Home Page | Rotary Club of Tunkhannock

Due to the Covid Surge in Wyoming County now, we will be Zooming our weekly and flash meetings for a few weeks. Weekly meetings remain on Thursday's at 12:15 -1:15 and flash meetings the first and third Thursday of the month at 5:30 -5:50 PM . We want to keep our members as safe and healthy as possible.

Happy New Year to you and your family.

Welcome to our Website!

Service Above Self

We meet In Person

Thursdays at 12:15 PM

Shadowbrook Inn and Resort & Zoom

201 Resort Lane
Tunkhannock, PA 18657
United States of America

District Site

Bulletins

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

Valentines for the Troops Update

In addition to the Valentines made by Rotarians, children from the Tunkhannock Area School District were given the opportunity to add their own creations to this card collection. During the month of December, students at the Tunkhannock Intermediate Center made cards to include with goodies that will be sent to U.S. troops for Valentine’s Day. The very creative cards were made in the classes of Art teachers, Allison Wilson and Linda Hulslander.

Intermediate Center School Counselor, Caitlin Gaughan was instrumental in organizing the effort by gaining the help of the teachers and delivering the cards to Tunkhannock Rotary President Mary Tempest.

L to R: Counselor Caitlin Gaughan, Rotarian Ann Way and Pres Mary Tempest

Tunkhannock Public Library’s 25 Days of Christmas Bedtime Stories

At its Dec 23 Luncheon at Shadowbrook, the Tunkhannock Rotary was delighted to hear about the Tunkhannock Public Library’s 25 Days of Christmas Bedtime Stories. The program was described by Brenda Mills, who is the Assistant Director of Programs at HANDS of Wyoming County and Dellana Diovisalvo, Executive Director of the Library. Angela Hunsinger, who is the program coordinator at the Library took the lead on this program.

Collaborations on programs and community outreach increased when both organizations closed during COVID, but still wanted to keep in touch with their clients, families and children.

So, leading up to Christmas, they have been doing bedtime stories for children for the 25 days of Christmas. The stories were being read by staff of the Library & HANDS, some teachers and P&G employees who read as part of their community outreach.

L to R: Brenda Mills, Pres. Mary Tempest and Dellana Diovisalvo

Erica Rogler Inducted into Rotary

At the Dec 16 Rotary luncheon at Shadowbrook, Membership Chair Ron Furman inducted Erica Rogler into the Tunkhannock Rotary. Erica was sponsored and pinned by Ann Way.

Erica is the Executive Director of the Dietrich Theater, the premier venue for movies, film festivals, workshops and live events in Wyoming County. Please join us in welcoming Erica into Rotary.

L to R: Ann Way, Erica Rogler, Membership Chair Ron Furman and Pres. Mary Tempest

TAHS Advanced Vocal Class 2021 Sang Christmas Carols

The TAHS Advance Vocal Class 2021 sang via Zoom during the Dec 16 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook. They sang a selection of traditional Christmas carols.

As usual, their performance was enjoyed by all members and got everyone into the holiday spirit. We definitely miss their in-person performances, and hopefully it will happen again in the future.

Candy Cane Day Donations

At the Dec 9 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook, Candy Cane Chair Michael Markovitz presented checks for $2,525 each to Howard Heise, Administrator of Wyoming County Children and Youth, and Mary Foley, Executive Director of Interfaith Friends. The money will be used by these organizations to provide Christmas gifts and cheer to children in need and in foster care in Wyoming County.

Mary Foley and Howard Heise receiving checks from Chair Mike Markovitz

The record setting amount of $5,050 was collected from area shoppers on Black Friday Nov 26 by 30 Rotarians, 10 members of the TAHS Interact Club (sponsored by the Tunkhannock Rotary) and 4 family and friends, despite the rain, snow, sleet and hail that fell that day. Shoppers were offered candy canes as a thank you for their donations.

