Wouldn't You Rather Do Business With A Rotarian?

The Rotary Club of Mechanicsburg North in partnership with the Rotary Clubs of D7390 Passport, West Shore and Yellow Breeches will host the 79th RMB networking event in Rotary District 7390 history and the first event of the 2026 RMB season on Thursday, February 12 at the Rolls Royce Museum (189 Hempt Road, Mechanicsburg) from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

The Rolls Royce Museum also will be the Venue Sponsor of the networking event and will provide tours of the venue for interested attendees. Other sponsors are Dickinson College, Fairway Home Mortgage and the Rotary Club of Hershey.

The event will be FREE and include light hors d'oeuvres, wine, beer, soft drinks, and water.

This will be another in a longstanding series of great business networking opportunities for both profit and non-profit organizations. Do not miss it!

Also, please consider bringing potential Rotarian guests, Rotaractors, and Family of Rotary.

Rotary's Mission:  We provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding and peace through our fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.

REGISTER TODAY! 

Thank you to our Sponsors:

Rotary Clubs of D7390 Passport, Mechanicsburg-North, Yellow Breeches, West Shore

Due to overwhelming demand, an additional New Member Orientation hosted by Zones 28/32 will be held on Sunday, February 15 at 9:30 p.m. EST!

The link is the same for all sessions:https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86755780910?pwd=FTSpp9dBnG3q5RzwWA6bnQdJNtbjxb.1

Passcode 057302

The District Learning Assembly is a great opportunity for all Rotarians to enhance their understanding of key areas that contribute to the success of a club. This event will equip you with valuable insights and practical knowledge on crucial topics such as: Using AI, Mentoring, Legal Issues for Clubs, Membership Success, RI Apps, The Rotary Foundation, and MORE!

By attending, you'll walk away with a comprehensive understanding of these areas and be better prepared to help your club achieve its goals and create a positive impact. Whether you're a seasoned Rotarian or new to the role, this assembly will be an inspiring and enriching experience for everyone involved.

Cost: $25 per Rotarian

REGISTER TODAY!

Check out the Upcoming Club Events Around the District! If you want your Club events listed in the newsletter, simply send an email with details to office@rotary7390.org!

A retired Waynesboro dentist whose lifetime of volunteer work has taken him from South Central Pennsylvania to clinics around the world has received the Rotary Club of Gettysburg’s highest humanitarian honor.

Dr. Robert “Bob” Zimmerman, Waynesboro, was presented with the annual Dwight D. Eisenhower Humanitarian Award during the club’s luncheon on Monday in the ballroom of the Gettysburg Hotel.

The award recognizes individuals for significant humanitarian service, and Zimmerman’s work spans decades of international mission trips, local charity care and community leadership.

Zimmerman has been a member of the Rotary Club of Waynesboro since 1984, he said.

During his opening remarks, Rotary Club of Gettysburg President Chuck Elder noted Gettysburg’s symbolic connection to humanitarianism in the face of conflict, from the Battle of Gettysburg to the legacy of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Elder said the town was an appropriate place to honor Zimmerman’s life of service.

Zimmerman was nominated by his daughter, Amy Zimmerman Hoch, who said her father’s humanitarian impact is most evident through his extensive volunteer dental work.

“He participated in 61 international mission trips, often organizing and leading them to provide free dental care in underserved communities across Central America, the Caribbean, South America, Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa,” Zimmerman Hoch said.

Zimmerman has provided free dental care on trips to Romania, Russia, Peru, India, Tanzania, Ukraine, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Honduras, among other countries, he said.

Rotarians are currently welcoming Leah Flinchbaugh of Hellam, PA, a recent graduate of Eastern York High School in York County, who is serving as the 2025–2026 Pennsylvania Future Farmers of America State Secretary.

As a state officer, Leah is taking a gap year to travel across Pennsylvania and throughout the country representing more than 16,000 Pennsylvania FFA members. Alongside her six fellow state officers, she advocates on behalf of Pennsylvania agriculture, agricultural education, and the National FFA Organization, sharing the message that FFA is more than farming and focused on leadership, education, and service.

Leah’s presentation highlights FFA’s emphasis on developing premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through its three-circle model of agricultural education: classroom instruction, supervised agricultural experience (SAE), and FFA involvement. The theme “Living to Serve” strongly aligns with Rotary values, underscoring the shared commitment to community service and youth development.

Upon completing her term as a state officer in June, Leah plans to attend Penn State University to study Agricultural & Extension Education with a minor in Animal Science. She aspires to become a high school agriculture teacher and livestock breeder, with a goal of creating a positive learning environment where students can develop a passion for agriculture and become informed, knowledgeable consumers.

Pictured Left to right - Chris Izzo, Past Club President and Russell Stoner

Russell Stoner, founder and CEO of the nonprofit Accountability for Life (AFL), spoke recently to members of the York East Rotary Club about the organization’s mission, origins and plans for expansion.  Stoner, a longtime football coach and former star athlete at West York High School, outlined how AFL began as an effort to support the football program at York High School — then struggling both on and off the field — and has grown into a year-round youth development initiative rooted in character, accountability and life skills.

