Congratulations to DG Nominee Designate Samantha Maruzzelli A huge congratulations to our own Samantha Maruzzelli for being selected by the District Nominating Committee to be the District 7410 Governor Nominee Designate. Sam will become District Governor (DG) for 2023-2024. Over its almost 96-year history, the Tunkhannock Rotary has provided three of its members to serve as District Governors: Frank T. Dolbear (1953-1954), Otto Keil, Jr. (1986-1987) and David Whipple (2002-2003). Sam will become the fourth District Governor (2023-2024) from our Tunkhannock Club.  DGND Samantha Maruzzelli Samantha attended Tunkhannock Area High School, where she became President of the Key Club. She received her BS in Elementary Education at Mansfield University in May 1991 and substitute taught at Tunkhannock, Montrose and Elk Lake before she became a licensed insurance agent in April 1999. Sam is married to Chris Maruzzelli and they are the proud parents of 3 adult children, several of whom have been in the TAHS Interact Club and participated in a variety of Rotary sponsored activities. Sam and her family own Antonio's Pizzeria and Restaurant, which they opened in February 2005. She and her husband have worked alongside her father, Rotarian Albert Noble in their Tri County General Insurance Agency for the past 22 years. Samantha has been a member of the Tunkhannock Rotary since 2007 and served as President of the Club in 2017-2018. Her Rotary experiences include: Club Vice President, Club Board of Directors, Club RYLA chair; Youth Exchange Officer and host family; Fireworks Co-Chair, and Club Foundation Chair. She is currently serving as Rotary District 7410 Membership Chair and working on the District On-line Auction raising funds for the Rotary Foundation and the End Polio Now campaign. Samantha is not only a local business owner, she employs many local women and men. Both of her businesses give back a lot to the local community through donations and time. For her outstanding contributions to the Tunkhannock community, she was honored by Tunkhannock Business and Professional Women as their 2014 Woman of the Year. Please join us in extending BEST WISHES to Samantha as she prepares to lead District 7410 into a bright future. What is Our Trivia Expert Mary Tempest’s Hobby? President Elect Mary Tempest has been a member of our Rotary Club for 3 years and is currently Chair of our Membership Committee. Mary has been very active in our Club, enhancing some of our ongoing programs (Membership and member orientation) and spearheading/suggesting some new initiatives, such as the Tunkhannock Rotary Dance and Meet, the Lazybrook Park Pop-Up Pantry collaboration with CHOP, the weekly Rotary Trivia Questions and the Thank You to Essential Workers campaign. She also played host to our 2019-2020 inbound exchange student Alejandra (Ale) Carolina Vizcaino-Ruiz from Ecuador. Mary is a member of several other volunteer organizations in Tunkhannock. But did you know that in her free time, she is a quilter? Below find Mary’s own words about her quilting. “I have made two quilted wall hangings, three tee shirt quilts and my latest a queen size quilt. The t-shirt quilts, I made for my daughters. The fabric I used was from their favorite school, sports, college and their dad’s t-shirts. T-shirt quilts tell a story about your life’s journey. I just finished this queen size quilt. This one I sewed for myself. It is my retirement gift to me. I worked 42 yrs. as a nurse. My career was challenging and rewarding. Quilting for me ignites my creativity. I feel like an artist with a canvas and brush. My favorite quilting steps are selecting the pattern, fabric, color of the thread, and accessories. Also, to learn new quilting techniques such as free motion quilting. This technique provides the finished top stitch on the quilt. I purchased a new sewing machine Bernina 380 to accomplish this stitch. Below is a picture of my quilt.”  Mary’s Retirement Gift to Herself with signature piece below Some of Mary’s other Quilting projects are below: Highlights of the Rotary Meeting Pledge and Invocation: President Terri Detrick brought the meeting to order at 12:15 PM online via Zoom. George Gay led the Pledge of Allegiance, Dave Wilson gave the Invocation and Mike Markovitz led the first recitation of the 4-Way Test. Guests: Dellana Diovisalvo - guest speaker Club News: Congratulations to Our DG Nominee Designate Pres. Terri Detrick extended the Clubs best wishes to Samantha Maruzzelli for her selection to be our District Governor Nominee Designate for the Rotary year 2023-2024. Sam commented that she is excited and terrified and hopes we will have her back when the time comes. Possible Golf Fun Board members and any Fundraising committee members need to stay on the Zoom call after the close of today’s meeting for further info from Rick Miller re a possible golf fundraiser. Committee Reports Membership - Mary Tempest & Ron Furman Rotary Trivia – Mary Tempest - What are the 2 types of Rotary grants from the Rotary Foundation? District grants for short term projects and Global Grants for international projects with longer term sustainability outcomes.
