a nice invocation.
Ron Coleman led us in the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag.
Sam led us in reciting the Four Way Test, and added “Is it Fun?”
CELEBRATIONS:
The member celebrations for MAY are listed below.
PRIZES:
The Josh Early candy door prize donated by Chris Blechschmidt was won by Gail Micca.
The 50:50 prize of $10 was won by Ron Coleman.
HAPPY DOLLARS:
Pres. Gail is happy that the AWRC Changeover is next month.
Ernie Boll, as usual, is just plain happy.
Bill Palmer is happy about attending his grandson Andrew’s wedding to Danika last Saturday at Bear Creek Mountain Resort.
Sam is happy to be here today.
Somebody wished us all a “Happy Memorial Day”.
Ron Coleman is happy that Gail was President for the last two years.
Geoff Legg is happy for Gail’s two years of service.
He also is happy for his daughter, Dr. Kim for her recent honored alumni award.
Mitch Huston is happy to announce an Expo tomorrow morning at Ag Hall.
Also remember that on Monday there will be “Taps Over Bethlehem” in the morning . And at 9:00 A.M. the trumpets will together harmonize.
MEMORIAL DAY MAY 29”
Barbara Kistler asks “How about joining other Rotarians for a "dining out" picnic at Ontalaunee Park in downtown New Tripoli.?”
There are many events happening at the Veterans Memorial to honor those who have sacrificed for our freedoms.
Ontalaunee Park and the beautiful Veterans Memorial exist partly because of the donations and past projects of Allentown West Rotarians. In a sense it is our park!
Jeff and I will be at the pavilion before 11:00 AM to save a table or more for any who want to join us. This is a great opportunity to be a presence in the "Upper Lehigh" part of our territory as well as participate in a wonderful remembrance of our veterans.
Note there will be Food Trucks to buy lunch or you can bring your sandwich, drink and snacks, etc. to share. Let Barbara know if you are interested at bkistler630@gmail.com.
DINING OUT:
Pres. Gail asks that members step up and plan a Dining Out for July and August.
AWRC GREEN THUMB GARDEN:
Pres. Gail reports -- Life is busy at the gardens. We have had help from some youth groups - Interact and 4H, as well as the Parkland Garden Club, Parkland CARES Food Pantry, Parkland Community Library, friends and some Rotarians. Due to the freeze, we lost over 100 plants, but they have all been replaced. Gail grew nearly 1000 plants from seeds this year which was very helpful for the garden budget, especially with the loss of plants. Please consider bringing your family or friends to the garden to help with watering during this dry spring. When you sign up, directions will be emailed. Please follow the garden projects on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Allentown-West-Rotary-Green-Thumbs-Garden-Project-104692271300150
The sign up genius is ready to schedule all helpers at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904044faead23a1fe3-green1#/
See you at the garden!
MONGOLIAN 21 / 21 NIGHT-- JUNE 10:
Please join us for Mongolia 21|21 Night at Gary and Gwenn’s home in Kutztown. The event begins at 5:30. This is an evening of fellowship, fun, and opportunity. You will learn more about the Mongolia 21|21 Project (www.mongolia 2121.org) as well as enjoy the fellowship of Rotarians and other folks who want to do good in the world.
See separate article.
NEWS: Gwenn Carr reports “We have lots of great news regarding the Project. A club in California has signed on as a Sponsor. We have a presentation for an RC in Massachusetts on May 30th. Other service organizations have indicated interest as well. The news is spreading and our partnership with FOM is on Facebook as well.”
SNACK PACKING:
The next Snack Packing event at Parkland is in September.
If anyone wants to help, they should email Diana Dunn at dunndianas@gmail.com
The NWL Snack Packing date is in September.
KINGDOM LIFE FOOD DISTRIBUTION:
Come and help next time.
The upcoming dates for Kingdom Life Food Pantry Giveaway are:
June 10 July 8 August 12
Each time we start at 7:30 A.M. and usually are finished by 9:30 A.M. Volunteers are needed.
PARKLAND C.A.R.E.S. PRODUCE DELIVERY:
The Pantry will hold its food distributions on the first Saturday of each month for all of 2023.
Three volunteers are needed each time.
Food collections for Parkland C.A.R.E.S. will be held the third Wednesday of each month at the Pantry on Kernsville Road.
MEALS ON WHEELS:
Meal delivery by AW Rotarians takes place twice each week. Helen Papathanasiou always needs substitute volunteers.
CAMP NEIDIG (RYLA):
AWRC will be sending three area High School students to Camp Neidig this Spring. They are Lucas Dee and Elene Tzidelade from Parkland High School, and Jordan Allen from NW Lehigh High School.