Wade Linden collecting money on Candy Cane Day

Rotarians Packaging Gloves and Hats

After the Dec 9 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook, a group of Rotarians packaged donated hats and gloves into zip lock baggies with Rotary tags. The hats and gloves are being collected by the Club during Dec. and will be placed at the Seven Loaves Soup Kitchen and other places for people who need them to keep themselves warm this winter.

Donations of gloves and hats or monetary donations for this project will be accepted through Dec 31.

L to R: Mike Markovitz, Terri Detrick, Glenn Holcombe, Ruth Gorski and Jim Welch

Welcome to New Member Alisha Myers

At the Dec 9 Luncheon at Shadowbrook, President Mary Tempest inducted Alisha Myers into Rotary. She was sponsored and pinned by Mary Linden. Alisha is a Financial Officer and Administrative Assistant at HANDS of Wyoming County.

Please join us in welcoming Alisha into Rotary.

L to R: Mary Linden, Alisha Myers and Pres. Mary Tempest

Valentines for the Troops

At the Dec 3 Club Assembly, Tunkhannock Rotarians prepared Valentines for the Troops, each with a special personal message from an attending Rotarian on the back. Each card is also signed and contains the Tunkhannock Rotary Club Logo in case the recipient wants to know more about the club.

In addition, children from the Tunkhannock Area School District have been given the opportunity to add their own creations to this card collection.

All the cards will be delivered en mass to Goodies for Our Troops in Wellsboro, MA for delivery to our troops around the world. As Dawn Pletcher from this organization commented “Our Heroes so much appreciate ANYTHING they get, and close to the top of the list are cards/notes/letters that kids and adults made!”

Election of Officers and Directors for 2022-2023

Although President Elect Michael Markovitz is preparing for his second term as President of Tunkhannock Rotary, at the Dec. 2 Annual Meeting the rest of his officers and directors were elected.

The slate of Officers and Directors for 2022-2023 are:

Officers

President (2022-2023) - Michael Markovitz
Immediate Past President - Mary Tempest
President Elect (Pres for 2023-2024) - Elaine Walker
Vice President - Samantha Maruzzelli
Treasurer - Laura Charles
Co-Secretary - Sandy Lane and Ann Way

Directors

Terri Detrick

Ron Furman

Francine Kanyok

Norm Kelly

Tom Kukuchka

Matt Pompey

John Proctor

Congratulations to everyone and thank you in advance for your service to our Rotary Club.

Sisile Maruzzelli Spoke at Nov 18 Luncheon

The club was delighted to hear from guest speaker Sisile Maruzzelli at the Nov 18 Luncheon at Shadowbrook.

In 2012, she was recipient of a Rotary vocational scholarship that she used toward her studies to become a pastry chef at the Culinary Institute of America. In 2016, she went to Bar Harbor Maine as assistant pastry chef at the world-famous Jordan Pond House in Acadia National Park. After 2 weeks, she was promoted to head pastry chef. She was then asked to help on the culinary side and moved on to become a sous chef, which is "the second in command in a kitchen; the person ranking next after the executive chef". In Mar 2021, she was promoted to Head Chef. She leaves in Apr for another season in Bar Harbor and then comes home to Tunkhannock for the winters.

The Jordan Pond House overlooks Jordan Pond and is famous for its popovers and tea on the lawn. Rebuild in 1982 after a fire, it seats 300 indoors and 200 outdoors. 3,000 people are served each day with waiting times of 1.6 hours and still people are turned away. One of the challenges that the culinary staff face is that the popovers need to be served within 15 min or they will deflate. Over 8,000 popovers are served per day using 1,500 eggs, which they crack in 30 min.

Whenever Sisile speaks at our club meetings, she always brings fabulous pastries/cookies for the members to enjoy and that applied to this meeting.

