Emmaus Rotary Trumpet, November 25, 2021 (Nov 22, 2021)

Why we celebrate Thanksgiving

A Short History Lesson

Thanksgiving is a federal holiday in the United States, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. It originated as a harvest festival, and the centerpiece of Thanksgiving celebrations remains Thanksgiving dinner. The dinner traditionally consists of foods and dishes indigenous to the Americas, namely turkey, potatoes, stuffing, squash, corn, green beans, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. Other Thanksgiving customs include charitable organizations offering Thanksgiving dinner for the poor, attending religious services, watching parades, and viewing football games.

The event that Americans commonly call the "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World in October 1621.

Thanksgiving has been celebrated nationally on and off since 1789, with a proclamation by President George Washington. President Thomas Jefferson chose not to observe the holiday, and its celebration was intermittent until President Abraham Lincoln, in 1863, proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens", calling on the American people to also, "with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience .. fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation...". Lincoln declared it for the last Thursday in November. On June 28, 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant signed into law the Holidays Act that made Thanksgiving a yearly appointed federal holiday in Washington D.C. On January 6, 1885, an act by Congress made Thanksgiving, and other federal holidays, a paid holiday for all federal workers throughout the United States. Under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the date was moved to one week earlier, observed between 1939 and 1941 amid significant controversy. From 1942 onwards, Thanksgiving, by an act of Congress, signed into law by FDR, received a permanent observation date, the fourth Thursday in November, no longer at the discretion of the President.

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and hope that you are sharing it with the people you love.

Thanksgiving From a Different Perspective

ENJOY!

Editor's Message (First & Last)

To My Rotary Friends:

We all have much to be thankful for and since this is one of my last opportunities as editor, I want to share with all of you, the many things that I am thankful for in Rotary:

I am thankful for such a welcoming club

I am thankful for the leadership of Dr. Michael Waddell

I am thankful for the Cecilia Birdsell’s wonderful demeanor.

I am thankful for Don Blose and the job he has done as Sergeant at Arms

I am thankful for our tremendous AV team of Eric Loch, Wade George and John Chisca who make sure that

our meetings are available to all members.

I am thankful for all members who actually read the Trumpet each week.

I am thankful for Geoff Boyer and his input to this club.

I am thankful for the work of the golf committee especially Mario Cozzubbo and John Zayaitz

I am thankful for Larry Delhagen who steps up to staff the registration table each week.

I am thankful for David Dunn and his contributions to the DEI Committee.

I am especial thankful for the friendship and counsel of Rick Zayaitz and for keeping me energized.

I am thankful for the kindness and generosity of Dee Eng and Gary Rohrbach.

I am thankful for all of the hard work that Bill Erdman and Fred Hermann put into our Foundation

I am thankful for our new members, Bob Hollinger, Dianne Graham, Keith Heffner and Mike Parker.

I am thankful for the wisdom of Roger Whitcomb

I am thankful for the generosity of Mike Lahanas and Joanne Smida

I am thankful for Sue Straeter’s beautiful smile and energy.

I am thankful for the community service work of Nicole Steirer and Karen Hobson.

I am thankful for the opportunity to serve under past-president Lexa Shallcross

I am thankful for Nelly Kabiru and her wonderful smile and the warmth that she brings to this club.

I am thankful for those of you who forgave me for all of my spelling errors in 2021 (HA)

I am thankful for being able to work with Gary Guthrie and his enthusiasm.

I am especially thankful for the friendship and support of Meghan Reed and look forward to serving with her.

I am thankful for Tony Moyer and his great ideas and his passion for our students.

I am thankful that Jean Onyambu and her willingness to step up as our new secretary.

I am thankful for all of the work of Jim Palmquist, his counsel and his passion for progress.

I am thankful for the sweetness of Ann Peaslee.

I am thankful for Karen Paules and her compassion toward our friends suffering with cancer.

I am thankful for the humor that Joe Pugiese brings to the club.

I am thankful for having known Wilmer Shultz

I am thankful for the incredible passion for Rotary that JP Raynock brings to our club.

I am thankful for Alicia Ruiz-Orbin and her dedicated work for the Women’s International Day.

I am thankful for excitement that Wade George brings each and every week.

I am thankful Dr. Bob Goehler and his concerns for the well being of our members

I am thankful for all of things that Mark Erle does behind the scenes for our club.

I am thankful for Doug Reichley and his commitment to our club.

I am thankful for Gordon Reese’s generosity and welcoming attitude.

I am thankful for past president Steve Gould’s willingness to help me whenever I needed it.

I am thankful for Doug Blinker's help with the Cornhole Tournament.

I am so thankful for the work of our East Penn food program and the work of Cindy Hornnman, especially the

weekly Rotary volunteers: Eric Loch, Ceil Birdsell, Gary Guthrie, Chad Stuckey, Alan Fornwalt, Roger Whitcomb, Courtney Kennedy, Dee Eng, Gary Rohrbach, Bob Krauss, Jim Palmquist, Mike Waddell, Lexa Shallcross, Rose Galeano Phillips, Michael Parker, Diane Graham, Mike Epperly, Tony Moyer, Alicia Ruiz Orbin, Jim Kenny, Karen Hobson, and Bill Erdman.

I am thankful for the valuable input of Courtney Kennedy and her insightful contributions.

