Home Page | Rotary Club of Tunkhannock

February 2021
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Rotary was founded on Feb 23, 1905, so it is now celebrating its 116th Anniversary/Birthday.

Help Rotary to support the eradication of polio and its other good works internationally by bidding for some great auction items, including items from the Tunkhannock area.

Welcome to our Website!

Service Above Self

We meet In Person

Thursdays at 12:15 PM

Shadowbrook Inn and Resort

201 Resort Lane
Tunkhannock, PA 18657
United States of America

District Site

Bulletins

Due to the coronavirus pandemic in PA, Shadowbrook will not restart its food services until Apr. As a result, our weekly in-person and Zoom meetings will now be held exclusively via Zoom until further notice. The Zoom link will be sent to all members a few days before each meeting. The flash meetings will also move to Zoom. Please stay safe and healthy!

On the first and third Thursday's of every month, the Tunkhannock Rotary has a flash club meeting at 5:30 PM via Zoom until further notice. This is a 15-30 minute meeting for those members or prospective members who cannot make our regular 12:15 PM meeting.

Raleigh Bloch Spoke at Feb 18 Zoom Meeting

The guest speaker at our Feb 18 Zoom Meeting was Raleigh Bloch, who is the President of the Board of Directors of the Seven Loaves Soup Kitchen, which is a 501(c)3 organization.

Each meal is planned with nutrition in mind. Every day at least one meat, a starch, two vegetables, salad, fruit, and dessert are provided in take-out containers. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Soup Kitchen’s dining room is closed and meals are provided for take-out only, Monday through Friday from 5:00 pm. to 6:00 p.m.

They have a food closet and make up bags of food ahead of time. The bags are put in the entry to allow people to take a bag of food when they pick up their meal.

They set a record for the number of meals made in 2020 with 18,882 meals served, or approximately 75 meals per day. There were 252 volunteers during 2020 that donated 7,163 hr of their time. They could not open their doors without these volunteers.

After the Zoom meeting, Pres. Terri met up with Raleigh at the Soup Kitchen to present the Kitchen with a check for $2,000, which brings Rotary's total donations to the Soup Kitchen to $8,000 for 2020 and 2021.

Pres. Terri presenting the Soup Kitchen check to Raleigh Bloch

Katharine Pohidal Spoke at Feb 11 Zoom Meeting

Katharine Pohidal is the Program Director of the Women with Children (WWC) Program at Misericordia University and was the guest speaker at the Feb 11 Rotary Zoom Meeting.

Katharine began with a Thank you to the Club for the $1,000 donation for gifts for the kids in the program for Christmas. Many of the moms live at the poverty level and this gave them the chance to give their kids a good Christmas.

The WWC program was started in 2000 by Sister Jean Messaros, a Sister of Mercy and Vice President of Mission Integration at the University. The program empowers economically disadvantaged single women and their children to realize their full potential through higher education. The women must first be accepted into Misericordia and then can apply for the program that will provide them with 4 years of free housing and various types of assistance and enrichment programs for themselves and their children.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought a whole new level of operation to the program. They never closed down the program and the families stayed in their homes, since most are home insecure or homeless. They were able to support the families through all this and also had 6 families graduate last year. Support from the community was great during 2020.

Women graduates go into professional careers and even one going to get a Masters.

The program covers the tri-county area, which includes Wyoming County. Now accepting a few others, like a mom from Minnesota. Children can be 2-9 yr old at their mom’s admission, so that they are no older than 12 at mom’s graduation.

They are adding a 4^th home in Aug for 4 more families. Therefore, they will service 20 families and be the largest and oldest of such programs in PA.

Katharine Pohidal

Erica Rogler Spoke at Feb 4 Zoom Meeting

Erica Rogler, Executive Director of the Dietrich Theater, was the guest speaker at the Feb 4 Rotary Zoom Meeting. Erica spoke about some of the challenges the Theater has faced over the last year with the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021 is their Year of Hope. They are looking forward to things returning to normal.

20 years ago, on April 13, 2001, the Dietrich Theater reopened, so this is a banner year for them. Little ones have seen their first movies here, grandparents have taken their grandchildren to the movies, first pots were made on pottery wheels and seniors were doing chair yoga. There have also been lots of incredible experiences for students, who have various physical and mental challenges over the last 20 year.

