Elizabethtown PA Rotary

If you want news, look on the home page for links to new postings. If you want commentary, check out the blog. If you want to find previous news items, you are in the right place. Also posted here may be random information that just doesn't seem to belong anywhere else on the site. Enjoy!

Dr. G. Terry Madonna, F&M professor, political pollster, and television personality shared his take on the upcoming mid-term elections at our August 20th meeting.

We had an excellent program to start off the new Rotary year! In this politically active season, Scott Cvek invited many politicians and candidates to visit with us, and the first to accept was Retired Admiral and Congressman Joe Sestak, who is the Democratic Party's candidate for the US Senate. Our members offered both the respect and thoughtful questions that we should expect from Rotarians! More photos in the Photo Album!

At a picnic in her honor, we met her parents and bid farewell to Bea who would graduate the following week and tour the USA before returning to her home in Brazil. We will miss her!

We held a joint meeting with several other Clubs at the Gathering Place in Mount Joy to greet the Group Study Exchange travelers.... always an enlightening program!

Krista Faus gave us an insight on her career in Massage Therapy and the many other interests she has. We really look forward to her participation in the Club!

We made a contribution to the Library from the funds raised during the TASTE of WESTERN LANCASTER COUNTY event. Library Donation

GEARS DONATION

We love giving away money to programs that help our community, and GEARS, represented by John Myers, is one of them. President Joe, and our Donations Committee Chairman, Chris McCarthy presented the check.

THANK YOU, Dr. MORTEL!

We were pleased to have Dr. Mortel visit with us again and to bring us an update on the conditions in Haiti after the earthquake and how his school has been affected. We continue to support 7 students in his school each year.

CLUCK, CLUCK!

Dr. Bill Ayres spoke to us about international business opportunities and the importance of knowing the culture of the country where we want to do business... More details are in his book...

Carry A Chicken In Your Lap

ECUADOR TEAM PRESENTATION

Our Mission Team of Ralph Detrick, Joe Rebman and Ken Wolfe presented a program about their Medical Mission trip to Ecuador with the Harrisburg Club and other volunteers from the District. It was, in many ways, a life-changing event for the team as well as the hundreds of patients they served in a week. We are very proud of this example of SERVICE ABOVE SELF!

Our Club supports important Drug Abuse Resistance Education for elementary school children.

The Rotary District 7390 District Governor Nominating Committee has met and recommended our Past President Dennis M. Zubler to serve as District Governor for the 2012-13 Rotary year. While an election must still be held at the upcoming District Conference, we are proud that Dennis received the committee's approval, and we are certain that the District will agree!

$500 to the Elizabethtown Fire Department-- we appreciate their service to our community!

Melanie Snyder brought a compelling

message on restorative justice to us

and spoke of her experiences with

counseling young people who are at

risk of imprisonment for their bad

behavior. She is the author of a book

entitled, "Grace Goes To Prison."

She encouraged all of us to read the

Pew Center for the States study on

imprisonment, entitled,

"One In One Hundred:

Behind Bars in America 2008"

and

"One in 31: The Long Reach

of American Corrections"

November 13th was finally Steve Lane's chance to give his classification talk to the club! For this BIC Pastor, it was time for "true confession,"

and we heard it all... (whew!) but as everyone knows, "What happens at Rotary, stays ar Rotary!" If you weren't there, you missed a fun presentation by an engaging and committed Rotarian.

The Elizabethtown Interact Club Charter Celebration was held on Monday night, November 2nd at the Library with 11 new Interact members, 17 Etown Rotary members and a numerous parents and friends present for the ceremonies. Beginning with some good desserts and conversation, the formal part of the program included greetings by President Joe Rebman, remarks by District Governor Connie Spark and District Interact Chair Ken Stoner, and a moving reflection on the importance of Rotary in the history of Polio Eradication by Dr. J. Kenneth Kreider, who spoke of his cousin's experience with polio and his involvement serving in a hospital as a volunteer to assist people living with polio.

Dr. Amy Slamp spoke of the Interact Club's choice of projects, and related her experiences as a missionary in Kenya, and seeing the grateful recipients of the hospital toiletry boxes the club will prepare. She expressed her pride in the service orientation of these young people, and commended Club Advisor Frank Telenko for his "service above self" example to the students. Mr. Telenko followed up with brief remarks about his expectations for the Club and his lifelong commitment to the Elizabethtown community.

The new Interact Club members and officers were introduced and presented an Interact Pin, a yellow carnation and a certificate bearing a quotation by Ralph Waldo Emerson,(gifts of District Governor Connie Spark) and assembled in front of the new club's banner for photos. Lastly, they were given the opportunity to sign the back of the new club Charter, which will be framed with a glass back so that future generations will see the names of the Charter members.

Rev. Ralph Detrick, Past President, offered a benediction to close the festivities which will be long remembered by the new Interact members as just the first step on a journey of community and international service .

District Governor Connie Spark and President Joe Rebman presented Brenda Barlet and Susan Grubb with their first Paul Harris Fellow recognition pins and certificates. Ralph Detrick and Tom Labagh were presented pins recognizing an additional level of support for the Rotary Foundation.

A good summary of what happened in October is posted on the blog by President Joe, but here's the scoop on our District Governor's visit.

We were blessed to have District Governor Connie Spark at our October 30th meeting to meeting with the Board at 11:30 AM, and then to speak to the club about the goals and priorities for the Rotary Foundation and District 7390.

She complimented us on the activity level of our club, and when asked what we could be doing better, she said, "You are doing everything right to serve your community AND the world." High praise, indeed.

She applauded the efforts of Dennis Zubler and Chuck Mummert as Assistant District Governors and for their involvement in District programs, suggesting that our Club could well have a future District Governor in our midst! Finally, she told us that we are a Rotary Club that leads by example!

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU? Well, a brown shirt on a USPS guy means that a partnership between the USPS and some of its major competitors is a good thing and saves everyone money. Our thanks to Dave Schmidt and co-worker Stacy Smith (with the title nobody can remember) for the candid update on the Postal Service. We may not understand what is going on there any better, but it certainly helps us understand why Dave is the way he is! Excellent program!

DUTCH DOBISH

Dutch_Dobish

...kept our business heads level with a review of methods of coping with the constant changes in the economy by tracking economic models and trends. He also answered questions about his career as a business coach, as VP of regulatory law with Rite Aid, and as an actor in the 1970's-- and of course, he dropped some famous and some forgotten names-- Uta Hagen (Tony Award winner for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?")... Paul Newman... you know... the salad dressing guy!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth at the Etown Fair and donated to our Purple Pinky Project! $781 was raised to help End Polio.

Thanks to all the Rotarians and Interactors who staffed the booth and helped with the project throughout the week !

BEATRIZ MATOS-PEREZ

We are celebrating the arrival of

Beatriz Matos-Perez,

our exchange student from Santos, Sao Paulo, Brazil

We had a great time meeting her at the August 20th picnic at the Cassell Farm Pavilion!

(SEE PHOTOS IN THE PHOTO ALBUM SECTION OF THE WEBSITE.)

She was welcomed by the club, the Mayor, Elizabethtown College, the Masonic Village and the Chamber of Commerce, and received a lot of welcoming gifts.

Thanks to everyone who attended the Installation Gala on Monday night. Good food, good entertainment, inspiring videos and the recognition of a lot of Paul Harris Fellows! A good time was had by all. Again, thank you to Ralph for his great leadership over the past year.