Pledge and Invocation:
President Samantha Maruzzelli brought the Banquet to order at 6:00 PM at Shadowbrook Inn & Resort with Ann Way reciting the 4-Way Test and leading the Pledge of Allegiance and Dave Wilson giving the Invocation.
Special Presentation:
Neal Allred from the Mehoopany Wind Farm presented Fireworks Chair Harry Sharpe with a check for $5,000 towards the July 3rd Fireworks.
Pres. Mike Markovitz, Neal Allred, Harry Sharpe and Pres. Samantha Maruzzelli
Paul Harris Fellow Presentation
Local business owner Ron Andrews was honored as a club-designated Paul Harris Fellow by Foundation Chair Al Noble and AG Norm Kelly. Ron has been a very generous supporter of a variety of community events including our July 3rd Fireworks display and Harvest & Wine Festival. In addition, District Governor Karin Susan Breitlauch presented Ron with a “Making a Difference” Rotary theme pin for 2017-2018.
L to R: DG Karin Breitlauch, AG Norm Kelly, Al Noble, Ron Andrews and Pres. Samantha Maruzzelli
Presentation of Awards for 2017-2018 – President Samantha Maruzzelli
President Samantha presented awards to some of our outstanding members for her year as President.
Perfect Attendance Certificates to Jim Welch, Carol Ziomek and Samantha Maruzzelli
Jim Welch & Pres. Samantha
Thank You Certificates and Awards to Patty Ehrenzeller and Norm Kelly
Patty Ehrenzeller, Pres. Samantha & Norm Kelly
President’s Awards to Michael Markovitz, Dave Wilson and Carol Ziomek
Executive Award to Secretary Carol Ziomek
Dave Wilson, Pres. Sam, Carol Ziomek and Mike Markovitz
Distinguished Service Awards to Marta Kovacs-Ruiz and Wayne Krause
Marta Kovacs-Ruiz, Pres. Sam and Wayne Krause
Service Above Self Award to Norm Werkheiser
Rotarian of the Year Award to Ann Way
Pres. Sam (right) with Norm Werkheiser and Ann Way
Installation of Officers and Directors for 2018-2019
After the Awards part of the evening, the Installation of Officers and Directors for 2018-2019 took place. Pres. Samantha began this portion of the evening by thanking the Outgoing Officers and Directors.
Installation and Pinning of President Michael Markovitz
DG Karin Breitlauch installed Michael Markovitz as the new President of the Club by reminding him of the responsibilities and duties of the office and administering the Oath of the President. Karin then pinned Mike as the new President of the Tunkhannock Rotary.
Pres. Mike being pinned by DG Karin
Past President Pinning & Presentation of Gifts to Samantha Maruzzelli
Newly installed President Mike then thanked Samantha for her service to the Club and pinned her with her Past President’s pin. Mike then presented Samantha with thank you gifts from the Club, including a gavel holder plaque, but Sam was still missing her gavel. After the gift presentation, Sam’s gavel made its return from Monte Carlo by Rotary racecar, since the over $300 raised for a plane ticket was insufficient for even a coach class ticket. The money collected was donated to the Rotary Foundation.
Installation of Officers & Directors
DG Karin Breitlauch then installed the Officers and Directors for 2018-2019 and administered their oath of office. New pins were given to the installed officers and directors.
Sandy Lane (absent) - President Elect
Ryan Visneski – Vice President
Samantha Maruzzelli – Immediate Past President
Carol Ziomek – Secretary
Elaine Walker - Treasurer
Jon Buxton (absent) – Director
Pat Ehrenzeller-Director
Karen Fuller (absent) – Director
Ron Furman – Director
Norm Kelly – Director
Albert Noble – Director
John Proctor – Director
Ann Way - Director
DG Karin Breitlauch, Secretary Carol Ziomek, VP Ryan Visneski, Treasurer Elaine Walker, Directors Patty Ehrenzeller, Norm Kelly, Ann Way, Ron Furman, Al Noble, Past Pres. Samantha Maruzzelli, Director John Proctor and Pres. Mike Markovitz
Outgoing President’s Remarks and Passing of the Gavel
Samantha Maruzzelli thanked everyone for their support during her Presidency and summarized some of the highlights of the 2017-2018 Rotary year.