- What is the Rotary Foundation motto? Doing Good in the World.
Public Relations – Carol Ziomek Thank you to Laura Charles for her excellent article for this week’s Bulletin. Carol is looking for people who would like to write some articles for the Weekly Bulletin either on a regular basis or a one-off basis. Articles can short contributions several paragraphs long on subjects relevant to Rotary or of interest to Rotarians. Committee Chairs are welcome to write about the activities of their committees or ask for ideas to help enhance their programs. Please contact Carol is you have an interest in making a contribution to the Weekly Bulletin. An Article on our $3,500 Donation to HANDS for the 2021 FANS Camp appeared in the Jan 27 Examiner. Road signs and posters for our Thank You to Essential Workers Campaign are going up, although the ground is too frozen for pounding in some of the road signs and will have to await some ground thaw. The billboard Thank You by Sam’s office is now up on the upper tier billboard. Harvest & Wine Festival – Ron Furman/Mike Markovitz There will be the first Zoom Festival planning meeting Mon. Feb 1 at 6 PM. Everyone is welcome. The Zoom link will be sent to everyone on Friday, Jan 29 by Secretary Carol. High School Essay Contest – Don Davis Pres. Terri has received 2 essays from the High School that will go to Don and his committee after the upcoming deadline. Dave Wilson commented that he did communicate with Interact Advisor Tommasina Fiorillo to see if some of the Interactors were interested in writing essays for the contest. RI and District News: District 7410 On-Line Auction The auction goes live on FEBRUARY 1ST, closes on MARCH 14th AT 5PM. There are a large number of items in the auction from local businesses, so check it out and make your bid. Treasurer's Report: Elaine Walker All Calendar Raffle winners have been paid. We made a profit of $4,375.
Our next Meeting will be Thursday, Feb 4. Our guest speaker will be Erica Rogler, who will give an update on the Dietrich Theater and accept our donation check. Pres Terri asked everyone to privately repeat the final recitation of the 4-Way Test. President Terri Detrick adjourned the meeting at 1:07 PM.
Program: Dellana Diovisalvo
Tunkhannock Public Library Dellana Diovisalvo is the new Executive Director of the Tunkhannock Public Library (TPL) as of Oct 2020. She has had to deal with some significant challenges since she joined the Library.  Dellana Diovisalvo Dellana shared with us some of her history. She was a reluctant reader as a child and some friends in high school finally convinced her that reading was cool. She got her first library job in college and loved it. When she moved to PA from MA, she got a job with a book mobile and loved to provide books to readers everywhere. She has worked in libraries for 19 years. She has a Master’s degree in library science and a Master’s in creative writing. Since Dellana joined the TPL, the biggest challenges have been due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When she joined the library was closed to people since Mar., with only curb side pickup available. She felt the pressure to reopen the library to people in a safe environment. She ordered PPE, other enhancements and supplies like hand sanitizer and masks. There is not a lot of resistance to mask wearing by patrons although occasionally someone comes without a mask. They are diplomatic and want to have people feel welcome, but safe. She also wanted the staff to know that she was concerned for their safety and welfare. 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. Tunkhannock was the last library in our District to have their doors opened, but needed to close down over the holidays. They allowed for appointments (1 family at a time) to use computers, fax machines and even browse the collection, which people really liked. Last week, they had people come in to use the computers to sign up for unemployment and check on their stimulus checks. Some people do not have internet access or computers at home. She feels the services they provide are more important than ever. They have been providing virtual programs: picture puzzle, picture frame crafts, and videos on how to do crafts. Tomorrow, they will have a quilling craft class for a decorated box. The classes will remain on their Youtube channel for the next 6 months. Craft kits are being given out for children/people to try new crafts. They have a shelf in the Seven Loaves Soup Kitchen to provide books, but now no people in the soup kitchen. They are thinking about maybe providing a bag of free books that people can grab along with their meal pickup. They cannot get into the Wyo Cty Jail since Mar, but they have been discussing with them other opportunities. The Jail recently got a grant for free tablets for the inmates and the library is hoping to give them access to the online books and services at the Library. Dellana commented that it has been an exciting but bumpy road so far. She is trying to help the staff serve the community. They would be interested in helping us maintain our free mini libraries and making sure there is good content. Pres. Terri will contact Marta Kovacs-Ruiz, who was chair of the Mini-libraries committee, to see if she can work with Dellana on keeping them stocked and refreshed. The Library is now accepting donations of books that will be quarantined for 1 week. They will take them anytime they are opened either via the side door by the book drop or through the front door. After Dellana’s presentation, Terri 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. |
