It seems comic now, yet last night I was desperately seeking a missing 1099-misc form. One small piece of paper. I went spelunking in my file cabinet and excavating through the drawers of my desk. Yes, what was misplaced has been found. Phew! And, as a boon, I found an artifact from Thursday, June 12, 2008. It is a one-page script I used during a new member induction ceremony. The late Bob Bisbing had asked me to tell our newest members what I liked about Rotary. Here’s what I said:
Thank you to all of you who have welcomed me into Emmaus Rotary. I was inducted just this March and now I’m supposed to tell you what I like about Rotary. So--
Three things. First, The Friendship. I don’t know about you, but each June when school let out for the summer, I couldn’t wait to build a treehouse or remove the latticework under the front porch so that our neighborhood “club” could meet. I like hanging out with like-minded people. That makes me pretty normal, I think. Rotary Friendships begin in the weekly meetings and grow as you take part in extra activities like work crews, fundraisers, committee meetings, and social events with good food.
Three things. Second, I LOVE HAPPY DOLLARS. You can ask my sponsor, Wayne (Matthias-Long). After my firsts meeting, I told him I wish I’d invented “happy dollars” to use each and every Sunday at Church. I look forward to Happy Dollars. I like hearing about a child’s first steps, a grandchild born, a trip taken.... Happy Dollars grow the Treasury. Happy Dollars grow the Friendship.
Three things. Third, call me an idealist. It’s the Rotary ideal of “Service over Self” that pulls me forward. We’re not here for just ourselves, we’re here also for our community and for our world. It would be hard to exaggerate how impressed I am by Rotary International’s goal to stamp out polio, or by our district’s international exchanges, or by our club’s support of students by providing leadership development opportunities like Camp Neidig and by awarding scholarships.
Hey, I’m just a newbie... But more and more I see how Rotary makes a real difference.
Thank you all for listening.
Then I turned to welcome that morning’s new Rotarians.
Last Thursday, we welcomed and inducted Jean Onyambu and Kevin Basara, both sponsored by Nelly Kabiru, into Emmaus Rotary. Please take a moment to introduce yourself, get to know them a little more and -- hey, what do you like about Rotary? Let them know.
Our in person and virtual meetings continue this week at Brookside Country Club! We are practicing safe physical distance, appropriate mask wearing and hand sanitation at our in person meetings. You also have the option to participate by joining us through the Voxx Tandem platform. We will see you in person or online this Thursday, July 16th at 7:30am.
Please use the link below to join us this Thursday, July 16, 2020 at 7:30am. To join us on the Vox Tandem Virtual Meeting platform.
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.
You can use your computer, laptop or smartphone to join the meeting.
If you had any difficulties or questions on how to log on please reach out to John Chisca johnc@voxtandem.com 610-400-0203.
The following safety guidelines will continue to be followed at Brookside Country Club:
Tables will be set 6 ft apart to observe social distancing and each table will seat only 5 people.
BCC is requiring guests to wear masks throughout the Clubhouse, though once in the ballroom or outside, masks are not required. Even though we are in green masks must be worn while entering and moving around the Clubhouse. Once guests are seated masks can be removed.
There will be multiple hand sanitizer stations located throughout the Clubhouse. We encourage guests to use hand sanitizer upon arrival and throughout their time at Brookside.
Buffets will now be served by staff of Brookside behind plexiglass (gloves will be worn by those serving food.)
Coffee will also need to be served (no station) and we will have to utilize single use packets such as salt, pepper, creamer, ketchup, and syrup.
It is imperative that if they feel sick or have contracted COVID - 19, you must stay home.
Please contact Mike, Meghan, Lexa or Steve if you have any questions. Please also review the Rotary District Covid-19 Guidelines in this newsletter.
To watch past meetings that you may have missed or just want to see again. Follow the steps below.
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.
PLEASE NOTE THAT MEMBER ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE ON A VOLUNTEER BASIS FOR THE TIME BEING. IF YOU ARE COMFORTABLE TAKING A MEETING RESPONSIBILITY PLEASE TALK TO MEGHAN TO BE SCHEDULED FOR AN UPCOMING MEETING. DUTIES WILL BE POSTED WEEK TO WEEK.
Thank you for taking your turn to help Emmaus Rotary run a smooth, fun and friendly meeting especially as we return to holding in person meetings and do our part to follow safety guidelines.
