Home Page | Rotary Club of Tunkhannock

Clean water, sanitation, and hygiene education are basic necessities for a healthy environment and a productive life. When people have access to clean water and sanitation, waterborne diseases decrease, children stay healthier and attend school more regularly, and mothers can spend less time carrying water and more time helping their families.

Through water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs, Rotary’s people of action mobilize resources, form partnerships, and invest in infrastructure and training that yield long-term change. 2030 is the year Rotary hopes to finish providing everyone with safe water, sanitation, and hygiene.

On the first and third Thursday's of every month, the Tunkhannock Rotary will hold a flash club meeting at 5:30 PM at Bogey's at Shadowbrook Inn & Resort. This is a 15-30 minute meeting for those members or prospective members who cannot make our regular 12:15 PM meeting. If they so desire, members and guests can stay after the meeting for drinks and/or dinner.

If you are interested in joining Rotary, but cannot make our luncheon meetings, please join us at one of our Thursday flash meetings to learn more about Rotary and our international and community based activities.

Welcome to our Website!

Service Above Self

We meet Thursdays at 12:15 PM
Purkey's Pink Apple

651 SR 6 W
Tunkhannock, PA 18657
United States of America

District Site

Bulletins

Dr. Christopher Andres Spoke on Medical Mission to Haiti

The guest speaker at the Mar 14 Rotary Luncheon was Dr. Christopher Andres, who spoke about the Medical Mission to Haiti. The Haiti MAC Medical Mission Program has been ongoing for 18 years from the University of Scranton. 45 students have gone on these missions and treated thousands of patients.

They are going to Haiti to serve (not help) individuals. The 4 doctors cover all aspects of medicine. They also take 4 students with them on each trip (2-3 are 4^th year and 1-2 are 3^rd year and go next year also).

They just got back from their most recent trip and are now planning for next Jan. trip. They are looking for sources of supplies for the next trip. Right now, they are focusing on medications, since they are hard to get in the country.

There is very rich cultural diversity in Haiti along with strong faith. However, there are people who are very impoverished, and they go to some of the worst areas to provide medical and dental services to these individuals. Care is brought to many where limited or no medical/dental care is available, such as in the mountains, where there is no running water.

Dr. Christopher Andres

Check Presentation to Tunkhannock Public Library

Pres. Mike presented a check to the Tunkhannock Public Library (TPL) for $10,000 at the Mar 14 Rotary Luncheon. The check was accepted by Rotarian Kristin Smith-Gary, Executive Director of the TPL.

Kristin provided a brief update on the Library. Our donation helped fund the 1000 Books before Kindergarten (a preschool program where parents read 1000 books to their kids and they get prizes), the Wall Street Journal subscription, picture books, junior fiction and young adult books for the kids and summer and year round programs for all ages of kids. A core of young adults has developed due to Rotary’s donation.

Donations from the community provide 52% of the operating budget for 2019. 50K people visited the library, 151K books checked out, 4,500 uses of computers and 5,500 people attended library programs.

Kristin Smith-Gary Accepting TPL Check from Pres. Mike Markovitz

Donna LaBar Spoke on Wellness at Mar 7 Rotary Luncheon

Donna LaBar was our guest speaker at the Mar 7 Rotary Luncheon at Purkey's Pink Apple. Donna is a realtor and appraiser, but she has a second passion and deep interest in cellular regeneration and the ability of the body to heal itself. She has an inquisitive science-oriented mind, is a health and wellness coach and has published a book on the subject (Simple. Natural. Healing.).

Donna then spoke about how our body heals itself and what we an do to help our body do so. She especially emphasized the need for water, mineral and salts and their role in the 3 fluid systems in our bodies.

Donna LaBar

Northeast Sight Review Services to Wyoming County

Sara Peperno and Amy Feldman from Northeast Sight gave a presentation at the Feb 28 Rotary Luncheon on their services for the blind and visually impaired in Wyoming County. Northeast Sight serves people with a myriad of different vision issues. Vision issues are one of the top ten disabilities throughout the world. Vision issues will double in the next decades as our population ages.

Sara and Amy then set up an activity re vision issues with 5 participants, who were each given glasses/blindfold that would simulate a different visual impairment. They were asked to text a friend that they were at our meeting, pay $1.12 for a glass of water, pour a glass of water and then return to their seats with glass/blindfold on asking for assistance if necessary.

