Home Page | Rotary Club of Tunkhannock

September 2020
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“More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. That’s 17 percent of the world’s adult population.

Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy. We support education for all children and literacy for children and adults.

The Rotary Foundation supports education through scholarships, donations, and service projects around the world.”

From: https://www.rotary.org/en/our-causes/supporting-education

Rotary District 7410 Fundraiser

Enter for a chance to win a 2020 Harley Softail motorcycle, or $10,000 cash! For $25 per ticket, you will be entered in a drawing to win, and choice of prize is yours! Proceeds go to helping all 41 Rotary clubs in Northeastern PA help the members of their communities. BE SURE TO CHOOSE TUNKHANNOCK CLUB to receive your ticket credit. Must be 18 years of age to enter. https://go.rallyup.com/rotarydistrict7410/tunkhannock

Only 2,500 tickets will be sold with ticket sales closing on Sept 26. The drawing will take place live streaming on Oct 1, 2020 at 7 PM.

Due to the COVID-19 restrictions and for the safety of the community, the Tunkhannock Rotary has determined they will not be able to hold the Rotary Harvest and Wine Festival this year on October 10, 2020, and are in the process of working toward an Oct 9, 2021 Festival.

In the meantime, the Club is adapting to the changes that are necessary and looking into multiple other fund-raising activities, one of which has a wine theme, to help continue to support our local community organizations. Details will be communicated on our website and Facebook pages as soon as they become available.

On the first and third Thursday's of every month, the Tunkhannock Rotary will hold a flash club meeting at 5:30 PM at Shadowbrook Inn & Resort. This is a 15-30 minute meeting for those members or prospective members who cannot make our regular 12:15 PM meeting. If they so desire, members and guests can stay after the meeting for drinks and/or dinner.

If you are interested in joining Rotary, but cannot make our luncheon meetings, please join us at one of our Thursday flash meetings to learn more about Rotary and our international and community based activities.

Welcome to our Website!

Service Above Self

We meet Thursdays at 12:15 PM
Shadowbrook Inn and Resort

201 Resort Lane
Tunkhannock, PA 18657
United States of America

District Site

Bulletins

Rotarians Golf in Support of Spinal Cord Research

The annual Kevin Kitchnefsky Golf Tournament took place on Sunday, Sep 13 at Stonehedge Country Club. This event is a fund-raiser for the Kevin Kitchnefsky Foundation for Spinal Cord Research. Kevin, who was partially paralyzed in a work accident, was honored by the Club 2 years ago with a Paul Harris Fellow.

Tunkhannock Rotary was one of the event sponsors and also supplied a team of 4 lady golfers (Terri Detrick, Sandy Lane, Mary Tempest and Susan Kelly).

(l to r): Sandy Lane, Terri Detrick, Mary Tempest & Susan Kelly

Additionally, Rotarian Peter Sehne had his own team. Rotarian Mike Markovitz also played on his own team from Northeast Data that has been a recurring event sponsor.

Julianne Miller Spoke at Sep 10 Luncheon

The guest speaker at the Sep 10 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook Inn & Resort was Julianne Miller, the President of the Tunkhannock Business and Professional Women (BPW).

BPW/USA, founded in 1919, promotes equality for all women in the workplace through advocacy, education, and information. BPW is making a big impact on the world. In PA, there are currently 75 chapters with over 1,800 members. It was one of the first women’s organizations to formally endorse the Equal Rights Amendment in 1937.

Tunkhannock BPW was organized in 1947 by Frances Coleman and they supported the first dental clinic in Wyo Cty. Among their various supports for women's rights, they teach women about physical & emotional abuse, advocate for affordable options for child care and care giving, have a Young Careerist program to encourage women to speak strongly and assertively, and promote equal wages for equal experience and education.

