Last week's presentation during our regular weekly meeting by members of our own Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion task force was outstanding.
Jim Palmquist and Alicia Ruiz-Orbin both serve on our District 7430 DEI committee. They sparked interest in getting Emmaus Rotary to look at these foundational issues without delay. I asked Mike Waddell, our President-elect, and Sal Verrastro, 2nd vice-president and Trumpet editor to join them. Together those four recruited David Dunn, Geoff Boyer, Nelly Kabiru, and Mark Erle. The Gang of Eight did most of their work virtually.
I want to thank all of them for leading the way.
They have laid out some definitions, values, expectations, and hopes for us. They are giving us a solid foundation to move forward together. Please respond to the email from Mark Erle which is a short questionnaire designed to show us all where our starting point is. It took me less than 10 minutes. I am looking forward to the report from our DEI task force about what that survey shows in the near future.
One gift I received that morning was the quote from Willie Ratchford, Community Relations Director, that Sal projected on the screen. Do you recall it?
Diversity is being invited to the dance.
Equity is playing music we all can dance to.
Inclusion is being asked to dance.
So we are all not moving into some kind of "Dancing with the Stars, maintain your frame and keep the time" talent show for entertainment. This is real. Real people are involved. And we want to move forward toward serving others above our own individual selves or comfortable preferences. I have spent time as a wallflower, eager to dance and scared to dance. I wondered then, "will I do it right?" Now? I say, "Let's Dance." I am all in and with Kevin Bacon. I am living out those closing scenes in "Footloose" (1984) I believe that each person counts, matters, and has skills and gifts to offer. Here is the way the poet Ross Gay expressed it in 2015:
Is that Eric Garner worked
for some time for the Parks and Rec.
Horticultural Departments, which means,
perhaps, that with his very large hands.
perhaps, in all likelihood,
he put gently into the earth
some plants which, most likely,
some of them, in all likelihood,
continue to grow, continue
to do what such plants do, like house
and feed small and necessary creatures,
like being pleasant to touch and smell,
like converting sunlight
into food, like making it easier
for us to breathe.
This Thursday, April Fool's Day, is a Club Assembly. I will leave the poetry at home and come with an agenda updating our current club position. I intend to leave time for questions, concerns, and ideas for our future together.
We are meeting in person but if you prefer the virtual option is still available! We are back live at the Brookside Country Club. Vaccinated guests do not need to wear masks inside or outside of the club. Non-vaccinated or partially vaccinated people should continue to wear them inside and outside while moving around the Clubhouse but can remove them when seated. Starting in July, the mask mandate expires and all guests, vaccinated or non-vaccinated, can retire their masks until our next pandemic.
But our meetings will continue to be Hybrid and continue to provide you the meeting virtually.
If you are joining us online, please use the link below to join us this Thursday, at 7:30 AM or sooner if you would like.
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. Pleas ask all guest to 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!
WE ARE GRATEFUL TO ERIC LOCH AND JOHN CHISCA FOR MAKING THE HYBRID MEETINGS POSSIBLE EACH WEEK! And a special thanks to Wade George for helping with the camera and microphone this week.
Last week’s program was a chilling presentation about an international program to facilitate the placement of low-smoke, fuel-efficient, and safe cookstoves in collaboration with local communities of mostly Latin American which will support families and protect the environment.
THEIR MISSION: “We empower local people in Latin America to produce safe, clean-burning cookstoves” .
To date, the StoveTeam group has made safe kitchens a reality for more than half a million people.
AN ENORMOUS PROBLEM: Each year, smoke inhalation from indoor cooking fires kills more people than malaria and AIDS combined. And CO2 emissions from cooking fires are a major contributor to climate change. StoveTeam's innovative model for launching local projects in Latin America has been awarded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Partnership for Clean Indoor Air Award for Developing Local Markets for creating local employment while improving health and reducing air pollution. To date, local projects started by StoveTeam in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras and Mexico have produced more than 78,000 stoves, improving the lives of more than half a million people and preventing nearly one million tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.
COOKSTOVES ARE ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE: Each $100 Justa cookstove saves 15 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere, equivalent to the average American’s yearly carbon footprint.
