Feb 8 Rotary Luncheon

Pledge and Invocation:
 
President Samantha Maruzzelli brought the meeting to order at 12:15 PM at Purkey’s Pink Apple with Frank Oliver reciting the 4-Way Test and leading the Pledge of Allegiance and Dave Wilson giving the Invocation.
 
Guests:
 
Club News:
 
Secretary’s Report – Carol Ziomek
 
Newsletters went out last night.
 
Treasurer’s Report – Ann Way for Sandy Lane
 
Jan documents have gone to Sandy and she should have a report for our Feb Board Meeting.
 
Introduction to Mary Tempest
 
Mary went to Sacred Heart school of nursing. She is an RN. Married her high school sweetheart and got a job at St. Joe’s in Lancaster. They have 3 daughters, 2 moved to Tunkhannock for work in P&G, so Mary & her husband moved here.  She worked at Heartland Home health and then Geisinger Home health for 6 months.  She just retired in Sept and loves retirement.  She is a quilter, knits and is learning to play mahjong.
 
Rotary Foundation – Pres. Samantha Maruzzelli
 
Pres. Samantha showed everyone how to go online to Rotary Internationals website and make your Rotary Foundation donation online.  Please select Share when you donate, so that some of the money will come back to the District.
 
Carol reminded everyone that they have to register as a new user at Rotary.org and set up an account, it is not the same user name and password as our website. 
 
Also, Rotary Direct is a great way to give monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually and it will be deducted from your bank account or charged to your designated credit card automatically.
 
Our attendees at the Grants Management meeting found that March 1 is the earliest submission date for District Grants. 
 
Tunkhannock Rotary Placemat Ad – Pres. Samantha Maruzzelli
 
Pres. Samantha pointed out the ad for Rotary that is on the placemats at Purkey’s Pink Apple. 30,000 were made up and we are in the center of the placemat.
 
District Membership Initiative – Pres. Samantha Maruzzelli
 
The District has funds and wants to sent postcards out to prospective members, so please compile a list and get it to Pres. Samantha.
 
Roadside Cleanup – Norm Kelly
 
Roadside Cleanup is Saturday, April 7. We need as many people as possible so please sign up or let Norm know you would like to participate.
 
Harvest & Wine Festival
 
The first planning meeting for the 2018 Harvest & Wine Festival went well on Monday, Feb 5.
 
May Trip to Culinary Institute of America (CIA) – Tom Kukuchka
 
We are still collecting the $100 per person deposit money for the trip.  CIA wants us to pick out the menu, so Tommy will talk with them re other options.  We may have 46 people signed up.
 
Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI)
 
Attendance at RLI is free to any member as our Club pays the registration fee.  In addition, for every 2 members that go, 1 will be paid for by the District.  It is a great learning experience and you will learn a lot about Rotary and all its facets and goals.  Lunch is included. It will be on Sat, March 3 at Lackawanna College from 9AM to 3 PM. So far, we have Mike Markovitz, Mary Tempest and Alison Messina signed up.
 
District Conference at the Kalahari Resort
 
The 2018 District Conference will be at the Kalahari resort on April 22-24.  There is a 45% room discounted price if you reserve your room before March 1, so please register for the conference at www.RotaryDistrict7410.org before April 13. Cost is $175 for Rotarians and $150 for Rotarian partners.
 
Also make your room reservations with Kalahari before March 1 for the discounted room price mentioning the booking code 175.
 
Grant’s Management Seminar – Samantha Maruzzelli
 
President Elect Mike Markovitz, Norm Kelly, Al Noble and Pres. Sam Maruzzelli attended the District Grant’s Management Seminar on Feb 3 at the Towanda Country Club. They got a lot of good info.  You can go to Greatideastoshare.com to see what others are doing or share what we are doing.
 
Al indicated that the March deadline for Rotary Foundation donations is no longer valid, so just get your money in by the end of June.
 
Thank You From Dietrich
 
A Thank you to Rotary slide for our donations to the Dietrich will go up on the screen at the theater.
 
Our next Meeting will be Thursday, Feb 15. Our guest speaker will be Kayla Gavick and she will learn where she is going as an outbound student.
 
President Samantha Maruzzelli adjourned the meeting at 1:25 PM.
 
Guest Speaker: 
Rotary and the library have a common interest in literacy and they are very grateful for our support of the library. Regarding last years donation to the TPL, they used the money in several ways.
  • We paid for the Wall St. Journal, which is the most used newspaper in the library with a subscription price of $600. The library would not normally be able to afford this subscription without our donation.
  • Summer reading program and other kids books etc.
  • $3,000 for renovations to library.  Money to be used to paint the lobby, which has old bistro tables and chairs along with a Keurig.  It is being used heavily. They will buy some nice tables and comfortable chairs for this space.
  • They have used some money to purchase 24 discovery kits for the kids. Discovery kits and games for the kids are part of literacy. Also have dolls etc. that are available.
Fitzes donated 2 kid’s computers with 27-inch screens and colored keyboards. Someone else donated money for an interactive rug and busy area for the kids.  The kids books and discovery kits are all part of the kids area.
 
With the $10K, it has really helped to get the stuff done in the library. 
 
There will be a Donor appreciation event at the Library on Sat. Feb 10.
 
After Kristin’s presentation, President Samantha presented a check for $10,000 to the Tunkhannock Public Library.
 

L to R:  Rotarian and Library Board President Ann Way, Kristin Smith-Gary and Rotary President Samantha Maruzzelli
 
Erica Rogler
Dietrich Theater
 
Erica is thankful and inspired by how much Rotary does for the Dietrich Theater.  Programs we sponsored have benefited 5,176 children and adults. Erica than discussed some of the programs that we have funded at the Dietrich. Among the programs we sponsor are:
  • Music for Littles.
  • Readers Meeting Writers Program at Tunkhannock Middle School where kids meet book authors.  600 students went to the first author presentation and got to discuss with the author afterwards.  300 students went to another author’s presentation.
  • Music series   1) Doug Smith and Dixieland Allstars with our very own Jim Welch playing along.  2) Dr. Phillip Atteberry’s program on Judy Garland and the Hollywood Musical.
  • Golden Days of Radio Players course and performance for seniors.
  • The Film Festivals were also sponsored by us.  They Benefits local businesses since it brings people into town. The Winter Film Fest will showcase 21 films in 21 days. The films have won 39 Oscars.
  • The Little Lending library in front of the Dietrich.
  • Thank you for the bench that we relocated to the Theater and the new one we purchased for the Dietrich garden.
The Rotary Senior committee also is sponsoring chair yoga for seniors at the Dietrich by a $2,000 donation.  It has 40-50 attendees per week (Monday & Friday at 10 AM).
 
After Erica’s presentation, President Samantha presented a check for $6,000 for the Dietrich Theater, which along with the $2,000 already donated for Chair Yoga and the $200 for refreshments for the Matter of Balance Class, brings Rotary’s total donation to $8,200.
 

Erica Rogler (left) and President Samantha Maruzzelli