I’d like to tell you about my Dad, Donald G. Bird.  I joined Rotary because of him. Growing up in southwestern PA near the city of Johnstown, my earliest memories are of my Dad’s involvement with the Conemaugh Township Rotary Club.  Many of my childhood friends were the children of his fellow Rotarians. I fondly remember the Rotary family picnics at a farm in the summertime.  There was horseback riding, corn on the cob, and a big pile of sawdust that the children could search through to find little trinkets and prizes. On another occasion, I remember the picnic at a fellow Rotarian’s house that had a large pond. I took my first ride on a jet ski and also remember catching a slew of fish. The Rotary picnics were the highlight of my summer. When I was In high school, we hosted a Rotary exchange student from Mexico. I also loved going to the Rotary lunch meetings with my Dad on occasion and remember giving a speech at one prior to going to college.

 

I did not know it until recently that my Dad was a charter member of the Conemaugh Township Rotary Club. On a trip back home last summer I was invited by two of Dad’s Rotary friends to attend a meeting with them. It was great fun. Although there are many new members who I didn't know, there were quite a few who I remembered from years past. I plan to attend more when I am visiting this summer.

 

My Dad was an entrepreneur. He worked at an electrical supply company and got up enough nerve to start his own just down the street in a small town outside of Johnstown. He was an incredible businessman - building his business from the ground up. He employed close to 10 people and they were fiercely loyal to him. I think that’s a sign that he was a good boss. Later on, he sold that business to 2 of his employees and bought a machine shop. He dabbled in cars and always wanted to own a DeLorean. He was thrilled when he was able to purchase one in 2004.

 

The Rotary Club was a big part of Dad’s life. He met so many people through Rotary and made lifelong friends. He never missed a weekly meeting in 31 years. I remember whenever he traveled to Florida or Las Vegas or even on a cruise, he would seek out and attend a Rotary meeting so that he’d have perfect attendance. He was incredibly passionate about eradicating polio. He’d bend anyone’s ear who would listen about the wonderful work Rotary was doing to help rid the world of polio. He was a wonderful, caring person who always made everyone he met feel special. He truly lived up to the motto “Service above self.”  I know he’d be proud I am following in his footsteps and joined Rotary.

 

  
In Loving Memory of Donald G. Bird 6/12/35 - 12/28/07

 

 

Rotary’s focus for March is the worldwide importance of water and sanitation. Taken from https://www.rotary.org/en/our-causes/providing-clean-water.

 

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.

 

HOW ROTARY MAKES HELP HAPPEN

 

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.

 

The Rotary Foundation is changing the world by providing grants for projects and activities around the globe and in your own backyard. $24 is all it takes to provide one person with safe water.

 

2030 is the year Rotary hopes to finish providing everyone with safe water, sanitation, and hygiene.

 

 

 

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is a leadership program coordinated by Rotary Clubs around the globe.

 

 

RYLA has been active in District 7410 since 1988 and was initially geared to young adults (20 to 30 years of age) in the workplace to sharpen their leadership skills and enhance their personal talents. The Tunkhannock Rotary sponsored one RYLA participant for this week-end seminar almost every year.

 

The seminars covered leadership skills, panel discussions, enhancement of personal traits, development of skills needed to work as a team and identification of areas in their communities where their talents could be utilized. After the weekend, each participant was invited to share with the Club what they had learned at the seminar.

 

At some point, RYLA ceased to be a program for 20-30 yr-olds and became a program for high school students completing their sophomore year, who have shown leadership potential in their home, school, and community.

 

The conference is now designed to introduce participants to thoughts and ideas which, if utilized, will strengthen and develop their leadership skills. It also provides an environment where participants may discuss and exchange their ideas with other students.

 

In 2011, RYLA was established at Keystone College in La Plume, PA within District 7410. The 5-day workshop has been held annually with a maximum of 80 students. The number of students each year has increased until it reached the maximum number in 2014.

 

Our Club has sponsored students each year to attend RYLA at Keystone College. We sponsored as many as 14 students in 2014 and 9 in 2015, although we have had to decrease the number of students over the last several years, as other clubs of the 41 in our District began to send students and the total is still limited to 80 students. The students who complete RYLA are invited by the Club to present on their experiences. These students have proved to be the best ambassadors to promote this event to the next class of RYLA applicants. Reports from those students that attended RYLA have described the week as “life-altering”. We have heard the same high praise for this program from some of the parents of these students, who have been speakers at our club.

 

In addition, this program has resulted in several of the students returning to RYLA as junior and senior counselors in subsequent years. 

 

Unfortunately, due to the continuing issues with the COVID-19 pandemic, RYLA was not held in 2020 and the ‘heart-wrenching’ decision has been made to not hold it in 2021 either.  Hopefully RYLA will return in 2022.

 

 

 

Assistant Governor Dave Palmer has arranged for the District Auction to be featured on WNEP TV Channel 16 on Friday the 5th at 9:15 AM.  You are invited to attend and to hoot holler and yell for the auction and Rotary in general.  Bring your cheerleader voice.  (When you pull into the station parking lot, go all the way to the left side of the building, the parking lot continues around back and that is where you will be met.)

Please remember to get your bids in on the District 7410 Auction, which runs until Mar. 14.  Lots of great local and NEPA items available.  http://www.Trellis.org/RotaryAuction

 

 

 

Louis played an updated video about the Wall that Heals.

 

They have been off the road since Spring 2020.  They have updated and changed items in their tractor trailer and have added new people to their database.  Therefore, it has been enhanced.

 

How the wall will happen with COVID.  There will be plenty of signs.  All volunteers are required to wear a facemask.  Masks will also be recommended if visiting the wall. They have implemented new cleaning procedures for the wall at the end of each day to clean and sterilize the wall after people have touched it.  They will follow whatever guidelines that the state has recommended for group events held outside.  They can safely handle 500 people with spacing now, if our state does not have a different specific number.

 

Educational tours are shortened to 45 min timewise and there will be more of them with fewer people per tour.

 

Schools want to bring their students, but school may not allow fieldtrips. So, it will be okay for our Tunkhannock schools since the students can walk to the stadium, but other schools have to deal with this appropriately.

 

The Wall That Heals will be available from May 13-16 (Thurs thru Sun).  It will arrive May 11 on a Tuesday, starting in Clark Summit and arriving at the Triton where there will be a community greeting.  On Wed morning, the wall will be assembled with help from the wrestling and football teams.  The hardest part is having able bodies to do the heavy lifting and who can work with facemasks on.  They will have construction gloves to be worn by people constructing the wall.

 

They will provide a 10x10 tent near the entrance to the football field for brochures about the wall and 1-2 volunteers sitting there to give general help. 3-4 of their staff will also be here to help.  They will use an iPad to find a name on the wall, so that should help the people flow.

 

They now have found all the deceased soldiers from PA for the slide show.  They have used the down time to enhance the wall and the total experience.

 

There will be 3 other sites before it comes here. Apr 8 -11 will be the first site since last year.

 

If you signed up to be a volunteer, Louis will send out an e-mail to see if you still want to volunteer and re-sign up closer to the date.  It is an outdoor event.  They are hoping that the snow and mud are gone by then. 

 

They do not need any more donations.  The Wall is paid for and they have plenty of funds to make this happen.  They will not do t-shirts again but do have some dated ones left from last year.  They do have hats available, which have no dates on them.  They will purchase disposable facemasks for use at the Wall.  Maybe they will have some Wall facemasks made for the volunteers.