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I was honored to be invited to join Rotary in 2018 at the invitation of Club Secretary, Carol Ziomek. It’s been a busy 2 years learning about Rotary and getting involved in our Club’s projects.

I’m sure it comes as no surprise to you that I’ve approached Rotary and most everything I do, with the question Why?

Why do we do it this way? Why can’t we? Why should we? Why don’t we? Lot’s of Whys!

Like many of you I believe that we have to understand the Why before we can take action. And time and time again, Tunkhannock Rotarians show they are People of Action!

When Rotary International President-elect 2020-2021, Holger Knaack announced his theme Rotary Opens Opportunities he was quoted as saying “We will capture this moment to grow Rotary, making it stronger, more adaptable, and even more aligned with our core values.”

What are those core values? FELLOWSHIP - INTEGRITY - DIVERSITY - SERVICE - LEADERSHIP

For me, those are the “Why” we do what we do.

Rotary International has set forth a 5-year Strategic Plan to address the How. The plan has 4 areas of focus:

Increase our impact;
Expand our reach;
Enhance participant engagement; and,
Increase our ability to adapt.

Those are all things we are already doing as a club. They are things we can build on.

As we begin the 2020-2021 my goal is for our Club to establish its own Strategic Plan to define and measure how we address those areas and to create continuity for the future leaders of the club.

Finally, I’ll end with a statement from the Rotary International website…

The world today is not the same as it was when Rotary was founded in 1905. Demographics have shifted, the pace of change has accelerated, and technology has created new opportunities for connection and service. What hasn’t changed is a need for the values that define Rotary: By honoring our past and embracing our future, we can evolve and keep Rotary not only relevant, but thriving.

Due to the closing of Purkey's Pink Apple, our weekly Rotary Meetings will now be held at Shadowbrook Inn and Resort, 201 Resort Lane in Tunkhannock. The meetings will still begin on Thursday at 12:15 PM with a meal. Please select your meal options and pay for your meal before taking your seats.

To comply with State and CDC guidance, masks (except during the meal) and social distancing will be required.

For those, who choose not to attend in person, a Zoom option will be available starting at 12:40 PM for the business meeting and any scheduled speaker presentations. Further details and a Zoom link will be included in the weekly reminder sent to members every Tues morning.

Welcome to our Website!

Service Above Self

We meet Thursdays at 12:15 PM
Shadowbrook Inn and Resort

201 Resort Lane
Tunkhannock, PA 18657
United States of America

District Site

Bulletins

Tunkhannock Inducts New Officers/Directors

At the Jun 25, 2020 Rotary meeting at Shadowbrook Inn & Resort, the new officers for 2020-2021 were inducted by Assistant Governor for Cluster 2 Dave Palmer.

Terri Detrick was inducted as President for 2020-2021, with Past Pres. Sandy Lane pinning Terri. Terri then pinned Sandy with her Past President pin and Sandy performed the passing of the gavel to Terri.

AG Dave then inducted all the club officers and directors for 2020-2021 including:

Officers
Mary Tempest - President Elect
Mike Markovitz- Vice President
Sandy Lane - Immediate Past Pres.
Elaine Walker -Treasurer
Carol Ziomek - Secretary

Directors
Ruth Gorski - Director
Francine Kanyok - Director
Norman Kelly - Director
Susan Kelly - Director
Samantha Maruzzelli - Director
John Proctor - Director
Ann Way – Director
Dave Wilson - Director

After the Officers/Directors installation, Past Pres. Sandy gave her year-end summary to the members, which was followed by Pres. Terri Detrick's Presidential Address.

Incoming Pres. Terri Detrick (left) being pinned by Pres. Sandy Lane

First In Person & Virtual Meeting in Our New Home

June 25 was a highly anticipated Rotary meeting at our new home, Shadowbrook Inn and Resort. It was the first meeting where members could meet in person, with masks and social distancing of course, along with including participants via Zoom. This will be the way that our meetings will be held in the future and will also allow those who cannot attend our lunch time meetings to participate from a distance.

First in person Rotary meeting at Shadowbrook Inn and Resort

Rotary Awards Scholarships to 2 TAHS Seniors

Every year, the Club awards two $1,000 scholarships to seniors at Tunkhannock Area High School, who have excelled in service to their community. Tunkhannock Rotary Scholarship Committee Chair Terri Detrick was able to take part in the virtual Senior Awards night at Tunkhannock Area High School on June 3. The $1,000 academic scholarship went to Sophie Burke and the $1,000 vocational scholarship went to Logan Jennings.

Multiple Paul Harris Fellows

During May and June, Pres. Sandy Lane presented multiple Paul Harris pins to several club members in recognition of their donations to the Rotary Foundation. The recipients included: Carol Ziomek PHF+8, Karen Fuller PHF+5, Norman Kelly PHF+5, Samantha Maruzzelli PHF+5, Mike Markovitz PHF+4, George Gay PHF+3, Jon Buxton PHF+2 and Gordon Chase PHF+2.

Rotary Supports Local & International Organizations

Although in-person Rotary meetings have not been possible over the last several months and the Tunkhannock Club has been meeting virtually via Zoom, the Club’s commitment to support various organizations has not diminished. Profits from the Oct 2019 Harvest & Wine Festival have allowed Rotary to make donations to several local organizations and our member’s generosity has provided support for an International organization.