Pres. Mary Tempest (left) with Sisile Maruzzelli

Cain Chamberlin Spoke at Nov 11 Luncheon

The guest speaker at the Nov 11 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook was Cain Chamberlin, who is the Executive Director of the Endless Mountains Heritage Region (EMHR), which was established in 1998. As mentioned on their website, Cain explained that "The EMHR proudly serves a 2,850-square mile area encompassing Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna and Wyoming Counties. The organization also serves as water trail manager for the upper North Branch Susquehanna River Water Trail, a national recreation trail and official gateway to the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network."

EMHR’s current activities fall under five program areas:

Greenways, Trails, Conservation
“Living with the Land”–Agricultural Heritage
Partnership Grants
Education, Interpretation, Heritage Tourism
Heritage Partnerships and Outreach

Gina Suydam Receives Paul Harris

At the Oct 28 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook Inn & Resort, President Mary Tempest presented Rotarian Gina Suydam with a Club Designated Paul Harris Award for her services to the Club.

Gina is the President of the Wyoming County Chamber of Commerce and has been very helpful to the club in the social media arena, in facilitating many community oriented activities undertaken by the Tunkhannock Rotary and providing networking opportunities to Club and all Chamber members.

L to R: Gina Suydam and Pres. Mary Tempest

Rotarians in Their Best Halloween Costumes

As an early celebration of Halloween, Rotarians dressed up in their best costumes for the Oct 28 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook. The membership voted for the 2 best costumes. Witch Laura Charles was the winner with Jim Welch in his uniform from 70 years ago in second place.

L to R: Terri Detrick, Mary Tempest, Don Davis, Laura Charles, Elaine Walker and Jim Welch

Commissioner Tom Henry Spoke at Oct 28 Luncheon

Commission Tom Henry spoke about the current COVID-19 situation in Wyoming County at the Oct 28 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook Inn & Resort. 57.3% of our population are vaccinated against COVID-19 with 1 dose or more. There were 4 deaths in previous 7 days with currently 50 positive cases (with 11 today) for a 1% infection rate.

Wyoming County received a grant for a reentry program for ex-inmates, which will be shared with a few other counties. Prison numbers are going down. PathStone is the nonprofit organization helping implement this program.

In Wyoming County, there have been 2 fatal suicides of 21 attempted suicides (ages 8 to 88). There also were 13 overdoses this month, 5 of which were reversed with Narcan.

Wyo Cty was awarded $2.6 M from the America Recovery Plan with an added $2.6 M next year. This money can be used for wastewater improvement and they are looking at other needs in our County. In addition, $3.3 M was approved through Treehab for housing in Nicholson.

Fall Roadside Cleanup

Since 1997, the Tunkhannock Club has participated in the Adopt a Highway Program, adopting a 2 mile stretch of Route 6 in Tunkhannock. Twice a year, in the Spring and Fall, Tunkhannock Rotarians clean-up both sides of the roadside along Route 6 from the Fireplace Restaurant to beyond Route 87 towards Meshoppen.

So, on Sat Oct 23, Rotarians & family member gathered at the Fireplace Restaurant parking lot to begin the Fall cleanup. Rotarians are "People of Action" and were determined to get the cleanup done to help “Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful”.

Rotary Foundation Recognition Event

President Mary Tempest led the celebration of many Tunkhannock Rotary’s members along with 7 community organizations at a Rotary Foundation Recognition Event on Thursday, Oct 21 at the Stonehedge Country Club.

The Tunkhannock Rotarians and their families were joined by Rotary District 7410 officials including current District Governor Mary Ellen Bentler, Past District Governor Karen DeMatteo and Tunkhannock’s District Governor Nominee Samantha Maruzzelli, who is currently District 7410 Membership Committee Chair and the Club’s Rotary Foundation (RF) Chair. The Club was also honored by the presence of Assistant Regional RF Coordinator for Zone 32 Joanne Ventura, responsible for RF activities for Districts 7410, 7475, 7490, and who was the keynote speaker.

In her keynote address, Joanne spoke about the importance of donating to the Rotary Foundation to advance the programs that support both local community and international projects and that are implemented and managed by Rotary Clubs.