Currently, they are operating at 10% capacity, with CDC and PA DOH guidelines being followed and now showing new films.

Many of their classes are continuing virtually and in person. Approximately 40 people have been taking the chair yoga online, versus the 25 when classes were in person. In addition, the homebound participants can take multiple classes each week. They also have in person art classes with 2 sessions of pottery and mixed media. They have a variety of new endeavors planned for this year.

In Spring, they will partner with the Tunkhannock Public Library for Wyoming County Reads featuring Ernest Hemingway’s works, “The Old Man and the Sea” and “A Farewell to Arms”. Then they will be showing the movies at the Dietrich.

They need community support to keep the Dietrich open and many of the programs going.

Prior to the Meeting, Pres. Terri Detrick popped over to the Dietrich to present our donation for $3,000 to the Dietrich Theater. The check was accepted by Erica Rogler and Mary Turner.

Pres. Terri Detrick (left) presenting a Dietrich Theater check to Eric Rogler (center) and Mary Turner

Dellana Diovisalvo Spoke at the Jan 28 Meeting

Dellana Diovisalvo is the new Executive Director of the Tunkhannock Public Library (TPL) as of Oct 2020 and spoke at our Jan 28 Rotary Zoom Meeting. She has had to deal with some significant challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic since she joined the Library during it closure. The Library’s Mission is to provide all Wyo Cty residents with free and convenient access to a wide range of information and entertainment resources. So, it was important to safely open the Library to the public.

The Library reopened on Oct 1. She realized that they needed a contingency plan in the eventuality that the state closed everything again. They have been providing curb-side book pickup and a variety of virtual programs including: picture puzzle, picture frame crafts, videos on how to do crafts and access to online services such as Ancestry.com. They allowed for appointments (1 family at a time) to use computers, fax machines and even browse the collection, which people really liked. They had people come in to use the computers to sign up for unemployment and check on their stimulus checks as some people do not have internet access or computers at home.

After Dellana’s presentation, Pres. Terri Detrick presented her with a virtual check for $5,000 for the Library. The Library needs more books and outreach programs. They will also use some of the money for the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten Program.

Cathy Franko Spoke at Jan 21 Meeting

The guest speaker for our Jan 21 Zoom meeting was Cathy Franko, who is the Executive Director of HANDS (Helping Area Needs for Diverse Services) of Wyoming County. Cathy provided an update on the various programs at HANDS to improve the quality and availability of early care and education in Wyoming County.

The Focused Activity Nutrition Success (F.A.N.S.) Camp takes place during the summer. The FANS Camp went virtual this summer (partially funded by the Wyoming County Community Health Foundation and Tunkhannock Rotary).

Google classroom was utilized for the FANS camp and they sent seeds home to the children, so they could start their own gardens. The kids could partake in yoga, healthy snacking and a variety of educational and fun activities. 44 families signed up for the camp, which is more than a typical year. The normal ratio of students to counselors was not as critical this year, since it was online, and they were able to extend it to 8 weeks.

Cathy thanked Rotary for their support and flexibility in supporting the 2020 FANS Camp.

She indicated that they are currently planning for the 2021 FANS Camp, hoping that it can be a blend of in person and online activities, although they will be prepared for a full in-person or a full online Camp depending on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pres. Terri Detrick virtually presented a check to Cathy for $3,500 for the 2021 FANS Camp.

Cathy Franko

Donna Fetzko Spoke at Jan 14 Meeting

The guest speaker at the Jan 14 Zoom meeting was Donna Fetzko. Donna teaches exercise classes, including chair yoga at the Dietrich Theater and other senior classes at the Senior Center and the Tunkhannock Public Library.

She teaches functional fitness classes to help people maintain strength and flexibility.

Her newest class is a functional fitness circuit class to maintain cardio fitness, since people are not doing much outside during the pandemic in the winter. Circuit exercises are done with no rest between moves and exercises. They help maintain cardio and mental fitness. Donna led the members in a circuit routine.

If you are interested in chair yoga, call the Dietrich Theater to register for Mon &/or Fri at 10 AM.

The Functional Fitness class is through the Tunkhannock Public Library on Tues & Thurs at 9 AM.

Functional Fitness Circuit class is help on Mon & Wed at 1:30 PM. If you care interested in this class, you can contact Donna directly at donna.fetzko@gmail.com.

