"May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears,"
Nelson Mandela
April is rolling along and we are a week away from the biggest party and event in Newtown 18940, Hope on The Vine. Lets quickly recap what has happened in the last week. A huge shout at our meeting two days ago to President elect Shikha Prasher and Chair of The Board Mick Petrucci for facilitating both the meeting and committee reports respectively while I am on vacation with my family. Tomorrow Saturday April 18th our Next Gen group will be hosting a Cornhole Tournament at the Bucks County Community College Gym beginning at 10:30am. Registration is $30 per person and $50 per team. Let's support our Next Gen group since they are such a vital part of our club. As you scroll down the newsletter there will be more information about the Cornhole Tournament.
We then focus our attention to our main event of the year on Friday evening April 24th which is the 5th anniversary of Hope on The Vine. Our HOV committee lead by Stephanie Eubanks has put together what will be a most memorable evening for members and guests. The newsletter below has a link for you to buy your tickets. April 24th, 2026, 7-11pm and the venue is Rafters right here in Newtown.
There is no lunch meeting on either Wednesday April 22nd and April 29th. Our next lunch meeting is Wednesday May 6th, 2026. Lunch fee is always $16.00 and please help us by pre-registering. It provides Joe Garvey and his staff at the American Legion an accurate number for preparation of food.
Please feel free to scroll the newsletter for other events occurring in the next few weeks involving our club and events/activities from other clubs in our area. Our club has and will continue to make a difference in our community. I look forward to seeing everyone for our signature event a week from today. Service above self!
Service above self.
Steve Sabel
President, Rotary Club of Newtown, District 7430
Arbor Day - 4/17
Newtown Borough will celebrate Arbor Day on April 17th with a community-focused event dedicated to honoring the importance of trees and environmental stewardship. The Newtown Rotary Club proudly supports this effort by making a donation toward the seedlings and trees that will be planted. Volunteers are needed between 9:00am-11:30am so please consider signing up for this wonderful community event!
Hello, everyone! Please consider supporting NextGen's Cornhole Tournament Fundraising event on Saturday, April 18th at 10:30am at the Bucks County Community College Gymnasium!!! You can support NextGen, cheer on the players and have some food. Pasta, salad, and desserts from Tre Fratelli will be there. It should be a great event and the NextGen team appreciates all the support we can give!!!
Please join us for our Lunch Meeting on Wednesday, May 6th from 12:15pm-1:30m at the American Legion. Our Club will welcome PATHS-Professional Alliance to Help Seniors to speak to us. PATHS is a group of dedicated & compassionate professionals committed to providing Seniors of Bucks County and their families with information, resources, and services they need to help them address & resolve issues that arise during the aging process. Please join us for this very interesting talk and a fabulous buffet lunch by Joe Garvey. Bring $16 and be prepared for a great meeting! PLEASE REGISTER!
Our May Book Club pick is "There Are No Children Here", a 1992 nonfiction book by Alex Kotlowitz that chronicles the lives of two brothers, Lafayette and Pharoah Rivers, growing up in the violent, poverty-stricken Henry Horner Homes housing project in Chicago. The book details their struggle with gang violence, poverty, and neglect, while also highlighting their resilience and the heroism required to survive in a hostile environment, with Pharoah finding a path through education. It was adapted into a TV movie starring Oprah Winfrey and is considered a classic work on urban poverty. Our Book Club meeting will be held on Sunday, May 31st from 3:00-5:00pm. Please register for details!
It's almost time for our "Hope on the Vine" fundraising event which will be held on Friday, April 24th from 7-11pm at Rafters. This year, we celebrate our 5th Anniversary! We have many special things planned and are changing things up which promises to make for a fabulous and fun evening. You don't want to miss out! Tickets are $125 per person and $230 per couple and can be purchased as follows:
1. PayPal: The payment link is below so please click on that or you can use the QR code as well.
Rotarians Supporting Bucks County & Recognizing Paul Harris Fellows!!!