Two recent monetary donations totaling $6,000 went to the Seven Loaves Soup Kitchen to support their efforts to help feed those experiencing food insecurity in Wyoming County during the Covid-19 pandemic and stay at home.

From March through June 2020, monetary donations were also made to a variety of local organizations including: $5,000 to the Tunkhannock Public Library, $4,000 to H.A.N.D.S. of Wyoming County for their summer FANS Camp, which may be partially virtual this summer, $2,000 to the Dietrich Theater, $1,500 for the Tunkhannock Area School District’s DARE program t-shirts and prize for the essay contest winner, $1,000 to the Victims Resource Center, $1,000 to Equines for Freedom, $500 to the Special Olympics, $500 to the Triton Hose Company, $500 to the Kintner Memorial Fund, $250 to the Northern Tier Symphony and $200 to the Wyoming County Chorale.

Through the outstanding fund-raising efforts of Rotarian John Hovan, the Tunkhannock Rotary was able to collect donations for $5,775 for Operation Smile to help provide life-changing cleft palate surgeries to children worldwide. John’s efforts resulted in the club’s donation this year exceeding last year’s total of $4,100.

Kara Golden Speaks About Stress Management

At the May 21 Rotary Zoom Meeting, Kara Golden was our guest speaker who talked about Stress Management During the Covid-19 Pandemic. Kara is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, who offers Counseling & Consulting Services in Tunkhannock. She indicated that with the stay at home orders and pandemic, stress can be very high. She advocated that everyone should take good care of yourself, improve your own health, do something small each day to take care of ourselves and lead a more balanced life.

Kara outlined quick steps to care for yourself. – care for your whole body, eat healthy, exercise, get good quality of sleep, connect with others such as our group. Take breaks and unwind, do things you really enjoy doing. Stay informed using reliable sources, but limit excessive exposure to media. If needed, ask for help from a minister, counselor or doctor.

She advocated that everyone develop an attitude of gratitude, journal, have a positive partner, have boundaries (say no), schedule your downtime, pray or meditate, go out into nature, listen to music, keep your sense of humor and practice good hygiene. You can also do 10 finger grateful meditation (10 specific things you are grateful for) and mindful breathing to help you deal with the stress.

Participants in May 21 Zoom Rotary Meeting

Interactors Speak at Apr 23 Zoom Meeting

Our virtual guests for our Zoom Rotary meeting on Apr 23 were representatives of the Tunkhannock High School Interact Club. Interact Faculty Advisor Tommasina Fiorillo introduced the officers in attendance. Kinsley Schmeckenbecher is Interact President, Abby Kaleta is Vice President and Rebecca Fick is Treasurer. Secretary Emily Rickaby could not attend.

Kinsley then presented a summary of all of the service projects and fund-raisers that the Interact Club had undertaken during the last year. They had a year packed with executed or planned projects/programs, but unfortunately it was cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic. They also helped our Rotary Club with the July 3rd Fireworks and Candy Cane Day in 2019.

Kinsley also reported that the Interact Club would make a $200 donation to Polio Plus, which as is tradition would be matched by the Club for a total of a $400 donation from the Interact Club to the Rotary Foundation for 2019-2020. The money was raised by the Interactors from their Pennies for Polio school-wide collection in Feb 2020.

Interactors ran a school-wide initiative to collect toys for Christmas for children in the community.

First Virtual Rotary Meeting - Apr 9

Apr 9 marked a new meeting schema for the Tunkhannock Rotary when we initiated Zoom meetings on an every 2 week schedule. While there were initially a few unexpected issues encountered with members and Officers new to Zoom, 20 members were able to participate in this meeting.

President Sandy Lane presided over the meeting, while President Elect Terri Detrick was our Zoom host who helped members get onto Zoom and moderated the virtual meeting.

The main topics of discussion were helping define how our club could help out locally during the pandemic particularly with food insecurity in Wyoming County and a project for a potential District grant.

Goodbye to Jana Vickeva

Our inbound exchange student, Jana Vickeva, returned early to the Czech Republic on Apr 1 due to concerns re the travel restrictions with the Covid-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, the Club did not get a chance to hear from Jana before she left. However, one of our Rotarians, Don Davis, did get a chance to speak with her and wish her well on behalf of the Club. She remarked that we “were the best Rotary Club”.

Jana was a true pleasure to have in Tunkhannock and the club always looked forward to her very humorous weekly updates on what she had been doing the previous week. She had an incredible talent to turn even a bad happening into a humorous event.

Jana Vickeva

2020/2021 Rotary Theme: Rotary Opens Opportunities

RI President Holger Knaack stated in his Presidential Address: Rotary is not just a club that you join. It is an invitation to endless opportunities. It opens opportunities to serve in a project as big and historic as End Polio Now and also in a small community project, where you just plant a tree.

And it opens opportunities for you to live a richer, more meaningful life, with friends around the world, based on our core values.

As Rotarians, we are very blessed to take on leadership roles at this wonderful moment for our organization.

Everything we do opens another opportunity for someone, somewhere.

Therefore, the theme for our year is: Rotary Opens Opportunities.

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Welcome to our Website!

Service Above Self

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