She also focused on the success of the Polio Eradication program with which Rotary has been involved since 1979. Polio cases have been reduced by 99.9 percent worldwide, but it will take many more millions to complete this eradication effort. The RF is in the last 2 years of a 2:1 donation match from the Gates Foundation for polio eradication, so she urged everyone to make their donations while this match campaign is ongoing to triple the value of their contributions.

The Paul Harris Fellowship was established in Paul Harris’ honor in 1957 to express appreciation for a contribution of $1,000 to the humanitarian and educational programs of The RF by an individual Rotarian or by an organization to recognize someone else.

President Mary Tempest presented various Paul Harris recognitions to 11 Tunkhannock Rotarians, including: Jeannie Brady, Laura Charles, Terri Detrick, Ron Furman, John Hovan, Francine Kanyok, Norm Kelly, Mary Linden, Wade Linden, Samantha Maruzzelli and Elaine Walker.

Once an individual’s cumulative donations to the RF exceeds $10,000, that person is honored by the RF as a Major Donor. Carol Ziomek and Thomas Kukuchka were each recognized as Major Donors – Level 1 and received a personalized crystal recognition piece and a Major Donor lapel pin and pendant/charm.

Although a community organization cannot be honored as a Paul Harris Fellow, it can be recognized with a Certificate of Appreciation. In recognition of their incredible and important services to the local community and/or Rotary, the Club used its cumulative RF donations to recognize community organizations with Certificates of Appreciation. The 7 organizations honored were: Child Hunger Outreach Partners (CHOP), Wyoming County Emergency Management Agency (EMA), H.A.N.D.S. of Wyoming County, Nimble Hill Winery & Brewery, Popstar Drive, Seven Loaves Soup Kitchen and the Tunkhannock Public Library. Representatives for each of these organizations accepted on their behalf.

Pres. Mary Tempest, Zone 32 RF Coordinator Joanne Ventura, DG Mary Ellen Bentler and PDG Karen DeMatteo

L to r: Frank Oliver (Seven Loaves Soup Kitchen), Alisha Myers and Cathy Franko (H.A.N.D.S.), Ron Furman (accepting for Dave Carichner for the Wyoming County EMA), Nick Montero for Dani Ruhl (CHOP), Ellie Toczko (Nimble Hill), Pres. Mary Tempest and Dellana Diovisalvo (Tunkhannock Public Library). Absent from the photo was Chris Maruzzelli (Popstar Drive).

Preparations Underway for Oct 9 Harvest & Wine Festival

Preparations are underway at Lazybrook Park for Sat. Oct 9 Harvest & Wine Festival. Our Rotarians are hard at work getting the grounds layout defined for the Festival and preparing the wine cellar, where Festival goers can pick up their wine purchases before leaving the Festival.

Mike Donahue Spoke at Sept 30 Luncheon

Mike Donahue, Wyoming County Human Resources Executive Director, was the guest speaker at the Sept 30 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook Inn & Resort. Mike is also heading up the group called the Hope Coalition, which was formed in 2017. The coalition brings together elected officials, law enforcement, medical providers, and other organizations with the goal of helping combat the opioid epidemic in Wyoming County.

Rotary is a member of the Coalition as it provides the community outreach/PR for the District Attorney’s Office semi-annual Drug Take Back Events, the next of which is coming up on Saturday, Oct 23.

Mike talked about the main goals for the Hope Coalition. He also discussed the development of a program to help with the re-integration of individuals into the community and job market who have recovered from their drug or alcohol issues. The importance of this endeavor was underscored by Wyoming County Commissioner Ernie King, who also commented on this goal.

DG Mary Ellen Bentler Spoke at Sept 23 Meeting

District Governor (DG) Mary Ellen Bentler was the guest speaker at the Sept 23 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook Inn & Resort. DG Mary Ellen spoke about the Rotary theme for this year, Serve to Change Lives and presented Pres. Mary Tempest with the theme banner for 2021-2022.

