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Editor's Thoughts A lot has been going on in the club. (And some has not!)
To explain, there has been a lot of behind-the-scenes activities, some related to modifications to procedures as prescribed in the recently revised By Laws, and some more visible things such as rearranging the meeting room at Michael's and cleaning out the storage closet there. Plans are being made for getting to know our neighboring Rotary clubs a little better and fostering cooperation in Rotary projects, bringing together the younger professionals in Morrisville who can make a difference in the town, and taking the Rotary message to other organizations in town rather than relying on them to come to us. Support of the Rotary Foundation has continued, we honored two more Paul Harris Fellows, plans for a joint project with the Buenos Aires, Argentina, Rotary Club to benefit a local hospital there are moving along and we're working on a grant for more trees in Morrisville.
The "not's" have to do with not cooking hot dogs for the Labor Day picnic due to a communication problem and not having the weather fully cooperate with the carnival. On the plus side, we did have a Rotary publicity table at the picnic that lead to more publicity and support for the carnival and the carnival brought in some very welcome funds that gave the club some much needed financial breathing room.
So stay tuned (the best way of course is to show up at the weekly meetings), read the words of inspiration that Big E has selected for us, see if your name is on any of the lists below and read about the speakers we've had - those you may have missed and a refresher for those you didn't.
And remember to bring a friend to Rotary.
Yours in Rotary,
Hal
See Web Site Calendar for Upcoming Events
Chaplain's Corner - Big E God wants to be your first choice, not your last resort. "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out." John 6:37
Sergeant at Arms - Larry Schiefer, Chair
Birthdays
Our Programs
July 2, 2009
Rotarian Doug Miller, Director of Pennsbury Manor, discussed the issues that have been in the news recently about the Washington Crossing Park and his new position as the Park Director. The lack of funds, he said, call for some basic changes in how parts of the park are managed and funded. Changes for example in who has responsibility for maintaining the camp grounds used by the Boy Scouts and in what the requirements are for the replacement of trees that are dying or dead can bring relief to the limited budget. These and other changes can perhaps help maintain the staff, allow some critical repairs to be made and permit the park to fulfill its mission of preserving and communicating a vital part of the history of our nation. (Doug (right) shown with President Axel Augspach)
July 9, 2009
Rotarian Dave Sample spoke about events over the last 81 years at the Morrisville Rotary Club. Dave also gave each of the six past presidents in attendance the opportunity to reminisce about the club's accomplishments during their year as president. The club was chartered January 30, 1928, and over 100 Rotarians were present from surrounding clubs. Since then the club has worked to improve the quality of life in Morrisville and to help those in need locally and throughout the world. (Dave (left) shown with President Axel Augspach.)
Dave noted that the club has run an Easter Egg hunt for children in the community for at least 70 years, provided scholarships for nurses after World War II and presently provides financial aid for deserving high school graduates. The club has helped provide wheelchairs and medical services to correct cleft lips and palates for people in needy parts of the world. It has helped supply mosquito netting to fight malaria and solar panels for hospitals with inadequate electrical power in Africa. It has supported the Rotary Exchange programs for youth here and abroad and sent outstanding Morrisville youth to Rotary's Camp Neidig for leadership training. It has continued to support the Rotary Foundation in the fight to eliminate polio from the face of the earth and its members regularly volunteer at the Trenton Soup Kitchen. It helps the Salvation Army Christmas Fund each year by ringing the bells to attract shoppers to donate at the red kettles at the Oxford Valley Mall. It provided the funds to build the raised pavilion in Williamson Park and led the fundraising campaign for the Robert Morris Statue in the heart of Morrisville. It supports the education of children in the local schools by providing dictionaries to third graders and "I Like Me" books to kindergarteners. The list goes on and on of what the Morrisville Rotary Club, whose motto is "Service above Self", has accomplished and will accomplish in the coming years. Dave asked everyone to " Mark your calendars for the 100th Anniversary on Jan. 28, 2028!"
