The Ken June 3, 2019
Attendance: Cathy Piciulo
Split Club: Ron Levea
Invocation: John Coogan
Finemaster: Dick Hanaburgh (First time as Finemaster 😊)
The Ken: Audrey Meyers
Holly filled in for President Donna today and started the meeting promptly at 12:45. Cathy kept our tempo upbeat as we sang God Bless America (probably our best version of that song yet!). Guests were Kristy Sharkey (a colleague of Gary’s), Matt Dewitt, and our speakers, Lieutenants Damon & Allison Bethel from the Salvation Army.
Holly asked for announcements: Gary announced that the Installation will be at Webster’s Patio on 6/19 with a cost of $60 per person. Cash bar from 6pm-7pm and dinner will be at 7 pm. Please sign up and pick your dinners so he can get our reservation in. Audrey announced that the Riverside Park clean up day on May 21st with Kenmore West, Buffalo Olmsted Parks, and Roteract was A LOT of hard work, but was a success. Thanks for Dan Hamlin from Roteract (and Buffalo Medical Campus Rotary), Pat Griffin, Ed Hackerl, and Jeff Markarian for showing up (hope your blisters have healed by now😊 and I apologized you were pooped on Jeff!). Cathy was the lucky winner of $13 from our split club, and Jim Logan had a shot at the ACE… he pulled the 10 of hearts. Ron announced that there are 31 cards left and $318 in the pot already! First time Finemaster Dick did a great job in putting us to sleep with questions on sleep. Confessions: Dick announced that he and his wife welcomed a son to their family on May 18th (Which is why his topic was sleep). Baby Richard 4th (Mac for short) and mom are doing well. Tim Glor announced that he was able to visit the Indy 500 for the first time over Memorial Day Weekend. He also had the change to visit his brother and attend his brother’s Rotary meeting. Ted handed Dick $20 to be donated to the Boy Scouts to thank the local Boy Scout who showed up during winter to shovel Ted’s driveway while Ted was dealing with a bum foot. The local Scout left without payment after shoveling.
It was very clear that Lieutenants Damon & Allison were very passionate about the Salvation Army. The Major was unable to come as he was out of town and asked them to take his place. They talked about how the Rotary and Salvation Army would have a very serious battle called “the Battle of the Bells” around the holidays. This was a competition to see who could raise the most money ringing the bells for the Salvation Army. Damon admitted that Rotary always won. The Salvation Army was formed in 1865 in England and serves poor and needy families along with assisting those with addictions towards recovery. Pastors are known as Officers, and they explained some of the symbols on their uniforms. One star = Lieutenant, two stars = Captain (achieved after 5 years of satisfactory service), and the SS = Save to Serve. Major is the top level in the system. There are 4 Corps that serve the Buffalo area, 1 to serve Tonawanda, and 1 Adult Rehab Center on Military Road. The Rehab Center gives adults a place to stay for 6 months as they are reintroduced to Jesus and sobriety. Adults are fed and housed and are employed to work during the 6 months. They make $6 a week and will either drive a truck for the Salvation Army, or work in the store, or in the sorting center. They bring in an average of $44 million a year from the collection and resale of used clothing and other items. There is a Summer Day Camp program held in Buffalo for children. There is also a 5-day Summer Camp program for kids held in Penn-Yann NY. There are many additional programs including some for senior citizens. Lieutenant Damon confessed that he is passionate about the program because it has impacted his life in many ways. He is a former Defensive End/Defensive Tackle and when he came into money, he fell into drugs and partying and on the wrong path. He ended up in the Adult Rehab Center and got back on track. He said one proud football memory is being one of the few who can say they sacked Charlie Ward in a Florida State game