This issue of VCN features news from the last three months of our 23-24 fiscal year! What a wonderful year it was. Rotary never stands still. Be it an annual event, a new initiative, something local or international, or even just serving one person at a time, Hope has been Created. "Hope" is just one element of The Magic of Rotary. I always talk about our clubs as a whole. But you, yes YOU dear reader are what Rotary is. You give of your time, your heart, your hands, your support. It's your inspiration that fuels the vibrant tapestry of our District. We served our areas, our areas we serve our district and our district serves the world. This is Rotary. YOU are Rotary.~Karin Suttmann VCR Editor
In April, the Lehigh Valley Passport Rotary Club cleaned Schantz Rd in Lower Macungie Township, our assigned road as part of PennDOT’s Adopt-A-Highway program. In May, we helped the Wildlands Conservancy plant wildflowers to restore a former farm field in South Whitehall Township back to being a pollinator friendly meadow. We appreciated the soft ground from all of the spring showers. Later in May, we put our shovels down and went for a hike at the Wildlands Conservancy’s Brenner-Penfield Macungie Mountain Preserve, followed by wine at the nearby Domaine Pterion winery. June was a busy month for us. First we helped at the golf outing organized by the Lehigh Valley Hospital’s Amputee Support Group, which raises funds to support the amputee community. The next day, we were volunteering again, this time helping staff the wine check station at the Kutztown’s Rotary Club’s fabulous Taste of Kutztown. We capped off the 2023-24 Rotary year with a social meeting and picnic to welcome our new slate of officers. Finally, our Public Image Chairs launched our Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram pages.
On 22 May, our club held its 18th annual Chefs of the Burbs event at the stunning Manor House in Blue Bell. As our biggest fund-raiser, our club was all hands-on deck for this nearly year long planning effort.
The sold-out evening was attended by 350 community guests, beneficiaries and sponsors. All were treated to the delicious tasting foods of twenty of our area’s best chefs, a jazz ensemble, three wine bars and the beautiful gardens and water features of the Manor House. Most importantly, our guests helped to raise funds for our four beneficiaries through a restaurant raffle, a 50/50, a special appeals and the 120 silent and live auction items. They learned, firsthand, about our non-profit beneficiaries who are focused on caring for families and children. Throughout the event, our guests witnessed our club’s “people of action”, and, by every measure, this was, once again, a huge and quite memorable success.
In May, our own Andy Johanson participated as a team member in the District 7430 Rotaplast Medical Mission for the sixth time. The mission, which addresses and repairs cleft lip and cleft palette in children, took place in Medillin, Columbia over a thirteen-day period. Andy was one of thirty professional and non-professional team members, and his role, ‘Recreational Therapist’, was to spend time with the children and their parents to help reduce their anxiety prior to the surgeries. The mission was able to provide 81 surgeries and 109 procedures during their stay. In Andy’s words, ‘I witnessed miracles performed on many children. After surgery, these children no longer had to hide themselves. The children and the family were welcomed into their community’. Thanks, Andy! Wonderful work and a wonderful cause!
Last April, our club hosted Montgomery Community College’s president, Victoria Bastecki-Perez as a speaker. Our club has enjoyed a relationship with MCC for many years and provided annual scholarship funds for more than a decade. Other recent club volunteer activities have included a tree give away at Prophecy Creek Park in Whitpain Township, several clean-up days at Stony Brook Park in Whitpain, and the painting of an apartment at Family Promise, an organization in Ambler that partners with the community to address homelessness and hunger one family at a time.
Finally, over the last Rotary year, our club and the Ambler club had the good fortune to host an exchange student from Tanzania. She attended Wissahickon High School during her time here and will be entering her senior year at home this coming fall.
Northwestern Lehigh Interact Club has started a book drive for children in Grenada. The young lady in the chartreuse dress is our VP, Sophia Penny. Her father is from Grenada and their family was visiting this month. We intend to continue collecting books in the fall. Good things happening world wide!!
