With 69 club members in attendance, Past President Andy Rebuck called the meeting to order at 12 Noon. Andy called on Doug Pieper to lead us in invocation. We listened to an inspiring melody of “Lift Every Voice and Sing”. Following this beautiful song, Andy lead the group with the pledge and the reciting of the Rotary Four Way Test.
Andy made a few announcements: 1.The Rotary Club of Harrisburg’s administrative offices have moved to a larger space at 3310 Market Street in Camp Hill to better accommodate the club’s needs.
2. Andy asked Una Martone (former Harrisburg Rotary President and District Governor) to discuss the upcoming district wide development sessions. Una presented a slide on the program that is available to all Rotarians. The first session will be this evening with the topic covering diversity and inclusiveness. Prior to turning the meeting over to Toni Mark for her classification talk, Andy thanked our corporate sponsors for their membership and participation with the Harrisburg Rotary Club.
Past President Andy introduced Toni Mark for her classification talk. Toni did a wonderful presentation on her background and her current role with the Harrisburg University. Toni discussed that despite the financial challenges of being raised by a single mom, she was able to attend college (PSU) with a double major in Arts and Sciences, along with Psychology and a masters from PSU in Arts and Sciences. Toni’s professional career included positions with Radio Systems Corp, The Nativity School and HACC. Toni is currently the Major Gift Officer with the Harrisburg University. Toni has been active with our Speech Contest Committee. Toni is married with 2 children and 2 dogs.
Past President Andy thanked Toni and introduced and welcomed District Governor John Anthony to the meeting. District Governor Anthony congratulated James on taking on the role as club president during very challenging times. District Governor Anthony recognized the Harrisburg Club (number 23 in all the world) for our tremendous accomplishments and for accomplishing a 5% growth in our membership during the past year.
At this point the meeting was turned over to Past President and Past District Governor Una Martone for the installation of our new officers and board for the 2020-21 Rotary Year. Una pointed out that James Good would be taking on the role as the 112th President of the Harrisburg Rotary Club. In addition to James, the following officers were installed: Matthew Staub- President Elect, Curt Stutzman-Vice President, Joyce Libby-Immediate Past President, Andy Rebuck-Secretary, Andy Hetrick-Treasurer, and Brad Gebhart-Sgt At Arms. The Board Members installed are Chris Baldridge, Larry Dittmann, Michael Jaeger, Elizabeth Mihmet, Ellen Brown, Wendell Hoover, Charlie Santiago, Scott Stevens and Betty Hungerford as the Hanson Representative.
President James took the gavel and thanked Una for challenging him as a Rotarian and mentoring him in his new role along with Past President Betty Hungerford. At this point, James asked all the Rotarians on the call to rise, move a few steps to the right, then a few steps to the left. This little exercise was James way of having a little fun with the group to say that we could all look back and acknowledge that he was able to “move” us. President James provided a brief history of Rotary and how four men in 1905 took the first step to what today has grown to 1.25 million Rotarians across the world.
Stay tuned to see how you can get some cool Rotary swag like this AMAZING, WONDERFUL ROTARY MUG!
This was also a way that President James wanted us as Rotarians to have the initiative to Take A Step. So, over the next 12 months, President James would like us to focus on these 3 key steps:
1. Stay Engaged – Be flexible to change (changes have already been made to the web site and our office location). Plan ahead and be active with your committee(s) that you signed up for. Be active with our service projects, and don’t forget to wear your Rotary blue shirts.
2. Support Rotary – You are now able to donate to the Harrisburg Rotary Foundation and to the International Foundation thru our web site. Every Rotarian is encouraged to contribute $100 to each Foundation every year.
3. Share the Rotary Story – Share your Rotary story on our website: stories@hbgrotary.org. Those contributing 3 or more stories will be entered into a drawing.
In closing, President James urged everyone to take the first step, quoting Martin Luther King -“Faith is Taking The First Step Even When You Don't See The Whole Staircase.”
President James turned the gavel back to Past President Andy (who just loved having the gavel one more time), adjourning the meeting at 12:55.
