We are under a Winter Storm Warming and told to anticipate 12 to 18 inches of snow accumulation here in the Lehigh Valley before the Nor'ester leaves us mid-morning this Thursday. While we do not anticipate a record-breaking snow total (the record goes to January 22-23, 2016 with a measurement of 31.7 inches!!), the weather broadcasters are excited to tell us we might get sleek, hail, wind, and thundersnow! Can anyone tell me what thundersnow is?
My first thought is gratitude that we will not have to cancel Thursday's regular meeting as we are already set for a virtual meet-up in Vox Tandem land. So barring power outages, we will have a short business meeting, a program featuring the Emmaus High School Chorale, and our monthly Board meeting. Then I realize that last year at this time-- pre-pandemic/before Covid 19, this storm would have meant a disappointing cancellation of all our morning events. What is that folk saying, "It's an ill wind that blows no good."? We are learning, adapting, and being more resilient. That all sounds good.
What I hope I do not hear among my family and friends, or read on social media are these words, "See, why do we have to worry about climate change when it is seasonably cold, windy and snowy out?" This is a total misunderstanding of the serious global crisis we face. Do not let last year's snow drought fool you. Recall all the firestorms, flooding and earthquakes in this year's news. What we are facing is more than local climate change. Rotary International has added a seventh area of focus which is Supporting the Environment. I look forward to mapping out a response for Emmaus Rotary. How can we join in this effort? What are our local concerns? Where can we lend our strengths and skills? Several of you have mentioned your interest in this new area of concern. It might be a good New Year's resolution for us to form a study group. Who is in?
Happy Holidays! Hanukkah Sameach! Happy Solstice! Merry Yule! and a very Merry Christmas to everyone!!
Because of the current rise in COVID-19 cases, we will be having our weekly meetings virtually for the rest of 2020! There will not be an in-person meeting this week again, but we sure would love to see your smiling face when you join us online! Stay tuned for updates next week as we prepare for our meetings in 2021. Hopefully we will be able to meet in person at Brookside Country Club in 2021. Keep reading the Trumpet for updates and other surprises! We are trying hard to make everyone feel like a part of the virtual meetings.
Please use the link below to join us this Thursday, December 10, 2020 at 7:30 a.m. or sooner if you want to chat with the others!
We still encourage you to invite a virtual guest to help introduce Rotary to someone who could make a great Rotarian. Simply share the link provided in the red section below with your guest. Ask them to please sign in as - their name (guest of) - in the name field so we know who they were invited by.
To enter the virtual meeting, just click this link or copy and paste it into your URL Browser. Please note that you will need Firefox or Google Chrome as your browser to join the meetings.
2) Scroll down on the sign in page and you will see the list of recorded meetings under "Public Room Recordings".
3) Click on the blue presentation button of the meeting you'd like to view. 4) Click on the triangle shaped play button at the bottom left of the screen to play the recording.
5) Enjoy!
Be Well and Stay Safe Friends,
Sal Verrastro Trumpet Editor in training 2nd VP ERC
Weekly Door Prize Donations Needed! Be our next meeting's prize sponsor!
It seems like we all like the idea of winning a festive prize at our meetings (in person or online). We have had some very generous and fun donations since incorporating this new aspect to our meetings. Many thanks to all who have donated a prize! It is a nice way to give back to each other. Do you have a hobby or talent you can share with the club? Maybe you love to bake, sew, or garden (IE Garlic). Let’s get creative with our door prizes and share a little bit about ourselves in the process! How about we show some love to the local businesses in our community? They have shown us support with raffle donations and sponsorships throughout the years. Consider purchasing a $20.00 gift card from one of the many small businesses in the East Penn Area. As we know every little bit helps. It's also a great way to start a conversation about Rotary and invite business owners and managers to a club meeting.
So if you’d like to sponsor a door prize contact Don Blose, Meghan Reed, Sal Verrastro or Lexa Shallcross.