INTERACT BREAKFAST:
We will hold an Interact breakfast on May 31 at the Parkland H.S. Start time is 7:30 A.M. PLEASE ARRIVE BY 7:15 A.M.
The Student of the Month will be honored.
MEETING SCHEDULE:
The second and fourth Wednesday of each month are In-Person meetings at Cedar Crest College.
The first Wednesday of each month will be a Dining Out meeting, or equal. It might not be on a Wednesday.
The third Wednesday of each month will be a ZOOM ONLY meeting with a program, unless we have a better idea
FUTURE TOURS, ETC.:
All members are asked to make suggestions to Gail Micca about other tours, Dining Out events, etc. for future meetings.
NEXT MORNING MEETING IN-PERSON:
May 31 IN-PERSON at Parkland H.S. starting at 7:30 A.M.
The program will be Lori Peters and the Parkland H.S. Interact Board.
Please join us for our annual Parkland Interact breakfast and learn what the club has been doing to make the world better. We will also be honoring our Parkland Student of the Month, Sarah Evans.
Pre-registration is helpful - contact Gail Micca at president@allentownwestrotary.org
PROGRAM:
Pres. Gail introduced Samuel Horsch, our Exchange Student, to present “My Experience as an Exchange Student”.
Sam used a series of photos to tell us about his family and home in Germany. His older brother was an exchange student in Canada. He was very pleased that he was chosen to come to the U.S.
Sam loves American football, and was delighted to be playing on the NWL team last Fall. Then this Spring he was on the track team, mostly doing the shot put. Then he hurt his knee and had to slow down.
Sam is very enthusiastic about his experiences here. He mentioned trips to NYC, Washington D.C. and soon to California. His English skills are very good now.
Sam will repeat 11th grade back home, then do 12th and 13th before going to college. He said his experience here was awesome.
Bill Keba introduced Susan Bartels, CEO-Big Brothers Big Sisters of LV to present “How Big Brothers Big Sisters is Expanding their Investment in the Community.”
Susan Bartels, MSW is Chief Executive Officer at Big Brothers Big Sisters Lehigh Valley, where she oversees all aspects of the organization’s fund development and program expansion strategies throughout Lehigh and Northampton Counties. Beginning her role in October 2013, Susan has led the agency to number of children in one-to-one mentoring matches and expanding serving a record its programs to include a Workplace Readiness & College Preparedness Program and most recently launching an innovative program called Sports Buddies.
In June 2022, BBBSLV was recognized by Big Brothers Big Sisters of America at the National conference for achieving the Quality Award. The Quality Award is presented to a BBBS agency which serves more children with quality.
Susan was selected as one of the 7 inaugural members of the Collective Impact Fellowship Program, which was developed and designed by the Rider Pool Foundation and funded by Rider Pool and Air Products. During this nine (9) month program, Susan was trained on Collective Impact and importance of finding new ways to work together with other non-profits leaders on common goals.
Susan served as Chair of the BBBS State Association for 3 years.
Before joining Big Brothers Big Sisters Lehigh Valley, Susan served as the Director of Programs with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bucks County. In her role there, Susan’s team achieved unprecedented growth in the number of matches served in her programs. She also played a key part in helping her agency win Big Brothers Big Sisters of America’s coveted Quality Award for six years.
Susan holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Eastern Mennonite College and a master’s degree in social work from Temple University. She has also served her community extensively as a Big Sister for over 30 years. She is currently matched to a 10th grader at Dieruff High School. She lives in Upper Black Eddy with her husband Denny and son Dean.
Founded in 1971, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Lehigh Valley is a part of a national organization working to clear the path to a child’s biggest possible future. They are a movement of change-makers creating a powerful ripple effect in our communities, our nation and our world. Joining parents with their staff, they match each child with a mentor to foster a friendship built on trust, learning and growth. Together, we are Defenders of Potential.
Vision Statement: All youth achieve their full potential.
Mission Statement: Create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.
During the presentation, we learned about the BBBSLV Leadership and the Community based Programs offered by BBBLV. Susan also explained about their newest program called "Sports Buddies", and about how their program called "Big Futures" and how it is preparing young people for the workplace. And she told us how we can get involved.
Candidates range from 7 years old to 21. Right now there are 265 boys who each need a mentor. There is a detailed screening process before mentors are assigned. And each mentor has a coach. It seems to be easier to sign up female mentors for the girls.
Susan answered some questions and received a large round of applause.
CLOSING:
Pres. Gail led us in reciting our motto “One profits most who serves best,” and adjourned the meeting.
.png)
.png)