There are also over a dozen ways to get involved, plus inspiring stories from the field at stoveteam.org/next-steps
Anyone who would like to write to to the Stove Team can do that at: PO Box 14707, Portland, ORStoveTeam is currently focusing on our Justa stove project in Guatemala.
Their goal is to install 5,000 cookstoves into homes in the next 3 years. They are working on gathering club and district support to fund their efforts and would welcome any support from our club or advice on approaching our district.
Friends - July 1, 2021 when I assume the Presidency of the Emmaus Rotary Club is just around the corner and one of the most important steps leading up to the new Rotary year is making sure that our committees are all in place and Chaired by the right people. Our committees do amazing work year after year only because of the passionate, committed and knowledgeable people who chair those committees and do the behind the scenes work week after week.
So, I am asking all current Chairpersons to stay on as Chairs next year. However, if you decide that you don't want to please let me know by April 15 and, if possible, suggest someone to take your place. If I don't hear from you I'll presume that you will remain as your committee's chair or co-chair.
Also, we have two Chair needs:
1. Larry Delhagen has done yeoman's work for many years as Chair of the Camp Neidig committee and has agreed to see it through this year. However, he is stepping away from this position and we need someone to take on this very important position for our Club. Larry has graciously offered to help anyone who takes it over and you can certainly contact him if you have questions about the responsibilities if you are interested. 2. We also need a Chair for the Mini-golf fundraiser. Wade is now Co-chairing the membership committee and Kev Basara has moved onto one of the membership project teams. The groundwork has been laid for this fundraiser and Wade will be the support person for whomever takes it over.
FYI - the members on each committee can be found in Club Runner. Many thanks for all you do and I'm looking forward to a very service oriented and successful 2021-2022.
TEAM WORK! Last week our club came together as one team for a great Service Project for the Allentown Rescue Mission. We assemble over 60 bags containing items for the men.
All of the items assembled were donated by the members of this fantastic club.
Many thanks to Karen Hobson and Nicole and Nicole Steirer who organized this event.
Don't Forget!!! To celebrate Earth Day the Emmaus / Upper Milford Environmental Environmental Advisory Councils are looking for volunteers to help with Earth Day clean-up. We need you Emmaus Rotarians, friends and family - let's put together some eager teams of volunteers to help with our Earth Day Clean-up - This Saturday, April 17th starting at 8.30 am starting in the Emmaus Community Park. Information, gloves and garbage bags are provided - usually over by 1 pm - SAVE THE DATE !! More information will follow - there will not be a recycle truck this time.
Friendly reminder! We have resumed monthly non-perishable food collections and monetary donations.
We will be collecting food for the needy at our Rotary meeting This week, Thursday April 1st. Share what you can!
If you tune in virtually you can donate by using the Venmo app and sending donations to @DonBlose with a note that the donation is intended for “food for the needy”. Monetary donations help the food band purchase perishable foods like milk, eggs, and bread.
Items in need: canned fruit, canned soups, cereals, peanut butter/jelly, anything with a long shelf life
PLEASE NOTE!! Starting April 11, contractors will close the southbound traffic on Route 29 to the bridge over the Norfolk Southern Railroad near Big Woody's on Chestnut Street (Upper Milford) as work continues on the bridge. The closure and detour will continue for at least three months (YIKES!). The North bound traffic will not be detoured. The south bound traffic will be detoured for five miles! The project should be completed in November 2021.
Camp Neidig will be held on Saturday, May 1, 2021. Neidig Chairs from each club should go to www.campneidig.com.
For more information about Camp Neidig and we would like to encourage any high school aged Juniors and Seniors within our district (children or grandchildren) to visit the website using the following link:
To register the club, the chairperson can click on the "2021 Club Registration Page". We are asking for clubs to register by April 15th.
Once the club is registered, they will be sent a link to register their individual students. We are opening the 2021 Camp to both Junior and Senior high school students. This year, the Neidig Chairs from each club need to register their students rather than letting the students do it on their own.
Deadline for camper registration is April 26th.
If the club is not holding a service project on May 1, the Camp Neidig Committee will assign the student to a project near their home address. This and other information can be found in the Club Chairperson Packet.
