the Rotary Smile - The Rotary Club of Allentown

the Rotary Smile
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Opportunity
for Service
and Gifts
Join your fellow Rotarians at
Alliance Hall, Sixth and Chew
Streets, to assist Lehigh County
Conference of Churches’ staff in
serving lunch to people at the
Daybreak Drop-in Center.
Two volunteers are needed
from 11:15 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. on
four dates in March: Tuesday,
March 6; or Mondays: March 12,
19 and 27.
Daybreak is an adult drop-in
center which provides people
returning to the community from
mental health, and drug and
alcohol treatment programs with
a warm, safe, supportive
environment.
The center also appreciates
contributions of items needed for
various craft projects:
 Elmer’s glue / glue sticks (for
paper, beads, crafts)
 small scissors with round tips
 modeling clay
Craft kits, such as:
 wooden models
(cars, planes etc.)
 small birdhouse kits to build
and paint
 wooden kitchen trivet or
similar items to use or
hang as art.
For more information, contact
Al Bova or Ann McManus.
www.AllentownRotary.org
February - March 2012
March 2 Reminder: Meeting Off-site
“Small But Mighty”
Frank Whelan to Present
at Liberty Bell Museum
Allentown Rotarian Frank Whelan will present “Small but Mighty:
Things You Might Not Know About Lehigh County’s History” on
Friday, March 2 when we gather for an off-site meeting in the
Fellowship Room of the Liberty Bell Museum.
Frank was commissioned to write “Lehigh County: The Story of A
Bicentennial Community” marking the county’s 200th anniversary. His
talk will include some of the stories that didn’t make it into the book,
which will be released at the county Community Celebration on March
10 in the Agri-Plex at the Allentown Fairgrounds.
Before and after the luncheon, Rotarians will be given a ‘sneak
preview’ of the Liberty Bell Museum’s new exhibit, “200 Years:
Scenes from Lehigh County” which includes thirteen pen & ink
Enjoy a ‘sneak preview” of the
Liberty Bell Museum’s Lehigh County exhibit,
“200 Years: Scenes from Lehigh County”
drawings by Susannah Thomer, commissioned
by The Historical Society of the U.S. District
Court for the Eastern District of PA especially
for its 2012 calendar, focusing on Lehigh
County. Each drawing depicts some aspect of
life in Lehigh County, which also is related to a
specific legal case heard in the U.S. District
Court for the Eastern District of PA.
The Liberty Bell Museum is located at 620
Hamilton Street. In addition to street parking,
there is a surface lot on Sixth Street between
Walnut and Hamilton, or use the Transportation Center Deck at Sixth
and Linden Streets. You may enter the museum via the Hamilton Street
entrance, beginning at 11:30 a.m.
The Rotary Club of Allentown
• in our 98th year of service •
610-794-4101
www.AllentownRotary.org
From the President
~ A Member of Rotary International ~
Club No. 5414, District 7430
www.rotarydistrict7430.org
Meeting Fridays at noon at the Holiday Inn
9th & Hamilton Streets, Allentown
Rotary is a worldwide organization of business and professional leaders that
provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all
vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world. Some 1.2 million
Rotarians belong to 31,000 Rotary clubs located in more than 200 countries.
