MAR 19 PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
President’s Message for March 19, 2015
Our March 12 meeting was eventful in so many ways. Initially, we missed President Elect Ron’s masterful technology setup. (Ron was attending to a family medical emergency – and we wish him the best.) After the rolling announcements were rollin’, we realized the speaker’s USB drive did not work on President Tom’s laptop. Arghhh! Thankfully, we have resourceful Rotarians like Ron Helmuth. He retrieved his laptop from his car, worked his wizardry and voila . . . Jamie Popp, Director of Education & Curriculum for the Lehigh Valley Children Centers, could make her presentation. It included a nice video on the enrichment activities provided to the children. To learn more about LVCC, reference the website at: http://www.lvchildcare.org/.
On Thursday, we also inducted Bill Hunter to full “blue badge” membership. Bill went through his “red badge” period during his previous membership tenure. Bill is already a Paul Harris Fellow and he committed to making his annual contribution to the Rotary Foundation to help Morning Star qualify as an “Every Rotarian Every Year” club for the first time.
We also welcomed Anatoliy Levytskyy who is the brother and guest of our own Iryna Levytska. Anatoliy is originally from the Ukraine and he currently works in Angola, Africa. Iryna contributed a “happy / sad” dollar because she loves having her brother, sister-in-law and two nieces visiting, but she will miss them when they leave. Those who attended our Bowling Night had the opportunity to spend some time with Anatoliy and his family. We wish them safe travels as they return to Africa.
The project of the week is the Four Way Rotary Speech Contest on Wednesday March 18 at 6PM in the Rotunda of the Bethlehem City Hall (across from the Bethlehem Area Public Library). We are still seeking contestants. Complete contest information is found on the District 7430 website at http://www.clubrunner.ca/Portal/SitePages/SitePage.aspx?did=7430&pid=55330. If you have any additional contestants, please contact Ben Tenaglia to register their intent.
We encourage every Morning Star Rotarian to attend the Speech Contest – to support the committee and the contestants. After the contest, we will adjourn to The Brick Restaurant for dinner and socializing with Rotarians and guests from both MSR and the Bethlehem Rotary Club.
After the Wednesday night speech contest and dinner, be sure you are up early to attend our March 19 meeting. Nora Suggs, the Artistic Director of Satori, will present Satori’s BRAVO Music Education Program which MSR supported with a Community Development Grant.
Here are upcoming club events for your calendar. See the MSR website for additional information:
- Four Way Speech Contest: see details above
- MSR 25th Anniversary Celebration: Saturday evening March 28 at the Goosey Gander on 4th Street in South Bethlehem. Jan Chicka needs your check so that she can confirm the count. $45 per person for food, dancing and memories. Please give Jean Searfoss your pictures and memorabilia.
- MSR Spaghetti Dinner: Friday May 1 at East Hills Moravian Church. Tickets coming soon.
- Golf Tournament: June 1, 2015 at Silver Creek Country Club to benefit the Bridges Foundation.
Here are District events of interest. More details are found on the District website.
- District Foundation Recognition Dinner: March 23 at the William Penn Inn
- District 7430 Conference: April 24 – 26 in Gettysburg
- District Training Assembly: Saturday May 16 starting 7:30 AM at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell
- Camp Neidig (RYLA) 2015: June 19 – 22 with closing ceremony & dinner on June 22
Remember to do your part to meet our 2014-2015 initiatives – “Every Member Bring a Prospective Member” and our “Every Member Every Year” Rotary Foundation contribution.
If you are visiting Bethlehem or our website or you want to learn more about Bethlehem Morning Star or Rotary International, please contact Tom Kolepp via email at tkolepp@gmail.com or via mobile phone at 484-241-1251.
Let's continue to "Light Up Rotary". Regards. President Tom