Our brave volunteers were Terri Detrick (cataracts), Chelsea English (glaucoma), Gina Suydam (macular degeneration), exchange student John (diabetic retinopathy) and Jon Buxton (total blindness). Jon needed assistance to get back to his seat with a blindfold on.

Each volunteered described what it was like with their glasses on and Sara explained how vision impaired individuals can perform the tasks that they were asked to do.

Sara Peperno and Amy Feldman

L to R: Volunteers Jon Buxton, exchange student John, Gina Suydam, Chelsea English and Terri Detrick

Thank You from Tunkhannock Girl's Youth Basketball Team

At the Feb 28 Rotary Luncheon, Colleen Newswanger, coach of the Girls Basketball Team thanked the club for sponsoring the Tunkhannock Girl’s Youth Basketball Team for 2018-2019. They wore their blue shirts to all their games. Their last game was last week. The girls improved their basketball skills and they learned a lot of lessons that will serve them later. Colleen then presented Pres. Mike with a Thank You plaque on behalf of the team.

Colleen Newswanger present plaque to Pres. Mike Markovitz

Kevin Kitchnefsky Spoke at Feb 14 Meeting

The guest speaker at the Feb 14 Rotary Luncheon at Purkey's Pink Apple was Kevin Kitchnefsky, who spoke about the realities and challenges to daily living experienced by those with spinal cord injuries. He became paralyzed from the chest down in a work accident in 1996 that broke several vertebrae and damaged his spinal cord. Four years later, he set up the Kevin Kitchnefsky Foundation for Spinal Cord Research to raise money for research into cures and development of neuro-electronic/mechanical devices to help those with spinal cord injuries meet the incredible challenges to daily living.

Kevin showed a heart wrenching video of the amazing work being done at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, to which they donate 70-80% of the money they raise. 20-30% of the Foundation's money is used in NEPA to provide financial support to individuals who have a spinal cord injury or to organizations that help these individuals.

His Foundation holds 2 major annual Fundraisers: a summer golf tournament and a HarvestFest in Oct. They are currently looking for business/corporate sponsors for this year's golf tournament (http://kitchnefskyfoundation.org/).

Kevin does physical therapy every day. He has family and a professional aide to help him meet many of the challenges of daily living, but he does have his bad days. He gets through the bad days by realizing there are people worse off than him. He is determined to get out of his wheelchair one day.

Kevin Kitchnefsky

Mary Martin Introduction

At the Feb 14 Rotary Luncheon, new Rotarian Mary Martin gave her ice breaker introduction to the Club. Mary is trained in Biology, Nursing and Pharmacy and currently works teaching people how to administer injectable drugs in their homes and as a manager for hospice.

Mary loves animals and has quite a few at their home on the lake. She remarked that her husband, Rotarian Bill Barber, is quite good at feeding the animals every morning.

Mary is very interested in Peace through Service, since she visited Cost Rica with her daughter and saw how this can work in the poor areas there.

Mary Martin

Rotary Welcomes Newest Exchange Student from Peru

At the Feb 14 Rotary Luncheon, the Club had the first opportunity to meet our newest inbound exchange student Enrique (Kike) from Peru. Kike left Lima Peru on Monday but due to delays and transits through Atlanta and Philly on his way to Scranton, he arrived on Wed. Feb 13. He along with exchange student Andrew from Poland are staying with the Kozloski host family.

Please join us in welcoming Kike to the US, District 7410 and Tunkhannock Rotary.

Enrique (Kike) inbound from Peru

Tim Genetti Talked About District Conference

At the Feb 7 Rotary Luncheon, the club heard from Timothy Genetti. Tim is from the Hazleton Rotary and is chairperson for the 2019 Rotary District 7410 Conference, which will take place April 5-6 at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel in Scranton. He pointed out that District Conference is a good place to learn about Rotary. They will highlight 3-4 projects in the District, including the Honduras project. There will be fabulous speakers, an Italian dinner on Friday and an Irish buffet dinner on Saturday, with folks dressed up in their family heritage clothes. The Conference should be: Fun! Fun! Fun!