Club Officers
President …………...…..…. Theresa Podguski …………..... 610-778-3303
President-Elect ………...….. Jonathan Epstein …….... 610-437-7070 x 212
Secretary ……………...……. Barbara Bigelow ……….……. 610-437-0795
Treasurer ………………...… Tom Christman ….………….. 610-434-9645
Past-President …..……...…… Larry Campbell ……….…….. 610-398-9612
Board of Directors
Committee
Phone
Christine Bauder … Fellowship & Communication ………… 610-821-0311
Jim Bova ……...…….. Badge Board/Hospitality ………….. 610-435-7489
Larry Campbell …...... Paul Harris/ Iobst awards …………... 610-398-9612
Mark E. Emswiler …………. Scholarship ………………….. 610-967-2141
Jonathan Epstein … …....Membership & Website ……. 610-437-7070 x 212
Ann McManus …………. Community Service …………….. 610-434-0875
Bob Stevens ……... Communication & the SMILE ………... 610-390-7787
Nan Yarrish ………………...…. Program ……………………. 610-434-2648
Foundation Board Members
Frank St. Amour, Chairperson ……..……………………….... 610-435-3901
Jim Bova …………………………………….………………... 610-435-7489
Larry Campbell ……………………………………………….. 610-398-9612
Tom Christman …………………………………….…………. 610-434-9645
Wallace Eldridge ..……………...……….…………………... 610-366-0843
Mark Emswiler ……………………………………………….. 610-967-2141
Carl Henzleman ………………………………………………. 610-758-5520
Kati LaBuda …………………………………………….……. 610-709-9715
Ann McManus …………………………………………...…… 610-434-0875
Amy Meleck ……………………………………………..…… 610-867-1689
Theresa Pudguski ……………………………………………… 610-778-3303
Janet Roth …………………………………………………….. 610-434-9645
Marci Schick ……………………………………………...….. 610-794-5129
Pete Smith ……………………………………………………. 610-395-7700
Theresa Podguski
Happy Birthday to Rotary! On
February 23, Rotary celebrates 107
years. Be sure to spread the word
and let your family and friends
know what Rotary means to you.
As RI President Banerjee said in his
column, we need to let “the world
“ The annual District
Conference in April
offers fellowship and
educational activities.”
know about the work we are doing,
the differences we are making and
the benchmarks we are setting.”
It is hard to believe that spring is
just around the corner and this
season is a busy time for our Rotary
Club. We have several upcoming
community service activities which
are being planned. Thank you to
Jim Bova for coordinating our
volunteers at Daybreak. Not only
will we have Rotarians volunteering
by serving lunch, but we also are
looking for you to bring items to an
upcoming meeting to donate to
Daybreak members such as
modeling clay, wooden models, and
glue.
(Continues on page four.)
-2-
2011 Community
Service Awards
Dec. 2—The 2011 Community
Service Awards were distributed at the December 2 meeting. A total of $10,050 was
given to five 501(c)(3) nonprofit agencies serving the
people of Allentown.
Lehigh Carbon Community
College
Funds given will cover
the costs of GED testing services for 20
adults returning to
school after a break in
high school. For some,
the $35 fee to take the
GED is a financial hurdle steep enough to
keep them from testing,
and subsequently from
being able to pursue
work that requires a
diploma or GED.
Allentown Rescue Mission
Funds given will purchase supplies and
training for the Mission’s “Clean Team”
program which teaches
homeless men residing
in the Mission life
skills such as discipline, teamwork and
workplace ethics.
Allentown Salvation Army
Funds given will support the Youth Enrichment Program for atrisk youth, providing
equipment for projects
such as night basket-
left to right: Tom Mulderick, Suzy Welliver, Samantha Seibert (Diakon),
Veronica Elias (YM/WCA), Mike Kukitz (Salvation Army)
and Mike Mauro (Allentown Rescue Mission)
ball which runs 9pm to
midnight on Fridays,
indoor soccer and
dodgeball, as well as
classes in art, nutrition,
leadership, tutoring and
more.
Diakon Lutheran Social
Ministries
Funds given will sponsor two teams of girls
from the Allentown
School District for
Diakon’s “Girls on the
Run of Lehigh County”
5K program. The
prevention-focused
program is for girls in
third through eighth
grades, created to
instill self-esteem and
strong values through
health education, life
skills development,
mentoring and physical
training.
Allentown YMCA and YWCA
Funds given will assist
with training for the
agency's “Healthy Kids
Day” event, a free
annual event that
allows families to participate in programs
- 3-
that promote fitness,
safety, nutrition and
health. Activities
include races, table tennis, swimming, hip-hop
dance, art, gardening,
karate and demonstrations.
The Allentown Rotary Foundation is a nonprofit corporation established in 1969 to
contribute to the betterment of
the community. The Foundation distributes funds annually
to qualified local charitable
and social welfare organizations.
~ Arlene Daily
February
1
15
21
23
27
Warren Armstrong
Wallace Eldridge
Arlene Daily
George Schermerhorn
Frank Concannon
From the President
Renewable
Energy
Dec. 9 – The breezy
and sunny weather
was when Jay Carlis,
Vice President at
Community Energy,
Inc., presented on
renewable energy
sources including
wind and solar
power. A native of the Lehigh
Valley, Jay is a Parkland High
School Graduate who went on
to earn his MBA in Marketing
and Sustainable Enterprise
from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is
also President of the Renewable Energy markets Association.