Russ Davidson, Past President of the Lower Bucks Toastmasters Club, explained what Toastmasters is all about and how local clubs operate. The mission, he said, is to provide a supportive environment in which every member has the opportunity to develop communication and leadership skills which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth. The Lower Bucks Club meets at the Frankford Bucks Hospital every 2nd and 4th Thursday form 6:45 to 9 PM and is open to all. Russ noted that the Lower Bucks club is very active and successful and has received Toastmasters' Distinguished Club honor, a recognition that few clubs obtain. More information can be found at http://www.toastmasters8892.com/ or contact Russ at 215-495-3887. (Russ shown with VP Hal Long.)
July 23, 2009
Pat Wandling, newly appointed part time Media Relations spokesperson for the Morrisville School District, said that her main objective is to tell the public about the good things and positive changes that are happening within the district. The community needs to know what is going on and when a crisis occurs she wants to be truthful and honest in talking about it. Pat is a talk show host on WBCB radio station in Levittown and has previously worked for the Courier Times. (Pat shown with VP Hal Long)
July 30, 2009 Human Welfare and Community Grants The club had two guest speakers, one talking about the TH Company giving back 5% of its profits for Human Welfare and the other about seeking a grant for community improvements within Ward 1 of Morrisville.
Scott Patley, from TH Company and a guest of Rotarian Andy Thompson, spoke about his company's giving back 5% of its pre-tax earnings each year to the community through its Nord Foundation. This year the focus is on Human Welfare. He mentioned that part of this year's grant allocation would probably be going to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen as a result of efforts of some of the members of the Morrisville Rotary.
August 6, 2009
The speakers for this evening were Rebecca "Becky" Kent and Sue Mealey, both of the Morrisville United Methodist Church. They spoke about mission trips that members of their church have taken the past three years to help rebuild Biloxi, Mississippi, which was ravaged by hurricane Katrina. The pictures and message were one of hope as they talked about the work that has been done and that is still ongoing there. Much of the cost of these mission trips are defrayed through "Biloxi Barbecues" held at the church and by the Golf Classic, dedicated to the memory of Becky's father, Dick Althouse, and to Don Stretch, who were both members of Morrisville Rotary and their church. Many of the club members have participated in the golf outing in past years and will again this year. (The Club's board authorized a contribution of $125 for an ad in this year's Golf Classic program.)(Becky (right) and Sue shown with VP Hal Long.)
August 13, 2009
Rotarian Lee Nolting spoke about Rotaplast and his experiences as part of two Rotaplast mission trips, the most recent to Venezuela. Rotaplast is Rotary-related volunteer program to send surgeons to some of the poorer parts of the world to provide free reconstructive surgery to correct cleft palates and lips in children and give them the opportunity for a better life. He noted that Rotary uses only board certified doctors to do this procedure. There are a number of reasons for the cleft anomaly including a genetic predisposition, diet, life style, lack of adequate vitamins especially folic acid, smoking while pregnant, and pollution. Research has shown that a genetic predisposition can be triggered by any of these factors thus increasing the chance for the cleft anomaly to appear more frequently among those who are poor. Through proper nutrition and education the conditions can be dramatically reduced and the Rotaplast goal is to have the condition eliminated by 2025. Rotaplast was started in 1992 and since then there has been 17 missions to various parts of the world. As Lee asked, "What does a smile cost?", the answer is, "Everything if it is lost!" The club expressed its gratitude to Lee for his efforts on behalf of this worthy cause and his "Service Above Self". (Lee shown with President Axel Augspach (right))
August 20, 2009
Steve Schmeltzer, an engineer and the son-in-law of Rotarian Andy Thompson, talked about his job working for the U.S. Navy in Lakehurst N.J. His line of expertise is the propulsion and arresting gear systems for a new line of super aircraft carriers. The objective of the new carriers is to make them more efficient, reduce the manpower needed, reduce the logistics, and improve the safety. The new arresting gear is designed to stop within 200 feet a 100,000 pound plane landing at 170 mph and the propulsion system is designed to propel a 100,000 pound plane off the carrier at 170 mph. His talk was very informative and stimulated many technical questions from intrigued members, most of them going back to the basic physics involved in accelerating and decelerating such a large mass of an aircraft in such a short time and space. (Steve shown with Presidnt Axel Augspach (left))
August 27, 2009
Rotarians Denis Lanctot and Dave Sample shared the experiences of their separate recent trips to the southern Baja Peninsula in Mexico this past winter. (Dave and Denis (right) shown with President Axel Augspach (left))
Dave and his wife spent their time in Los Cabos, a beautiful resort where his son has a house. Los Cabos is known for its world class sport fishing, beautiful harbor/marina, whale watching, and the wonderful weather, and scenery.