At the end of her remarks, Samantha then presented Pres. Mike with his own engraved gavel for 2018-2019 with the warning to keep a close watch on his gavel when around any Rotarians, lest it be gavel-napped.
Pres. Mike receives his gavel from Past Pres. Samantha
New President’s Inaugural Address
President Mike then gave his inaugural address to the club. Some of the highlights of his address were:
“I joined The Tunkhannock Rotary Club, 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, and knew rapidly that this was a very good choice in my life to continue to give back. I was then, rapidly (it seemed) elected to the board of directors of the club, which I have enjoyed being a part of the past 3 years. And now, I have been elected by you as your President for the 2018-2019 Term. What an honor and privilege.
I would like to thank all of my new board members and those who have volunteered to take on the various committees of the club to lead this club through another great year. I look forward to working with all of you.
Most importantly, I would like to thank all of the members of this club for accepting me into this club, for the fellowship and friendships I have gained, and for showing me all that Rotary does for our local, national, and international community. Rotary truly is the Best Service Organization in the World! It is irreplaceable!
Our new President of Rotary International – 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, he stated, “Rotarians must take care of the organization: We are a membership organization first. If we want to be able to serve, If we want to succeed in our goals — we have to take care of our members first”. 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 our new District Governor Roger Mattes, as your new president of the Tunkhannock Rotary 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 for this year, Ron Furman to find ways to help get some of our current members, who have not been able to participate for one reason or another, involved, active, and participating in our events. I would like to contact these members personally, determine how we can help them become more active, if possible.
I would also like to continue on with some of our immediate past president’s great ideas of the Mixers and the Evening Flash meetings on the 1st and 3rd 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 or new memberships to the club, especially the younger generation.
During my recent PETS Training, District Governor Roger Mattes, 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 things for our young ones to do in Tunkhannock to draw them away from exploring this increasing drug problem in our area. They need something to do!
District Governor Roger also stated in an interview for the paper that “Each individual Rotary Club has its own unique characteristics, and has done many wonderful things for the communities they serve. He said, he would now like the clubs to act in unison on various projects, allowing them to reach higher goals. “Each club acts as an individual club,” he said. “I would like to see them acting more together as a district. Because with more numbers, we can accomplish much greater things. We are all in this together.” I will be talking to our board of directors and members at upcoming meetings about how we can help accomplish this and acquire 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’d like to increase membership and determine what makes the younger generation tick, to get younger folks interested in the club. For Rotary to survive, long term, we must start to attract many more young professionals into our club and the district to help lead this club and district into the future generations. I will be looking to all of you to help me accomplish this task, setting a path forward, over the coming 52 weeks and beyond.
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 live up to this honor, and 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!”
July 1 Banner Exchange at Ramada Inn
Samantha Maruzzelli, Carol Ziomek, Al Noble and Norm Kelly attended the Banner exchange to support new District Governor Roger Mattes. At the event, Norm Kelly was named District 7410 Rotarian of the Year for 2017-2018. Norm received his award from outgoing District Governor Karin Susan Breitlauch.
Norm has been very active in Rotary at both the club and District level, serving in many capacities including as a past Club President, ongoing member of the Board of Directors, chair of the International Project Committee and member of the Harvest & Wine Festival planning committee.
At the District level, he has served as Assistant Governor of Cluster 2 for over 4 years until he turned that job over to his successor on July 1 and serves on the District Foundation Committee. DG Karin remarked that she could always depend on Norm to help out in any way whenever she asked. The clubs in Cluster 2 also could depend on Norm to attend their meetings, help them in many situations and keep them updated on District happenings.
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DG Karin Breitlauch presented Rotarian of the Year to Norm Kelly
Our next Meeting will be Thursday, July 5. We will watch RI President Barry Rassin’s theme address.