During the Emmaus Old Fashioned Christmas night last week - Karen was approached by Sharon Goldner a Lehigh Valley resident, and a potential future Emmaus Rotary West member. She asked Karen what happened to all the fine letters written to Santa that went in Santa’s mailbox. Then Sharon asked if she could have those letters for her father. Sharon went on to tell a wonderful story of her 94 year-old father, who recently became a resident in home care. His name is Richard Kraus, he was a Wisconsin dairy farmer who found joy in bringing joy to others. He was Santa in his community for many, many years. He worked for the city mowing lawns until he was 91 after he left the family farm. It all started a year ago. He was an amazing wood crafts man and he was making something for his grand daughter and ran his hand over a table saw which has put him in the home care facility. He’s been in and out of hospitals and rehab for various things since that accident and then COVID hit and then forced him into isolation. He had to sell their house and his wife is in a different apartment in the next town. Isolation is killing him. These letters will mean the world to him.
Thanks to Karen for also sharing the following photos of Santa (AKA Richard) in lockdown at a nursing facility - this was his Thanksgiving, his other daughter, who works there snuck into the therapy room and put his 91 year old wife in the door way so they could at least see each other for Thanksgiving.
We have reached a critical point to fund the East Penn Food Coalition, Feed East Penn Students Program. We currently serve over 200 children a week and need your help to raise $20,000 by February to continue to feed hungry kids in our community. Please consider donating to the go-fund-me campaign to provide students with "backpacks" of food to take home over the weekend. Please click on the link for information and to donate now.
Surely there are women in our Emmaus and Lehigh Valley communities with an outstanding record of volunteer humanitarian service who have given their time and efforts to advance RI’s Mission to provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance understanding, goodwill, and peace, and who are leaders in their chosen field.
Now is your opportunity to nominate a woman from our community who personifies these qualities to receive the Emmaus Rotary Club International Women’s Day Celebration (IWDC) Rotary Award on March 11, 2021. For the fourth year, on behalf of the Emmaus Rotary Club, I am writing to encourage you to submit a nomination by January 24, 2021.
You will find detailed information about the nomination criteria and how to submit a nomination when you click read more below. If you have any questions before this date, please feel free to e-mail me at aruizorbin@aol.com or to call me at my cell #610-392-5134.
On behalf of our Club’s IWDC Committee and on my behalf, I thank you for your support and look forward to receiving your nomination.
Yours in Rotary Service,
Alicia Ruiz-Orbin, Committee Chair International Women’s Day Celebration
December is Disease Prevention and Treatment Month
Fighting disease
We educate and equip communities to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases like polio, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. We improve and expand access to low-cost and free health care in developing areas.
We believe good health care is everyone’s right. Yet 400 million people in the world can’t afford or don’t have access to basic health care.
Disease results in misery, pain, and poverty for millions of people worldwide. That’s why treating and preventing disease is so important to us. We lead efforts both large and small. We set up temporary clinics, blood donation centers, and training facilities in underserved communities struggling with outbreaks and health care access. We design and build infrastructure that allows doctors, patients, and governments to work together.
Our members combat diseases like malaria, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and polio. Prevention is important, which is why we also focus on health education and bringing people routine hearing, vision, and dental care. For more information go to: https://www.rotary.org/en/our-causes/fighting-diseases
COVID-19 is impacting us all in our personal, professional and Rotary lives. We must base our decisions about Rotary activities on the health and safety of our members and compliance with government and health regulations. Even though we may not be able to conduct the usual weekly in person meetings, many of our clubs are leading or participating in food and other relief programs in their communities. These efforts will likely be continuing through the balance of this Rotary year and into the future.
With this in mind, the following are guidelines for all Rotary District 7430 activities:
All guidelines set forth by the Governor, counties and other authorized persons in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the CDC should be followed.
Should any Rotarian be diagnosed with or have symptoms that they suspect to be consistent with COVID-19, that Rotarian shall:
Not participate in any Rotary event that involves a personal appearance at the event.
Report their diagnoses or symptoms to the Rotarian supervising any program in which they have participated in-person within fourteen (14) days before the diagnoses or occurrence of symptoms.
We also suggest that you adopt guidelines for your clubs that reflect the current health crisis.
Welcome to the Emmaus Rotary Club!
We meet at 7:30 AM on Thursday mornings
at Brookside Country Club, 901 Willow Lane, Macungie, PA 18062