Donna Fetzko

Gene Dziak Spoke at Jan 7 Zoom Meeting

The guest speaker at our Jan 7 Zoom meeting was Gene Dziak from Wyoming County Emergency Management Agency. Gene began by thanking our Rotary Club for our donation for purchase of PPE equipment for the Wyo Cty EMS Consortium since our current crisis is the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 Prospective: It all started in Mar and went through summer. From Mar to Oct 1, we had 78 cases total. From Oct 1 to Nov 30, it jumped to 420 cases, 103 in long term care facilities with 21 deaths. Now, from Nov 30 to Jan 7, we have 862 cases, so this is not going away soon. Recently we had 10 cases per day, but now 12-15 cases per day. We need to try to slow it down.

Our Correctional Facility has had zero cases, which is great since other facilities are running with high numbers of cases.

Emergency responders are starting to get COVID vaccinations at Tyler, now that most of Tyler's staff were vaccinated. Still waiting to hear when they can start mass vaccinations, although his staff are putting plans in place for when that happens. It is hard to get information about the vaccines and not enough are available. They are currently still vaccinating in Phase 1a and not sure when they can move to 1b.

Gene Dziak

Christmas Came Early to Wyoming County EMS Consortium

Although the Wyoming County EMS Consortium ordered their $20,000 worth of personal protection equipment (PPE) for the 8 ambulance companies servicing Wyoming County several months ago, the orders took a long time to arrive with supply shortages and shipping delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The money for these PPE purchases was funded jointly by Tunkhannock Rotary and the Wyoming County Community Health Foundation.

After a long wait, it now appears that Santa's sleigh arrived a little early bring their PPE order before Christmas. It is hoped that these supplies will help keep our emergency services personnel safe and healthy during the COVID-19 surge we are experiencing in Wyoming County.

Happy Holidays & Thank You to everyone working to keep our Wyoming County residents safe and healthy during this pandemic.

Christmas Music at Dec 17 Rotary Zoom Meeting

Even though the scheduled Dec 17 Rotary meeting had to be converted to a Zoom-only meeting due to the PA COVID-19 guidelines, those attending were treated to a festive music interlude provided by Sophia, a vocal student of Stephanie Blasi, who accompanied her on the piano.

Sophia sang 2 beautiful solo pieces and then she and Stephanie sang a duet on "It's the most wonderful time of the year".

Stephanie and Sophia then led a Zoom sing along to "Let it Snow”, which was very appropos with the recent large snowfall in Tunkhannock, “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer”, and "We wish you a merry Christmas".

Stephanie Blasi (left) on piano singing a duet with Sophia

Candy Cane Check Presentation to Wyo Cty Children & Youth

At the Dec 17 Zoom Rotary Meeting, Pres. Terri Detrick announced that a check for $2,300 for gifts for kids for Christmas goes to Wyoming County Children and Youth from the money collected at Nov 27's Candy Cane Day.

Howard Heise, Wyoming County Children and Youth Administrator, accepted the gift on behalf of the 40 foster children and other families supported by his agency. Howard thanked the Rotary for collecting this money and was awed by the generosity of the shoppers who donated a record breaking $4,600 on Candy Cane Day (half went to Interfaith Friends).

Howard remarked that for the first time in his 30 years of service, this is the most need (due to the COVID pandemic) that he has ever seen with people struggling to make ends meet and put food on their tables. Therefore, in addition to ensuring each child will get a gift for Christmas, a portion of the money will be used for food gift cards so that some of the food-insecure families can have a great Christmas dinner this year.

Howard Heise

Jenny Huang Spoke at Dec 10 Rotary Meeting

2019-2020 exchange student Jenny Huang spoke at our Dec 10 Rotary meeting via Zoom. Jenny's exchange was to Santa Cruz de La Seirra, Bolivia to Rotary District 4690. Although her time was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, she had the opportunity to sample some of the native Bolivian cuisine including sonso de yuca, empanadas, llama meat and some exotic fruits.

She also traveled with her host families and the other exchange students to various historic/scenic sites in Bolivia.

Although she was due to return to the US in June, she needed to leave early due to the pandemic. However she was unable to get a earlier regular flight home, but the US Embassy arranged for her to catch a flight in April. Jenny was the last of our Rotary District's exchange students to return to the US and everyone was very relieved when she returned.

