It’s time for my last weekly President’s Message before the leadership of Morning Star Rotary changes over to our 2015-2016 President Ron Searfoss. So, here is the overview of 2014 - 2015.
We had a great year with successful projects and fund raisers.
Through our Community Development Grants and other direct donations, we supported community organizations, Polio Plus, Rotaplast and Shelter Box with almost $35,000 in contributions – not even counting the Golf Tournament funding (which runs through the Bethlehem Club).
We sponsored youth projects: four Camp Neidig scholarships, the Four Way Test Speech Contest, and our inbound exchange student Annika.
We are just awaiting certification that MSR achieved “Every Rotarian Every Year” (EREY) level of contribution to the Rotary Foundation for the first year ever. This is a huge milestone for our club.
We enjoyed great fellowship at our 25th Anniversary Celebration, the Holiday Party, the Sipple Lecture, bowling, birthday celebrations and our weekly meetings – and even the Kickout Party! We have solid leadership succession in place with Incoming President Elect Sharon Fontana and Incoming VP Kristian Schafer backing up new President Ron supported by Secretary Val Walk, Treasurer Sue Reeps and the Board of Directors.
We have a tradition of interesting and informative programs to engage our members, including the June 18 presentation by Joyce Marin, Executive Director of Renew LV. She gave us the background on the Envision Lehigh Valley Project, in which 12,000 people participated (but all Morning Star Rotarians somehow missed). She shared that of the ~650,000 people in the Lehigh Valley, about 70,000 per month rely of food bank assistance to eat. She also shared the projections that an additional 145,000 people will be settling in the valley in the next 20 years. Her agenda is to help our communities prepare to absorb that growth while maintaining an environmentally and economically sustainable environment. Learn more at EnvisionLehighValley.com.
Four members were recently graduated from Red to Blue Badges for becoming engaged in club events, committees, activities and leadership: Sharon Fontana, Todd Heft (not pictured below), Lynn Milet and Kristian Schafer.
Morning Star Rotary did all things well with one exception: we did not meet our membership goal of a net gain of two members. We actually lost three members, all due to relocation, while welcoming two - Lynn Milet and Bill Hunter – so we ended with a net loss of one member. Our “Every Member Bring A Prospective Member” initiative only gained traction in spring 2015. We now have a good pipeline of prospective members to assure that MSR establishes good membership momentum in 2015-2016, including Sharon Brown and Barry Gates, guests of Janet Sipple and Steve Bajan, respectively. They attended last week’s meeting along with Tom Santee and Anders Heiney. Tom is home from Penn State and was a guest of Dad, Rick. Anders contributed a Happy Dollar because school is out for the summer; he was a guest of Grandmother Janet Sipple.
In summary, my message to all of you is “THANK YOU”! Thanks for giving me the privilege to be your 2014-2015 President. It is an experience I will remember and cherish. Thank you for all the work done in committee meetings, at events, in Board Meetings, at RLI, District Convention and District Assembly and as Rotarians – living lives by the Four Way Test – and having some fun along the way. Thanks again for a great Rotary year!!!
Speaking of fun – there was a lot of it at the Kickout Party that the club threw last Saturday. Thanks to Tom & Landa Mohr for hosting, to Ron & Jean Searfoss for being the head organizers, and for the tasty pot luck dishes everyone else brought. The giant cake with a picture of me in my kilt was really fun! Annika also did the official flag exchange from her sponsoring club – the Rotary Club of Pohjois in Helsinki, Finland. (It is the last time we’ll see Annika for several weeks as she takes the Rotary sponsored “Western US” trip.)
While the Kickout was our informal recognition of a new Rotary year, please attend our Official Club Changeover Meeting on June 25. Please bring any former members, prospective members or guests to enjoy the festivities. In addition to the “gavel passing, we will get updates on the Golf Tournament and Camp Neidig.
Thanks for "Lighting Up Rotary" in 2014 - 2015. Here’s to a great new year under the leadership of Incoming President Ron. My very best to all of you.
Peace, love, over and out,
Outgoing President Tom
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