Since it opened its doors
twelve years ago, Community
Energy, Inc. has been a clean
energy market pioneer. Their
projects have included the
Bear Creek Wind Farm along
with utility scale solar projects
throughout Pennsylvania. Currently, they are involved in
development of the Keystone
Solar Project in Lancaster
County, which will generate
enough electricity to power
about 700 homes after resale
to a utility company. This will
represent the largest solar energy project in Pennsylvania,
spanning approximately 60
acres of farm land that could
not be supported through
crops. In effect, solar power
will be the new “crop”, allowing a farming family who was
on the verge of losing their
farm to keep the land.
(Continued from page two.)
Bear Creek Wind Farm
Pennsylvania legislation
sets the goal of 18% renewable
energy from a variety of
sources by 2021; of this
amount, only .05% is slated
for solar generation. This is
largely due to the fact that solar power remains the most
expensive to develop. On the
positive side, it represents a
fuel-free energy source that’s
very clean and carries the additional economic benefit of
creating jobs, along with the
potential to be the source of
more than half of Pennsylvania’s power demand. It
should also be noted that solar
power is least expensive to
produce at peak demand periods such as the hot summer
days when we all rely so heavily on air conditioning. Unfortunately, these positive attributes of solar power have created a situation in which availability outstrips demand. Market prices for solar power have
fallen and remain low. They
will likely only rebound when
and if solar power generation
costs reach parity with other
sources.
~ Carol Jones
- 4-
Thank you also to Pat Meehan
for agreeing to chair our
annual Monte Carlo Night at
Good Shepherd on a Monday
evening in April. Watch for
more details to come. If you
have not volunteered for either
one of these community
service projects in the past,
please consider doing so this
year as both are such
rewarding experiences.
In addition, the St. Patty’s
Day Party Committee is
planning a fun evening for
Saturday, March 17 at the
Applewood Clubhouse. Mark
your calendars and plan to join
us for a fun, informal evening
getting to know your fellow
Rotarians outside of our
weekly meetings. Please
R.S.V.P. to Chris Bauder.
And, don’t forget to register
for the annual District
Conference which will be held
from April 20-22. You can
register for just Friday
evening’s event at the America
on Wheels Museum or the
entire weekend. If you do
choose to attend on Friday
evening, the club will
subsidize half of the
registration fee for our Club
members. Saturday and
Sunday events will be filled
with Rotary fellowship and
educational activities at the
Bear Creek Resort.
I look forward to seeing at
one or several of these
upcoming events!
~ Theresa
Updates from
Senator Pat
Browne
Dec. 16 - State Senator Pat
Browne provided a succinct
over-view of the critical factors affecting Pennsylvania as
we enter 2012. Senator
Browne currently is serving
his second full term and is in a
leadership position as Majority
Whip of the Senate. He is also
Vice Chair of the Senate Rules
and Executive Nominations
Committees, as well as membership on four additional top
level committees.
He began his talk by stating
that the general fund budget is
currently Pennsylvania’s biggest challenge. Decreased
revenue has created a 15% gap
in a reduced budget of $1.7
billion. In this cost cutting era,
human resources and education have already suffered an
elimination of 1,000 positions
at the state level. This has happened even though there was
an increase in receipts during
the fiscal year of 2011 of $418
million. This amount, however, was $350 million below
the yearly estimate.
What does Senator Browne
see as priority challenges?
First, there is an unemployment issue that remains top
most. Second, there are currently eleven bills addressing
education reform. Within the
education framework, he believes we’ll see options such
as more charter schools or the
future development of cybercharter schools. He insists,
however, that one of our best
investments is early childhood
education and wants to assure
a level budget in this area.
He also thinks corrections
reform is of absolute necessity.
Spending for corrections is at
“tremendous levels.” This
year’s cost to the State is
$36,000 per prisoner. He believes different approaches
must be taken, including recommendations about a person’s relative risk to society
along with more emphasis on
rehabilitation and individual
treatment for those already in
prison.