Jenny Huang

Candy Cane Day Check Presentation to Interfaith Friends

At the Dec 10 Rotary Meeting, Candy Cane Day Chair Mike Markovitz announced that a check for $2,300 was issued to Interfaith Friends to buy toys for kids for Christmas. Mary Foley, executive director of Interfaith Friends accepted the donation and thanked the Club via Zoom.

2022-2023 Officers & Directors

Congratulations to the slate of Officers and Directors unanimously elected at the Dec. 3 Annual Meetings. Therefore, the Officers and Directors, who will take office on July 1, 2021, are:

Officers:
Mary Tempest - President
Terri Detrick – Immediate Past President
Mike Markovitz - President elect
Samantha Maruzzelli - Vice President
Sandy Lane - Secretary
Ann Way - Assistant Secretary
Elaine Walker - Treasurer

Directors:
Laura Charles
Ruth Gorski
Francine Kanyok
Norm Kelly
Susan Kelly
John Proctor
Ann Way
Dave Wilson

Candy Cane Day Thank You

l to r: Dean Detrick, Jim Welch, Bill Milligan and Francine Kanyok Collecting Donations on Candy Cane Day 2020

Thank you to everyone who donated to our collection buckets manned by Tunkhannock Rotarians, Interactors, their families and friends at several locations in town on Black Friday, Nov. 27. Money collected from this event will be given to Interfaith Friends & Wyoming County Children and Youth to provide Christmas gifts to children in need in Wyoming County.

Fall Roadside Cleanup on Oct 31

For at least the last 23 years, twice a year, usually in the Spring and Fall, Tunkhannock Rotarians clean-up both sides of the roadside along 2 miles of Route 6 from the Fireplace Restaurant to beyond Route 87 towards Meshoppen. So, on Sat Oct 31, Rotarians, family and friends gathered at the Fireplace Restaurant parking lot to begin the Fall cleanup. Although it was a cold day, Rotarians are "People of Action" and were determined to get the cleanup done. Chairman Mike Markovitz commented “THANK YOU! We had 20 people show up to get the project completed in rapid time. We started at 9:00 am and were wrapped up by 10:15 am and headed home by 10:30 am! GREAT JOB TO ALL!”

Oct 10 Popup Pantry at Lazybrook Park

This event was coordinated by Membership Chair Mary Tempest to have a Rotary event on what would have been the Harvest & Wine Festival date (Saturday Oct 10, 2020) at Lazybrook Park. So, instead of hosting a crowd of wine drinkers, Rotary helped Child Hunger Outreach Partners of Wyoming & Susquehanna Counties (CHOP) with their first Wyoming County Pop-Up Pantry to feed families in need.

Volunteers from Tunkhannock Rotary and CHOP were at Lazybrook Park unpacking and distributing food to families as they drove-by the Rotary sponsored and newly installed inclusive swing set. The distribution was on a first-come, first served basis until all the food boxes were gone. The drive-by began at 1 PM and continued until almost 4 PM. Thanks to all the Rotarians and family members who helped with this event.

Rotarians are People of Action!

Inclusive Swing Set Installed at Lazybrook Park

Since some children with disabilities cannot use the regular playground swings, they must sometimes just sit on the sidelines and watch their friends and siblings on the swings.

With this in mind, Tunkhannock Rotary 2018-2019 President Mike Markovitz applied for a District 7410 Designated Grant for $3,000 with a club match of $3,000 to buy and install an inclusive swing set at Lazybrook Park, home to our Rotary Harvest & Wine Festival. In fact, the matching funds came from the previous year’s profits from the Oct Festival.

In early August 2020, Rotarians Ron Furman and Norm Kelly joined Tunkhannock Township workers Bob Stevens and John Algar to dig holes, assemble the swing set frame and cement the poles into the ground.

On Monday Oct 5, the wood chips were finally delivered to finish up the installation of the swing set. Several Rotarians worked with the Township workers to spread the wood chips and hang the swings. It is rated for children 5-12 years of age.

l to r. Norm Kelly, John Proctor and Mike Markovitz

I like to start by thanking you all for your trust and support as I begin my journey as your Tunkhannock Rotary President.

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.

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.

Bulletin Subscribe

Service Above Self

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February 2021
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February 2021
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
31	01	02	03	04	05	06
07	08	09	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
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28	01	02	03	04	05	06

February 2021
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
31	01	02	03	04	05	06
07	08	09	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	01	02	03	04	05	06