It’s hard to believe that we are in the last month of the 2024-2025 Rotary Year.
This Rotary Year our district has continued to make impacts locally and around the world with all of our projects. It is important to recognize and give special thanks to all of our district Rotarians participating in our various Foundation Committees. Our district members work together to make action happen!
NAME
NAME OF CLUB
PDG Cindy Hornaman
Emmaus
Peter Clayton
Warrington
DGE Mary Cook
Collegeville
Diana Dunn
Allentown West
Bonnie Eckenrode
Central Perkiomen
Clint Ehlers
Ambler
Bill Erdman
Emmaus
DG Katie Farrell
Warminster
Carol Ferguson
Doylestown
PDG Len Gieseler
Pottstown
Kirsten Gieseler
Pottstown
Kathy Heller
Nazareth
Gail Linenberg
Doylestown
PDG Mike McCarthy
Pottstown
Nick Millward
Allentown West
Mike Mueller
Horsham
Al Ottinger
Fleetwood
Shushma Patel
Harleysville
Edvard Philipson
West Reading Wyomissing
Charlie Quattrone
Newtown
PDG Frank Romano
Harleysville
DGN Jeremiah Sensenig
West Reading Wyomissing
Tammy Skiermont
North Penn
It is not too late; HAVE YOU AND YOUR CLUB MADE YOUR DONATIONS TO THE FOUNDATION FOR THE 2024-2025 ROTARY YEAR?
About thirty-five years ago, when we lived in Maine, our Rotary District 7780 had a fabulous Rotary Foundation fundraiser. Every year, the district would honor a local celebrity with a Paul Harris Fellow.The two main criteria for the award were 1) they couldn't be a Rotarian, 2) they had to be doing great work within the district. The winner had to have an outstanding character as well.
The first year we attended a 300+ plus filled banquet hall was to see Joan Benoit (now Samuelson) receive a PHF. Joan won the Olympic Marathon in 1984 and by 1998 had established the Beach to Beacon 10K in Cape Elizabeth, Maine where, all the proceeds went to local Maine children's charities.
I was not even a Rotarian when I saw Joan get pinned, but I knew if I ever became one, I would replicate this fundraiser when I became a club president. In 2017, Collegeville implemented the Citizen of the Year Award. For several years we used our club's Paul Harris Credits to give a non-Rotarian this award.
When I began my district governor training in 2023, I had the idea of replicating this as our district foundation fundraiser. But why only recognize one person, when we can recognize 40? All our clubs have Paul Harris points. Herb Klotz, at the District Learning Assembly, showed all of us how to find them in Rotary.org, and I would like all clubs to find a non-Rotarian to honor and set the celebration for the annual District Governor club visit. Invite the honoree's family and friends to the witness the award. Let's celebrate them. Let's educate people on our wonderful foundation.
And who knows, we just may celebrate a local celebrity at our Legacy Dinner in May 2026.
By David Weiskotten, Mental Health & Wellness Committee
Research suggests that journaling offers some of the same benefits as talking to a therapist. It provides the opportunity to express thoughts and feelings in a way that you can then reflect on them, develop new perspectives and discover new strategies or solutions to current challenges. It’s a great way to gain self-understanding, and make more mindful life decisions going forward.
Journaling has been shown to improve self-awareness and emotional balance, which contribute to personal growth. It can also reduce stress, anxiety and feelings of depression. It promotes mental clarity and more effective decision-making. Those are impressive results from writing and reflecting for a few minutes each day.
There is no right way to journal; no required procedure or structure. Write or doodle about whatever feels right. However, it is helpful to settle into the present moment. So take a couple of deep, relaxing breaths, and settle into your seat on the outbreath. Then connect with and explore your current thoughts and emotions. Don’t just write about them objectively, really pay attention to everything you are experiencing while sitting with these particular thoughts and feelings. For instance, tension and stress cause me to experience tightness in my shoulders and neck. I notice a jittery chest and stomach when I’m anxious. And I notice feeling tired and hopeless when I’m feeling down.
How to begin a journaling practice in three easy steps:
Choose a medium. A notebook, pieces of paper (I once knew someone who chose colored paper that matched her mood each time she wrote), smart phone or computer document.
Pick a time and place where you can comfortably write on a (preferably) daily basis. Consistency is important in developing this new habit.
Drop your filters. You are writing only for yourself, so be as authentic as possible. Don’t judge yourself. Be honest. Have an open mind and heart.
You can start small and write just one phrase or sentence a day. Proper grammar is not required. Make up words if you want. Use writing prompts if you find it helpful such as
How am I feeling right now in this moment?
What am I grateful for?
What is troubling me most?
My greatest joy in life is…
But what if you don’t like to write? Even though it is helpful for many people, some of us (like me) don’t enjoy journaling. But I learned that there are (for me) more appealing ways to reflect on thoughts and feelings with the opportunity to reflect on them. So if you are like me and don’t want to sit down to write every day, how else can you express how you are feeling? For me it is lines of poetry or verse, a daily meditation, taking photographs that reflect my mood. If you are a more visual person, painting or sculpting might work, or creative woodworking projects. Song lyrics can serve a similar purpose. In other words, while journaling can be very helpful, if it doesn’t work for you, there are many other ways to express your thoughts and feelings that give you the opportunity to reflect on them.