Denis talked about visiting his son, Matt, in La Paz, which is north of Los Cabos. Matt has been directing a program to improve the lives of the residents of this area where the average wage is $5.00/day. He said that Matt was instrumental in getting a multipurpose community center built to address some of the problems in area, such as education, nutrition, and sports. In the past year Matt has talked the locals into helping those who cannot get to the center, including providing transportation for those who otherwise could participate. Denis said Matt's goal now is to maintain the center and to procure some busses, vans, or other transportation for the center so it can bring in more people to take advantage of the educational opportunities and activities the center provides.
September 3, 2009
Ron Smith, candidate for Magisterial District Judge for the District Court located in Morrisville, spoke to the club about his background and work he has done in helping others. (Ron (left) shown with President Axel Augspach)
September 10, 2009 Cleaning House There was no speaker scheduled for the meeting, Instead the members were asked to come in their "work clothes" so that after dinner they could clean out the storage room in Michael's Restaurant that the club uses. Outdated electronics (an old TV, video and cassette tape players, etc.) and an assortment of odds and ends that was just taking up room were discarded. A group decision was reached, however, not to throw out an ancient raffle ticket mixing cage that had served the club decades earlier in some fundraising lotteries. The cabinet used to store meeting paraphernalia was cleaned out and organized and an inventory was taken of the many Rotary banners and club flags that had been given to the club over the years. Although Michael would not allow his beloved couch be thrown out, order was restored to the room and the members left tired but happy.
September 17, 2009
Members and their guests enjoyed the evening with its Italian Night theme and the excellent cuisine served by Michael's. Rotary District Governor Mike McCarthy, along with Assistant District Governor Peter Clayton, were guests of the club. (Mike shown with President Axel Augspach (left))
Prior to dinner Mike met with the Board of Directors and reviewed the club's plans for the Rotary year. Mike spoke about his interest in stressing the importance of vocational service. This is one of the four Rotary "Avenues of Service" and tends to be neglected. (The other three are Club, Community and International.) Mike was told that the club is initiating his suggestion of having longer term members reintroduce themselves to the club via the classification speech and talk about their vocational experiences and that the club is considering a plan to bring together the younger professionals in Morrisville for their mutual benefit and for the benefit of the community. In accordance with the Rotary International Theme for 2009-10, "The Future of Rotary is in Your Hands", Mike emphasized that the future of Rotary in the club's hands. One of the important goals for the club is to achieve a net gain of 2 new members by the end of this Rotary year.
September 24, 2009 Community Service, Matching Grants and the Rotary Foundation
October 1, 2009
Juan Proano, a prospective member, spoke about a chance encounter seeing Rotarian Hal Long at the recent Lower Makefield Pride Day and accepting Hal's invitation to come visit the club. He said that he had been a member of three different Rotary clubs in Peru, one of which his grandfather started. Business travel finally compelled him to drop out of Rotary but now that he is retired he said he is interested in getting back into Rotary. He spoke about his long career in the mining industry and although he is retired he is still doing some consulting work. He and President Axel Augspach (pictured right), who has spent much of his career in the metals industry, discovered at a previous meeting that they have a number of mutual business acquaintances and have a lot of common knowledge about the mining and metals industries. (It should be noted that Juan subsequently helped sell tickets at the carnival and the club is very anxious to have him aboard.)