Since Apr 5 & 6 is too early for golf, they will have a community project on Friday at 1 PM to make 2,500 bags to give to those in need and homeless. They want travel sizes samples of various sundries. Please bring them to your local club.

Timothy Genetti

Tunkhannock Rotary Welcomes David Kuffa

At the Feb 7 Rotary Luncheon, Club Membership Chair Ron Furman inducted David Kuffa into Rotary. Marta Kovacs-Ruiz was David's sponsor.

David and his wife Jill have been married for 25 yrs. His daughter Dana is at Temple Univ. studying Sociology. Dana participated in RYLA and was an exchange student to Chile in 2016-2017. The Kuffa family also hosted Stefano Sica during 2016-2017. They have hunting dogs and Stefano was afraid of dogs, but now he has his own dog in Italy.

David is an IT consultant at the Refill Station in Clarks Summit. He studied at the Art institute of Philly. He is a musician, song writer and videographer.

Please join us in welcoming David to Rotary.

L to R: Marta Kovacs-Ruiz, David Kuffa and Ron Furman

Betsy Vannatta Spoke About United Methodist Homes

Our guest speaker at the Jan 31 Rotary Luncheon was Betsy Vannatta, the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for United Methodist Homes (UMH). They currently have 2 campuses in NY state and 2 in PA providing for approximately 1100 residents. Their Mission is to provide a wide range of senior living services with exceptional care and compassion with a “Live-Better Lifestyle.”

The 2 PA locations are the Wesley Village Campus in Pittston and the Tunkhannock Campus. Betsy described the various options and services provided by the 2 local campuses and their plans for the future.

Betsy Vannatta

Peter Sehne Joins Rotary

At the Jan 31, 2019 Tunkhannock Rotary Luncheon, Peter Sehne was inducted into Rotary by Membership Chair Ron Furman, Peter's sponsor was Anne Sehne, his wife, who had the pleasure of pinning him during his induction.

Peter and Anne have 3 children, all of whom have been Rotary outbound exchange students. The Sehne's have hosted several inbound exchange students and entertained many of our District Exchange students. Peter commented that he really enjoyed interacting with the exchange students and now wanted to give back.

For the last 17 yrs, Peter has been a prison guard at the Waymart Facility.

He will be joining the Harvest & Wine Festival Committee.

Anne and Peter Sehne with Membership Chair Ron Furman

Sophie Burke Spoke at Jan 24 Rotary Luncheon

At the Jan 24th Rotary Luncheon, our guest speaker was Sophie Burke, who was a short-term exchange student to Italy in July 2018.

Beatrice Bursi, short-term inbound exchange student from Italy came to Tunkhannock in early July 2018. Then Bea and Sophie flew to Italy, where Sophie stayed with Bea’s family outside of Milan. She got to visit several areas in Italy including Venice and even traveled to France and Spain.

Since the Burke's were a host family for inbound 2017-2018 exchange student Vittorio Sica, Sophie then visited with the Sica family before her return to the US.

Sophie and her family will be traveling this summer to Italy and will visit with the Bursi and Sica families and Sophie will finally get a gondola ride in Venice.

Sophie Burke

2019 Rotary Post-Holiday Party

On Saturday Jan 12, Tunkhannock Rotary held its Post-Holiday Social at the Shadowbrook Inn and Resort. This year, the club invited both the Tunkhannock Kiwanis Club and the volunteers that helped with the Oct Harvest & Wine Festival to attend.

This was the 3^rd event during 2018-2019 at which the Tunkhannock Kiwanis and Tunkhannock Rotary came together, even though they have been ‘friendly’ rivals since the 1930s. The first event was at the end of Aug when Rotarians helped out during a 4-hr time slot at the Kiwanis food stand at the Wyoming County Community Fair. The second was when members of the Kiwanis helped with car parking at the Oct Rotary Harvest & Wine Festival. So, this was the 3^rd opportunity for members of both clubs to socialize and enjoy each other’s fellowship.

Also, in attendance were: District Governor Roger Mattes and his wife Jackie (Winola Rotary) and Cluster 2 Assistant Governor Dave Palmer (New Milford Rotary) and his wife.

After a social period, a buffet dinner was held with music provided by the Jimmy Welch Band. Additional photos from the party can be found in the photo album on this home page.

