Our Greeter today was Chris Blechschmidt, and he did a marvelous job.
President Amir Famili rang the bell at 7:30 A.M. to open the meeting and welcomed all. Then Pastor Jean Masiko gave a very nice invocation including a special mention for Ronnee and Herb Klotz.
Secretary John Scott began the meeting having the members recite The Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag. Then he led us in reciting the Four Way Test. John introduced Whitman, his son and welcomed honorary member Shirley Randall. Then John reviewed a list of upcoming events.
GUESTS:
Tom Friday, almost a new member; Whitman Scott, son of John; and Vicki Coyle, CFO for Meals on Wheels LV.
P-E Ralph Witcher read aloud a list of members’ birthdays in October, and we sang Happy Birthday.
YVETTE PALMER PURPLE PINKIE 5K RACE:
Race Director John Scott reminds us that the event will take place NEXT Saturday October 12th at LCCC. 43 of our D7430 RCs are sponsoring.
Members are urged to be sponsors, donate gift cards, register to run or to walk or just show up and cheer.
Pres. Amir said that AW members and their friends have raised about $4,500 to sponsor the race.
DICTIONARIES 2019:
Pres. Amir has ordered 1100 dictionaries and members have made cash donations, but we are $200 short as of this morning.
PARKLAND PRESS:
The Parkland Press last week included a photo of our check presentation to the Parkland C.A.R.E.S. Food Pantry.
NON-PROFIT EXPO:
On Saturday, October 5th our Rotary Club had an information booth at the LV Mall. See separate article.
D7430 FRIENDSHIP EXCHANGE VISIT:
Sue Weber said that the visiting Rotarians from Oregon as the second part of our district Friendship Exchange, will be here at AWRC next week.0
MIRACLE LEAGUE HALOWEEN PARTY:
Barb Kistler asks for members to donate appropriate fruit snacks -- BEFORE OCTOBER 23rd -- to be distributed to the kids with the help of our Northwestern Interact club students.
DINING OUT IN OCTOBER:
Jean Machamer says Dining Out for October will be at Stony Run Inn on Thursday, October 31st, at 6:00 PM. Put your costumes on and come on out for a howling, fun-filled evening! 🎃 Hope to see you there! The signup sheets will be going around at both meetings. Bring a friend!
MEALS ON WHEELS VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:
Dottie Bloom asks for volunteers to help deliver meals on Veterans Day Nov. 11th, as we do each year. “New” volunteers will have to fill out some forms. Prior vols do not.
LOWHILL FOOD PANTRY:
This great group still depends on cash donations from AW Rotarians. And volunteering for the produce pick-up and distribution on Saturday mornings is a very satisfying thing.
THURSDAY EVENING SCHEDULE:
TOMORROW Oct 10 -- at the Starlite Diner at 5:30 P.M.
Oct 24 -- at a Locale TBD at 5:30 P.M.
NEXT MORNING MEETING:
Oct 16th with Ron Coleman as our Greeter. Our program will be Rev. Dr. Larry Pickens, Ecumenical Director of Lehigh Conference of Churches.
Pres. Amir introduced Sgt.-at-Arms Mitch Huston who conducted the drawings and collected Happy Dollars.
The door prize donated by Chris Blechschmidt was won by “lucky” Bill Weber. Then 3 more prizes donated by Laurie Grube went to Jeff Kistler, Chris Blechschmidt, and Ernie Boll.
The $10 pot of the 50:50 was not won by Sue Weber’s ticket being drawn followed by a white marble. MANY marbles will be back next week.
HAPPY DOLLARS:
Bill Palmer is very happy to have attended the wedding of Yvette’s grandson, Bryandon, last Saturday. He also hosted the rehearsal dinner the evening before at his home.
Sue Weber is happy to report that her brother is doing better and has been moved to Rehab.
Geoff Legg put in $5 for the photo in the Parkland Press, and challenged Amir to do the same -- Amir did.
John Scott is happy that he and Whitman were present at the PPL Center when Melvin the mascot was inducted into the Boy Scouts.
John also is happy that he just had an article published over his name in the Reading Eagle.
MEALS ON WHEELS DONATION:
Gail Micca our Service Chair introduced Vicki Coyle, the CFO of the Lehigh Valley Meals on Wheels. AW Rotarians presented M.O.W. with a $1,080 check to fund traveling coolers for their deliveries.
Vicki told us that the coolers have been received and are in use. Controlling food temperatures is essential. Vicki thanked AW Rotarians for their continuing support.
Vicki said that M.O.W. have a new site for their next building in East Allentown which takes them from 10,000 sq. ft. to 17,000 sq. ft. The move will be in about 18 months.
PROGRAM:
John Scott introduced our new member Laurie Grube to give her Classification talk. Laurie has been a Rotarian for 13 years and a member of the West Reading Wyomissing RC in our district. When her work moved her into our area she contacted Murtaza Jaffer and the rest is history.
Laurie is the Vice President of Riverview Bank with offices in Temple, Altoona, Pottsville, and soon to be on S. Cedar crest Blvd. in Allentown. The bank had $1.2 billion in assets as of 2017. Laurie manages 30 of their branch offices.
Laurie was raised on a farm in Berks County and has roots back to her great Grandfather on Passer Rd. in Coopersburg. With this addition to the Bank they have moved to Coopersburg. They are near the “Rail Trail” which is great.
Laurie was graduated from Elizabethtown College in 1986 and has been in banking for 30 years, after a brief stint in education. In 2015 she earned her MBA.
Laurie was married last year, and they each have two grown children. She and her husband played golf in Bermuda on their honeymoon. They love to travel, go hiking, and Zip Line. Just last week they were in Martha’s Vineyard.
Laurie serves on the board of directors for a number of businesses. Her Riverview Bank also supported the Purple Pinkie race. She is involved with Altrusa International, Inc a Non-profit organization, an international non-profit organization focused on community service.
CLOSING:
Pres. Amir closed our meeting by our reciting the saying “One profits most who serves best.”