Youth is the future of Rotary! In May we celebrate Youth Services, Rotary’s fifth Avenue of Service. Youth and young adults prove their strengths in leadership training, service projects, and exchange activities. These programs enrich and foster world peace and cultural understanding. District 7430 is committed to growing Interact and Rotaract Clubs, international youth exchange, the Four-Way Test Speech Contest, our Camp Neidig youth leadership program, and the STEM Youth Explorer Academy. We will also implement Launch Lehigh Valley for young entrepreneurs.
Our Project Showcase features students in the Northwestern Lehigh High School Interact Club and past exchange student Franka Hicksch. Interactors from Northwestern Lehigh tell us about their organic farming in New Tripoli. Franka shares that her year in District 7430 resulted in friends forever.
Our Showcase Tuesday features Sarah Stackhouse and Carolyne Jordan. Sarah is an author and Rotarian from Wisconsin. She tells us about how her journey through Rotary youth programs has opened her eyes to the world. Carolyne is the secretary of the District Youth Exchange Committee. She tells us about how our exchange program is going in-person after a year off and a year of virtual exchange.
Let’s reach our goals for this Rotary year! Here is a quarterly update:
ACTION PLAN PRIORITYGOAL SET IN 2021 MAY 2022 ACHIEVEMENT
PolioPlus $50,000 $67,661
Annual Fund $200,000 $249,580
New Major Donors Acknowledged 3 6
Community Assessment Training 1 1
Welcome to Rotary 4 4
Membership 1,757 1,737
Rotary Day of Service 15 40
Thanks for making our District Conference a success! Congratulations on your Rotary Days of Service to support the environment! Let’s celebrate the 75th anniversary of the West Reading Wyomissing Rotary Club and the 100th anniversary of the Norristown Rotary Club. Please sponsor students for Camp Neidig to be held June 17-20. This is the season for Club fundraisers following a year of COVID. Let’s support them and have some fun now. I look forward to seeing you soon!
Showcase Tuesday on May 10th featured Sarah Stackhouse from Wisconsin and Carolyne Jordan, president of the West Reading/Wyomissing club. Sarah told us about her journey through Rotary's youth programs to becoming a Rotarian and author. Carolyne presented details about how our District 7430 Youth Exchange Program is going back to in-person after a year off and a year of virtual exchange.
Youth is the future of Rotary! Sarah writes about it in her book “Opening Our Eyes to the World.” You can order your own copy of the book from Sarah's publisher. Don't forget to use the Rotary discount code.
Our Project Showcase features students in the Northwestern Lehigh High School Interact Club and past exchange student Franka Hicksch. Interactors from Northwestern Lehigh tell us about their organic farming in New Tripoli. Franka shares that her year in District 7430 resulted in friends forever.
Please join us May 31, 5:30 pm, for some virtual Fun, Fellowship, and Learning, all about the World of Rotary. This one-hour webinar is perfect for new members or seasoned members who want to brush up on what's new in Rotary.
** You must pre-register for the meeting by using this link **
Rotary is an amazing worldwide organization that makes a difference in local communities and throughout the world. Attendance at this event will increase your Rotary knowledge. You will meet Rotarians from other Clubs, virtually of course, and learn about activities and projects that are taking place in our Rotary District.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Camp Neidig registration is scheduled to end June 10th.
Is your Club looking for campers? Share this linkso prospective students can see the Camp video and please click here for the 2022 registration page, including all camp registration forms.
The video is a great way to show prospective students what to expect during this four-day leadership experience. Campers should be high school students who are “ascending juniors” (going into senior year next year).
Camp registration takes place on Friday, June 17 from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM. The Camp program begins promptly at 3:00 PM! The Camp is formally closed after the concluding ceremonies on Monday evening, June 20 at about 8:30 PM.
Camp Neidig is a program sponsored by the Rotary Clubs in Rotary District 7430. Its purpose is to provide exceptional young men and women with the opportunity to live, work, and socialize together in a dynamic leadership environment. The activities in which campers become involved will be focused on contemporary problems, ethical situations, and decision making that will contribute to their development as leaders.
