President's Letter Nov. 17

Posted by Ron Searfoss 
on Nov 17, 2015
 
In keeping with the RI theme of November being Rotary Foundation Month, last Thursday Foundation Chair Sue Burnett and the Foundation Committee members, challenged all attendees to a ROTARY FOUNDATION TRIVIA THROW DOWN! Think of a take-off on Jeopardy. Please see separate story below for more details.
 
Last Wednesday night, I presented the Ballot of Officers and Directors for our December 17th Club Election.  With Board approval, this was presented to the membership at the Thursday meeting. (The Voting Ballot is in downloads on our home page.) However, Sue Reeps, our stalwart Treasurer extraordinaire these past few years, has now announced she will continue through the end of this Rotary Year, 6/30/15. After that, she will remain a Morning Star Rotarian, and is assuming the Treasurer duties at her church.
 
Sue, with the help of many Morning Star Rotarians, has made tremendous improvements. Enhancements to the club’s financial reporting have been so significant that new members and long-time veterans alike have expressed their thanks and said, “finally I understand what it is all about …”   
 
My point here is to encourage members to consider stepping into this position to help your Club and Rotary. Ideally, we would hope for this person to come on board by the first of January to allow a learning process for the balance of Sue’s term in office. And after that, she will still be available to answer questions. Please contact me or any Board member if you are willing to serve as Treasurer.
 
The Community Development Grants Committee has received at least 20 Grant Applications. This is about double past year submissions. The changes made by the Committee to ease the application process, coupled with increasing the dollar range of grants, can only be deemed a rousing success!  Congratulations!
 
 
The distribution of the Dictionaries was very successful.
In addition there was great interest in the Spanish-to-English dictionaries --- from the teachers and administrators in 10 of the elementary schools. A Committee proposal was approved by the Board to source another 100 Spanish-to-English dictionaries for distribution. We are also working on making this a real positive PR event for BASD, Morning Star and Rotary.
 
The Board approved a new Community Service project for Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering proposed by Janet Kolepp.  Morning Star Rotarians will donate, cook and prepare meals on February 18th and March 24th. Janet will act as coordinator. A menu will be established and items for the meals will be requested for donation. 6-8+ MS Rotarians will be needed on the night of hospitality at the shelter to help setup, cook and clean up.
 
The Annual Joint Thanksgiving Luncheon hosted by the Bethlehem Downtown Rotary will be held tomorrow (or today, depending when you read this), Wednesday, November 18th at noon right here at Moravian Village. Sharon Zondag from the Laros Foundation will speak, and we will be joined by Rotarians from neighboring clubs.  Please see the separate story below for more details. 
 
Mike Long has arranged for Morning Star Rotary to again take part in the Salvation Army’s Kettle Drive during the Holiday Season.
We are asking that Rotarians volunteer to ring the bell for one or two hours.  Sign up sheets will be available at our meetings beginning on November 19th. We will be at
Moravian Book Shop from 10 am to 7 pm on Saturday November 28th, and at
Christkindlmarkt from 11 am to 8 pm Saturday December 5th.
 
There will be no Thursday morning meetings on December 24th and 31st. We hope you enjoy your time together with family and friends.
 
Save the Date – Morning Star’s HOLIDAY PARTY will be held on Saturday, January 9th at the home of our gracious hosts, Mike and Terry Long.
 
Please join us this Thursday November 19th when Al Ottinger will talk to Morning Star about Engineers Without Borders.
 
If you would like to learn more about either Bethlehem Morning Star or Rotary International, please contact Ron Searfoss at rsearfos@ptd.net or 610-504-1460.
 
Given current events, now more than ever, Rotarians must strive to be a gift to their communities and the world.
 
President Ron