The Rotary Club of Paradise invites music lovers of all ages to enjoy an evening of bluegrass and storytelling from critically acclaimed Travis Wetzel. Travis can be seen and heard almost every week on the Grand Ole Opry stage, but he’ll be in Lancaster, PA on December 8. Travis will be performing traditional and original music along with a few surprises including audience requests during the second half of the show. It’s a show you won’t want to miss!
With a successful disaster rebuild trip to N. Carolina this past July, we will return to New Bern N.C. Sunday February 23 - Saturday February 29, 2020. This past July seven D7390 Rotarians, along with eleven other folks, travelled free of cost on a Bailey Coach bus for a week of restoring homes severely damaged by Hurricane Florence in 2018. No previous skills required, home repair experience helpful. Open to Rotarians and non-Rotarians. Minimum age 16. Volunteer housing cost is $125/person. We will again work with Fuller Center Disaster ReBuilders; they provide volunteer housing/meals, skilled construction leadership, tools and qualified projects.
This trip we will also need a 'scribe', a person to take pictures, talk with home owners, write a story. Interested?
Do you have a passion for serving families in need? Got additional questions? Ready to sign up? Contact Peg Sennett, 717-630-8281, pegsennett@hotmail.com. Registration required no later than January 20th. Space may be limited, indicate your interest promptly.
We are very excited about our restaurant book for 2020! Our books are beautifully designed. We have a total of 20 restaurants that are participating.
A lot more than last year, but they are the same price as the books we sold for 2019.
The restaurants featured in our book for 2020 are the following: The First Post, Left Bank, Wyndridge Farm, Crostwater Distillery, Seven Sports Bar & Grill, The Great American Saloon, Moonlight Cafe, Roosevelt Tavern, The Staub’s Landing, John Wright Restaurant, Moon Dance Winery Cider House & Taproom, Tutoni’s Restaurant, Hamir’s Indian Fusion, The Cantina York, Viet Thai Cafe, The Eagle’s Nest Restaurant, Avenue Ale House & Pizza Loft, Aviano’s Corner Trattoria, Southside Cafe, Rocoto- Peruvian & Mexican Grill
The books are only $40!!! The savings are incredible! They will make great holiday gifts for family, friends, or coworkers. We are currently taking orders for the books. We are only printing and selling 400. We are not able to print more if we run out.
The Rotary Club of York sponsored the summer Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program at York High. The students in the program did weekly community service projects for various non-profit organizations. One of the projects was to make blankets and assemble care bags for the American Red Cross “Totes of Hope” Program. The “Totes of Hope” are given to homeless veterans and veterans in VA hospitals. The students made 23 blankets that were placed in “Totes of Hope” bags along with toiletries, socks, and a puzzle book.
On November 21, 2019, the students were awarded the Youth Impact Red Cross Hero Award by the South Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Red Cross for their work with the “Totes of Hope” Program. The Rotary Club of York donated the funds to purchase the blankets and Rotarians helped and interacted with the students at every blanket making session.
Some of the students in the program have recently been relocated to the mainland of the United States from Puerto Rico after losing their homes to Hurricane Maria. Providing the blankets to homeless veterans is a project that is very close to their hearts.
John Kramb, presented Major Donor Awards to John and Carol Petrie and Tom and Kathy Burson at a presentation during the club meeting of November 20th. The Major Donor Award recognized those who have made significant cash donations cumulatively to The Rotary Foundation typically over a period of time through multiple Paul Harris Fellow donations. John and Tom have been member of the Rotary Club of Mechanicsburg for 20 and 34 years respectively and have passionately supported The Rotary Foundation from the beginning.
The Paul Harris Fellow recognition acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, of US$1,000 to The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. It was established in 1957 to show appreciation for and encourage substantial contributions to what was then the Foundation’s only program, Rotary Foundation Fellowships for Advanced Study which later became the Ambassadorial Scholarship and is currently the Global Grant Scholarship Program. The Flondation has expanded to support many activities including Polio Plus, Global and District Grants and more.
District 7390 Foundation Chair, John Kramb, presented Major Donor Awards to John and Carol Petrie and Tom and Kathy Burson at a presentation during the club meeting of November 20th.
