February 7, 2014
Pres. Elect Brian Berry thanking guest speaker Pete McCarthy, National Park Service
The meeting was called to order by President elect Brian Berry. Al Peskoe led the Pledge of Allegiance and Paul Peacock delivered the Invocation. President elect Brian Jill Carmen and our guest speaker, Pete McCarthy from the National Park Service as well as our visiting Rotarians Lynda Rose from the Red Bank Club and Gary Sicliano from the Asbury Park Club.
President elect Brian made the following announcements:
- The Club’s Fireside Chat will be held on February 25th upstairs at Piancone’s.
- The “Inter-City” Rotary Club meeting that will include the Clubs of Red Bank and Asbury Park as well as Long Branch will be held on Saturday, March 1st. The last week of February we will not have our regular Friday meeting. Instead Lex Tucci has found us an amazing speaker who we will meet with Saturday morning at the Sheraton at Eatontown. Joe Tordello will be having breakfast with us sharing his experiences as a US Diplomat in the Middle East and the Philippines. Joe has met with Rotary Clubs in the Middle East and should be a very entertaining speaker. It is mandatory that we register in advance for this event so the Sheraton can accommodate us. Guests are welcome and our surrounding clubs have been invited as well. Breakfast will be $25 per person. Please go to rclb.bigcartel.com to register.
- Brian Berry discussed the Annual Rotary Lombardi Dinner to be held March 6th at the Eatontown Sheraton. The Lombardi Dinner recognizes the achievement of shore area high school football lineman and benefits the American Cancer Society as well as area Rotary Clubs. Brian urged all to attend a great night and to sell raffle tickets to help with proceeds for the event.
- The District 7500 Conference is being held May 2nd – 4th in Point Pleasant. They decided to have the conference locally because of the need to give back to the area after the affects of Sandy. The Conference will be a la carte, meaning you can attend only those events that you wish. There will be Plenary sessions on Friday and Saturday along with wine tasting, Friday night murder/mystery, Rotary sing-off, guest speakers from around the world, and a Sunday run/walk to raise funds for polio plus.
- Brian Berry discussed the Annual Rotary Lombardi Dinner to be held March 6th at the Eatontown Sheraton. The Lombardi Dinner recognizes the achievement of shore area high school football lineman and benefits the American Cancer Society as well as area Rotary Clubs. Brian urged all to attend a great night and to sell raffle tickets to help with proceeds for the event.
- Planning has begun for the Club’s Art Show.
- Dr. Tyler Richards addressed the Club and thanked them for all the support that has been provided to his family.
- Bill Boglioli addressed the Club’s finances. He said the financial state of the Club is good with about $10,500 in the operating account. He said they will be establish a finance committee and will provide an annual budget.
- Paul Peacock addressed the Club regarding the Club’s Foundation account. He said that there is currently $136,000 in the Foundation’s account and that 5% of the balance is used to support our scholarships provided to Shore Regional and Long Branch High School students.
Speaker
President elect Brian introduced our guest speaker, Pete McCarthy, Superintendent of Gateway National Park, Sandy Hook. Pete has been with the National Park Service for 22 years with the majority of those being at Gateway National Park. He is a native of Monmouth County and has been at Sandy Hook for the past 4years. Pete addressed the rehabilitation of the buildings at Fort Hancock. He said the Park Service terminated the lease they had over the last ten years with a developer and have chosen a different route to rehabilitate the structures. An advisory group was formed consisting to 20 individuals with mixed interest to pursue a new path. A Request For Expression of Interest (RFEI) yielded 41 proposals that included an art studio, B&B, museums, as well as recreation. They received more proposals than anticipated and hope to move to a more formal process of accepting and deciding on proposals to move forward. Leases of up to 60 years will be provided conditioned upon the occupants rehabilitating the structure.