Current President of the Springfield Township Rotary Club, Sharon Vecchione, joined the incoming president, Amanda Helwig, to present a donation of $32,000 for the construction of a picnic pavilion to be located adjacent to the new playground at Cisco Park. The new pavilion will be named “Piszek Pavilion” in memory of William Piszek, who faithfully served as a member of the Springfield Township Rotary Club for over 20 years until his passing in 2022. Many thanks are due to the Rotary Club for this extremely generous donation to improve the park for our community.
Current Fundraisers at the Springfield Township club are:
BINGO. On July 12, 2024 7pm, we will be hosting a BINGO at Holy Martys Church in Oreland PA. We have already received many gift cards from local businesses and restaurants as prizes. So if you are looking to cool off and have fun on a summer evening this is the date to mark on your calendars!
Art & Networking at Woodmere Art Museum. July 31, 2024 5pm to 7pm. For $30 pp you get a private tour of the Woodmere Art Museum in Chestnut Hill that features all local Philadelphia based artists, their gift shop, grounds and gardens, and a sneak peek at their newest building acquisition and renovation. White Wine and Yuengling will be served with nibbles. We are told the sunset is amazing from the front porch! After a fun networking opportunity take advantage of new found friends and head into Chestnut Hill for dinner! Click here for more info: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/pewajfx/lp/73798faa-a13e-4334-a516-b8fad8203d7a
The Nazareth Rotary Club’s Annual Duck Race and Basket Raffle will be held on Saturday, July 20 at the Nazareth Community Pool. This event is part of the Nazareth Days Celebration. The race will start at 10:00 am. Stop be to purchase a duck and stay for the fun!
On Tuesday, June 25, our club met at the Peace Tree Pub at Nazareth’s Heritage Village to honor our president, John Schwartz for his wonderful leadership this year. The torch will be passed to Lynn Ratzell at our next president at our meeting in July.
Thank you to all the Rotarians who came out to join our Earth Day Clean Up at the Shafer
Elementary Courtyard in Nazareth. The club received thank you notes from the students.They were appreciative that they were able to use their outdoor classroom space this spring.
WAITING FOR CONTENT SUBMISSION. In November, the Allentown Rotary Club presented Rotarian Lisa Luciano with her Paul Harris+1 pin. Lisa joins five other active ARC members as Paul Harris Fellows at the PH+1 recognition level and is one of 13 active members with multiple Paul Harris Fellows who have been contributing $2,000 and above. ARC has a total of 26 active Paul Harris members.
Central Bucks held a New Year’s Celebration on January 3rd at the Plumsteadville Inn. Comedian Tim Coniff entertained, and the club celebrated accomplishments from the last six months. This included giving $7,250 to beneficiaries and raising $7,493. The club also participated in three major service projects that included volunteering at the Doylestown Food Pantry, The Grace Project, and yard cleanup for seniors.
Central Perkiomen Rotary held its annual SchwenksvilleHalloween Parade this past October. In addition to a parade, the event featured refreshments, music, and awarded cash prizes for the Scariest, Best Character, Most Original, and Best Group entries.
This is an annual tradition held by Central Perkiomen Rotary since 1956!
Collegeville Rotary Club hosted its 66th Annual Halloween Parade this past October. Several hundred participants joined in the fun that included the parade, music, and an After Party at the Collegeville Station.
Doylestown Rotary gave Paul Harris awards this past November to Dave Windholtz and Mike Stachel during the monthly Doylestown Council meeting. Dave and Mike were honored for their parts in creating the local institution known as the Borough Dam Fishing Project. Representative Fitzpatrick had their story written into the congressional record and gave them each a flag that had flown over the Capitol. The Borough's Proclamation detailed how the project was initiated by Dave in 1954, then rescued by Mike in the early 1990s. The fishing project is a signature event in Doylestown. It is currently being managed by DRC, local volunteers, and the Borough.
On January 12, President BJ Metz welcomed Zachary Chase as the newest member of the Easton Rotary. Zach is a fuel oil delivery driver and interested in environmental issues, flying drones, and animal health and welfare.