Julianne Miller, Tunkhannock BPW President

Pres. Terri Reunited with Her Gavel

At the Sep 10 Rotary Luncheon, Pres. Terri was initially downcast to not find her missing gavel waiting for her at her table, even though the Club had raised $306 for the Rotary Foundation, surpassing the Wicked Witch of the West's demand for at least $225. However, unbeknownst to Terri, the Wicked Witch had swooped in on her broom outside of the meeting room and gave the gavel to the waitress to deliver to Terri with her lunch. Pres. Terri was overjoyed to see her missing gavel, who was also very, very happy to see Pres. Terri.

Happy Pres. Terri reunited with her happy “precious gavel”

Although in view of its 6 week absence, gavel should have been quarantined for 2 weeks before interacting with Pres. Terri, Terri was so excited to get her “precious” back that she held onto it tightly through most of the meeting, afraid to put it down.

Pres. Terri later remarked that gavel seemed to be in amazingly good condition and did not appear to be too traumatized by its experiences with the Wicked Witch. Luckily, although he was standing by, EMT Mike Markovitz’s services were gratefully not needed.

Pres Terri sends everyone a big Thank You for saving her Gavel from a fiery end at the hands of the Wicked Witch of the West!!

The End (for now or is it?)

Pres. Terri's Gavel Saved From a Fiery Fate

It is a great relief to announce that Pres. Terri's gavel-napped "precious gavel" has been saved from a possible fiery fate. The Wicked Witch of the West threatened that unless the Club raised at least $225 for the Rotary Foundation by Sep 7, that Terri's gavel would be used as kindling for her Labor Day cauldron fire. Luckily, the Club raised $306 to ransom Pres. Terri's "precious". Now we just wait to see when and how the Wicked Witch will release gavel.

DG Joe Loughman & AG Dave Palmer Spoke at Sep 3 Rotary Luncheon

Tunkhannock Rotary was pleased to welcome District 7410 Governor (DG) Joe Loughman, Past DG Marcia Loughman (District 7410 Foundation Chair) and Assistant Governor (AG) Grant Palmer's Assistant Dave Palmer (District 7410 Polio Plus Chair) to our Sep 3 meeting at Shadowbrook Inn & Resort.

DG Joe introduced his background in Rotary and his aspirations for his year as DG. Although the challenges of COVID-19 have made this an atypical tenure, DG Joe and his teams have been introducing novel fundraiser and online events to engage District Rotarians. He also commented on the importance of "fun" as part of each Rotarians experiences in their Club.

District 7410 Governor Joe Loughman

AG Assistant Dave spoke about his role as chair of the Polio Plus District Committee. Oct 24 is World Polio Day and he is urging all Club to plan a event for that day to educate about the threat of polio and to raise money to help eradicate it through the Rotary Foundation (RF). The District is planning several ventures to remind people about the threat of polio. AGA Dave also pointed out the RF is using the infrastructure set up for polio vaccinations to help with the COVID-19 crisis in some countries.

Assistant Governor's Assistant Dave Palmer

Jean Ruhf Spoke at Aug 27 Rotary Luncheon

Our guest speaker at our Aug 27 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook Inn & Resort was Jean Ruhf. Jean is the Executive Director of the Endless Mountains Visitors Bureau, which covers Wyoming, Sullivan and Susquehanna Counties.

The biggest impact of COVID is to our restaurants, lodging and small businesses. Restaurants are taking the biggest hits.

Free Bureau membership now open to businesses or anyone doing tourist activities, since businesses can’t afford to pay.

They are looking at doing an outdoor adventure guide next year along with Bradford County. It should be in print in Feb 2021.

State parks are being fully booked for camping through the end of the year. There has been a huge increase in camping including traveling along Route 6.

Jean Ruhf, Executive Director of the Endless Mountains Visitors Bureau

Tunkhannock Rotary's 95th Anniversary

Prior to Tunkhannock Rotary's 95th Anniversary on Aug 25, club members gathered at Stonehedge Country Club to celebrate the incredible history of the Club. The Club was chartered on Aug 25, 1925 by Rotary International after having been sponsored by the Rotary Club of Pittston.

Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the celebration was held with masks and social distancing and was attended in person and via Zoom by club members. Current President Terri Detrick presided over the proceedings, which included party hats, balloons, celebratory cupcakes and an obligatory group photo. Note that Pres. Terri is holding the Club Computer showing the Zoom participants, although I defy anyone to be able to see who actually was on Zoom at that time, but in this new technological and COVID age, such hybrid photos/meetings may become the norm.

Stanley Knick, Jr. Spoke at Aug 13 Rotary Luncheon

Our guest speaker at the Aug 13 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook Inn & Resort was Pennsylvania Game Commissioner, Stanley Knick, Jr. Commissioner Knick provided an update on the Game Commission during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The staff worked from home to keep everything going. Wardens, dispatchers and deputies keep working, but with social distancing. Some projects were put on the back burner.

They had to shut down most land management crews, but the Governor allowed them to come back to maintain fields and roads with separate trucks for the staff. Headquarters were reopened only for key personnel.

PA Game Commissioner Stanley Knick, Jr.

Update on Pres. Terri's Gavel

Important information has now been revealed on President Terri’s missing gavel. It appears that the very evil Wicked Witch of the West flew down while invisible and gavel-napped Terri’s “precious” at the end of the July 30^th Rotary meeting.

The poor gavel was stunned by a witch’s spell, so it could not cry out for help at the time. Gavel is now hoping we will “help” to rescue it from the evil clutches of the Wicked Witch before she uses it for kindling for her cauldron fires.

Anonymous sources have said that this gavel-napping is in retaliation for Terri wearing a comical inflatable witch’s hat for Halloween 2019, when she is not really a witch, a witch-in-training or even a soccer’s apprentice. The Wicked Witch was not amused!

A threatening ransom note has just been received with the demands for the return of the gavel (below).

Heather McPherson Provides School Update at Aug 6 Luncheon

Our guest speaker at the Aug 6 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook Inn & Resort was Tunkhannock Area School District Superintendent Heather McPherson. Heather discussed the extensive and comprehensive plans for the upcoming school year beginning Monday Aug 31. She outlined the plans for facilities/bus sanitization, temperature monitoring of the students/teachers, mask and social distance guidelines. Class sizes will be reduced to 8-12 students.

For Kindergarten to grade 6, children will attend in person classes 5 days per week, including some classes at the old Mehoopany school.

For Grades 7-12, they will follow a hybrid schedule. A/B rotation, 2 days/week in person and 3 days online. One group does Mon & Wed and they are given assignments for other 3 days. Other group does Tues & Thurs and are given assignments for other 3 days. No in-person classes on Fridays, so teachers can prepare assignments.

TASD Fusion C3 Cyber Academy will allow students to work online 5 days per week. This cyber schooling will also work for both students and staff, who are considered high risk. There are currently 200 students registered for TASD Fusion C3.

TASD Superintendent Heather McPherson

President Terri's Gavel Disappears on July 31

At the July 30 Rotary Meeting at Shadowbrook Inn & Resort, President Terri Detrick's gavel was gavel-napped by an unknown individual.

Every year, after their installation, the current Club President must guard their gavel with extreme care. Gavels have been known to walk away, accidently get lost and even disappear in plain sight. This fun-loving tradition has been ongoing for at least 20 years, with some very inventive and humorous incidents chronicled for the gavel during its absence from its President.

The gavel can be reunited with its owner either by the President paying a ransom to the Club or the Club taking up a collection for a donation to the Rotary Foundation at the Officer Installation and Awards Banquet at the end of the year to redeem the gavel for the outgoing President.

Erica Rogler Spoke at July 30 Rotary Luncheon

Erica Rogler of the Dietrich Theater was the guest speaker at the July 30 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook Inn & Resort. Erica began her talk by thanking the Rotary for their Spring donation to the Dietrich Theater which helped to fund some of the children's programs and Chair Yoga.

After the mandated closing on March 17, staff and teachers made movie recommendations, curated a home movie experience and activities including chair yoga. They did curbside popcorn on Fridays when Wyoming County went green. They have been resuming some classes such as Yoga in the park and a few small classes for 6 children.