Carol and John Petrie (left), District 7390 Foundation Chair, John Kramb (center), Tom and Kathy Burson (right)
Mina Edmondson, Director of Martin Library, told us how rewarding it was for the library to receive the 2019 Library of the Year in Pennsylvania. Located at the corner of Market and Queen Streets since 1935, this city landmark has three levels of collection, program and gathering spaces. Here you can find the largest collection of books in York County, research expertise, over 70 computers, and learning experiences for all ages. Programs in the Children’s Library meet state standards for early childhood education and support students' individual growth. The Teen Forum provides a space for teens to have fun, explore opportunities, discuss issues and construct their futures. Pictured Left to Right: Mina Edmondson, Director and Hunter Mink, President Rotary York East
Hanover President, Craig Aiello, and Hanover Foundation Chair, Bob Miller, present Ellie Rebert with a Multiple Paul Harris Fellow pin at a recent meeting.
“The Four Way Speech Contest held by the Harrisburg Rotary Club was the best yet! Thanks to new leadership in the Rotary Four Way Committee, we saw record involvement and more powerful speeches than in previous years,” says Club President Joyce Libby.
This year, new Rotarian Toni Lynn Mark took over the Four Way Speech Contest committee. Toni said, “I genuinely find great joy in collaborating with others to build something powerful. I try to say “yes” whenever I can because I have seen what magic can happen when you bring together great people. So, when past president Andy Rebuck asked me to join Rotary in April 2019, I said yes. Then, when current President Joyce Libby asked me to run the Rotary Four Way speech contest only a few months later, I said yes again.”
Although Toni played a lead role in the speech contest, she notes that she couldn’t have done it without help. Toni said, “Although she’ll never take credit for it, President Joyce Libby and I took this on together. As professional career-driven mothers, she and I hit it off immediately, and we would often call each other after a school visit just to chat about the courage of the students. We rooted for them like they were our own. She made it easy to pull this together, even if I had only been a Rotarian for just a few short months. It reminded me that good leadership is something that should never be taken for granted.”
By visiting three local schools, almost 20 students expressed interest in and started to prepare speeches for the Four Way Speech Contest. Toni and Joyce worked extensively with the students and visited weekly to further refine and polish the speeches. When it came down to deciding, Toni and Joyce had 12 thoughtful and well-developed speeches to choose from. Choosing the final six was difficult. Toni described, “The students were so brave to share their personal struggles, and I felt honored to be the recipient of their message. I wanted to give the students and fellow Rotarians the same moving experience I had when I heard them stumble through their speeches for the very first time.”
The speech contest was held in the presentation auditorium at Toni’s institution, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. This room allowed students to speak in a professional environment in front of friends, classmates, family and Rotarians. Additionally, it was livestreamed to any of those that could not make it, including the families of the speech contestants.
Harrisburg Rotarians were impressed with the high caliber of the student speeches. Toni notes “After the speech contest, I was incredibly proud of the students. To share such personal journeys to so many strangers was a brave act. As they beamed with pride as countless Rotarians congratulated them, I knew I was able to help facilitate something special. That was the power of saying “Yes”.”
We look forward to seeing how our Club’s three contestants fair in the mid-levels and, hopefully, the finals!
BREAKING NEWS: Tsahai took first place and will advance to the finals. Gabrielle took 3rd. Congratulations to our winners and all who participated.
The Rotary Club of Harrisburg’s speech contest was conducted in a lecture hall of Harrisburg University.
Folks in the image, from left to right: Judge Dr. John “Ski” Sygielski, President, Harrisburg Area Community College – Rotarian; Student Junior Rodriguez – Harrisburg High; Judge Douglas “Doug” Fisher, Business Coach, Author and Instructor at Central Penn College & Past Toast Master Extraordinaire; Student Tsahai Johnson (winner) – Sci Tech; Student Gabrielle Mendoza (2nd place) – Harrisburg High; Judge Virginia “Ginny” Roth, President, PPO&S – Rotarian; Student Amina Hall (3rd place) - Cougar Academy; Student Alice Fuentes – Cougar Academy; Student Johnise Barber – Cougar Academy
Toni L. Mark Four Way Speech contest chair, Harrisburg University – Rotarian.