Past President Una Martone, who was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from Central Penn College. Una was selected to receive this distinction, honoris causa, for a history of community leadership and public service efforts.
The weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Harrisburg (number 23 in all the world) met virtually by Zoom on Monday, August 17, 2020. President James Good welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order at 12:02 p.m. with the ringing of the bell. Frank was the greeter this morning, and took his role seriously, as he cheerfully welcomed everyone as they arrived.
The invocation was given by Dick Stewart, and we were led in the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing” online, performed by Amma Johnson. Following this, the pledge of allegiance took place. President James led us in reciting the Rotary Four Way Test. Curt Stutzman is taking minutes today. He then thanked our corporate sponsors for their support.
We participated in a Rotary Brain Teaser, which was a few pictures that indicated “Good News Reporting.” This will begin virtually next week, so come ready (and look for instructions to arrive this week). A group of club members helped fill boxes last Monday evening for the Central PA Food Bank. A good and productive time was had by all.
Community Service Awards 2020 nominations are being solicited now. Addeline presented a video description of the awards, the qualifications for the award, and other pertinent information. Send Addeliine an email with your nominations along with three reasons why you consider this person worthy of selection.
Upcoming events:
Rotary Means Business virtual event on August 20
Club Happy Hour social at the West Shore CC next week on August 26 from 5-7 p.m.
Volunteer opportunities at the Kipona Festival on Labor Day weekend. Be looking for more information and sign up online
Since COVID-19 hit us, we have been donating part of the lunch dollars to various organizations in the community. Today, a report was given by Cindy Mallow from the Bethesda Mission about how they are using the funds they received. Usually, this is used to help pay for the soup meals and the increased demand by the pandemic. They were able to begin a breakfast meal this summer. They are incredibly grateful for these gifts!
Introducing today’s speaker iwa Ellen Brown. Lenwood Sloan is talking about a memorial recognizing the 150th anniversary of the Old 8th Ward. Our speaker today was Lenwood Sloan, a catalyst for programs benefiting many, including the African American community nationally. He brought the US Color Troupe to Harrisburg in 2010.
The monument is called “A Gathering At the Crossroads.” This recognizes the historic old 8th ward area in the city from the 1800’s, which was a proud, free-black neighborhood. This was near the current capital complex. A campaign called Look Up and Look Out was implemented to raise awareness of this important part of history. There is a search for descendants of these families going on now. The memorial is intended to bring some of these families back to the city to visit. Messiah College and others have been helping in this project. So far, 87 of the 100 families have been located.
Share Rotary's story using #RotaryClub23
or by forwarding Rotary emails and CCing Stories@hbgrotary.org
andy get some cool Rotary merch like this AMAZING, WONDERFUL ROTARY MUG!
A book called One Hundred Voices was created to share about this project. This monument is made up of six parts, including an orator’s pedestal where people debated the 9th and 15th constitutional amendments. The pedestal has bas relief memorials of important activities during this time. Many other significant historical activities were also shared by Mr. Sloan. The presentation was very informative, instilling pride in all Harrisburg community members for the significance of the place and peoples impacting national history in the area. The sitework has begun in the old 8th ward area where the memorial will be located. This summer, an education and outreach program is underway to spread awareness of all these activities. Lenwood expressed his gratitude to all those who have, in many different ways, been supporters of this project. This memorial will be dedicated on August 26, from 4-6 p.m. This can be viewed virtually, as well. Mr. Sloan then responded to a number of questions about the project.
The meeting was closed by President James at 1:00 p.m. with the ringing of the bell.
Respectfully submitted,
Curt Stutzman
Ready to join Rotary?
If you're not already a member, we invite you to join the network of over a million leaders, professionals and do-gooders.
