Rotary Relays Invitational
You may have heard that the Rotary Relays Invitational Track and Field Event will not be taking place again in 2021 due to the COVID-19 restrictions. However, for those new to the Club, some history of this event might be in order.
From 1981 (first relays on April 25, 1981) until 2012, the Club hosted local junior (1991-2012) and senior (1981-2007) high school track teams at the annual Rotary Relays, which were Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association sanctioned. Although for a time both junior and senior high school teams competed in the events, toward the end of this timeframe (2008-2012), the event focused only on junior high school teams. Athletes from all over Northeastern PA participated in different track and field events.
All gate proceeds went to Special Olympics. However, income from the Tunkhannock Rotarian manned food concession stand and the sale of Rotary Relay t-shirts helped fund various Club programs. The Rotary Relay t-shirts were sponsored by generous donations from Rotarians, local businesses and townsfolk. Most of the funds to run the event came from selling advertising.
A minimum of $500 was donated each year of the Relays to the Special Olympics, even if the gate receipts might be less than that amount due to inclement weather.
Unfortunately, after 33 years, the Program was discontinued in 2013 when the PA state budget cuts for the schools resulted in some junior high school track and field teams being disbanded and/or unable to find funds to even transport their athletes to the event.
The historic Rotary Relays returned in 2016 after a four-year hiatus. On May 20th, 2016, the Tunkhannock Rotary Club hosted the 32nd Annual Rotary Relays Invitational Junior High Track Meet at Memorial Stadium in Tunkhannock.
The event was attended by seven different teams from the Wyoming Valley Conference and Lackawanna League including Hazleton Area, Lackawanna Trail, Lake-Lehman, Susquehanna, Tunkhannock Area, Wyoming Area and Wyoming Valley West. Over 200 girls and boys competed in 14 different relay events including seven track relays (4x100/110 shuttle hurdles, 4x100, 4x200, 4x400, 4x Mid-Distance Medley, and 4x1600), three throwing relays (3x Shotput, 3x Discus, and 3x Javelin), three jumping competitions (3x Triple Jump, 3x Long Jump & 3x High Jump) and the 2x Pole Vault Relay.
The event was electronically-timed by Wil-Time Event Management, who also does the official timing for several other PIAA and NCAA track & field meets throughout the region. The top three relay teams in each of the 14 events received individual medals, and six team trophies were handed out for the best school on the track, best field event school and individual team champions.
The PIAA officials were the only individuals who were paid for their services for this event. Everyone else was a volunteer from the Rotary, their family members and from Tunkhannock High School. Since 2016, the Tunkhannock Junior Class has run the food concession for the Relays to raise money for their upcoming senior class events.
Donations collected were used to benefit the Special Olympics and the Paralympics. Sponsorships from local businesses helped defray the costs for the event and the medals and trophies awarded to the winners of each event. Specially designed t-shirts were available for purchase and the names of the teams and the logos of the 12 sponsors were featured on each shirt.
The Relays continued until 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic put them on hiatus for 2020 and now 2021.
For the last 4 years that it was held, the event was chaired by Rotarian Rod Azar, who himself ran in the Rotary Relays in 1982 as a seventh grader. Rod hopes that the Relays will return in 2022.
As part of Rotary’s commitment to Literacy, the Tunkhannock Rotary has participated in the Dictionary Project for 3rd grade students for approximately 18 years. Tunkhannock Rotary’s participation in this program was at the suggestion of Rotarian Don Sick and approved by the Club in 2003. The Club has purchased and distributed over 4,600 dictionaries over this period.
Recently, the Tunkhannock Rotary provided 135 dictionaries for 30 cyber and 105 brick and mortar 3rd grade students in the Tunkhannock Area School District. The Rotarians could not distribute the books in-person due to the COVID-19 restrictions but were able to deliver the dictionaries to the school where the teachers appropriately quarantined the books and then distributed them to the children.
Dictionary Committee Chair Sandy Lane made a short video that was provided for the teachers to play to the children that explained about Rotary and some of the highlights of their new dictionaries.
Their teachers plan games and activities that encourage the students to use them, like having them find the longest word and try to pronounce it. The dictionaries are more than a traditional dictionary. They contain information on: weights and measures, science elements, sign language, the world, the states, the presidents, the planets and much more. The dictionaries help the students complete the school year as better writers, active readers and creative thinkers.