Tunkhannock Rotarians Helped Raise Money for Exchange Student Scholarships

Tunkhannock Rotarians recently donated items for the auction that was held the weekend of Jan 12 at the Essex Exchange Student Conference. According to District Exchange Student Coordinator Anne Sehne, who is also a Tunkhannock Rotarian, the auction raised almost $300 for the Program.

At our Jan 17 Rotary Meeting, Anne thanked everyone in the club who donated items for the auction. She shared the photos below of some of the items that were part of the auction.

Elizabeth DeMarco Spoke About Her Short-term Exchange

At the Jan 10 Tunkhannock Rotary Luncheon, our guest speaker was Elizabeth DeMarco, who spoke about her 3 week short-term exchange to Ecuador. Elizabeth had the opportunity to visit the equator, Quito, the Galapagos Islands, a volcano, as well as, try some interesting new foods. By the end of her stay, she said she learned to appreciate the differences between life in the US and Ecuador. This was Elizabeth's first trip outside the US.

Short-term Exchange Student to Ecuador Elizabeth DeMarco

Mary Martin Inducted into Tunkhannock Rotary

At the Jan 10 Rotary Luncheon at Purkey's Pink Apple, Pres Michael Markovitz inducted Mary Martin as our newest Tunkhannock Rotarian. George Gay was Mary’s sponsor, but in George’s absence Mary was pinned by her husband Past President Bill Barber.

Please join us in welcoming Mary into Rotary.

(L to R) Past Pres. Bill Barber, Mary Martin and Pres. Mike Markovitz

Wyo Cty Active Adult Center Presented with Check

At the Jan 3 Rotary Luncheon, the Club heard from Rachael Kiwak, Director of the Wyoming County Active Adult Center, who spoke about the variety of programs and activities available at the Center under the auspices of the Area Agency on Aging.

After the presentation, Center representatives were presented with a check for $1,000 to help with their support for seniors in our community. This money is part of Tunkhannock Rotary's Senior Issues Committee's Mission to identify and help support needed services and activities for seniors in our community that are currently underfunded or not funded. This committee is chaired by Patty Ehrenzeller (center in photo below with large black and white check jacket).

Check presentation to Wyo County Active Adult Center by Patty Ehrenzeller (center) and Pres. Mike Markovitz

Chelsea English Welcomed as Newest Tunkhannock Rotarian

At the Jan 3, 2019 Tunkhannock Rotary Luncheon, club membership Chair Ron Furman inducted Chelsea English into Rotary. Chelsea was sponsored by Ron Furman. Chelsea is the marketing manager at SERVPRO of Kingston, Pittston City and Wyoming County. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Corporate Communications from The Pennsylvania State University Wilkes-Barre Campus.

Please join us in welcoming Chelsea into Rotary!

Membership chair and sponsor Ron Furman with Chelsea English

Katie Rincavage Spoke at Dec 27 Luncheon

At the Dec 27 Tunkhannock Rotary Luncheon, our guest speaker was Katie Rincavage. Katie is studying to be a Physician's Assistant and will graduate in May 2019.

Katie was part of a recent trip to Ghana to learn about their health care and other needs. She went with a group of public health professionals and they stayed in the northern city of Wa. Tunkhannock Rotary had provided Katie with a $200 donation to support the goals of her trip.

Katie Rincavage

Dory Browning Inducted into Rotary

At the Dec 27 Rotary Luncheon, Dory Browning was inducted into Tunkhannock Rotary by Club Membership Chair Ron Furman. Dory was sponsored by Ruth Gorski.

Dory is the Executive Director of the True Friends Animal Welfare Center, which is a 501(c)3 non-profit, no kill shelter serving as a safe refuge for animals in need. She was recently a guest speaker at one of our Rotary meetings. In lieu of a traditional speaker's "thank you" gift, club members presented Dory with animal food and items for the shelter.

Please join us in welcoming Dory to the Tunkhannock Rotary.

L to R: Ruth Gorski, Dory Browning and Membership Chair Ron Furman

And the Ugly Sweater Contest Winner Is?