Currently, the theaters can only hold 12-25 people each, masks required when moving around but can take off masks when eating/drinking in seats. Since no new releases, they are doing some classics and popular films and the staff have been dressing up in costumes to suit each film. First release movie will be Aug 21, Unhinged with Russell Crowe, and second new movie release in early Sept.

Aug 7-13, they will have a mini-fest starting up. She suggests you purchase your movie tickets in advance, so you will not be turned away on the day.

The Week of Aug 7, you can rent a theater for $200 to watch a Blu-Ray or DVD movie with up to 15 attendees (one they have or bring your own movie).

Erica Rogler

Michael Markovitz Spoke at July 23 Rotary Luncheon

At the July 23 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook Inn and Resort, Rotarian Mike Markovitz, President and Chief of the Tunkhannock Community Ambulance Association (TCAA) was the speaker. Mike gave a short history of the TCAA, outlined its current capabilities and primary service areas.

Mike then spoke about the challenges faced by the 8 ambulance associations serving Wyoming County due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Masks and gloves are required for all ambulance staff on call-out and more draconian garb is required if the patient has any symptoms consistent with COVID-19, including N95 masks, disposable gowns/coveralls, shields and double gloves. The Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) is expensive, especially when all ambulance staff must wear them during their run, and was not considered in any of their budgets for 2020.

Tunkhannock Inducts New Officers/Directors

At the Jun 25, 2020 Rotary meeting at Shadowbrook Inn & Resort, the new officers for 2020-2021 were inducted by Assistant Governor for Cluster 2 Dave Palmer.

Terri Detrick was inducted as President for 2020-2021, with Past Pres. Sandy Lane pinning Terri. Terri then pinned Sandy with her Past President pin and Sandy performed the passing of the gavel to Terri.

AG Dave then inducted all the club officers and directors for 2020-2021 including:

Officers
Mary Tempest - President Elect
Mike Markovitz- Vice President
Sandy Lane - Immediate Past Pres.
Elaine Walker -Treasurer
Carol Ziomek - Secretary

Directors
Ruth Gorski - Director
Francine Kanyok - Director
Norman Kelly - Director
Susan Kelly - Director
Samantha Maruzzelli - Director
John Proctor - Director
Ann Way – Director
Dave Wilson - Director

After the Officers/Directors installation, Past Pres. Sandy gave her year-end summary to the members, which was followed by Pres. Terri Detrick's Presidential Address.

Incoming Pres. Terri Detrick (left) being pinned by Pres. Sandy Lane

I like to start by thanking you all for your trust and support as I begin my journey as your Tunkhannock Rotary President.

I was honored to be invited to join Rotary in 2018 at the invitation of Club Secretary, Carol Ziomek. It’s been a busy 2 years learning about Rotary and getting involved in our Club’s projects.

I’m sure it comes as no surprise to you that I’ve approached Rotary and most everything I do, with the question Why?

Why do we do it this way? Why can’t we? Why should we? Why don’t we? Lot’s of Whys!

Like many of you I believe that we have to understand the Why before we can take action. And time and time again, Tunkhannock Rotarians show they are People of Action!

When Rotary International President-elect 2020-2021, Holger Knaack announced his theme Rotary Opens Opportunities he was quoted as saying “We will capture this moment to grow Rotary, making it stronger, more adaptable, and even more aligned with our core values.”

What are those core values? FELLOWSHIP - INTEGRITY - DIVERSITY - SERVICE - LEADERSHIP

For me, those are the “Why” we do what we do.

Rotary International has set forth a 5-year Strategic Plan to address the How. The plan has 4 areas of focus:

Increase our impact;
Expand our reach;
Enhance participant engagement; and,
Increase our ability to adapt.

Those are all things we are already doing as a club. They are things we can build on.

As we begin the 2020-2021 my goal is for our Club to establish its own Strategic Plan to define and measure how we address those areas and to create continuity for the future leaders of the club.