Even in this age of technology, the third graders are always excited to receive their own dictionaries. For some of the children, this may be the first book they have personally owned and they ask “do you mean this is now my book and I can take this home and keep it forever and ever?”
Go Digital with Your Monthly Rotarian Magazine
If you really enjoy getting a hardcopy of the Rotarian Magazine each month, then ignore this article. If you would prefer to help Rotary’s commitment to the environment and save some trees by going digital instead, this info is for you. RI will still charge the club $12 per member per year for the Rotarian magazine.
You will need to log into your personal account at www.Rotary.org. (You will need to set up a user name and password at the RI site to do this if you do not already have one. It is not the same user name and password that you currently have for our local Club website in ClubRunner.) Go to the News & Media dropdown menu selecting magazines, then Rotary magazine. You will see in the right column where it says click here to sign up for the digital magazine. That will take you to the sign-up page (copy of sign up form below) (https://my.rotary.org/en/node/18361)
In addition to your e-mail address and mailing address, you will need our Rotary Club number (5408) and your Rotary ID number. If you do not know your Rotary ID number, you can find it in your profile at Rotary.org or by logging onto our ClubRunner website and looking at the Rotary Tab in your profile. (As a last resort, you can also contact Secretary Carol (me) and I will look it up for you.) Make sure you click the box saying you elect to receive the digital form instead of the print edition. If you sign up for both digital and hardcopy, you will be charged an additional $12 each month.
Rotary will acknowledge your request for a change to a digital version but the transition will not begin until July 2021.
Highlights of Mar 18 Rotary Club Assembly
Pledge and Invocation:
President Terri Detrick brought the meeting to order at 12:15 PM online via Zoom. George Gay lead the Pledge of Allegiance, Dave Wilson gave the invocation and an Irish Blessing and Mike Markovitz led the recitation of the 4-Way Test.
Club News:
In Person Lunch Meetings – Pres. Terri Detrick
Pres. Terri has received no response from Shadowbrook so far but hopes we can restart in person meeting again sometime in April.
Committee Reports
Membership - Mary Tempest & Ron Furman
Mary asked if everyone knows where to find the fillable Membership Application pdf. It is on our Club Website homepage in the left-hand column under Download Files. Pres. Terri showed everyone where it is.
Secretary Carol commented that once you fill out the form on your computer, remember to save it with the name of the person applying for membership and e-mail it to her to start the process. It is important to fill out the form on the computer to avoid mistakes due to difficult to read handwriting.
RI President Elect Shekhar Mehta urged members to “Grow more, do more.” He suggested that each Rotarian should bring in a new member.
Roadside Cleanup – Mike Markovitz
The suggestion was made to maybe do the roadside cleanup in May.
Public Relations – Carol Ziomek
The article on the Rotary Essay Contest winners appeared in the Mar 17 Examiner.
An article on the Dictionary Distribution will hopefully appear in the Mar 24 Examiner.
Drug Take Back Event – Frank Oliver/Ruth Gorski
The DEA's next National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is April 24, 2021 – 10AM to 2PM. Frank contacted the DA’s Office and they will be conducting it again. Rite-Aid and Lech’s have confirmed their participation, but the CVS pharmacy manager is out of town this week so it will be next week when Frank can get CVS’s response.
Ruth remarked that she will need help with the poster distribution downtown, since she cannot do a lot of walking after her back surgery.
Glenn Holcombe will also do the slide for the Dietrich Theater.
Carol Ziomek mentioned that we will also send the flyer out electronically, if people want to print it for their offices also.
Harvest & Wine Festival – Ron Furman/Mike Markovitz
The next meeting of the Harvest & Wine Festival Committee will be Monday, Apr 5. New members were reminded that the Committee meets on the first Monday of every month at 6 PM, currently via Zoom.
Fireworks – Mike Markovitz/Samantha Maruzzelli
Don Davis is getting all the arrangements with the school set up and Samantha is working on the Band (PopStar Drive). Don contacted everyone at the school and the Junior class wants to do the concession stand.
Sam does the event insurance since we need separate insurance for fireworks and will check on the school form.
Maintenance always set up the stage before the event for the band.
Mike will check with the Pyro company.