Senator Browne then went
through his power points that
pointed out the ramifications
of the largest part of the overall budget: welfare. This includes social services, longterm health care, senior citizen
services and Medicaid reform.
His discussion carefully specified costs of these services.
Now there is a transportation recommendation on the
desk of Governor Corbett.
Some points relate to gas tax
levels, some to the serious
condition of our roads and
bridges and some to public
transportation needs. He then
-5-
discussed the significance of
the Marcellus Shale with its
significant gas deposits. This
is becoming a huge economic
impact to the distressed parts
of Pennsylvania. 45% of revenues from Marcellus are specified for the general fund, 55%
goes to the impacted communities.
With time of the essence,
he was only able to mention
the liquor store privatization
matter only in passing. He
does believe, however, that it’s
time for an independent fiscal
office, away from political
pressures and looking at performance results. He envisions
an on-line data base of state
spending, so all residents may
have ongoing access to revenue and expenses.
Senator Browne’s presentation provided us with assurance that one of our own citizens is now in such a vital position of leadership in the State
Senate of Pennsylvania.
~ Jim Harper
In
Memoriam
Michael Egan III
died on January
20, 2012 at
Phoebe Home. He
had been a member of the
Allentown Rotary for more
than 50 years. His lengthy
obituary noted the ways he
exemplified Service Above
Self in the community. We
extend our condolences to his
wife, Susan, and the family.
Classification Talk
LoisAnn Oakes
Jan. 6 - LoisAnn Oakes provided the club with a lively,
entertaining classification talk.
LoisAnn was born in Allentown at Allentown Hospital.
During her first 25 years of her
life her parents lived in 12 different homes. She graduated
from high school in the Lehigh
Valley. She was 17 years old
when she went to the Julliard
School of Music, where she
received a Bachelor of Arts in
Music and Voice. She also
went to the Aspen Music
School.
She stopped by Yale one
August and went in to have an
audition with the Head of the
Piano Department and the Professor of Clarinet. In two years
she ended up with a Masters in
Music. At that time Yale accepted women in music in the
early 1900’s for undergraduate
degrees. She taught at three
different universities in Ohio,
Pennsylvania, and New York.
LoisAnn taught singing with
instrumental students. For a
time she was a librarian as
well as Manager of Chamber
Orchestra. LoisAnn was a past
President of a Rotary Club for
16 months. She worked at the
Lehigh Valley Chamber of
Commerce and helped out in
the office as an administrative
assistant. For her next career
she would tell stories at the
Lehigh County Senior Center
about the Indian tribes of the
United States.
Her motto deals with the
three P’s and the four L’s. The
three P’s are patience, persistence, and prayer. Without
one of those you will not make
it. The four L’s are listen,
learn, laugh, and look. Learn
to listen to others and what
they are saying. Learn more
about what you are doing,
laugh at yourself. When you
look at someone, think about
what was said to them to make
them look that way and then
after they go by. LoisAnn continues to go on auditions and
we look forward to hearing
about her latest accomplishment, whether it is a commercial or some other artistic way
to entertain. Welcome to the
Allentown Rotary Club.
~ Kati LaBuda
Larry Campbell welcomes LoisAnn Oakes as
President Podgusky presents Lois with her badge.
- 6-
The Allentown
School District
Forges Ahead
Jan. 13 - Program Chair Pete
Smith introduced our illustrious speaker for the day by unrolling an 8 sheet long resume.
As speaker C. Russell Mayo,
acting superintendent of the
Allentown School District,
moved through his talk we saw
his resume was backed by his
passion and knowledge about
how to lead one of the largest
school districts in the state.
Superintendent Mayo began by thanking Rotary for the
300 dictionaries we have delivered to Allentown schools
and the annual scholarships to
deserving students. Then he
shared what he termed the obvious agenda: to bring stability
to a school district that has had
three superintendents in three
years. The unobvious but critical agenda lifts up these facts:
the No Child Left Behind standard of 90% attendance was
met, there has been an 18%
reduction in the drop-out rate,
they exceeded the elementary
math 67% competency, and
subgroups advanced to gain
1% positive movement. No
easy feat in a large school district!
Additional positive notes
include a Bond rating of A, six
renovated school buildings, an
upgraded computer network,
and $42 million in grants in
2010-11. Being respectful of
its citizens and the times, the
(Continued on page seven.)
program, just to name a few.
