September 2, 2020 Newtarian (Mar 18, 2022)

NEWTON ROTARY CLUB

MINUTES OF MARCH 16, 2022

Our regular Wednesday meeting was opened at 12:08 by President Laura Camp. Prayer was led by Gerry Hanifan, with a song led by Steve Wescott. Today we had 16 of our members present, with 2 visitors. Todd Lattig introduced his wife Bernadette, and our guest speaker was Marine Cpl. Shawn Hall. Greetings were offered by Yoon-ju No.

HAPPY DOLLARS

President Laura asked if there were any Happy Dollars. Buz started with a clarification of his happy dollar last week. This week he offered a happy dollar for Rutgers basketball team in the hope that they win their basketball game against Notre Dame tonight which will give them the opportunity to get into the NCAA tournament. (Notre Dame beat Rutgers 89-87 in a double overtime game – sorry Buz).

Todd Lattig offered a dollar because he was happy to have his lovely wife Bernadette with him today. Normally she is at work, but this was in the middle of Spring Break for her.

Bud Luthman offered a dollar for the successful surgery for his daughter.

Laura chipped in as her daughter from Oswego, New York is now at her house. The family will be getting together for a bridal shower for her daughter on Saturday.

Charlie Grotyohann offered a dollar for his being able to get up to Newton from his office for our meeting today.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

President Laura noted that the membership book project is under the diligent care of Bob, Carol, and Alice. We will be hearing more about this project (which is an update of the book we prepared more than 20 years ago) in the near future. Laura added that she wants to make sure everyone in the club gets their picture and bio in this new book. Questionnaires have been mailed out a while ago, and those members who have not responded have already had another survey sent to them.

Since Carolyn was not with us today (away on vacation), Laura spoke briefly about the Two Hearts Program. She said that we have received a few checks since Carolyn’s announcement last week. Hopefully we can soon meet our goal of $2,500, the amount needed for a single heart surgery. Please remember that Carolyn will be personally matching every dollar we raise for this program. Additionally, her employer – Merrill Lynch – will also be matching dollar for dollar the final amount we as a club raise. So – if we raise all $2,500, then we will have effectively invested $7,500 for the project.

YOUR HELP IS NEEDED - Aid for Ukraine – The Wallkill Valley Rotary and the Sussex County YMCA have partnered to provide aid to the many men, women, and children impacted by the humanitarian crisis caused by Russia’s inhumane war against the people of Ukraine.

The collections dates run from March 8 to March 20, with the drop off site at the YMCA at 15 Wits End Road in Hardyston Township. It was stressed that thousands of each of these items are very much needed. The items they are in need of include:

First aid kits
Bandages
Water purification tablets/Aquatabs
Sleeping bags
Sleeping pads
Blankets
Thermal underwear
Socks
Flashlights and batteries
Baby formula
Diapers (all sizes)
Toothbrushes / toothpaste

Laura also announced that the club will be giving out scholarships to students in Newton High School, Kittatinny Regional High School, and the County Technical High School. Barbara Miller and Kurt Walton are heading up the committee for this project.

Speaker for Today

Cpl. Shawn Hall, U.S. Marine Corps

Today our speaker, introduced by Todd Lattig, was Cpl. Shawn Hall, the recruiting officer in the county for the U.S. Marine Corps. Shawn was raised in Netcong and graduated from Lenape Valley Regional High School. He signed up with the Marine Corps when he was 17, and formally entered the Corps after his 18^th birthday.

His responsibilities include counseling the young men and women before they go off to boot camp so that they can select the career path in the Corps that will best suit them. He also works with other recruiters to help them in their efforts to introduce the Corps to juniors and seniors in area high schools.

Shawn noted that boot camp lasts for 13 weeks. Following that, the new Marine is given a 10-day pass to go home or wherever they want to go, before they begin the next level of training. If they select the Infantry Training course, then they will be in that program for 3 months. If they pick the Marine Combat Training course, that will last 30 days. He also spoke about the Reserve Corps and when a Marine would be qualified for that.

Shawn stressed that their training focuses on the need for readiness at all times, as no one knows when a situation may arise that will require the active engagement of our armed forces somewhere in the world. Shawn also fielded questions from the members of the club.

Todd thanked Shawn for taking his time to come and talk with us today so that we might have a better understanding of the process young men and women when they join the Corps.

FINAL NOTE

Carl Lazzaro presented a small brass plaque to Jim Taylor – thanking him for making the beautiful wood speaker’s podium we use each week at club meetings. The plaque was then adhered to the front of the podium.

50/50

Bud Luthman nailed the weekly fund for a whopping total of $6. But when he went and picked a card from the diminishing deck of cards (the 3 of diamonds) – he left the ever-growing pot of roughly $228.00 on the table.

NEXT WEEK

Todd asked that I include the note that next week’s speaker will be our very own County Sheriff Mike Strada. I am not quite sure what he plans to talk about, but it will afford us the chance to question him about anything to do with law enforcement in the county.

ADJOURNMENT

With no other business to come before the club, the meeting was formally adjourned by President Laura at 1:10 pm.

Respectfully submitted

Wayne T. McCabe