Emmaus Rotary Club has been really moving around the community with fund raising, membership events and lots of service. Their September Golf outing was a huge success with over 100 golfers. The membership mixer in Sept. included brewery fun as well as a fund raiser for Tales of Valor. October was Make a Difference Month with a number of service projects including joint endeavors with the Emmaus Interact Club: food preparation for shelter, therapy dog program, tree planting, park clean ups and Miracle League. They also participated in the Emmaus Halloween Parade. The year ended with Letters to Santa at the Emmaus Community Christmas Event distributing books to Cops and Kids, sending greetings to Rotarians and collecting needed items for Angel Network. ERC also has a weekly food packing and distribution program which to date has distributed over 12,000 bags of food to those with food insecurity.
The Hamburg Rotary Club recently sponsored its 15th Annual Warm The Children Program. The program provides winter jackets, hats, gloves, and cuddly pajamas to over 400 youngsters.
Harleysville Rotary supported the Harleysville Community Center with a generous donation this past December. Funds for the contribution were generated for their annual Halloween Parade and Family Fun Fest.
Hatboro Rotarians are currently involved with a service project called H.A.T. (Helping Around Town) Packs. The program partners with public schools, community organizations, local congregations, business, and individual contributors to help fill weekend hunger gaps by providing non-perishables to school children facing food insecurity.
The Kutztown Rotary Charitable Foundation and Rotary Club of Kutztown held a Foundation Celebration on 11/9/22 celebrating more than $20,000 donated by the Club and Foundation to area non-profit organizations.
The Morrisville-Yardley Area Rotary Club continues its international service commitments to help people in India gain access to needed health care and education services. Rotarian SA Vaneswaran led the club’s latest effort to help provide eight kidney dialysis machines to the Rangadore Hospital in Bangalore, India. This was a $70,000 project that involved extensive collaboration with local Rotary District 7430, The Rotary Foundation, Rotary District 3190 (India), and the Bangalore North West and Southwest Rotary Clubs. SA was able to raise the club’s $8,000 contribution as the International Partner with help from his own foundation network.
The Muhlenberg Rotary Club held its annual Salvation Army bell ringing and fundraising project on Saturday, December 3, at Sam’s Club in Muhlenberg Township. The event was held a week earlier than usual as the club did not have a Citrus Sale this year. Rotarians staffed the kettle for three hours and more than half of their Rotary members participated. It seemed a little less traffic than normal, although it was wonderful to see how generous the people are during the Christmas Season.
Thanks to all who participated and made this year a success!
The Newtown Rotary Club participated in the local Angel Tree Project over the holiday season. Donations were given to the project, which serves eligible recipients through the Council Rock School District school lunch program.
The Norristown Rotary Club collects bicycles and sewing machines for developing nations. This is a year-round initiative done in conjunction with Pedals for Progress. The Norristown Rotary also had a Bell Ringing event for the Salvation Army this past holiday season, raising $2,340 for the cause.
The North Penn Rotary Club awarded a grant to Easterseals of Montgomery County with the help from Rotary District 7430 grant funds in 2022. North Penn Rotary supplied the local Easterseals school with a much-needed commercial lamination machine and supplies. The children in Easterseals' programs have disabilities and/or behavioral challenges and teaching materials can be easily ripped or destroyed. With the use of this new commercial laminator, staff and teachers can now create visual aids, worksheets, and classroom materials once and preserve them for use for the entire school year and beyond. North Penn Rotary and Easterseals have a legacy partnership that spans over a century.
Quakertown Rotary salutes Zachary Borzio as their December Student of the Month. Congratulations Zachary. Quakertown Rotarians also continue to serve and support the Quakertown Food Pantry.
This past fall the Reading Rotary Club held a Daffodil Fest, a fundraiser to celebrate Reading’s 275 Anniversary. 40,000 bulbs were planted across the city and are expected to be in full bloom in spring 2023 to mark the start of the Anniversary Celebration. We can’t wait to see the pictures!
On January 13, the Slatington Rotary Club celebrated President Eric Heiney’s receipt of the Paul Harris Award. This award is one the highest awards Rotary can give. He is pictured with District Gov. Len Gieseler and Eric’s wife Kelly. Eric had done an outstanding job as President.
