NOV 11 PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Posted by Tom Kolepp 
on Nov 11, 2014
 

President’s Message November 13

The Salute the Troops Concert on Sunday November 9 was awesome. That’s all there is to it. Best ever! Case closed.

Thanks to Chairperson Gary Hartney for marshalling our collective effort. The Allentown Band performed at their expected professional level under the direction of Ron Demkee. The Northeast Middle School music students were a tremendous addition to the program, especially the chorus singing the words to the service anthem medley and the WWI songs. The newest twist was Gary Hartney as guest conductor on the “Rotary March”. Thanks to Cheryl Baker for the presentation on our club and Rotary International – look for it soon on our website. Thanks to Jean Searfoss for the program book design and production. Thanks to all Rotarians for their sponsorships, ticket sales, attendance and volunteer contributions! We look forward to presenting the proceeds to Victory House after all the accounting is finalized.

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The Dictionary Project proceeds apace with Rotarians distributing more dictionaries to third graders. Morning Star is supporting the Rotary Foundation’s emphasis on “Education and Basic Literacy”. It’s not too late to help out – contact Ellen Roberts.

Dave Cincera gave an outstanding re-classification talk at our November 6 meeting. We learned about his engineering background, his expertise in Myers-Briggs type analysis and car repair, his love of photography and his grandchildren, and his penchant for wit. Some members especially enjoyed Dave’s pithy remarks on life including offerings such as: “You’re only young once, but may be immature forever”.

On Saturday, seven of us attended Rotary Leadership Institute in Wilkes-Barre. Morning Star had the largest group from any one Rotary Club and the following earned RLI certification:

  • RLI Graduate Level: Janet Kolepp
  • RLI III: Jean Searfoss, Ron Searfoss and Tom Kolepp
  • RLI II: Iryna Levytska
  • RLI I: Cheryl Baker; Alex Shnaydruk

Please put the following MSR events on your calendars and find more details on our MSR website:

  • MSR Board Meeting: Our regularly scheduled monthly Board Meeting is 6PM on Wednesday November 12.
  • Thanksgiving Joint Meeting at noon on Wednesday November 19 with the Bethlehem Rotary Club at Moravian Village. Have lunch with our fellow Rotarians and hear an inspirational talk. This Thursday will be the last chance to sign up. Lunch is $20 with $5 going to the Rotary Foundation.  (FYI: We will still have our normal MSR meeting on Thursday November 20.)
  • Salvation Army Bell Ringing: Stay tuned for announcement from Mike Long on exact timing and signups.
  • MSR Holiday Party: Reserve Saturday evening January 3 for our holiday gathering / pot luck hosted by the Fellowship Committee at the Long’s house.

Our Thursday November 13 meeting will feature Susan Burnett and Tom Hartzell presenting on The Rotary Foundation. They will be explaining how our contributions are leveraged for the benefit of both local and international communities.

I don’t want to lose faith that Morning Star will meet our 2014-2015 objective of increasing net membership by five.  If “Every Member Brings a Prospective Member”, we’ll exceed the target. Please do your part.

If you are visiting Bethlehem or our website or 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

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