Finally, I’ll end with a statement from the Rotary International website…

The world today is not the same as it was when Rotary was founded in 1905. Demographics have shifted, the pace of change has accelerated, and technology has created new opportunities for connection and service. What hasn’t changed is a need for the values that define Rotary: By honoring our past and embracing our future, we can evolve and keep Rotary not only relevant, but thriving.

Due to the closing of Purkey's Pink Apple, our weekly Rotary Meetings will now be held at Shadowbrook Inn and Resort, 201 Resort Lane in Tunkhannock. The meetings will still begin on Thursday at 12:15 PM with a meal. Please select your meal options and pay for your meal before taking your seats.

To comply with State and CDC guidance, masks (except during the meal) and social distancing will be required.

For those, who choose not to attend in person, a Zoom option will be available starting at 12:15 PM for the business meeting and any scheduled speaker presentations. Further details and a Zoom link will be included in the weekly reminder sent to members every Tues morning.

The Rotary Club of Tunkhannock was officially chartered on Aug 25, 1925 by Rotary International President Donald A. Adams (1925-26) and Chesley R. Perry, Rotary Secretary (now called General Secretary). The RI assigned Club No. was 2109, which can be generally interpreted as our Club being approximately the 2,109^th Club admitted to Rotary. However in 1951, the charter numbers were discontinued and a new Club Number assigned that has no relation to the historic charter certificate numbers, hence we became Club 5408.

On Aug 25, 1925, the Rotary Club of Tunkhannock had 19 charter members (see below). The Club was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Pittston and its first President was William A. Kittredge.

Among the charter members of the Club, was a world-famous Olympic track & field athlete, Walter Beardsley Tewksbury, who became known as "the man who put Tunkhannock on the map" after the 1900 Paris Olympics, as well as, members of many prominent families in the area.

The regular weekly meetings of the Tunkhannock Club were held on Fridays at 12:15 PM at the Hotel Graham, which became the Hotel Prins and later Prince Hotel. With the sale and closure of the Prince Hotel for renovations in late 2009, the Club met at several locations (Twigs, Remingtons, Purkey’s Pink Apple and the Bogey Room at Shadowbrook) before finally selecting and moving in 2010 to Purkey's Pink Apple for its lunchtime meetings every Thursday at 12:15 PM. With the closure of the Pink Apple in June 2020, the Club moved its Thursday meetings to Shadowbrook Inn and Resort.

Rotarians Golf in Support of Spinal Cord Research

The annual Kevin Kitchnefsky Golf Tournament took place on Sunday, Sep 13 at Stonehedge Country Club. This event is a fund-raiser for the Kevin Kitchnefsky Foundation for Spinal Cord Research. Kevin, who was partially paralyzed in a work accident, was honored by the Club 2 years ago with a Paul Harris Fellow.

Tunkhannock Rotary was one of the event sponsors and also supplied a team of 4 lady golfers (Terri Detrick, Sandy Lane, Mary Tempest and Susan Kelly).

(l to r): Sandy Lane, Terri Detrick, Mary Tempest & Susan Kelly

Additionally, Rotarian Peter Sehne had his own team. Rotarian Mike Markovitz also played on his own team from Northeast Data that has been a recurring event sponsor.

2020/2021 Rotary Theme: Rotary Opens Opportunities

RI President Holger Knaack stated in his Presidential Address: Rotary is not just a club that you join. It is an invitation to endless opportunities. It opens opportunities to serve in a project as big and historic as End Polio Now and also in a small community project, where you just plant a tree.

And it opens opportunities for you to live a richer, more meaningful life, with friends around the world, based on our core values.

As Rotarians, we are very blessed to take on leadership roles at this wonderful moment for our organization.

Everything we do opens another opportunity for someone, somewhere.

Therefore, the theme for our year is: Rotary Opens Opportunities.

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Welcome to our Website!

Service Above Self

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September 2020
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
30	31	01	02	03	04	05
06	07	08	09	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	01	02	03

September 2020
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
30	31	01	02	03	04	05
06	07	08	09	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	01	02	03

September 2020
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
30	31	01	02	03	04	05
06	07	08	09	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	01	02	03