President Matt called the meeting to order shortly after noon, calling on James Good to offer an invocation and John Hickey to lead the club in pledge and song.  Angela Tatum introduced several guests, including Goeff Harper, a recent graduate from Camp Hill who is a Rotary Exchange Student heading to Thailand.

Prior to opening the annual meeting and introducing our guest speaker, President Matt made the following announcements:

President Matt called on former Harrisburg Rotary President and District Governor Una Martone to open our annual meeting to present the slate of officers for 2022-23 term. Una thanked current and outgoing officers for their dedicated service to the club. Our new slate of officers will be joining Jennifer Jones, who has been nominated to be the first woman to ever assume the role of Rotary International President. The new slate of officers, unanimously approved by the club are as follows: Elizabeth (Beth) Mihmet, President; Ellen Brown, President Elect; Scott Stevens, Vice President; Matt Staub, Immediate Past President; James Good, Secretary and Andy Rebuck, Sergeant at Arms. The Board of Directors include Meghan Bachmore, Vladimir Beaufils, Brian Ostella, Robert Geiger, Toni Lyn Mark, Steve Schwartz, Michele Tantardini and Wendell Hoover.

After the election of our officers and board, President Matt introduced fellow Rotarian Domenic DeYulis for his classification talk. Although Domenic is new to our club, he was a prior member of the Latrobe Rotary Club prior to relocating to the Harrisburg area. Domenic moved to Harrisburg to manage the local office of Worklink Staffing, a staffing agency that is family owned. Domenic resides in Harrisburg, along with his girlfriend and pets and is looking forward to becoming an active member of the Harrisburg Rotary Club.

 

Mary Oliveira was called on to introduce our speaker for the day, Valerie Pritchett. As an anchor for ABC 27 News, Valerie is well known throughout the area, not only as a broadcaster, but as one who has been involved in many community initiatives, including Val’s Kids. Valerie Pritchett anchors abc27 News at 5, 7, and 11 p.m. weeknights.

Valerie came to Harrisburg after beginning her career in South Jersey. Her passion for giving children in Pennsylvania a world in which to grow and thrive was sparked by a foster mother she met who had cared for dozens of infants in need. As a result, Valerie created “Val’s Kids.” This special segment shares stories of children looking for adoptive homes through the Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network. In answer to a question, Valerie estimated that 40% of the kids presented were able to find their forever home

Valerie’s production and reporting of Operation Safe Kids, a feature promoting fire safety and the installation of smoke alarms, was instrumental in abc27 winning a Service to Community Award from the National Association of Broadcasters. The award is one of the highest honors a broadcast television station can earn.

Her love of Central Pennsylvania drives Valerie as an active community volunteer, serving as a board member for the Salvation Army Advisory Board, United Way of the Capital Region, the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, and Catholic Charities.  Valerie’s work for nonprofits includes Harrisburg Police Athletic League, American Cancer Society, Harrisburg Symphony, and she raises puppies for Susquehanna Service Dogs. As part of her presentation, Valerie introduced us to her adoptive Service Dog Molly, who was patiently waiting under the table for her introduction. Needless to say, Molly was a big hit!

President Matt thanked Valerie for her presentation and closed the meeting with a reminder that there was no meeting next week and that our final meeting of the Rotary year will be held on June 27^th. The meeting was adjourned at 12:50.