Our October 1 “First Thirstday” will be held at McCarthy’s Red Stag Pub and Whiskey Bar, 534 Main Street, Bethlehem, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the upstairs room.Come join your fellow Morning Star Rotarians and enjoy some fellowship, drinks, food, and Celtic atmosphere with your fellow colleagues and guests.Looking forward to seeing everyone this Thursday.
Thank you for coming out Saturday for our Celtic Classic 5K! We had over 200 runners pre-registeredand 145 runners braved the rain to participate in the race.
Thanks to all who worked at or attended the Bethlehem Rotary Club's Yard Sale on Saturday, September 19th! Final tallies TBA; special thanks to Justin Strasser, who took our Rotary Exchange Student, Jinnie and his daughters! …and to Cheryl Baker, who hooked Diane Donaher up with the Fine Arts Commission to assess some of the donated art. They pulled some higher-value items for a separate online auction.
Larry Eighmy, who owns the Flatiron Building, where we hold our weekly meetings, shared that a major redevelopment or expansion could come within the next several years due to zoning and market changes; he committed to keeping the club updated as plans move forward.
Bethlehem Emergency Shelter fundraiser is Thursday, October 2, 5 to 7 pm. See Mike Long for tickets.
At same location as BES, you can donate clothing and small appliances through STAR (Serving to Aid and Restore), on Saturdays from 10 am to 1 pm.
Grumpy Old Men “Bah Humbug Christmas Tour” kicks off December 3rd at the Artisan Wine & Cheese Cellars, benefiting the Bethlehem Emergency Shelter (BES)
Mercy School Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser: October 17th, free admission, sponsored by 790 WAEB News Radio. Email mnapierkowski@mercyschool.org for tickets.
Several members have signed up for the 2027 Rotary International Convention in Barcelona in June! Join us!!
Youth Meeting planned for September 30th at 4 pm in the Flatiron Building 5th Floor Community Room.
Former club member Kevin Taylor, who belonged to the club in the early 2000s, passed away; his funeral was Thursday evening.
Mark Napierkowski and Mike Hosfeld returned on September 24, 2026 to update the club on Mercy School for Special Learning, an Allentown school founded in 1954 by the Sisters of Mercy that serves about 50 students, ages 5 to 21, with intellectual and developmental disabilities, at a cost of $40,000 per student, with no student turned away for inability to pay.
Mark explained that last year's Radiothon and Spaghetti Dinner raised over $93,000, which funded a new PAES Lab: a simulated workplace inside the school where students clock in, use real tools, and build job-readiness skills across 6 career tracks.
Mike, who directs the school's 30-year-old Job Works program, described how the lab feeds into real job placements with community partners such as ATAS International, Redner's Markets, and Get Joy, sharing success stories of graduates who moved into paid employment. This year's funds will launch a new art therapy program for student mental health, and the team promoted the second annual Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser on October 17, sponsored by 790 WAEB News Radio, along with the Educational Improvement Tax Credit program, which lets Pennsylvania taxpayers redirect state tax liability to the school for a 90% tax credit.
Rain did not dampen the spirt of the participants in our annual Bethlehem Morning Star Rotary Celtic Classic 5K Race on Saturday, September 26, 2026. Congratulations and thank you to all of the runners who participated. We had over 200 pre-registered runners with 145 runners completing the race. Our volunteer force braved the elements to make this another successful event. Despite the weather and the need to quickly change the course layout, everything went smoothly for the run, and will be a financial success for the club.
Congratulations to our overall winners…Andrew Ward (M) and Melissa Gideon (F) and our team champions...BASD (Bethlehem Area School District)!
A huge thank you to Tom Hartzell and Tom Kolepp for their efforts in making this year's race a fabulous event, Jeff Kicska and Robin Metzler for their flawless handling of the timing and race logistics, and Mike Long for coordinating the course marshals. Thank you to each and every MSR volunteer who came out to cover the many tasks needed to make the race run smoothly.
Later this fall, I'll be leading our annual club goal setting process, and I'm inviting everyone to give your 10 cents (inflation you know) about where we're headed!
We'll be talking about how to attract new members, engage current members, do more bite-sized service projects, raise more money, partner more with the Bethlehem Club, and get the word out to the community about our international and youth project opportunities.
To help us prepare for that, on October 10, Rotary District 7430 will host a Club Action Plan 2.0 Workshop at Moravian University from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm.
I went last year and it was not only amazing to meet other Rotarians from the area, but also super intellectually stimulating to think about how we could accomplish all those things I mentioned above.
You don't have to attend this to be part of our goal setting, but it is a GREAT foundation and way to learn more about Rotary beyond our Club.
With both the Celtic Classic 5K Race (for youth programs) and the Salute the Troops Concert (for Victory House) this fall, our club has significant fundraising events that require “all hands on deck”!
Rick and I are seeking your help for finalizing the program book advertising by the end of next week. Print design and deadlines from the printer are part of this timeframe.
We are mailing tickets and a form to everyone who has not yet picked their items up at a meeting, but I am attaching the sponsorship form (Download Here) in case you have one or two local contacts who would be delighted to support the Salute the Troops concert and, in turn, local veterans in need.
Please do your part by making a call or sending an email or two in coming days. And, if you have questions, please send a message via email to us at rsantee@ptd.net.
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.
McCarthy's Red Stag Pub & Whiskey Bar