July 9, 2020
Greeter - Meghan Reed (NO shaking hands to avoid spreading germs)
Sign-in-table - Rick Zayitz (Hand sanitizer will be available at the sign and EREY in table)
EREY- Bill Erdman
Invocation - Lexa Shallcross
Virtual Platform Moderator - John Chisca
Virtual Platform Live Feed From Meeting - Eric Loch and Steve Gould
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.
"Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change - across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves"
Lexa's first Club Assembly last week was energizing and motivating. Our 2020-2021 President is ready to lead our Club in achieving some very important goals and continuing the "Service Above Self" work that we do in the community. We will not let Covid-19 stop us from making a difference and moving our club forward.
Some of our goals set by Lexa for the 20-21 year include: * 100% participation in EREY * Foundation giving of $20,000 plus * Service Project Participation - at least 60 members participate in at least on service project
* Support and grow the EHS Interact Club
* Implement the 2 International Zambia Projects - Global grants at secondary schools
* Participate in any Friendship Exchange opportunities * Leadership Development: 5 people attend/complete Rotary Training
Are you ready to achieve these goals together? TOGETHER WE can check off each one of these goals listed and more! Rotary opens the door to opportunities and I hear a knock on the door...
In the read more section below is the Obituary of former Emmaus Rotarian Bob Phander
He passed away recently from complications of Covid-19 in a nursing home,
Bob was a long standing and active member of Emmaus Rotary,
He used to help us often in our New Member Induction Ceremonies and always did a very nice job,
He will be remembered as the most polite and kind person you would ever want to meet and he took a great interest in the values and activities of both Emmaus Rotary and Rotary International, and the development of young Rotarians,
May God bless his soul and afford him eternal peace and comfort his family,
Amen
We lost a great Rotarian
God Bless Life Long Rotarian Bob Pfander
Many thanks to daughter Debi Baker, also a former ERC Rotarian who has kept us informed about her Dad over the years since they relocated to the Boston area.
On Thursday, July 9th, Emmaus Rotary held its first brainstorming sessions to discuss new and revamped ways to raise money for our 2021-2022 service projects. Thank you to all who contributed last week! We will continue to hold these sessions. Mark Erle has agreed to host an on-line live Zoom meeting this Thursday evening (July 16, 21020). An email will go out to the club with time and link details to join the session. Please stay tuned for that information in your email inbox.
Pass along to friends, family, business owners and golfers.
Remember that for this year only we’re offering special COVID pricing. Any support will be greatly appreciated.
Raffle tickets are now available! See Eric Loch or Don Blose to purchase yours and/or to help sell tickets.
Raffle tickets are only $50 per ticket! ONLY 300 to be sold! 1st Prize - A solid 14kt Yellow Gold Bangle Bracelet with .50ctw Diamonds! A $4,700 value!
2nd Prize - $1,000 Gift Card for State Store Alcohol!
Thank you to Ai Orthodontics for their absolutely incredible generosity! Dr. Aejaaz A. Issa and his team have donated $3,000 to the Emmaus Rotary Club, East Penn Food Program, Go Fund Me campaign. This kindness has brought us to 25% of our current fundraising goal for the program. Many thanks to Karen Hobson for sharing the Go Fund Me campaign with Dr. Issa. Ai Orthodontics has been a huge supporter of Emmaus Rotary. We are very grateful for community business partners like Ai Orthodontics who lead through service above self.
Does this inspire you to give? Start YOUR team! Since we started in July we have raised $4,255 of our $10,000 Go Fund Me Campaign goal to support The Emmaus Rotary Club, East Penn Food Program. As I have written before, it is important that our Club Members get involved in sharing this campaign so that we can reach our goal of $10,000. Donating and sharing is VERY easy and with just a few seconds a week, together we will make our goal! (If you need instructions on how to donate follow the steps in the read more section on how you can donate and share)
SHARING IS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR THIS CAMPAIGN TO GAIN MOMENTUM. Creating your own fundraising page as part of the campaign is a great way to invite your family, friends, co-workers, clients, and others to join you in our mission to help feed hungry children!
How to do it:
1) Click the blue JOIN button.
2) Sign in - follow the prompts to create an account or log in with Facebook if you have one.