What if the program one day
focused on explaining those
mentoring opportunities and
Rotary members could sign up
to learn more?
~ Chris Nelson
Purple Pinkie 5K
Benefits
PolioPlus
Pete Smith (left) with Dr. Russel Mayo.
Allentown School
District
(Continued from page six.)
School Board has not raised
taxes for three years.
The road ahead is hard.
There is a $12 million funding
gap in the early projections for
next year’s budget or as Superintendent Mayo described it:
“it is like needing to go into
the bone after you have already taken all the fat next to
it.” He is an optimist despite
these barriers. His vision for
the kids is to excel in achievement so that doors will be
open to college and careers.
He likes teachers who care and
are best qualified, and administration that is frugal yet effective.
In answer to questions from
the floor Superintendent Mayo
shared these thoughts: No
Child Left Behind standards
are positive targets to conceptually move schools forward.
No one should expect to meet
them 100%. Yes, the percentage of Advanced Placement
Students receiving a 3 or
above is low (22%). But he
wants to push kids to take AP
courses in order to stretch
themselves.
In answer to a question as
to how the community can
help the school system, Superintendent Mayo offers two
solid suggestions: 1) Become a
tutor or mentor; 2) business
community members stop over
for lunch so that students can
see and interact with successful community adults.
In talking with the party
who asked that question, I
learned they were interested in
becoming a mentor. We have
multiple Rotarians in our club
whose organizations offer
mentoring opportunities: The
Boys and Girls Club, Pinebrook Family Services, the
Lehigh County Conference of
Churches Aspires Mentoring
- 7-
For 2012, the Purple Pinkie 5K
has been renamed in memory of
PDG Yvette Palmer, who
passed away in December. According to the Club, “If it wasn’t for her passion, drive, leadership, vision and energy, last
year’s Purple Pinkie 5K would
not have been a success.”
The 5K will be run on Sunday, April 22 at DeSales University. If you are interested in
participating or being a sponsor, information is available at
badge board.
Register for the Purple
Pinkie 5K at: www.active.com/
running/center-valley-pa/theyvette-m-palmer-purple-pinkie5k-2012
Camp Nedig Youth Leadership Scholarship Program
Happy New Year from the District Camp Neidig
Committee! Our 2012 Camp Neidig youth leadership scholarship program will be held June 15-18
at Camp Manatawny near Boyertown. Camp
Neidig continues to be GREEN this year and we
will not be mailing out camper packets to the
clubs. All forms are now available for download
on our website at www.campneidig.com/. We
wanted to let everyone know that the 2012 registration fee continues to be $230 per camper. This
is an incredible deal for a four day program and
we hope that every club will support our 2012
camp. Plan on giving a deserving young person
the opportunity to attend an excellent leadership
program. We would be happy to help you in getting started with this process. In keeping with our
GREEN theme, both camper and club registration
must be done on-line. The instructions for on-line
registering is clearly outlined in the Neidig Chairperson Packet. If you have any questions, or need
any additional help,
please do not hesitate
to contact anybody on
the Camp Neidig Committee. We look forward to seeing you at
Camp!
Sincerely yours,
2012 Camp Neidig
Committee
Charlie Incalcaterra
[email protected]
Wendy Body
[email protected]
Last year’s campers
Mirian Bade, Jack Lema
and Sasha Lopez.
Iobst Fund Recognition
In December, Larry Campbell presented
“multiple” award recognition pins to Rotarians
who contributed $1,000 to the Richard Iobst fund
twice or more. They include (left to right) Bob Stevens, Ibi Balog, Barbara Bigelow, Jean Fox, Peter
Smith, Wallace Eldridge, Tom Christman, and (not
pictured) Rolf Schlake and Grayson McNair.
Big Band Break
Taking a break at the Emmaus Rotary’s fundraiser at the Agri-Plext are (l. to r.) Nancy
Schlake, Jay Geiger, Alicia Ruiz-Orbin and Rolf
Schlake. The Rob Stoneback Band played for the
dance to benefit the Emmaus Rotary Academic
Scholarship Program, the East Penn Community
and International Rotary Projects. And a good
time was had by all (except Rolf?).