I am thankful for Ralph Lewis and his dedication to those who are less fortunate.

I am thankful for Ashley Lorah’s assistance in all of all fellowship events.

I am thankful for Chris Wills and his oversight of the club’s finances and his otherwise calm demeanor.

I am thankful for Rose Galeano-Philips and her work with Youth Services.

Yours in Service

Sal Verrastro

Editor, First Vice President

Rotary Dollar Days

Rotary Dollar Days!

Do you have any Rotary Dollars? If you do, please bring them with you to the Rotary Meeting on December 2 where you can purchase specially selected merchandise using your Rotary Dollars. More details to follow in the upcoming newsletters.

Also if you would like to donate any merchandise to be sold at our Rotary Dollar Day, please feel free to reach out to either Meghan Reed or Sal Verrastro.

And keep saving those Rotary Dollars for your opportunity to buy valuable gifts.

Xmas Trees To Fight Cancer

Rotarians doing good alert!

Karen Paules has a wonderful way to give back while celebrating tradition.

Starting on Black Friday for Friends and Family (that's you!) and then every Saturday between Thanksgiving and Christmas Karen will be offering 6 foot tall Christmas trees for the price of a donation to the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley. This year the trees have been donated, the ones planted aren't ready yet. 😊 Even if you use an artificial tree, Santa and Mrs. Claus will be here at the times listed on the flyer. Make a donation and get Santa pictures, for kids, adults and pets too!!

In Case You Missed It

THE ROTARY FOUNDATION

Thanks to Cindy Hornaman and Bill Erdman for explaining and updating the various Rotary Foundations that we have available to us as members and all of the great causes that we have world wide.

The Rotary Foundation transforms our gifts into service projects that change lives both close to Emmaus and around the world. Since it was founded more than 100 years ago, the Foundation has spent more than $4 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects.

The Emmaus Rotary Club continues to be the largest contributor to the Foundation in our District!

Congratulations to Don Blose, Mario Cozzubbo, Dee Eng, Patrick McNealis, Melissa Schartz, John Chisca, Gary Rohrbach, Jeff McElhaney, Steve Gould, Chris Wills and Alicia Ruiz-Orbin on their recent Paul Harris Fellow Recognition.

WEEKLY MEETING ASSIGNMENTS

As members we are all responsible for making each week's meeting a success. Working the sign-in and EREY tables are a great way to get to know members.

PLEASE NOTE: If you prefer NOT to be on this list or if you prefer NOT to be given a specific assignment, please let me Diamond Man Eric know via email. DiamondMan@LochsJewelers.com

The assignments below are selected from our membership list and are in alphabetical order (or close to it). Should you be unavailable to make it to the meeting to fulfill your assignment, please do one of the following:

- Switch with someone else from another week.

- Contact another member to fill your slot. Club Runner has our Member Directory.

- If either one of the above attempts is unsuccessful, please notify me ASAP. DiamondMan@LochsJewelers.com

April 21st.

Sign in Table - Diane Graham & Gary Guthrie

Greeter - Keith Heffner

Invocation - Thought of the Day (You can be remote for this) - Fred Hermann

April 28th.

Sign in Table - Karen Hobson & Cindy Hornaman

Greeter - Nelly Kabiru

Invocation - Thought of the Day - (You can be remote for this) David Dunn

May 5th

Sign in Table - Courtney Kennedy & James Kenny

Greeter - Rory King

Invocation - Thought of the Day (You can be remote for this) Irv Keister

Winter Lights Spectacular at the LV Zoo

The Fellowship Committee is eager to announce Emmaus Rotary Night at the Winter Light Spectacular at the Lehigh Valley Zoo!

December 9, 2021 at 6:30 PM.

Discounted rate of $12.50 per ticket.

Tickets are first come, first serve. Hurry there are only 4 tickets left!

To reserve your tickets, contact Tony Moyer by text (610-295-7691) or email (anmoyer1229@gmail.com). Checks should be made payable to Emmaus Rotary Club.

International Women's Day Celebration

Fellow Emmaus Rotarians,

As a follow up to the announcement I made at our club meeting last week regarding our Emmaus Club International Women's Day Celebration Awards, I would like to clarify that our club gives two Awards: 1) The Rotarian Award to a woman Rotarian from a Rotary Club in Areas 1 and 2 (the Lehigh Valley), and 2) the Community Award to a woman from the Lehigh Valley.

1. Rotarian Award - Only the Club President can nominate a Rotarian from their club; however, Rotarians from that club can make recommendations to the President. A letter was mailed to all the Areas 1 and 2 club Presidents to submit nominations.

2. Community Award - Only us, Rotarians from the Emmaus Club, can nominate a woman from the community for this Award. You should have received the nomination information either at the November 21 or December 5 meetings if you were present and picked it up as they were circulated around the tables, or by US Mail if you were not there or did not pick it up.

The deadline for nominations is January 21.

If you have any questions about this Award, please do not hesitate to e-mail me or call me at my cell phone 610-392-5134.

Our Committee looks forward to receiving your nominations for the Community Award. Thank you for your support.

Yours in Rotary Service.

Alicia Ruiz-Orbin

IWDC Committee Chair

December Is....

DECEMBER is Disease Prevention and Treatment Month

At Rotary, 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.