3) Click the blue JOIN THE TEAM button. This will automatically make you a member of the team. Regardless of donation amount. You can donate whatever amount you'd like even $10 puts us closer to our goal. EVERY single dollar matters! You can create a team without donating (I tested this on my husband's cell phone to join the team it took 5 second to do) The goal here is create a page to engage your network and share the information to attract donors.
4) Now share your link! You can share multiple ways. Facebook, Twitter or copy your link and past it into an email to go out to your clients, workplace, family, friends, and other organizations your a member of. Remember to share often on your social media pages! Please consider creating a team for your business.
It's that simple. An easy way for "People of Action" like us to....well...take action!
If you need help with how to share you may reach out to me and I will do my very best to walk you through it or think of some creative ways you can help spread the word.
I have included an email that I sent out to another board that I sit on. Feel free to use it! Just click "read more" below.
If you have questions on how to use Go Fund Me please contact Meghan Reed 610-797-5942 / meghanreed517@gmail.com THANK YOU!!
For all the wine lovers out there, here is a way to give back. Do you need to stock up on wine? Do you have gifts to buy and not sure what to get? Here is a great way to raise funds for the Food Insecure Children of East Penn School District.
All wine profits made during the month of July, will be given to the Emmaus Rotary Club's Food Packing Program. That’s right, all profits made on all sales will go back to the Rotary!
What is Scout & Cellar – it’s a Clean-Crafted Wine, free from chemicals and added sugars. It’s grown naturally, bottled consciously and packed sustainable making it better tasting and better for our planet. Best part, it can be delivered straight to your door. To learn more and order your wine go to www.scoutandcellar.com/dczayaitz.
Thank you to Emmaus Rotarians who came out to help with mulching at Hillside School. We managed to achieve a lot with many helping hands : Thanks - Gary, Gary, Sue, Dee, Nicole, Holly, Karen, Rick, Don and Ryan !! #emmausrotaryworks
The "Member Spotlight Interview" features an interview between Wade George and another Emmaus Rotary Club Member to serve as a way for our newer members to learn more about some of our long standing members in the Club and how Rotary has made an impression on their lives. They will talk about what Rotary means to them, share advice, as well as memories they've made along the way. Our goal to include a quarterly "Member Spotlight Interview" in future editions of the Trumpet. We hope you enjoy our first "Member Spotlight Interview" with Rotarian Larry Delhagen!
Thank you Wade and Larry for taking the time to collaborate on this exciting new addition to our newsletter.
Member Spotlight Interview with Larry Delhagen by Wade George. (May 2020)
Your membership in Rotary goes back to January 1997, that’s over 23 years in the organization. An absolutely amazing accomplishment on so many levels. What first inspired you back then to join?
"I was looking for a service organization to join in my early 30’s and I decided Rotary would provide the best opportunity to engage in some fun and needed community service work. (And that was in spite of Gordy Shantz being the president at the time so you KNOW it was a great club.) Plus, my father was a past president of the Warwick (Rhode Island) Rotary Club and my uncle Jack a past president of the ERC so it seemed like the thing to do."
In all of your years as a Rotarian, what is the individual accomplishment or moment that you are most proud of as a Rotarian?
"It’s hard to name just one. I would say the refurbishment of the Emmaus Community Park Playground and installation of the new equipment, my year as president, the work Rotary has done to eliminate Polio from the planet, and watching the EHS kids, including my own, participate in and become officers of the EHS Interact Club and attend Camp Neidig and then watching them present their experiences to our club."
What are you most proud of Emmaus Rotary for?
"I think how well we involve our new members is something to be extremely proud of. Watching our newest members take positions of responsibility in the club is just awesome."
Is there a specific event that is most memorable or a favorite memory of yours that you haven’t previously mentioned?
"I don’t know if it’s my “favorite” memory, but the moment I realized that Brent Peters asking me if I want to “do programs” meant I was going to be club president. There was about a 6 month lag time between the two because no one ever actually asked me if I wanted to be in the chairs, and I didn’t know becoming Program Chair was becoming 2nd VP. We were a much smaller, less formal club back then so some of the formalities were sometimes omitted. But it worked out well in the end."
Over the years, who are some Rotarians that you have developed the closest relationships with? With whom in particular did you share a good laugh?
