Harleysville Rotary hosted their annual Four-Way Test Speech Contest on the evening of March 26th at the Peter Becker Community Arbor Square Conference Center. Four excellent speakers from the Dock Mennonite Academy presented their 5 minute talks centered on how the Rotary Four-Way Test was applied to a moral or ethical problem in which they were personally involved or knew of. Pictured above from the left are Four-Way Test Committee Member Kyle Zehr, First Place Contestant Ashley Mellinger, Second Place Contestant Madelyn Bergen, Mirabel Fizzano, Third Place Contestant Aya Berry, and Contest Chair Phil Janke. Miss Mellinger will be entered in the Regional Contest to be held at Ursinus College on April 13th.

 

At our regular meeting on Wednesday, March 27th, Dr. Claire DeFazio presented her Classification Talk in which she described her vocational progression into the field of chiropractic. After 16 years of nursing she realized the merits of chiropractic medicine and changed the direction of her career path to attain a degree in that medical specialty. She now owns a practice in Hatfield in which all new patients receive a full spine X-ray before any manipulation of the spine begins to be certain that she does no damage because of a hidden condition. Signs of trouble in patients is often indicated by (1) impeded neck movement, (2) tingling of fingers, (3) headaches, or (4) pinched shoulders. Claire is extremely enthusiastic and passionate about her profession. We look forward to enjoying those positive traits in her work with Rotary.

 

George Casady, Director of Day Services at the Indian Creek Foundation, described the joy of having a job for the developmentally disabled clients of the Indian Creek Foundation. It is not so much the money as it is being a productive member of the community. On site tasks are performed throughout the area at locations such as Care & Share, the Animal Rescue Center, and the Peter Becker Community. Also, mobile work crews, who work for minimum wage, perform specific tasks at area businesses.

 

A new opportunity has been created that constructs sleeping mats for the homeless out of a product called "plarn" which is made from discarded plastic throwaway shopping bags. Workers perform many tasks including folding, cutting and weaving the plastic yarn. The mats are distributed in different ways such as the Norristown Police Department which carries them in their 3rd shift cruisers to give to homeless persons.

 

Harleysviile Rotary is very appreciative of all the services that ICF does to help make so many disadvantaged folks a vital part of our society.

 

 

 

New member Richie Aichele gave his Classification Talk on February 27th at our regular meeting. He became interested in Rotary through his late father who helped found the Rotary Club of Harleysville as an off shoot of the Souderton/Telford Club. Richie often assisted his father in Club functions such as Concert Sundaes, work service days and District Conferences. He grew up in Rotary family. These days he works as a field technician for a Harleysville based computer service company and operates his own IT service on the side. He was recently married to Amanda Aichele who is also a member of the Harleysville club. We are proud to have him as a member and look forward to having him apply his many skills to our service projects.

 

On Wednesday morning, January 16th, seven new members were formally inducted into the Harleysville Rotary Club by President Steve Godsall-Myers and District Governor Cindy Hornaman. This was the largest class ever inducted into the Club at one time in our 25 year history.

 

Shown in the front row from left to right are New Members: Angela Davidson-Evanick, Beth Hilghman, Lois Ruth, Claire DeFazio, and Richie Aichele. Standing in the back row are: Member Sponsor LaVerne Sheetz, Club President Steve Gotsall-Myers, New Member Lani Goshow, Member Sponsor Dinah Hayes, New Member Anna Halteman, Member Sponsor Gary Volpe, Member Sponsor Phil Janke, and District Governor Cindy Hornaman.

 

President Steve Gotsall-Myers (center) presented Paul Harris Fellowship Awards to Kyle Koffel (left) and Frank Romano (right). Both men received lapel pins signifying their continued financial support of the Fellowship. This is Kyle's 2nd award and Frank's 6th award. Congratulations gentlemen and thank you both for your continued support of this important work.

 

Phil Janke (on the right) received a third Paul Harris Fellow lapel pin in recognition of his continued contributions to the Rotary Foundation. President Stephen Godsall-Myers presented the award at the December 5th Harleysville Rotary Club regular weekly meeting at the Peter Becker Community in the Arbor Conference Center. Congratulations to Mr. Janke for his ongoing support.

 

This selfie shot by Rotarian Daniel Watson-Bey shows three other Harleysville Rotarians assisting a fellow member (not shown) by transporting a heavy steel frame sofa bed and mattress. Pictured from left to right are: Dean Shollenberger, Len Ruth and Lon Clemmer. All in a days service for these loyal Club members. We help others and we help our own.