What do we mean when we say that the Rotary theme for June is Fellowship? Is it the feeling we get when we do service in our communities? Or the Fellowships we apply for from Rotary International, such as the Peace Fellowship? Or maybe it’s the group of Rotarians who have a common interest and create a fellowship around it?
Of course, it’s all of those! So here are some ways to bring Fellowship to your club, and Connect with the Monthly Theme!
Save time during a regular meeting to discuss the Rotary fellowships. Visit MyRotary.com, look in the back of the Rotary magazine orvisit this Rotary.org page to explore the list of already existing fellowships that your members can join. Discuss the benefits of fellowships.
Learn about Rotary Peace Fellowships. Invite a Rotary Peace Fellow to speak to your club via Zoom, and talk about their path to the Fellowship, what they are studying, and what they plan to do.
Invite a previous Rotary Peace Fellow to your meeting and find out what being a Peace Fellow has meant to their life.
Have a “fellowship” meeting, and invite potential members to see what Rotary is about.
Rotarians from across District 7430 turned out to volunteer for the Rotary Day of Service – view our slideshow video for some highlights showing the variety of environmental projects that our 40+ clubs supported. We planted flowers and trees, built fences, cleaned parks and streams, and even cleaned along our highways. #D7430RotaryDay #RotaryDay
Here's the link to our video commemorating our 2022 efforts by Club using the photos submitted to our Governor's Challenge! https://bit.ly/D7430DayofService
In last month's Welcome Aboard we shared details with you about the high school students who dazzled Rotarians this year with with their critical thinking and public speaking skills at the annual District Four-Way Test Speech Contest finals on April 9th. Twenty-five Rotary Clubs throughout the District worked with their local high schools to conduct club contests during February and March.
Understanding, appreciating, and expressing the true meaning of the Four-Way Test is the most important aspect of each speech. Students are asked to choose their own topics, and they ranged from the need to include philosophy in the public school high school curriculum to the damaging effects of social media on our youth. This year the final was held at the District Assembly and the champion presented at Hershey to the Tri-District Conference (7430, 7450 [Philadelphia], 7475 [New Jersey).
The contest winners were:
1stEast Jack Geld – Willow Grove
2ndWest Emily Wessner – Fleetwood
3rdNorth Mackenzie Laub – Whitehall
4thSouth Sarah Grosch – North Penn
5thCentral Aditi Mangal – Spring Ford
The contest promotes critical thinking and ethical decision making among high school students. It provides a forum for high school students to showcase issues that they care about. The contest also encourages scholarship and academic research and it allows high school students to practice their public speaking skills. Many times, the students’ thoughtful speeches unravel the complexities of Four-Way Tests in new and innovative ways. If your club hasn’t held a contest yet, you are encouraged to give it a try. There are 69 school districts in the five-county Rotary District 7430 area, so there is plenty of opportunity for 46 clubs.
Al Engel, Chair of the contest, is prepared to respond immediately to any questions you may have. Alengel007@aol.com, 973-216-1469, Past President – Souderton-Telford Club
The next quarterly edition of the Vibrant Clubs News is in progress, but we need your help to make it a summary of all the highlights for District Club activities during the past three months! We can't share your stories until you share them with us!
We encourage every District 7430 Club to submit at least one story or one photo for the July 2022 edition, which has a deadline of June 30th. We ask the Assistant Governors to help stimulate and coordinate the submissions to insure that every Area is well represented.
Send your photos, articles, calendar updates or info about fund-raising efforts to the D7430 Public Image Teamemail account. You can use the same email to ask questions or get help with your submission.
** You must pre-register for the meeting by 
The next quarterly edition of the Vibrant Clubs News is in progress, but we need your help to make it a summary of all the highlights for District Club activities during the past three months! We can't share your stories until you share them with us!