She also talked about events and activities in District 7410, including the District Conference in Ithaca NY May 5-7, as well as Rotary International upcoming programs and the International Convention in Houston in June 2022.

DG Mary Ellen Bentler (left) with President Mary Tempest

Breakfast with Champions Food Drive

On Sept 18, Pres. Mary Tempest organized a Breakfast with Champions Food Drive at the outside pavilion at the Tunkhannock Public Library to benefit HANDS of Wyoming County and the Wyoming County Food Bank. 44 boxes of nonperishable and canned foods were collected plus $250 worth of gift cards and a $50 check. The recipients were overjoyed with the donations.

Thank you to everyone who provided donations, those who helped with the food drive and to John and Ron who transported the food boxes to HANDS and the Food Bank.

Seated L to R: Two Can-structions with Pres. Mary Tempest. Standing: Scott Walburn, Ann Way, Samantha Maruzzelli and Terri Detrick

Donna LaBar Spoke at Sept 16 Luncheon

Donna LaBar was the guest speaker at our Sept 16 Rotary Luncheon at Shadowbrook Inn & Resort. Donna is a Health Transformation Coach Certified by the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and author of the book Simple. Natural. Healing.

She spoke about the 3 Pillars of Health to help get the body back into alkalinity:

How we eat and hydrate: balance minerals and water.
Who we surround ourselves with to achieve a resonance of peace.
Doing things that we love to get into a state of rest and digest.

Donna LaBar

Fran Turner Knighted into French Legion of Honor

On Sept 2, 2021, Rotarian Francis Turner was knighted by French Consul General of Washington, DC, Francois Penguilly with the French Medal of Honor at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum in Pittsburgh, PA.

L to R: Honorary French Consul of Pittsburgh Jean-Dominique Le Garrec, Major (ret) Francis Turner being pinned with the Medal of Honor and congratulated by French Consul General of Washington, D.C. Francois Penguilly (captured from Youtube).

France's Highest Honor, the Legion d'honneur, was established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte. According to Wikipedia “American and British veterans who served in either World War on French soil, or during the 1944 campaigns to liberate France, may be eligible for appointment as Chevalier (Knight) of the Legion of Honour, provided they were still living when the honour was approved.”

Fran was among 3 World War II Veterans honored at this ceremony with gratitude from the French for their contribution to the liberation of France.

Tunkhannock Rotary Celebrates 96th Anniversary

On August 25, 1925, the Rotary Club of Tunkhannock was chartered by Rotary International. The Club was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Pittston. It was the first service organization in Tunkhannock and "Service Above Self" is the motto of the Club and Rotary International.

On Aug 26, 2021 the Club celebrated its 96th Anniversary at its Club luncheon at Shadowbrook Inn and Resort with balloons, Anniversary cupcakes, a rousing chorus of Happy Anniversary and trivia questions concerning the history of the Club.

At the Jun 27 Officer Installation, 2021-2022 Pres. Mary Tempest reminded everyone that Shekhar Mehta RI President 2021-2022 is asking Rotarians “to do more and grow more.” Donors as in bigger and impactful service projects and grow more as in increasing membership and expanding the participation. Each Rotarian should bring one new member to Rotary.

Mary then provided a brief overview of her goals for her Presidency:

To have 1-2 family events this year. Rotarians can bring their children or grandchildren to the events. For example a Fish Derby, Corn hole Tournament, Kayak trip, or a baseball game between dad’s and their children.
Have a speaker once a quarter give a speech, give a demonstration to the club and possibly invite the public.
Increase Rotarian‘s engagement by going to district events.
To connect with the younger generation to grow Rotary.
Our club should sponsor a Rotaract club, possibly with the new branch of Lackawanna College in Tunkhannock.
Possibly start an Interact Club at Elk Lake.

2021-22 Rotary Theme

RI President-elect Shekhar Mehta is urging members to become more involved in service projects, saying that caring for and serving other is the best way to live because it changes not only other people’s lives, but also our own.