Our regular Wednesday meeting was opened exactly at 12:20 PM by President Laura Camp.  A prayer was offered by Carl Lazzaro, followed by a patriotic song led by Alden Welsh.  Today we had 20 of our members present, with 3 visitors.  Greetings were extended to our members by Capt. John Frank.

Guests today included: Marge McCabe, of Newton; Eileen Eberhardt; and, Bill Sansone of Fredon Township.

 

Before getting into the Happy Dollars, information and the actual program, President Laura first asked Past President Carl Lazzaro to take over the program.  Carl asked Wayne to step forward and said some kind words before announcing that Wayne had first been inducted as a member in 1980 and thus was eligible for his 40-year pin.  Carl produced the pin and put it on Wayne’s vest, and then gave him a hug.  Wayne, somewhat surprised by all this, noted that his sponsor was Bill Houghton, who was President of the Club at that time.

 

Carl Luthman won the prize for the day by donating five dollars – first for having been down to his daughter’s house to help celebrate his granddaughter’s 13^th birthday.  He then regaled those present with his tales about the flight to his daughter’s and the privations he had to endure.  The highlight of his trip was the interaction he had with “Rolling Thunder.”  The major function of Rolling Thunder®, Inc. is to publicize the POW-MIA issue: To educate the public that many American Prisoners of War were left behind after all previous wars and to help correct the past and to protect future Veterans from being left behind should they become Prisoners of War-Missing In Action. We are also committed to helping American Veterans from all wars.  Rolling Thunder, Inc. is a non-profit organization and everyone donates his or her time because they believe in the POW/MIA Issue.

 

Todd Lattig donated a buck in honor of his daughter being involved with the stage production of The Little Mermaid.  Todd had two other reasons for his donation, but I was not able to keep up with them as he rattled them off.

 

Finally, Buz Tomasino put a dollar into the collection bin – for Wayne having done a great job with producing the newsletter these last two months.  (Thank you very much Buz !!).

 

 

 

LETTER FROM R.I. PRESIDENT – Laura spoke briefly about a letter she had received from the President of Rotary International.  Apparently, he has a vision about fellowship and service in our communities and being all inclusive.  OK – so the question begs to be asked – are we doing something wrong, and the answer is NO.  We have for 100 years been on the right track and we will continue in this same manner to help out the less fortunate in our community and well beyond the boundaries of our community.

 

ROTARY QUILT – Denise said that she is going to be attending the Blairstown Club.  We still need someone to go to the Wallkill Club and show the quilt and sell tickets there.  Please coordinate that with Denise.

 

UPDATED MEMBERSHIP BOOK – Alice noted that she will be taking pictures today for the new membership book.  So, before you leave, see Alice about getting your mugshot.  Just remember, we are not holding up a set of numbers on a board in front of you.  For those members who were not here today, please make every effort to attend in the next two weeks so Alice can photograph you for the book.

 

NEIGHBOR HELPING NEIGHBOR – Laura reminded us that this Saturday at 8:30 the Neighbor Helping Neighbor program will take place in Newton, starting down at Memory Park, where the very large DPW garage is located.  Just come on down, register and enjoy a breakfast before going out to individual homes or working a more public area.  This is a very worthwhile program, exemplifying service above self.

 

GARDEN PARTY – There will be a meeting of the crew staffing the Garden Party Committee this week.  The annual event will be held on Saturday, June 25, at the Denise Current farm in Stillwater. The theme for the party this year will be WORLD PEACE.  Everyone will be encouraged to bring food that represents their own particular ethnic background.

 

Today our speaker was Heather Thompson, who was introduced by Incoming President Todd.  Heather is the Chief Development Officer for NORWESCAP, which is headquartered in Phillipsburg.  Heather’s topic was what is NORWESCAP and what the organization does in its five-county service area. 

NORWESCAP’s work throughout the five northwestern counties of the state empowers individuals and families to shift away from the crisis of poverty and towards a future where they can not only just survive but thrive. The mission of the organization is to strengthen communities by creating opportunities to improve the lives of low-income individuals and families. The organization also envisions helping to build a community that transforms poverty into opportunity, according to the executive director of NORWESCAP.

In the year 2021, the following statistics provide a quick insight into how much assistance this organization has rendered to individuals and families in our communities that are in dire need:

An extremely impressive record by any standard for a single year of activity.  Todd thanked Heather for joining us for lunch and providing us with an understanding of what her agency does and how it is helping those individuals and families in our community who are less fortunate than us.

 

Frank Eberhardt once again nailed the weekly fund for a healthy total of $8.  But when he went and picked a card from the diminishing deck of cards (the 7 of spades) – he left the ever-growing pot of $298.50 on the table.

 

The speaker for next week’s program (May 11^th) will be Julie Decker, an upperclassman at Newton High School.  The topic she will be talking about is called “Love Without Boundaries.”

 

With no other business to come before the club, the meeting was formally adjourned by President Laura at 1:16 pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Wayne T. McCabe

Past President (’88 – ’89)