Twin brothers, Calvin and Ethan Ribelan, who were sponsored by Harleysville Rotary to the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards summer camp (RYLA - also known as Camp Niedig),  described their adventures at this year's camping experience. They are joined by Kyle Zehr, member of the Camp Niedig Committee. One of the brothers was named Camper of the Year. Both relayed some wonderful stories of their experiences and what the camp did to increase their leadership skills.

 

 

 

Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale spoke to us recently about the workings of our county government. The annual budget currently is $420MM. It is larger than the budget of Alaska or Vermont. One half of those funds are applied to health and human services. The Commissioner went on to explain the scope and demographics of the County and how business is conducted in his view. We thanked him for his insights and for his public service.

 

Joshua Johnston was accepted to the graduate school of Bryn Mawr College to study for his MSW in 2005. Before enrolling, he took his last trip to Tanzania and never really came back. He works there today providing social services for children in a town of 100,000 in a region of 1.3 million residents. The kids age from 7 to 17 and are orphaned, poor and live on the streets doing odd jobs. Some of the girls do domestic work. Most have little or no formal education. Josh is affiliated with the Harambee Foundation (Harambee means "all pull together" in Swahili) that provides remedial schooling and readies kids in just 2 years to be able to go back to school. There are 61 children in the center and 30 beds for the homeless. A cook comes in the evening and 3 kids are assigned to assist. Every Saturday everyone gets a meal of rice & beans. Kids even get a soap allowance. The goal is to provide for their needs so that they can get an education and be productive members of society. Harleysville Rotary is proud to be a contributor to this amazing project.

 

Author, Joanne Hoff introduced her new book, "Between Now and Then". In the book she asks the question, "Do you want to leave a legacy of love or a mess?" Lawyers love a mess and you can not depend on lawyers to straighten out the mess. Joanne talked about being an executor and tips on settling an estate. She also advises folks to get a will and if you have one - keep it updated. Good practical advise that we all need to follow.

 

On the 5th of July these Patriotic Weeders entered the Garden of Health and proceeded to rid the garden of the unauthorized growth found therein. Thanks to efforts of earlier groups,  the job was completed in less than two hours. Sunday's visit was therefor cancelled. See individual photos of the team in "Read More".

 

Dressed in their souvenir shirts, Larry Moss and President Steve reported on their impressions of the Rotary International Convention that was held on June 1-6 in Hamburg, Germany. Approximately 25,000 Rotarians from all over the globe joined in this annual celebration of the accomplishments of Rotary. Between the plenary sessions, the breakout sessions, the House of Friendship, and the Inspiration Lounge, there was plenty of Rotary knowledge to be absorbed. Lots of fun and excitement and many interesting conversations along the way.

 

President-Elect Gary Volpe pins on Frank Hueber's first Paul Harris Fellowship pin. Frank is the new Area 6 Rotary Foundation Coordinator and is working on getting all members of District 7430's Area 6 to become Fellowship members or encourage present Fellowship members to achieve the next level. The Foundation is the "financial engine" that makes most Rotary projects possible. Congratulations, Frank!

 

Dr. Al Grande from the Board of Trustees of the Indian Valley Public Library was our guest presenter on March 6, 2019. Dr. Grande introduced the Club to the newly formed Foundation of Friends at the library. He also went on to highlight the variety of services that the organization provides to the community. The process of loaning books is just a part of all the other activities that are available. In 2018 there were almost 250,000 visits, 1,200 programs, 19,000 program attendees, 270 groups totaling 4,000 people met in library meeting rooms, 1,500 museum passes were loaned out, 2,900 children attended summer learning events, and 5 hotspot devices were loaned out 131 times. It is manned by an 8 person staff and 31 part-time staffers along with 166 volunteers who worked over 7,500 hours. The library has become come a hub of educational and social activity.

 

Our guest speaker on February 6, 2019 was Xander Duerkson who currently is a senior at Dock Mennonite Academy. Last summer the Rotary Club of Harleysville sponsored him as a camper at Camp Neidig, the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) camp to participate in a four day leadership program along with scores of other seniors from many high schools in District 7430. Xander described his hesitation and trepidation about going through this program since it was a way out of his comfort zone, but once he became involved he was amazed at all he learned about himself and the number of new friends he made.

 

This fall he will be heading to Eastern Mennonite University to further his education.  He is certain that this experience has better prepared him for college. Congratulations Xander and best wishes for your continued success.

 

All Rotary members are initially sponsored by an existing member. Usually they come to us one at time. But in this case member Dinah Hayes brought three new members to us in unprecedented action for the Harleysville Club.

 

The new members are (shown from left to right): Lani Goshow, Anna Halteman, (Sponsor - Dinah Hayes), and Lois Ruth. Congratulations and welcome to all. We look forward to your fellowship and service in Rotary.

 

Leland Sapp, Chief Executive Officer of Peaceful Living in Harleysville, was our guest speaker at the our regular meeting on January 9th. Leland described the functions of this dynamic non-profit that directly benefits adults with developmental disabilities in our area. He summed up his presentation with the following mission statement designed to create Belonging through:

 

 

The team of Frank Romano (shown on the right) and Frank Hueber presented a program on The Rotary Foundation. Frank Romano is the District Foundation Chair and also the Club Representative for the Foundation. All members are encouraged to give to this important function of Rotary and the Franks showed how easy and painless it is to be a Sustaining Member by setting up an automatic donation that can be electronically made every month or quarter using a credit card or allowing the Rotary Foundation to make an automatic withdrawal from your bank account. The motto of the Foundation is "Doing Good in the World". Contributions can be directed to one of three categories. They are: Peace, Polio, and Humanitarian. Every cent of your contribution goes to wherever you directed it. Rotary takes no operational expenses. Few other charities can say the same.

 

 

In honor of World Polio Day, Harleysville Rotary invited Carol Ferguson, a member of the Doylestown Rotary Club and founder of a non-profit organization called Pennsylvania Polio Survivor Network, to come and speak to us. The first line of her organization's mission statement reads: "To be in Service Providing Information to Polio Survivors, Post-Polio Support Groups, Survivor's Families and Their Caregivers". Carol herself is a polio survivor. She found that as she aged the disease she had as a child came back to haunt her because of all the stress it had caused over the decades. She recognized that she  was not alone in this condition and realized that thousands of other polio victims from the 40's and 50's also were coming to terms with the long term effects of their disease. This network provides a conduit of information and support that helps polio patients cope with Post Polio Syndrome. The organization is expanding rapidly and has already been effective in several surrounding states. We thank Carol for her personal Service Above Self.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assistant District Governor for Area 6, Phil Janke (center) is shown here with Paul Lorenz, President of Perkasie Rotary (far left), Suzi Berry, President of Souderton/Telford Rotary, Travis Robinson, President of Upper Perkiomen Rotary and Steve Godsall-Myers of Harleysville Rotary. Each of the Presidents talked about what their club is doing this fiscal year and their Club's future plans.