We would like to share an unfortunate story with the our Rotary Family concerning a past friend of the ERC. Mr. Alex Zarnas of Emmaus was killed last week in a bicycle accident in Lower Macungie Township. Alex is the brother-in-law of Jillian (Lipinsky) Zarnas, a former faculty advisor at the Emmaus High School who built the Emmaus Rotary's Interact Club into one of the largest High School service groups in District 7430. Jillian was awarded a Paul Harris recognition from ERC for her exceptional work on behalf of Rotary. Jillian reported the following statement to past-president Larry Delhagen who reached out to her after learning of Alex's tragic passing:
“And because you were so kind to ask- Mike and I truly don’t need anything but thoughts and prayers. As for his family, he has three small children who are seven, almost five and almost two. His wife is setting up a fund for the children’s future via the funeral home. There’s absolutely no pressure or obligation or expectation, but should anyone ask you from rotary, contributions may be made in the name of “Amanda K. Zarnas“ to the funeral home below. Thanks Larry”
Our Emmaus Rotary Club Virtual 4-Way Speech Contest took place on February 17th. Congratulations to our three talented EHS contestants who were Olivia Pinocci-Wrightsman, Maeve Yanes, and Emily Deneen. Many thanks to our Emmaus Rotary Club's speech contest volunteers included Rick Zaiyatz, Sue Straeter, Lexa Shallcross, Roger Whitcomb, Mike Waddell, and Cindy Hornaman.
Now the Contest move to the Regional Level where Tony Moyer could use some assistance. The Regional Contest date has changed and is now slated for April 7th at 4 PM
One of the best ways to have a successful club is to grow your club. As your club membership grows you will be able to provide additional services. The more services a club does the more successful it becomes. So let me give you an idea to increase membership during these unusual times.
It is important to remember that every person you talk to is a potential member. Ask them to visit your club or come to help with a project. You will be pleasantly surprised when that person says ‘I have been looking for some way togive back…’ I have done this many times with great success.
Look, I will be the first to admit it is more difficult when you can’t meet face to face. So, here is your challenge. Pick up the phone and call just one person that you think would make a good Rotarian. Just One! You may be amazed by the response.
Don’t forget the Rotary Rebound incentive; every new member you sign up before May 1st will earn your club $100.00.
So, S.T.A.R.T. Now! Pick up the phone andSimply Talk About Rotary Today
Lehigh Valley Health Network also announcing mass vaccination drive-through event on May 12 at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
On Wednesday, May 5, LVHN will begin accepting walk-ins without an appointment for the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine for everyone 16 and older at all COVID-19 vaccine locations. (Note: Anyone under the age of 18 will need to be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian to get vaccinated.) Those who already received the first dose of the Moderna vaccine will receive the second Moderna dose at these sites. COVID-19 vaccinations provided by LVHN are free. Pfizer vaccine has emergency use authorization (EUA) for people ages 16 and older, while Moderna has EUA for people ages 18 and older.
Many thanks to our own Bob Goehler for this information.
As you all know the Emmaus Rotary leads the establishment of the East Penn Food Coalition along with other community service groups to meet hunger needs in the East Penn School District Community.
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 money to continue to feed hungry kids in our community.
WE NEED YOUR HELP! We are seeking business, grants, and individual donations to support over $20,000 in need.
You can provide help for our neighbors in need in the following ways:
If you are interested in being part of this group, please let us know. Thanks to all of those who have contributed thus far.
We can all work together to help the families in our own East Penn Community.
Lastly, we also need your help in sharing our mission with your friends, family and colleagues. Here are quick and easy ways to participate in crowd funding.
Share the link on your social media pages. (Share on your own page and in groups you belong to)
Email your contact list.
If you own a business share with your clients via email or social media.
July is designated New Leadership Month - each year Rotary Clubs and Districts across the globe induct new leaders. Our leaders exemplify all of the qualities that make our members extraordinary; integrity, expertise, and commitment to service.
Rotary develops leaders by providing opportunities for all members to provide service to our local communities and communities across the globe. With that service comes a learning experience in the areas of leadership, team building, planning, marketing, communication, and organization.
Serving as a Club or District officer or committee member provides an opportunity to enrich your leadership skills by sharing experiences and ideas with other Rotarians throughout the region.
“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
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
