President Mike Markovitz brought the meeting to order at 12:15 PM at Purkey’s Pink Apple with Samantha Maruzzelli reciting the 4-Way Test and leading the Pledge of Allegiance and Dave Wilson giving the Invocation.
Guests:
Club News:
John Hovan wrote a poem for Past President Samantha Maruzzelli entitled “The Book Review” and read it for the club.
The Book Review
Let me come and take you from your shelf.
I need to thumb through your past by myself
I need to read the words that you said
would last long beyond my death bed.
What was it that caused us to meet?
Amongst the many choices in my life -
fiction, non-fiction, and poetry did not seem
as if the definition of me would mean
only you could be in my hand
or that either of us would understand
there rally are fines to pay
if you are not returned today.
©John J. Hovan
John also informed the members about an issue of law. Is your computer tracking you? A Store sold computers with a tracking device in the computers that they could use. He reminded members that if it is an intrusion of your privacy, it is against the law.
July 3rd Fireworks Financial Update – Elaine Walker
Proceeds from parking were 1,408.75 and donations were $1,521.88. A Snow cone donation was also received from Norm Werkheiser.
Dave Wilson commented that 3 Interactors helped with collections at the Fireworks.
President’s Announcements – Pres Mike
The 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month Flash meetings will be changed to 5:30 PM, instead of the 5:15 PM start time, to give working members more time to get there.
The July 17 Board of Directors Meeting has been moved to July 31 at 7:30 AM at Towne & Country Grille.
Pres. Mike will spend 2 weeks in Hawaii. He will attend a local Rotary Club meeting while in Hawaii and will do banner exchange out there.
He is looking for ideas from our membership for new Service Projects or events to attract new members.
Pres. Mike reported that Committee assignments will be e-mailed out soon. If you want to change your committee assignment, just let him know once you receive it.
We received a Thank you card from the Kintner family for our contribution to the Fred and Jeannie Kintner Memorial scholarship donation.
Blue Rotary T-shirts – Samantha Maruzzelli
Sam has a sign-up sheet for the Rotary t-shirts with “Rotarians at work” on the back, so please see Sam if you want one of these t-shirts, they will be about $14 each.
Harvest & Wine Festival – Mike Markovitz for Ron Furman
There will be a Harvest & Wine Festival planning meeting at the Tunkhannock Public Library on Monday July 9 at 6 PM. The date change was due to the holiday.
District News – Mike Markovitz
Our new AG Dave Palmer is from the New Milford Club. Many members got to meet him at the Officer Installation and Awards Banquet on June 28.
Please remember to sign-up for the District Jamboree at the George Hock Park in Falls. PA next weekend July 14-15. It begins at 3 PM and it is $12.95 per person for the catered food. Rotarians, family and friends can also participate in the optional canoe trip from Tunkhannock (11 AM) to Falls. Secretary Carol remarked that everyone should have received an e-mail from the District to RSVP for the Jamboree.
Treasurer’s Report – Elaine Walker
Annual dues are now due and will remain at $135/yr.
Secretary’s Report – Carol Ziomek
Carol has been bringing the home page of our website www.TunkhannockRotary.org up to date. The Website top banner has been updated with a photo of Tunkhannock courtesy of Jeff Mitchell. Samantha Maruzzelli will now be assistant administrator of the Club website. Please let Carol or Sam know if there is anything you would like added to the website. Carol has edited some of the menu items and Carol and Sam will work over the next month or so on updating the various site pages accessible from the drop-down menu on the home page.
From the Membership:
Norm Kelly asked whether Rotary has joined the Chamber of Commerce yet as approved by the Board. Sec. Carol responded that George Gay dropped off the information just before today’s meeting for Pres. Mike to review to determine which Tier of membership we want.
Sec. Carol reported that we have applications from 2 prospective members and Norm Kelly informed us that Chamber head Gina Suydam also indicated her intention to join Rotary. All applications will be turned over to Ron Furman, our new membership chair, for further processing before presentation to the Board on July 31.
Sec. Carol will send out to the full club membership, the computer fillable Adobe membership application in case anyone needs it for other prospective members. Type in the information and remember to save the filled application with the name of the person in the file name when you save it. Then e-mail to Sec. Carol (
cziomek@ptd.net) for entry into the system. Membership Chair Ron should also be copied on the e-mail.
Our next Meeting will be Thursday, July 12. Our guest speakers will be Barbara and Jon Buxton, who will talk about their Missionary Trip to Mexico.
President Mike Markovitz adjourned the meeting at 1:30 PM.
R.I. President Barry Rassin
International Assembly Speech Video
Instead of a local guest speaker this week, Pres. Mike played the video of the speech that incoming RI President Barry Rassin gave at the Rotary International Convention in Toronto last month. Pres. Barry talked about his theme for the 2018-2019 Rotary year: “Be the Inspiration.”
In his speech Pres. Barry reminded everyone: “The responsibility we’ve been given is to build on the work of those who have gone before us — and build a solid foundation for the work yet to come — by serving as effectively and as efficiently as we can; keeping our work transparent and accountable; changing the lives of as many people as possible for the better, in the most significant and lasting ways; and ensuring that Rotary continues to provide the best possible experience to its members. That it continues to grow and be useful to the world, not just this year and the next, but beyond our own time in Rotary, and even beyond our own time on earth.”
“And they’re the ideas that inspired our new vision statement, which describes the Rotary we want to help build:
Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.”
He then continued:
“If you want to build a better world, don’t begin by planning projects or assigning tasks.
Begin with inspiration.
Begin by awakening the souls in your Rotarians the longing for a better world — and the knowledge, deep and true, that they can create it.
Begin this evening — together, in this place — with our theme for 2018-19: Be the Inspiration.
I will ask you to be inspired by our motto of Service Above Self, and to inspire others to action through Rotary.
I will ask you to inspire with your words and with your deeds, doing what we need to do today to build a Rotary that will be stronger tomorrow — stronger when we leave it than it was when we came.
Some will ask how do I inspire others, so I want you to remember four elements of that ability: You need to show your love and your empathy to Rotarians and to clubs and the communities we serve. You need to show your enthusiasm for Rotary and changing the world to the point that it is infectious. You need to be the agent of change, with an audacious challenge for doing more than ever. And you need to lead by example, showing Rotarians what to do rather than telling them what to do.
I want to see Rotary Be the Inspiration for our communities through work with a transformational impact — taking the time to research the real needs, to involve all the participants, to plan and to partner.
To build a stronger organization, we need to do a much better job at letting people know who we are and what we do, leveraging social media to get our message out there where it will be heard.
We need to work harder to inspire a younger generation, building Rotaract as a vital force within our organization and giving our clubs better ways to help members develop their skills and their leadership.”
Pres. Rassin also provided an update on Polio and announced that although 30 years ago over 350,000 people were paralyzed by wild type polio that last year that number was down to 38 and that so far this year not one child has been reported with polio. He stated that the work is not over and that our Rotarians need to understand that: “Polio won’t be over until the certifying commission says it’s over — when not one poliovirus has been found, in a river, in a sewer, or in a paralyzed child, for at least three years.”
He then discussed some of the environmental issues facing our world and the challenges and opportunities that they present for Rotary to make a difference.
He ended by stating:
“Be the Inspiration, to your clubs and your districts. Show them what we can do in Rotary, and what we can be.
Be the Inspiration, to your countries and your communities — by coming together and taking action to create lasting change.
Be the Inspiration — and together, we can, and we will, inspire the world.”
For anyone who would like to read the full text of his speech or see the video of it yourself, please visit the www.Rotary.org website for the links.