Souderton-Telford Rotary held a Shop With A Cop event this past holiday season. Dozens of “elves” helped 16 families select items to make their holidays a bit brighter. Carts were filled not only with treats for under the tree, but also with paper towels, toiletries, cleaning supplies and diapers. The $5,000 donated by the Souderton-Telford club towards this event was wisely spent and greatly appreciated.
The Spring-Ford Area Rotary Club awarded their Citizen of the Year award to the first woman elected Mayor of Royersford, Mayor Jenna. Mayor Jenna is an astounding woman who juggles many responsibilities with effortless success.
On December 7, Rotarians were at Majestic Oaks in Warminster assisting residents with their holiday shopping, courtesy of Wrapping Presence. The Wrapping Presence organization was founded in 1995 with the mission to help residence-bound senior citizens to give with joy and dignity at holiday time. Rotarians served as “Wrapping Buddy” volunteers and helped residents select presents for their loved ones, wrap and tag the gifts, and celebrate the joy of giving. The Warminster Rotary provides annual support to Wrapping Presence.
Warrington Rotary Club had a holiday Shop With A Cop event this past December. This event is a partnership between Walmart, the Central Bucks School District, and the Warrington Police Department. The store was filled with cheer and the holiday energy was electric!
The West Reading-Wyomissing Rotary Club has been using several unique ways to attract new members to the club. In 2022 they introduced a new member category called Family Membership. After the club reduced the cost of annual dues for a second member of a family (spouse or adult child living under the same roof) they were able to bring in several new members.
Welcome New WRW Rotary Club Members!
WRW also continued its support of the Childrens Home of Reading Annual Gift drive this past holiday season. Rotarian Carol Mason coordinated the drive, which donated $1,045 of gift cards and cash to help teens celebrate the season.
Whitehall Area Rotary Club had quite an active year! In December, WARC welcomed two new members, Kendy Moscat and Melanie Pries. The 6th Annual Jingle Bell 8K Run and 5K Walk was held which, in addition to the run/walk, featured gift basket raffles, a soup bar, a hot cocoa bar, and visits with Santa for kids and pets of all ages.
Vibrant Club News is always accepting stories from District 7430 Clubs! Just send a short write up and any photos to the editors of Vibrant Club News and we will include your submission in the next edition.
Township, our assigned road as part of PennDOT’s Adopt-A-Highway program. In May, we helped the Wildlands Conservancy plant wildflowers to restore a former farm field in South Whitehall Township back to being a pollinator friendly meadow. We appreciated the soft ground from all of the spring showers. Later in May, we put our shovels down and went for a hike at the Wildlands Conservancy’s Brenner-
Penfield Macungie Mountain Preserve, followed by wine at the nearby Domaine Pterion winery. June was a busy month for us. First we helped at the golf outing organized by the Lehigh Valley Hospital’s Amputee Support Group, which raises funds to support the amputee community. The next day, we were volunteering again, this time helping staff the wine check station at the Kutztown’s Rotary Club’s fabulous Taste of Kutztown. We capped off the 2023-24 Rotary year with a social meeting and picnic to welcome our new slate of officers. Finally, our Public Image Chairs launched our Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram pages.
House. Most importantly, our guests helped to raise funds for our four beneficiaries through a restaurant raffle, a 50/50, a special appeals and the 120 silent and live auction items. They learned, firsthand, about our non-profit beneficiaries who are focused on caring for families and children. Throughout the event, our guests witnessed our club’s “people of action”, and, by every measure, this was, once again, a huge and quite memorable success.
period. Andy was one of thirty professional and non-professional team members, and his role, ‘Recreational Therapist’, was to spend time with the children and their parents to help reduce their anxiety prior to the surgeries. The mission was able to provide 81 surgeries and 109 procedures during their stay. In Andy’s words, ‘I witnessed miracles performed on many children. After surgery, these children no longer had to hide themselves. The children and the family were welcomed into their community’. Thanks, Andy! Wonderful work and a wonderful cause! 
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