At the Dec 20 Rotary Luncheon, the Club held its annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest. There was a wide selection of ugly outfits and an esteemed panel of judges selected the 3 finalists. Although President Mike Markovitz definitely wore a very ugly sweater, he took himself out the running for the prizes. The club then voted by applause for the winner and 2 runner-ups, who each won a prize. The unequivocal winner by a huge applause margin was Terri Detrick, who took the ugly sweater concept to the extreme with her head to toe ensemble.

Judges (l to r) Norm Kelly, Tom Kukuchka, exchange students John and Andrew, John Hovan and Harry Sharpe

(l to r) Runners-up Mary Tempest and Jim Welch, winner Terri Detrick and Pres. MIke Markovitz

Linda Falcone Spoke at Dec 20 Luncheon

Linda Falcone from Penn State Extension was the guest speaker at the Dec 20 Rotary Luncheon at Purkey's Pink Apple. Linda is an Extension Educator dealing with Business and Community Vitality.

She can help with economic development in the region and educate persons with political aspirations of those running for office.

She can also help with “Placemaking”, which can reinvent spaces to promote economic, development, health, happiness and well being. Steps in placemaking include: examine the function of the space, design a pleasing & interactive environment and then create destinations to return to time and time again to encourage people to move here. Linda then gave examples of Rotary Clubs that have helped create places in their communities that attract people to come visit and stay to live here.

Linda Falcone

I joined the Tunkhannock Rotary 4 years ago this past May. I showed up at my first meeting, and knew very few people in the room, and was very apprehensive. I was quickly mentored and learned about what Rotary actually was and did for our local, national, and international community, and knew rapidly that this was a very good choice in my life to continue to give back. Rotary truly is the Best Service Organization in the World! It is irreplaceable!

Rotary International President – Barry Rassin - selected the theme as “Be the Inspiration” for the 2018 – 2019 Rotary year, calling on us to work toward a sustainable future and to inspire Rotarians and the community at large. To achieve his vision, It’s our job to motivate our members. He also stated, “I want you to inspire in your clubs, your Rotarians, that desire for something greater. The drive to do more, to be more, to create something that will live beyond each of us.” I am in hopes that I can help District Governor (DG) Roger Mattes to be an inspiration and fill our Rotary Meeting each week with inspired members who are motivated to continue to do good for our local, national and international community.

I plan to work with our new Membership Chair, Ron Furman to find ways to help get some of our current members, who have not been able to participate, involved, active, and participating in our events. I would also like to continue with some of our immediate past president’s great ideas of the Mixers and the Evening Flash meetings on the 1^st and 3^rd Thursday nights, for folks who aren’t always able to make the lunch meeting. I will be asking our board of directors and members of the club for any ideas and thoughts they have to get folks involved / increase our new memberships to the club, especially the younger generation.

During my recent PETS Training, DG Roger, made a comment that he is Most Inspired by seeing Rotarians in Action, completing service projects. I would like to work with this club on developing service projects that allow for all of our members to get involved and get their hands “dirty”. I would also like to further explore ideas about developing activities for our Tunkhannock youth to draw them away from the increasing drug problem in our area.

DG Roger also stated that “Each individual Rotary Club has its own unique characteristics and has done many wonderful things for the communities they serve”. He would now like the clubs to act in unison on various projects, allowing them to reach higher goals. I will be talking to our board of directors and members about how we can help accomplish this with ideas for future service projects where we can work with our neighboring Clubs and District, accomplishing greater achievements. I also would like to bring some fun, enjoyable times of fellowship into our club. I want to hear from you, what your ideas are and what your opinions are.

I humbly accept the post of President of the Rotary Club of Tunkhannock. Thank you for your confidence in me and Thank you for this great honor! I can only hope that I can provide the leadership to this club that I have seen first-hand from the great Presidents before me. I do feel this is the Best Rotary Club Around and I am Very Proud to call myself a Tunkhannock Rotarian, and most importantly, I Am Very Proud of You as Tunkhannock Rotarians, for all that you have accomplished! Thank you and I look forward to working with you all over the next year!

2018-2019 Rotary Theme: Be the Inspiration

RI President-elect Barry Rassin’s theme for 2018-19, Be the Inspiration, asks Rotarians to inspire change in the world and in each other. “I ask all of you to Be the Inspiration to help Rotary move from reaction to action — to take a hard look at the environmental issues that affect health and welfare around the world and do what we can to help.”

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