Home Page | Rotary Club of Tunkhannock

On the first and third Thursdays of every month, the Tunkhannock Rotary has a flash club meeting at 5:30 PM at Shadowbrook. This is a 15-30 minute meeting for those members or prospective members who cannot make our regular 12:15 PM meeting.

Dietrich Theater Gets Support From Rotary

At the Jan 23 Tunkhannock Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook, President-Elect Elaine Walker presented a check for $3,000 to Executive Director Erica Rogler for the Dietrich Theater.

Erica thanked the Rotary for this donation, which was made possible from the proceeds from the 2022 Rotary Harvest & Wine Festival.

Erica then briefly described that the annual donations from Rotary have helped support the 4 Film Festivals, which were attended by 5,403 people in 2022. Rotary funds were also used to help support the Golden Days of Radio and the Music for Littles Programs.

Erica Rogler (right) accepted a check from President-Elect Elaine Walker on behalf of the Dietrich Theater

Rotary Supports Seven Loaves Soup Kitchen

At the Jan 23 Tunkhannock Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook, President-Elect Elaine Walker presented a check for $2,000 to Raleigh Bloch, President of the Seven Loaves Soup Kitchen Board of Directors.

Raleigh thanked the Rotary for this donation, which was made possible from the proceeds of the 2022 Rotary Harvest & Wine Festival.

He then provided a brief update on the challenges the organization has faced since the COVID-19 pandemic. He indicated that pre-pandemic, they were serving meals to approximately 42 people per night to now over 100 per night, with an all-time high of 155 on one night. They have now partnered with local churches, who are delivering food to people who cannot make it to the facility.

They have installed a whole-facility back-up generator to protect the food in their freezers/refrigerators and to allow guests to be served in a heated or air-conditioned facility during any power failures.

Right now, they are dealing with leaks in their metal roof and hope to replace the roof this summer.

Raleigh Bloch (right) accepted a check from President-Elect Elaine Walker on behalf of the Seven Loaves Soup Kitchen.

D.A. Joseph Peters Inducted into Rotary

At the Jan 26 Rotary Meeting, Membership Co-Chair Ron Furman inducted Wyoming County District Attorney Joseph Peters into Rotary. Joe was sponsored by Frank Oliver.

Joe was a cop who became a lawyer, chief of PA bureau of narcotics investigation, mafia prosecutor in Philly, 4 years in White House as deputy drug czar (2 yrs with Clinton and 2 yr with Bush). He was elected Wyoming County District Attorney in 2022. He has learned that best results are from grass root community responses.

Please join us in welcoming Joe as our newest Rotarian.

L to R: Frank Oliver, DA Joseph Peters and Ron Furman

TAHS Interact Club Honored at Jan 19 Luncheon

Officers of the Tunkhannock Area High School Interact Club were guests at the Jan 19 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook. The Interact Club has been doing an outstanding job raising money for various charitable endeavors as well as, assisting the Rotary Club with some of its community benefiting activities. Their faculty advisor is Tommasina Fiorillo and club mentors are Rotarians Laura Charles and Dave Wilson.

TAHS Chorus Sang at Jan 19 Luncheon

Some members of the Tunkhannock Area High School Chorus serenaded the members at the Jan 19 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook.

HANDS and Library Donations

At the Jan 12 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook, Tunkhannock Rotary President Mike Markovitz presented checks for $5,000 and $4,000 respectively to HANDS of Wyoming County and the Tunkhannock Public Library. The proceeds from the Rotary Harvest and Wine Festival made these donations possible.

L to R: HANDS Executive Director Kathy Frank and Financial Officer Alisha Myers and Library Executive Director Dellana Diovisalvo accepted the checks from Pres. Mike on behalf of their organizations.

Mike Markovitz Spoke at Jan 5 Luncheon

The speaker for the Jan 5 Rotary Luncheon was Club President Mike Markovitz, who spoke about the challenges and needs of the Tunkhannock Community Ambulance Association (TCAA) since the closure of Tyler Hospital. He related that ambulance runs that might take 1 hr when Tyler was opened, can now take 3-5 hr with travel to Wilkes-Barre or Scranton hospitals with crammed Emergency Rooms. This has impacted their daily operations, especially with a lack of volunteers to help man the ambulance service.

The TCAA has had to turn to paid staff to cover many shifts, which has a negative impact on their financials, especially due to the additional need to invest in equipment to help a little to offset the impact of fewer staff. The TCAA is currently recruiting both paid and volunteer staff, but even paid staff are difficult to find these days.

Sarah Streby is Newest Rotarians

At the Jan 5 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook, Membership Chair Mary Tempest inducted Sarah Streby into Rotary. Sarah's sponsor was Frank Oliver. Please join us in welcoming Sarah as our newest Tunkhannock Rotarian.

L to R: Frank Oliver, Mary Tempest & Sarah Streby

Rotary Supports Children's Christmas Gifts

The Tunkhannock Rotary uses some of the proceeds from the Harvest & Wine Festival to provide its annual donation for gifts for Children in the Ruth Matthews Bourger Women with Children Program at Misericordia University and this year was no different.

