Our regular Wednesday meeting was opened at 12:21 by President Laura Camp.  A prayer was offered by Gerry Hanifan with a patriotic song led by Steve Wescott.  Today we had 23 of our members present, with 7 visitors.  Greetings were extended to our members by George Kaiser.

Guests today included: Terri Oswin, Newton Town Clerk and Deputy Town Manager; LeAnn Soroco, of Project Self Sufficiency; Val Frank; Randy Sprague, who is working on grants for Swartswood Lake relating to environmental impacts; Kathy Hoyer, of Stillwater Therapeutics; Michelle Kaminski, a faculty member at Kittatinny Regional High School; and, Erica McCarty, a senior at Kittatinny and also a member of the Interact Club at the school.

 

The first happy dollar was given by President Laura, as the wedding of her granddaughter came off successfully and now, she (Laura) can relax.

John Frank also gave a dollar, as Jan Pasculli was supposed to be at the club meeting today, but apparently got held up somewhere.

George Kaiser also gave a dollar, for being back here from Florida safe and sound.

Jim Porter ponied up a dollar because of the fact that he finally was able to return and attend a meeting.

Todd Lattig gave a dollar because Kittatinny Regional High School was represented at the club today.  He also provided the club treasury with another two dollars for different reasons, one of which is for his daughter has been accepted in the Disney Hospitality Leadership program.

 

 

 

NEW MEMBERS – This week, we will be inducting new members to the club.  Now that is getting back to normal!!

 

ROTARY QUILT – Denise said that she was down in Delaware and was successful in selling five tickets for the quilt raffle.  We still need someone to go to the Wallkill Club and show the quilt and sell tickets there.  Please coordinate that with Denise.

 

FOUR HEARTS PROGRAM – Carolyn said that we still needed $120 to make the $2,500 goal of funds raised by our club.  Jim Porter said that he would provide that amount.  As a result, we now have a total of $10,000 to work with for surgery for the kids.  A job very well done by all.  Special thanks also go to Carolyn and Denise for their matching amounts and to Carolyn’s employer who also will match what our club raised.

 

SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM - Laura noted that the scholarship program is now in the position to actually interview the students who are contending for the scholarships.  Barbara Miller is in charge of this committee.

 

GARDEN PARTY – Mike announced that there will be a meeting this week to go over the details for the annual garden party, which 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.

 

TOWN OF NEWTON – CLEAN UP AND CLEAN OUT EVENT – President Laura told us about the town’s Clean Up and Clean Out event to take place on Saturday, May 7^th.  Registration begins at 8:30 AM at the town DPW garage.  The garage is at the foot of Moran Street, past the car Inspection Station and just beyond Memory Park.  Breakfast will be provided at the garage for all volunteers.  A member of the town staff will be there to give out assignments to homes in the community where you will go to help clean out “stuff”.  All of us know about “stuff” that accumulates in a house over time.

Anyway, your help is needed and will be greatly appreciated.

 

Today our speaker was Bob Shankman, who was introduced by President Laura.  Bob’s topic was women in Rotary. 

It was interesting to note that the original Rotary in Chicago By-Laws simply referred to “members” without specifying gender.  Their By-Laws were changed in 1921 to specifically cite men as being the only parties to be considered for membership.

Bob noted that Laura was the first woman member of the Newton Rotary Club, being inducted in June 1988.  Her membership was made possible as a result of a US Supreme Court case.  On 4 May, 1987 the U.S. Supreme Court (in a 7-0 vote) ruled that Rotary Clubs may not exclude women from membership on the basis of gender. As a result of that decision, Rotary issued a policy statement that any Rotary Club in the United States can admit qualified women into membership. The Rotary Club of Marin Sunrise, California (formerly Larkspur Landing), was chartered on May 28 of that year.