Our Lunch Meeting on Wednesday, April 8th was a very special day! We welcomed Paul Bencivengo, President / CEO of Visit Bucks County (VBC). Paul shared how VBC works with its partners to generate economic impact and hospitality employment growth by driving travel and related business to experience Bucks County and all it has to offer. We all know from living in Bucks County how special this place is and we appreciate Paul and his team's commitment to our county! We also had the distinct pleasure to recognize to new Paul Harris Fellows, Mark and Tasha Byelich! The Rotary Paul Harris Fellow award honors individuals who have made significant contributions to humanitarian and community service, reflecting Rotary’s core values of service above self. Mark and Tasha were joined in recognition by other esteemed Paul Harris Fellows in a group shot. Congratulations and thank you to all of our Paul Harris Fellows!
Rotarians Reading Books!!!
Our Newtown Rotary Book Club has been busy reading really great books over the past few months! In March, they read "Kingmaker"by Sonia Purnell and in April, the group read "Go as a River"by Shelley Read. As you can see from the pictures, we have a great group of readers! Our DG Mary Cook even drove 3 hours round trip to join this event! Even if you don't have the chance to read the book, all are welcome to attend this wonderful fellowship experience! You will be with good friends, yummy food and have some riveting conversation! Please consider RSVPing for May's book "There Are No Children Here" by Alex Kotlowitz to be held on May 31st from 3:00-5:00pm using this link: https://portal.clubrunner.ca/4876/Event/book-club---may-2026. You won't be sorry!
March Book Club
April Book Club
April Book Club
Rotarians Welcoming New Members!!!
During our Lunch Meeting on April 15th, we had the pleasure of welcoming two new members into our wonderful Club, Anne Drennan and Moe Sood. Anne is a seasoned finance and governance leader with senior treasury experience and extensive board service across healthcare, education, and nonprofits Moe is an entrepreneur and former Mobil Oil international negotiator with decades of experience in energy, engineering, and technology ventures. They were sworn in by our very own Rotarian, District Judge Mick Petrucci to the delight of a large crowd! In addition, we had the pleasure of hearing Dick Kroger deliver his Classification Speech, after recently becoming a member. Dick has more than 25 years of diversified experience in the banking and commercial finance industry. All will be tremendous assets to our Club so welcome!!! We celebrated George Duthie and Laura Simon's engagement and Rosemary Horsley's birthday followed by updates from our various Committee Chairs. As usual, the Newtown Rotary Club has a lot of wonderful things planned to make our community, country and world a better place! PS: Our new President Elect Shikha Prashar did an amazing job running her first meeting!
Congrats George & Laura!!!
HBD, Rosemary!
Ha Ha! Can't resist a selfie!
Rotary Club Road Trip!
Hola! Wow! Steve just visited the Club Rotario Panama. This is Roberto Jiminez the President of the club. They meet weekly for lunch at the gorgeous Club Union. This is the oldest club in Central America established in 1919.
Lower Bucks Action Committee
Meeting Location
The Lower Bucks Action Committee meets the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of every month at Maryann's Homestyle Cooking at 1263 Woodbourne Road, Levittown PA 19057. All are welcome to attend so please contact Chris Potter with any questions at insurancepotter@msn.com! Here is the Zoom link if you would like to attend virtually. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81730525600?pwd=0EqCUZirMaaOl7A3SG0BQWJ6Fn14jb.1
Bedtime Stories at the Homeless Shelter
If you are interested in reading bedtime stories to children living in the Levittown Homeless Shelter one night a month, please contact Chris Potter at insurancepotter@msn.com. He will put a schedule together based on availability. Thank you!
Community Involvement Opportunities!
This section provides Rotarians the opportunity to volunteer and / or attend community events outside of Rotary in the spirit of "Service Above Self"!
PATHS-Professional Alliance to Help Seniors is a group of dedicated & compassionate professionals committed to providing Seniors of Bucks County and their families with information, resources, and services they need to help them address & resolve issues that arise during the aging process.
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