October 8, 2009
Captain Phil Davis, an ordained minister in the Salvation Army, spoke enthusiastically about the Salvation Army retail operations in the area for which he is in charge. The newest location is on Old Lincoln Highway in Falls Township just north of the Oxford Valley Mall (formerly Frank's Nursery). In addition to this location he said he has charge of four outlets in New Jersey. These outlets offer a large variety of goods that have been donated, carefully screened and sorted and offered at extremely reasonable prices. He explained that the monies made from these operations fund an adult rehabilitation program. The program, housed in a Salvation Army facility in Trenton, offers participants work therapy, counseling, room and board and a spiritual foundation for their daily living. The participants provide the labor needed to handle and sort the donations received for the outlet stores. The Salvation Army's ultimate goal, he said, would be to shut down the program because a lack of need, but unfortunately that is not likely. (Captain Phil shown with VP Hal Long (right))
October 15, 2009
Jenna Steiner, a Major Gifts officer for the Rotary Foundation for the Northeast Region, spoke about goals. She described how her goal was to run in the Chicago Marathon and by doing so to get a medal for participating. In spite of some set backs and the rigorous training needed she met her goal. She then spoke about the goals of the Rotary Foundation and how Rotarians can help meet the goals. The purpose of the Rotary Foundation is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. It is a not-for-profit corporation supported solely by Rotarians and friends of the Foundation who support its vision of a better world. (Jenna shown with VP Hal Long)
July 16, 2009 |
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Washington Crossing Park Matters
A History of the Rotary Club of Morrisville
Toastmaster Talks 
New PR Person to Tell Stories about School
Two new Paul Harris Fellows were announced, Doug Miller (center left) and Bill Ferrara center right). Making the presentations were Lee Nolting (left) and Barry Vannauker (right). 
Meg Quinn, of the Bucks Co. Housing Group, spoke about the efforts of her group and the residents of Ward 1 in Morrisville to obtain a $750,000 grant from the Wachovia Regional Foundation This grant would cover five years of initiatives for the residents of Ward 1. These initiatives, she explained, cannot be in the form of "bricks and mortar, but instead applied to the formation of a community association, the establishment of a community center and implementation of other valuable community initiatives as identified by the residents. The group will learn around November of this year whether or not the grant will be awarded. (Meg shown with VP Hal Long.)
Golf Classic Dedicated to Memory of Club Members for Katrina Vistims
Change Smiles - Change Lives
Launching From Aircraft Carriers
Holidays in Mexico
Candidate Talks
District Governor Visits
Matt Sinberg (right), Mayor of Yardley and a former Rotarian was a guest of our President, Axel Augspath. Matt spoke briefly about the need for community service and talked about some some of the areas in Yardley that need help.
Two representatives of the Morrisville Environmental Advisory Council ("MEAC") (shown with President Axel Augspach) talked about a $1,000 matching grant that Waste Management is offering to the planting of trees in the Manor Park playground in Morrisville. The trees would be native to the area and be 8' to 12' high at the time of planting. Each tree is estimated to cost between $250 and $350. The group made a request to Rotary to help in matching the offer by Waste Management.
Mike Mattie, chairman of the District Rotary Foundation committee, gave a very interesting and informative talk about the Rotary Foundation and its mission. He explained the different types of grants that are given each year and how half of the money comes back to the Districts for use in local projects. He also noted that the money Rotarians contribute is invested and administrative costs come out of the earnings, so that the principal is used for programs and not administration. He agreed to work with President Augspach (left) and the MEAC representatives on the matching grant request.
Prospective Rotarian from Peru Addresses Club
Who Has Better Prices than Walmart?
From the Rotary Foundation in Chicago