When Stoner took over the Bearcats’ football program in 2016, the team was coming off a winless season with only 14 players enrolled. Alongside assistant coach Mike Teyral, he saw a need for broader mentorship and support for at-risk young people that went beyond athletics. This led to the creation of Accountability for Life, a nonprofit focused on helping youth build strong traditional core values, maintain academic standards and take personal responsibility for their actions.

“At its heart, AFL is about more than sports,” Stoner told the Rotary audience. “It’s about giving kids the tools they need to succeed in school, in their communities and in life.” Participants are required to maintain a minimum grade-point average and stay out of disciplinary trouble to remain in the program.

Stoner highlighted the success the program has seen: AFL student-athletes have achieved high graduation rates, pursued post-secondary education and earned collegiate athletic opportunities. “This isn’t just about football,” Stoner said. “It’s about helping young men and women become accountable, confident and ready for whatever comes next.” At the Rotary meeting, Stoner shared his vision for expanding AFL’s reach further into the community. With growing demand from families and schools, he hopes to broaden programming to include female athletes, additional educational support services and increased outreach partnerships with local youth organizations. Strengthening facilities and fundraising for scholarships and program access for all socioeconomic backgrounds also topped his agenda.

As the Rotary Club of Mount Joy approaches its 100th anniversary in 2026, the organization is preparing to mark that milestone with a project rooted in remembrance. The club has a long history of enhancing the town, from installing the Main Street clock to helping build Rotary Park and contributing significantly to the rebuild of Kids Joyland. Now, Rotarians are turning their efforts toward a project that carries deep local meaning: the creation of a Malmedy Massacre Memorial at Veterans War Memorial Park.

The memorial will honor the more than 80 American soldiers who were executed during the Malmedy Massacre on Dec. 17, 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge. It will also pay special tribute to the 10 Lancaster County soldiers from Battery B of the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion, among them Mount Joy's own Harold Billow, the last-known survivor of the World War II massacre, who passed away in 2022 at age 99.

"The Rotary Club of Mount Joy has always been committed to enhancing their local Mount Joy community in the Rotary spirit of Service Above Self," said Rotarian Dave Christian. “The club's primary focus for the memorial is to tell the story of that horrific day, so it is never forgotten.”

The massacre unfolded on a bitterly cold morning near Malmedy, Belgium. An American convoy of about 30 vehicles unknowingly approached a crossroads from the east at the same moment a heavily armed German SS unit advanced from the west. Outgunned and forced to surrender, the Americans were gathered into a field, where, moments later, the German soldiers opened fire. Unarmed POWs were gunned down where they stood; some were shot at close range as they lay wounded. Only those who managed to feign death, including Cpl. Billow, survived long enough for the Germans to leave the area.

Five of the 10 Lancaster County soldiers present were killed that day. Sylvester Herchelroth of Marietta, Charles Haines of Columbia, George Steffy of Stevens, Luke Swartz of Stevens and Carl Frey of Hopeland all lost their lives. The others - Billow, Bill Reem of Elizabethtown, Robert "Sketch" Mearig of Lititz, James Mattera of Marietta and Ernest Bechtel of Reinholds - returned home after the war.

For decades, Billow honored his fallen comrades by displaying 87 American flags in his yard every Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Dec. 17. Those flags became a poignant personal ritual and now serve as the inspiration for the new community memorial.

"The inspiration for the memorial was heavily influenced by Eagle Scout Todjr Dohl of Mount Joy, who was designing a Malmedy memorial project several years back for his Eagle Scout project," Christian said. “The Rotary Club of Mount Joy chose to give new life to Todjr's vision, carrying forward most of his proposed design elements.”

The club's proposed memorial incorporates symbolism in its central feature: a field of 87 miniature American flags, arranged exactly as Billow placed them each year. Set in river gravel and illuminated at night, the field will serve as a quiet but powerful reminder of the soldiers lost at Malmedy. The flags will remain in place year-round, except during times of heavy snow.

A granite monument with a bronze plaque will stand beside the flag field, offering visitors a brief account of the Malmedy Massacre. A stone bench will provide a reflective space for those who wish to pause, remember or pray. The memorial area will be accessible by an ADA-compliant walkway and surrounded by plantings of red, white and blue flowers and several small flowering trees.

Community involvement is central to the project's design. The walkway surrounding the memorial will be lined with donor-sponsored, laser-etched brick pavers. Individuals, families, organizations and businesses are invited to purchase a paver in honor of one of the Malmedy soldiers.

Ten larger brick pavers - each bearing the name of one of the Lancaster County soldiers present at Malmedy - are available for sponsorship. Sixteen additional pavers will display World War II service branch insignias, mottos and Gold Star symbols honoring families who lost loved ones in the conflict.

The Rotary Club estimates the total cost of the memorial at $35,000 to $40,000. If fundraising progresses quickly, the goal is to complete and dedicate the site on Memorial Day 2026.

"If contributions exceed expectations, we hope to add a historical storyboard to the memorial space that would pictorially and descriptively convey the story of the Malmedy Massacre and the 10 Lancaster soldiers who were there," Christian said.

Community support will be essential in bringing the project to life. Donations of any amount will help ensure that the memorial stands as a lasting tribute to the men who never returned home and as an educational reminder for future generations.

Those wishing to contribute can visit http://www.mountjoyrotary.org and click on the Malmedy Massacre Memorial link or contact Rotarian Andy Dieck at 717-327-6912 or sfh@sheetzfuneralhome.com.