Our annual celebration is next month. Katie and I hope to see you at the William Penn Inn on June 17th at 6:00 PM. It is our time to celebrate all that we accomplished this year at the District Changeover.
District Grant Project in the Perkiomen Valley School District
The District Environmental Sustainability Team and the Collegeville Rotary Club are working with teachers and students in the Perkiomen Valley School District in Montgomery County to create an outdoor environmental education center.
The School District currently has two arboretums, one at each of their Middle Schools. Collectively the gardens are called PV Woods. Using funding of a District Grant, Rotary will help to expand the arboretums and create immersive nature-based learning environments for the District’s students and the general community.
This project will address the need for hands-on outdoor education while fostering ecological awareness and biodiversity conservation. Interestingly, the gardens will be designed using the Fibonacci sequence, a naturally occurring mathematical pattern that supports optimal plant growth and pollinator attraction.
The gardens will serve as outdoor classrooms where students can engage in STEM learning, environmental studies, and artistic exploration. Featuring native plants and trees that support butterfly, bird, and bee populations, the spaces will provide real-world applications for mathematical concepts and ecological principles. Rotarians are directly involved in the planning, planting, and educational outreach components, offering workshops and engaging with students and community members to foster a deeper connection with nature.
Rotarians have been digging in (literally) by helping to spread wood chips and building fencing, and putting plants in the ground at the District’s arboretum on the Main Campus in Collegeville (Lenape Arboretum).
There is still work to be done, and you can get involved on Saturday, June 28, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. We will be planting at the arboretum located on the District’s West Campus in Zieglerville (Muhlenberg Woods).
The Fibonacci Flight Gardens & Outdoor Classrooms at PV Woods will provide a lasting impact on both education and the environment. By combining mathematics, ecology, and hands-on learning, this project will inspire students and community members to engage with nature in new and meaningful ways. Rotarians, educators, and volunteers play a vital role in bringing this vision to life.
We view the project as a pilot project that can be studied by other school districts in our five-county area. If your club is interested in learning how you can help your local schools create something similar in your community, we would love discuss it with you. And if you would like to help out at the June 28 workday, contact DGE Mary Cook at mary.cook7430@gmail.com, or register on the Collegeville Rotary website at https://collegevillerotary.org/event/help-us-bring-pv-woods-to-life-1/
Additional information about PV Woods can be found at: www.pvsd.org/community/pvwoods/
Rotary International empowers Rotarians to propose changes to the governing documents of Rotary to the Council on Legislation and to suggest to the Council on Resolutions policy actions to be taken by the RI Board or The Rotary Foundation Trustees. The terms of Rotary International’s Constitution, its Bylaws or the Standard Rotary Club Constitution can come from Rotarians as proposed Enactments to the COL. Further, Rotarians may suggest a policy change as a Resolution to the COR that would require actions to be taken by the Board or the Trustees.
In October 2024, the COR voted online on 44 resolutions. The Council adopted 18 resolutions, of which 11 were recommendations to the RI Board and eight were recommendations to The Rotary Foundation Trustees. Examples for the RI Board include: 24R-02 presidents-elect complete the Club President Basics learning plan prior to attending PETS; 24R-10 consider implementing enhancements to the training for assistant governors; and 24R-27 establishing guidelines for Rotary clubs and Rotarians when providing support during large-scale disasters. Examples for the Trustees include: 24R-32 consider modifying the (DDF) SHARE allocation ratio for district grants from 50:50 to 60:40; 24R-36 reinstating the 100 percent match formerly offered by the World Fund for District Designated Funds used in global grants; and 24R-38 allocating recognition points for donations made to TRF’s Endowment Fund.
During the week of April 14, 2025, the COL met in Chicago and voted in person. Representatives considered more than 86 proposals. Council adopted 38 enactments requiring changes to Rotary’s governing documents. Examples include: 25-07 Reduce from 20 to 15 the minimum number of Rotarians to charter a Club; 25-15 Governor duties expanded to include promotion of RI strategic plan, participation in TRF grant programs, and support to Assistant Governors; 25-35 Zones will not be of equal number of Rotarians but instead based on geography, language, culture, among other factors deemed important; 25-36 DEI will require no limits on membership or club membership based on both sex and gender (birth and roles).
Other Enactments adopted in April include: 25-37 RI remains non-political but it can express an opinion, endorse a candidate, take actions, or propose solutions for world problems when “relevant to the mission or program of RI or TRF;” 25-49 Dues increases set through Rotary Year 2028-2029 ($41, $42.75, $44.63, and $46.50 per half year); 25-56 Extended deadlines for submitting proposed enactments and amendments; 25-72 Election of COL representatives by nominating committee, or at legislative meeting, not just at conference or by club ballot; and 25-76 PETS is now presidents-elect learning seminars. You can get RI’s preliminary results at https://my.rotary.org/en/2025-council-legislation-daily-recaps.
PDG Bob Hobaugh serves as our District 7430 Representative to the Council on Legislation and Council on Resolutions. He and all other Representatives vote on proposed Enactments and proposed Resolutions. Annually, Representatives vote on proposed resolutions. Representatives vote on proposed enactments every three years. You can reach Bob at RotarianBob@hometownu.biz.
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