This program provides single mothers, who are economically disadvantaged, "the opportunity to complete a college degree, creating brighter futures for themselves and for their children".

To help these families have a great Christmas with their children, various community organizations and donors provide funds to buy Christmas presents for the children.

Christmas Gifts for Wyoming County Children

At the Dec 8 Tunkhannock Rotary Luncheon, President Mike Markovitz Sr. presented checks for $3,000 each to representatives from Interfaith Friends and Wyoming County Children and Youth. Mike was also chair of the Black Friday Candy Cane Day collections with on day coordination of the event provided by his Rotarian son Mike Markovitz, Jr. The $6,000 was used to buy Christmas gifts for children in need in Wyoming County.

On behalf of Interfaith Friends, Mary Foley thanked the club for this donation and her colleague Carissa Harvey noted that they have 165 registered families with 525 children signed up with Interfaith this year.

John Alunni also thanked the club for all the work that went into setting up this fundraiser. He was very grateful for the donation, particularly due to the current financial climate and increasing costs. As a result of this money, children in their purview “will experience the magic of Christmas”.

This event has been an annual Rotary fundraiser for over 32 years. In exchange for monetary donations, shoppers were offered individually wrapped candy canes as a thank you. The candy canes were generously donated by Northeast Data, Inc.

Over 40 Rotarians, Interactors, family and friends braved the weather on Black Friday to collect donations from generous shoppers at 4 shopping plazas in Tunkhannock. Coffee, donuts and hot cocoa to fuel the collection teams were provided by Dunkin Donuts.

L to R: Pres. Mike Markovitz with Mary Foley and Carissa Harvey from Interfaith Friends.
L to R: Pres. Mike Markovitz presenting check to John Alunni for Wyoming County Children & Youth.

Rotarians Play Bingo with Seniors

As part of the Club’s Program to support senior citizens in Wyoming County, a few Rotarians go to the Wyoming County Active Adult Center to play bingo with the attendees. Jodi Crimmel, Robin Rome, Patti Ehrenzeller, Samantha Maruzzelli and Mary Tempest go on the second Tuesday of the month after lunch. Usually there are 20-25 participants, and they play about 20 games with small prizes.

New Officers and Directors for 2023-2024

Congratulations to the new Officers and Directors elected on Dec. 1 for the 2023-2024 Rotary year.

Officers:

President – 2023-2024 – Elaine Walker

President (Elect) – 2024-2025 – Ann Way

Vice President – Mary Tempest

Treasurer – Laura Charles

Secretary – Jill Tague (with Sandy Lane – Co-Secretary/Director)

Directors – 2023 – 2024

Mike Markovitz Sr – Immediate Past President

Terri Detrick

Francine Kanyok

Samantha Maruzzelli

John Proctor

Scott Walburn

David Wilson

Ryan Visneski

2022 Norm Werkheiser Memorial Tree

After the Dec 1 Rotary Luncheon, Rotarians gathered outside the Dietrich Theater to erect and decorate a memorial tree in honor of long-time Rotarian Norm Werkheiser (March 20, 1926 - Jan. 11, 2022). Norm was very active in Rotary for almost 46 years and in addition to applying his carpentry skills to make the Rotary "Take one, leave one" book libraries throughout Tunkhannock and a beautiful Rotary clock for the club meeting area, Norm and his family supported Rotary events such as the July 3rd fireworks and the Harvest & Wine Festival.

At the July 3r Fireworks, they made and sold snow cones with proceeds donated to the club.

Norm and his family also provided key support for our annual Harvest & Wine Festival where Norm was in charge of ordering and delivering the Festival wine glasses, providing signage for the Festival grounds, storing the supplies between Festivals, and cleaning up and recycling bottles and boxes after the event.

New and Seasoned Rotarian Orientation

New and seasoned Rotarians met for a Rotary orientation on Tues. 11/22/22 at 6:30 PM at Tri-County Insurance /Progressive Insurance Meeting Room. The following topics were discussed: Rotary Basics, Structure of Rotary, Club Runner, Foundation, Service Projects, District and International Events, and Youth Exchange.

Candy Cane Day Thank You

Thank you to everyone who donated to our collection buckets manned by Tunkhannock Rotarians, Interactors, and families and friends at several locations in town on Black Friday, Nov. 25. Money collected from this event will be given to Interfaith Friends & Wyoming County Children and Youth to provide Christmas gifts to children in need in Wyoming County.

Nov Tunkhannock Rotary Social

On Wed Nov. 9, there was a Club social at the meeting room at Tri-County General Insurance offices. Members and their families gathered for some socializing and networking and a good time was had by all. An album with photos taken by Jeannie Brady can be found on our website with a few photos below.

Tunkhannock Rotarians Attend District 7410 Conference

The weekend of Nov 4 was the District 7410 Conference at Shadowbrook. Many club members attended various sessions/events at the Conference since it took place in our area. A photo album of pictures taken by Jeannie Brady is now available for viewing on our website. Below are two group photos from the Conference Dinner.

