Do you miss conversations with your fellow club members? We're welcoming members and friends of the Rotary Club of Harrisburg to two virtual social events, hosted by Addeline.
RI President Elect, Shekhar Mehta invited our very own, Una Martone to lead training sessions for the 2021 Rotary International Assembly. This is Una's second year in this role. This virtual event will span 11 days for incoming District Governors and their partners from around the entire world. Every day, 46 sessions are being held in multiple time zones and multiple languages General Sessions are every other day. The purpose is for RIPE Shekhar to engage, prepare, and support incoming District Governors to have an awesome year in 2021/22.
Una is one of 40 invited Training Leaders from around the world and just a handful of 2nd year leaders who were invited back. This is not a position that can be requested or solicited. It is by invitation only and an honor to serve in this capacity.
For the past several months, Una has been mentoring 2 new training leaders; one from Taiwan and one from India.
For the past 14 days, the Training Leaders have been in virtual practice sessions. Una has received some very intense coaching from both RI Staff and peer training leaders from around the world.
Una was asked to train 2 groups, which means at least 2 sessions a day and general sessions through Feb 11.
Una has the distinct honor of facilitating multi-lingual groups. She has had Chinese and Portuguese speakers in her sessions, and hopes to experience
Even our own District Governor Elect, Greg Staub will be trained in one of Una Martone's sessions!
The Rotary Club of Harrisburg (# 23 in all the world) met virtually on Zoom at noon on Monday, February 1, 2021. President James Good called the meeting to order with the ringing of the virtual bell at 12:01 p.m. Invocation was given by Wil Everhart, and the song, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was performed by the club, accompanied by David Berry, and was preceded by the history of the song. The pledge of allegiance was shared, along with Rotary Four Way Test. President James also thanked all our corporate members. This week’s lunch money is being donated to the YWCA of Greater Harrisburg. Last Monday, 378 boxes of food were packed by members at the Central PA Food Bank. Thanks so much for your service! Check out the events calendar or Rotary Roundup for dates of future service projects.
The number 16 was shown, the significance being the number of board members on the club’s board of directors. President James shared some details on the organization of Rotary International. Rotary will be celebrating 111 years on May 3. Board member Scott Stevens was invited to share information about his vocation, Rotary experiences and personal life with the club. Scott does SBA lending as his career. He has been a Rotarian for 5 years. He is involved in Habitat for Humanity, Rotary Means Business, and our club’s Membership Committee. He is looking forward to being able to meet for lunch once again, shaking hands with members and staying connected in a way different from virtually. Thanks, Scott!
The club has a call for nominations for board officers and directors. If you would like to suggest someone, or would like to be considered, please let Addeline know so you can be added to the slate.
John Morefield introduced today’s speaker, Mr. Geoffrey Roche from Harrisburg University, which has become a world class STEM university. An 11 story tower for health sciences is under construction to handle the increasing needs. Mr. Roche shared about the business case for the expansion project. Mr. Roche serves as Executive Director of Strategic Healthcare Initiatives at the university. The business case supports the mission to support business creation, and economic development in science and technology. Everything is grounded in education and support of STEM based experiences. To support health sciences, an interdisciplinary group, is also a pathway to other educational institutions and other related businesses and organizations. The University has both undergraduate and graduate degree programs in these areas, including some doctoral programs. A study determined that the demand for health science degrees is growing and expansive. The new building will be 11 stories at South Third Street and Chestnut Streets, and will have 260,000 square feet of academic space, supporting more than 1,000 students in nursing, pharmaceutical sciences, and other allied health programs. Plans are to open in January 2023. There will be opportunities to partner with many regional organizations in many ways. Mr. Roche responded to questions following his presentation. The student union near the Whitaker Center will remain, and is considered state of the art. The University has a great desire to support workforce needs in the region. President James thanked Geoffrey for his excellent presentation.
Una Martone is currently in sessions as a Rotary International Training Leader at Rotary International Assembly for District Governors. Next week’s speaker will be Lenwood Sloan, speaking on Black History in Harrisburg. The meeting was concluded at 12:53 p.m.
Respectfully,
Curt Stutzman
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