I hope to see you this Thursday, September 3, 2026 at the Artisan Wine & Cheese Cellar to support our MSR Charitable Organization, and enjoy a couple of Grumpy Old Men aka Rick Santee!
Here are some other things coming up:
September 2: This Wednesday, 4:30 pm, Lehigh University campus: UN Under-Secretary-General for Digital and Emerging Technologies speaking on AI. Room fills quickly! Contact Bill Hunter for details.
September 26: Celtic Classic 5K Race. About 100 runners signed up so far! Volunteer sign-up sheet and sponsor forms are circulating, please email Tom Hartzell to sign-up for a race day assignment and try to secure at least one sponsor.
October 11: Monocacy Creek cleanup. Contact Rick Morrissey for details.
October 21: 5 pm, Moravian University,: Janet Sipple Scholarship speaker event benefiting nursing student scholarships. Speaker is Nanny Claude Grado, LVPG physician's assistant working with trafficking victims.
November 8: MSR Salute the Troops Concert fundraiser - sponsor and ad outreach ongoing, tickets are being printed. Victory House board member Kate Hughes is actively promoting the event and providing 10 tickets from her board.
Club news recap:
We were recognized as a ShelterBox Hero for 2026; District 7430 earned Legion of Heroes status with 10+ participating clubs.
Welcome Jinnie! our Rotary Exchange Student from Thailand. Members will be invited to ask her to meals, activities, outings ,etc.
Rotary Anniversaries in August: Ray Holton (21 years), Marianne Aronson (16 years).
Reminder: check the Rotating Announcements at our weekly meetings and Rod's Monday bulletin for full meeting recaps and details.
Our Bethlehem Morning Star Rotary meeting on September 3, 2026 will be a
First "Thirstday"/Happy Hour meeting starting at 5:30pm.
LOCATION:
Artisan Wine and Cheese Cellars
55 W Lehigh Street
Bethlehem, PA 18018
Join us for a networking-focused event that rotates among different locations. Attendees will enjoy a variety of drinks, with some opting to order food while others simply mingle over their beverages. It’s a great way to connect in a relaxed atmosphere!
Entertainment will be provided by “The Grumpy Old Men” including MSR’s very own Rick Santee. Donations at the performance will benefit the “MSR Charitable Organization”!
Please come and enjoy some warm Rotary fellowship.
At our August 27, 2026 meeting, Morning Star Rotary welcomed Gina Stano, Executive Director of the Community Support Community of Greater Lehigh Valley. Gina shared that CSCGLV has served the region for 24 years, offering all programs and services free to anyone touched by a cancer diagnosis, not just patients, but caregivers, family, and friends, across several counties (804 people served last fiscal year). Services include individual, couples, and group counseling; weekly and monthly cancer-specific support groups; mindfulness offerings like meditation, Tibetan singing bowls, and yoga; a wig salon that's often a member's first point of entry; and a grief group open to anyone experiencing loss.
About 55% of referrals come through health network partnerships with St. Luke's and LVHN, and the organization runs entirely on community donations, grants, and fundraising events such as Wings of Hope, the Memorial Golf Tournament, and Golf for Cancer. Gina spoke personally about her mother's breast cancer survivorship and her grandmother's loss to the disease, stressing early detection and self-advocacy, and shared that CSCGLV is developing a new professional services line for 2027, including house cleaning, landscaping, and pet care support for members in treatment.
How Rotarians Can Help and Support
Share CSCGLV's information with anyone touched by a cancer diagnosis; all programs are free.
Support or attend Wings of Hope, September 13 (butterfly release fundraiser).
Consider a gift toward the new professional services fund (house cleaning, landscaping, pet care for members in treatment), donations can be restricted to that purpose through CSCGLV directly.
Encourage members and family to keep up with annual screenings and PSA/mammogram testing.
Bill Hunter has invited Morning Star Rotarians to attend a presentation at Lehigh University by the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Special Envoy for Digital and Emerging Technologies on Wednesday, September 2, 2026. All Rotarians are welcome. The seats will fill well before 4:30 PM. Please contact Bill Hunter at wdh3@lehigh.edu if you are interested in attending.
Our club is seeking sponsors for the Celtic Classic 5K Race. Sponsorships are the primary way that we raise money to distribute throughout our community. Please share the sponsorship form below with any potential sponsors to make our 2026 race a success.
Once again Bethlehem Morning Star Rotary is partnering with the Monocacy Creek Watershed Association for their annual Fall Stream Clean-up on Sunday, October 11, 2026 from 9-11:30 AM. The meet-up location is at Sand Island Park, 56 River Street, Bethlehem 18018. Meet at Tennis Court Parking Lot.
ShelterBox is responding to devastating flash floods that have struck the Rasuwa District of northern Nepal, near the border with Tibet. The scale of this disaster is staggering. At least 389 people have been killed, and reports indicate more than 1,000 people are missing. Entire villages have been inundated, homes and buildings swept away, and roads, bridges, power, and communications infrastructure badly damaged.
The sudden surge of water was reportedly caused by a glacier collapse, sending mud, ice, and rock crashing into the Bhote Koshi River and through communities.
Our response is underway. Our team is working with partners in the region to understand the rapidly evolving situation, determine how many people have been affected, and identify the emergency shelter and essential supplies displaced families will need.
Reports suggest thousands of people may have lost or damaged homes, and with villages scattered across remote mountainous areas and critical roads and bridges destroyed, reaching families in need will be challenging.
We know Nepal well. ShelterBox responded following the devastating 2015 earthquake, when an avalanche of ice, snow, and rock destroyed Langtang village in the same region and killed more than 200 people. We returned to Nepal again in 2017. That experience and our relationships in the region will help inform our response today.
And Nepal is not the only emergency where families need help. Right now, ShelterBox is responding to disasters and conflict around the world, from devastating earthquakes in Venezuela and Colombia, to severe flooding in Bangladesh, to families displaced by conflict and crisis. The need is immense.
Please make an emergency shelter gift today.
Your support can help ShelterBox provide emergency shelter and other essential aid to families who have lost their homes in Nepal, and help us remain ready to respond whenever disaster strikes next.
Thank you for standing with families when they need it most.
Artisan Wine & Cheese Cellars