Rotary Foundation – Samantha Maruzzelli
Sam asked that everyone please make their donations to the Rotary Foundation before the end of our Rotary year in June. She is willing to help you with your donations to the foundation if needed. The Rotary Foundation is Rotary’s charity and ranked 99.4 (out of 100) by Charity Navigator.
District Grant – Pres. Elect Mary Tempest
There are 3 ideas for possible District Grant Projects.
- Rte 29 South Rest Stop – They are meeting today. They may want to do a handicapped ramp so individuals can go down to the water to fish plus there may be other further upgrades to the area. Sam mentioned we can also offer labor volunteers to any community efforts at the rest stop.
- Another idea is to purchase a batting cage for the girl’s softball team and a new audio system.
- Lazybrook Park Playground has been found to have some safety issues that need to be addressed. Since that is where the inclusive swing set we purchased is installed, we may want to ensure the safety issues are resolved.
Secretary Report: Carol Ziomek
Assuming there are no objections, Carol will be adding Dean Detrick, Alison Wetherbee and Lorey Durland to our membership database on Tues. Mar 23.
Treasurer Report: Elaine Walker
Elaine presented a summary of the Treasurer’s Report given to the Board at Tues Meeting.
Pres. Terri commented that at the Apr Board meeting, we will be comparing the Budget vs Actual Spending, since some budgeted events did not take place due to the pandemic.
Our next Meeting will be Thursday, Mar 25. Our guest speaker will be Representative from Equines for Freedom, who will provide an update and accept our donation.
Pres. Terri Detrick asked everyone to silently say to themselves the 4-Way Test before they go about the rest of their day.
President Terri Detrick adjourned the meeting at 1:00 PM.
Program:
Board of Directors Meeting Presentation
Detective David Ide and Shannon Carney
Detective David Ide and Shannon Carney
Pres. Terri related that the Mar 16 Board meeting began with a presentation by Wyoming County Detective David Ide and Shannon Carney regarding the homeless voucher system they are establishing in Wyo Cty.
Below is a summary of the presentation given at the Board meeting.
Shannon Carney, who is a specialist in mental health and case manager in DA office was also on the call. There is a need for temporary housing for homeless people in Wyo Cty. Due to the pandemic, people being out of work, lost housing, opioid problems etc, the issue has increased and there are no services in Wyo Cty that can adequately address the issue, since there are no homeless shelters in Wyo Cty.
The DAs office has set up a system that mimics the Lackawanna Cty program, with a voucher system to get people through until they can get them into housing. During the last 6 months, the situation has gotten much worse and they have even had to put a person in a tent bought at Walmarts in the park in Wyo Cty and there have been reports of people picking through dumpsters etc.
They are developing a voucher program and the school has agreed to print the vouchers. They got a discounted rate of $35 per night for the Skyline Hotel due to the non-profit status of the police organization sponsoring the program. They can stay at the hotel for 1-3 days emergency shelter until they can set them up in some type of more permanent housing or with a family member.
Terri asked if there is a long-term plan to develop a homeless shelter. Shannon said we do not have the resources to set up something more permanent. Dave said there are liability issues, and they may not be welcomed in some areas. Therefore, the plan is to give them temporary housing until they can find something more permanent.
Most services are in Luzerne. Bradford and Lackawanna Cty. We do not have a lot of services available to use here in Wyo Cty. When they try to get them into other Cty homeless shelters, they may not have priority since they are not a resident of that County.
Sometimes vouchers are funded through Interfaith but they have exhausted Interfaith’s system. In addition, people were afraid to take anyone in due to COVID-19. Many have mental health issues.
Veterans are another population that may need help locally. Some are deteriorating since their service in Vietnam.
Elaine Walker asked about long-term needs. Dave said that they could come back again depending on the yearly need.
Dave Wilson suggested a variety of other options to help these people and will speak with some of his mental health contacts to see if they can help and where grant money may be available for such uses.
Ann Way said maybe the new stimulus package might have money for homeless.
David Ide is looking at $1,000 per year and that would depend on the need each year. If all the money is not used in a year, they will carry if over for next year. They would appreciate any amount to get this started.
They thanked us for considering their proposal before leaving the meeting.
A motion was made, seconded and approved by the Board to give $1,500 for the homeless voucher system for Wyoming County.