"I have been in the ERC long enough to remember Ernie Shaffer who was in his mid-90’s when I joined the ERC. He gave a happy dollar every Thursday morning and declared that “it was good to be on the right side of the sod”. That cracked me up. I particularly miss the Carls (Gingrich and Franz) and Bob Bisbing who’ve passed on to the great Rotary Club in the sky, and Dennis Gouldy who left the ERC a decade or more ago. Dennis, Neil Black, and my original sponsor to the club, Gordon Shantz would get a little tipsy while they shopped for the gifts for our annual Christmas party. It was hilarious. Great guys all. And of course my baseball nemesis, Marge Geosits. I miss her not being able to come to meetings and answer for the egregious nature of her favorite team. I guess I’m kind of in the middle of my Rotary journey now. I am really enjoying watching the new/next generation of Rotarians join the club and I admire the heck out of our older members who’ve been faithful Rotarians for so many years. Wilmer is an inspiration, as is Dale. And Roger’s OK too for a Democrat. Don Blose has been a friend since I’ve lived here. The only one I really don’t like is Gary Rohrbach. But he knows that and we’re both OK with it."
What advice can you give to the current and future leaders of the Emmaus Rotary as well as to any newer members in the group?
"For new members, don’t be afraid to dive in and get involved. It’s the best way to make friends. Be fearless with your happy dollars. Don’t sit with the same people every week. If you have the time, participate in the physical projects. Roll up your sleeves and if possible, get your kids involved. And your significant other. Rotary is a family."
Obviously, in your profession, you have seen a lot over the 23 years you have been in Rotary. Can you provide some reassurance to those who may be especially stressed out these days?
"You need to have perspective. We have a Rotarian in our midst who’s lived through the Great Depression, WWII, the Korean Conflict, the Cuban Missile Crisis and Cold War, the Vietnam War, 9/11, the Great Recession, Polio, AIDS, SARS, MIRS, Ebola, Swine Flu and now COVID-19 and he still works in his own yard. We’ve had umpteen bull markets and bear markets, presidents, congresses, and (I know this is hard for Steelers fans) Patriot’s Super Bowl Championships, and despite all, we are still Americans and we work, innovate and problem solve like no one else on the planet because our Constitution ensures our individual liberty. We’ll be just fine. Just have a little faith and some patience. We’ll get through this and in due course this “pandemic” will be just another footnote in history."
We will be back at Brookside CC this week for our regular Thursday Morning Breakfast Meeting. Hopefully, everyone has been collecting and saving the Tabs from Soda, Beer, Tuna Fish, Sardine & Soup Cans for the Miracle League, Woody & his wife just returned from Florida and brought back a “Good-Sized” plastic bag of “Tabs”. Please bring them to our Rotary Breakfast Meetings at Brookside CC.
The Fellowship Virtual Wine Tasting event last week was a hit! A big thank you to Joe Pugliese for making this such a fun time for everyone who logged on. We had 16 wine tasters! Joe was an outstanding host, giving us tips on how to truly appreciate wine from the color and smell to the texture and after taste. We will be doing another virtual wine tasting again soon so stay tuned for more information!
Rotary District 7430 Virtual Changeover Celebration
Monday, July 27, 2020
7:00 pm
This year's District Changeover is going virtual!! Mark your calendars and join us on Monday, July 27, 2020 at 7:00 pm. We are planning a fun event recognizing and celebrating the many accomplishments of our district clubs during 2019-2020. Governor Herb will be presenting Rotary Citation winners, Rotary Foundation awards, and Youth Service Award winners. There may even be some surprises and special guests. We hope every club in D7430 will be represented at this special event.
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 over the past few months 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 while doing some low-key networking for your business. In the wake of the Corona Virus now more than ever it's important to show the local businesses in our community we care and support them. 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. Please contact Meghan Reed for more information about our weekly door prizes and how you can be help!
Upcoming Committee Meetings: Consider holding a virtual meeting to stay in touch and on task with your committee!
(Does your committee have an upcoming meeting? Let Meghan know and we will list it here)
Rotary and Beyond:
If you are participating in a fundraiser outside of Rotary and would like help spreading the word to our club members please contact Meghan Reed. It may be eligible to run in our new section in the Trumpet called "Rotary and Beyond". It will cost $2.00 (Happy Dollars) each time you'd like to run the information in the Trumpet. To have the information posted in the Trumpet you must be an active committee member or board member of the non-profit organization facilitating the activity outside of Rotary participation. The $2.00 entry may be given to Meghan at a club meeting. Contact Meghan with any questions.
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