Jodi Crimmel Updates Club on Haitian Farm

At the Oct 13 Rotary luncheon at Shadowbrook, the Club heard from Rotarian Jodi Crimmel about her recent sojourn in Haiti.

Jodi showed pictures of the 21 acres of farmland that were purchased and being tested to see what type of crops can most effectively grow there. Crops from parcels of land on the farm will be cultivated by individuals to provide crops for them to use or sell.

They will also be raising geese and ducks. Native materials such as bamboo are being used for construction projects.

Jodi also showed pictures of the John Deere tractor that is being shipped to Haiti for use on the Farm. Tunkhannock Rotary is one of the organizations that contributed to the purchase of the tractor.

Welcome to Newest Member

At the Oct 13 lunch meeting at Shadowbrook, Club Membership Chair Mary Tempest inducted A. Stacy Huber (left), mayor of Tunkhannock, into Rotary. He was sponsored by Harry Sharpe (right).

Stacy is a former Rotarian and indicated he was very happy to be back in Rotary.

Tunkhannock Rotarians at Zone Training

Recently, 2 members of Tunkhannock Rotary, District 7410 Governor-Elect (DGE) Samantha Maruzzelli and District and Club Membership Chair Mary Tempest, attended Rotary’s Zones 28 & 32 Learning to Lead Symposium in Toronto.

Not only did DGE Samantha get a chance to interact with Rotary International’s President Elect Gordon R. McInally, but she and Mary attended one of the sessions that discussed both university and community based Rotaract Clubs.

Rotary International’s President Elect Gordon R. McInally with District 7410 Governor Elect Samantha Maruzzelli

Welcome to 2 New Members

In Sept., 2 new members were inducted into the Tunkhannock Rotary, Donna Wald and Michael J Markovitz.

l to r: Donna Wald, Membership chair Mary Tempest, Michael J. Markovitz and President Mike Markovitz.

Welcome to New Exchange Student

Tunkhannock welcomed its newest exchange student Mark Holovacs from Budapest, Hungary. He enjoys watching football here. So far, school is good.

At a recent Rotary meeting, he gave an introduction to Hungary, including some highlights of their culture and traditions. He also discussed some of the traditional foods. Mark mentioned that he can cook goulash and loves Hungarian food, but is enjoying American food right now.

Mark Holovacs from Budapest, Hungary

Rotary Citation 2021-22

Past President Mary Tempest (left) received, on the Club’s behalf, a Rotary Citation for 2021-2022 from Past District Governor Mary Ellen Bentler. The Club was recognized for achieving their goals set in Rotary Club Central.

On Jun 30, Michael Markovitz was installed by District Governor Mary Ellen Bentler as President of the Tunkhannock Rotary for 2022-2023. The Officer Installation Dinner took place at Shadowbrook. Pres. Mike provided an overview of his goals for his Presidency.

This is Mike’s second time as President and as he said: “One of the coolest things I get to do this year is lead our club under the international direction of the very first woman Rotary International President – Jennifer E. Jones. Jennifer selected the Theme for this 2022-2023 year to be ‘Imagine Rotary’. From her speech and in her words, ‘She imagines a Rotary where members act to make their dreams become a reality and they make the most of their club experiences’. She urges members to ENGAGE more with each other and use these connections to build partnerships that engage the world”.

He issued a challenge to find out “what our Club Members dreams and inspirations are and help them achieve them to make this a worthwhile experience for all. I would like to continue that momentum forward, encouraging every member of our club to come up with ideas for True Service Projects that everyone in the club, including their families can participate in, getting all our hands dirty for great causes forward. I challenge my board of directors to seek out these ideas in the club and help take on at least 3 great larger service projects (in addition to all of our normal ones, of course) and move them forward to completion.”

2022-2023 Rotary Theme

Rotary International President Jennifer Jones (who is also our first female president) has announced the 2022-23 theme Imagine Rotary. “Imagine, a world that deserves our best, where we get up each day knowing that we can make a difference.”

The theme is a special one: the theme graphic was designed by an Australian Indigenous artist to link with the Melbourne Convention in 2023.

Some of the symbolism includes:
Circle connections to one another
Dots around it - our people
There are 7 Dots for Rotary's 7 areas of focus
Circle + dots around it - a navigation star, our guiding light
Green solid line - digging stick (used when doing hard work); for us it's People of Action, represents the tools for getting things done
The colours purple, green & white - celebrate diversity, equity and inclusion
Freedom to express ourselves differently but still with a special connection
Purple is also the colour of Rotary's Polio campaign
Green represents the Environment
White stands for peace; it also represents Empowerment and Newness and also the colours were utilised for the women's movement, highlighting the opportunity to grow our female membership.

February 2023
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
29	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	01	02	03	04

February 2023
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
29	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	01	02	03	04

Service Above Self

Links

February 2023
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
29	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	01	02	03	04