 

Steven Diehl, Executive Director of the Mennonite Heritage Center, was our guest speaker at our regular meeting on November 7, 2018. Steve explained that the mission is to educate, inspire and witness to the church and community by collecting, preserving and sharing the Anabaptist/Mennonite story. The Mennonite Heritage Center houses a permanent exhibit Work and Hope, fraktur and changing exhibits, an historical library and archives, and a museum store. The Mennonite Heritage Center tells the story of Mennonite faith and life in eastern Pennsylvania.  It is home to the Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania. The museum has over 12,000 items in its collection including hundreds of examples of fraktur. We thank Steve for his exciting presentation and the museum for its important presence in our community.

 

Daniel Watson-Bey (second from left) earned his Completion Certificate from the Rotary Leadership Institute today in Bethlehem, PA. Daniel is currently serving as Vice President of the Rotary Club of Harleysville and is the President of East Falls Media, headquartered in Lansdale, PA. We congratulate him on his initiative to better educate himself in all aspects of Rotary including honing his leadership skills.

 

After being inducted by Club President Steve Godsall-Myers into the Rotary Club of Harleysville, new member Tyra Elsner received her first Rotary pin from Cindy Hornaman, District Governor of Rotary District 7430. The Governor was making a scheduled visit to Harleysville Rotary and was please to personally welcome Tyra into the 1.2 million men and women who make up the world wide community of Rotarians.

 

 

Tamara Callahan, Principal of E. M. Crouthamel elementary school in Souderton, joined us on September 19, 2018 to get us up to date on all the changes at EMC. They are currently undergoing an expansion project that has created a lot of challenges in their day-to-day operations. For example, they have had to live without their library and are using a cart to distribute books to the classrooms. There was no playground last year so a fenced in area was created in the parking lot. All the rain we have been receiving also made outdoor play impossible. Because the old playground equipment had to be moved, it may have to be made ADA compliant when it is reinstalled.

 

As part of the after school program, the kids get to play computer games using the Osmo System that was donated by Rotary. It watches children play learning games on an iPad and gives them feedback real time. Students can also do their homework after school and receive help from teachers. Construction should be completed by the end of October and things will return to normal. Tamara reminded us that volunteers are still needed for reading to students and some of our members are already doing that.

 

Invitations are now being mailed out to community leaders to invite them to a Harleysville Rotary social event designed to be not only fun but also an opportunity to learn about Rotary in general and Harleysville Rotary in particular. Guests will enjoy hot hors d'oeuvres and beverages and will have the opportunity meet many of our members and see exactly what we do for the community and the world.    

 

Jeff Pammer, Indian Valley Middle School Principal, gave his Classification Talk this morning and explained how a Kutztown football player ended up becoming an educator. On the first day of his first job out of college, he received a phone call from his old football coach telling him about a job opening in Florida that the coach had recommended him for. The coach insisted that he contact them and while on his honeymoon in Disney World, Jeff set up an interview with Mainland Senior High School in Daytona Beach where he ended up teaching history and coaching. This was a career that he had not seriously entertained but he loved it. After two years his wife got home sick so they returned to the Lehigh Valley. He accepted a position in a very challenging school in the Poconos. Later they moved to Souderton where he accepted the position of Assistant Principal at West Broad Street after receiving a call from Sam Varano. Interestingly, both men have become Rotarians since then. He continued his education by getting his Masters and PH.D. in Education while working full time. 

 

Harleysville Rotarian Pat White sponsored Jeff into Rotary. We look forward to working with Jeff and his dynamic personality as we continue to serve our community and the world.

 

Len Walter was the lucky winner of the weekly 50/50. His prize was approximately $900 less taxes. The other winner is Harleysville Rotary who will put their tax free share into community projects. Congratulations to everyone! New 50/50 contest starts next week.

 

New member Dinah Hayes gave her Classification Talk during our July 25th regular meeting. Dinah has had several interesting careers which included real estate and law. Most recently she started a new travel agency which she calls Dinah's Destinations. In conjunction with her interest in travel, Dinah gave a power point presentation of a recent trip to Bermuda. While there, she attended a meeting at one of the four Rotary Clubs in Bermuda and got an opportunity to discuss some common experiences since both clubs are breakfast clubs. We welcome her to Harleysville Rotary and look forward to working together in some great Rotary projects.