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September, 2021

News
Governor's Message: Sept is Basic Education and Literacy Month
September is Basic Education & Literacy Month in the Rotary calendar. We observed it with two Project Showcases featuring Bethlehem’s Dictionary Project and Nazareth’s Josh the Otter.  Mandy Helwig of the Springfield Township-Flourtown Club shared the “Teach Rwanda” proposed bakery and kitchen on Showcase Tuesday. Bob Mallon told us about the Warrington Rotary Club’s innovative “I Like Me” project during that Showcase Tuesday on September 14th. Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan told us that “literacy is a bridge from misery to hope.” How will your Rotary Club bring hope to others through a literacy service project?
 
District 7430 has three events for your enjoyment. First, the ShelterBox Stock the Box event is slated at the Steel Club on September 10th. We want each Club to contribute some amount so we can continue to lead in the critical disaster assistance provided by ShelterBox. Second, we seek fellowship and to support the Rotary Foundation through the District 7430 Golf Tournament at Brookside Country Club on September 20th.  Third, please join us to have fun and eradicate Polio at the Purple Pinkie Race to Zero and Octoberfest at the Schnecksville Community Fair on October 2nd. You can register for these events on the District website or in this edition of “Welcome Aboard.”
 
The District circulated a COVID-19 update. I thank Dr. Michael Seidner for becoming our District 7430 COVID-19 Advisor. Please allow him to address your in-person assembly questions and refer back to our July Showcase Tuesday for tips on conducting virtual and hybrid meetings. 
 
We said goodbye to our past District Administrator Sharon Rittenhouse on August 28th. Sharon served the District with cheerful willingness for approximately eight years, beginning with our Youth Exchange program. She epitomized the “service above self” motto for the District and the West Reading-Wyomissing Club. If you are inclined to make a financial gift in Sharon’s memory, you might give a check payable to “District 7430 Foundation” for the benefit of our District Youth Programs by mailing to Treasurer Tom Hartzell, HMK Insurance, 54 S. Commerce Way, Suite 150, Bethlehem, PA 18017.
 
Thanks to our Rotary Club Presidents for welcoming me during “official” visits. I will continue these meetings through October. The North Penn Club drew me to a prospective member mixer at the Lansdale Tavern. Tell me about your special Club events so I can join, if possible. Let’s be our best selves through Rotary!
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Showcase Video - Education and Literacy Projects
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D7430 Public Image: Improving Communications and Retooling our Tech
As Bob Dylan wrote in 1964 "The Times They Are a-Changin'" and given the dual impacts of a pandemic and new technology opportunities, the times they certainly are “a-changing” for Rotary.
 
As you may have read in the September issue of Rotary Magazine, The Global Impact Group (TGIG), which is run by Rotary members, is aiming to help nonprofits, including Rotary, make better use of technology. A visit to www.TGIG.org will provide you with a treasure of ideas and resources related to Zoom meetings, hybrid meetings, social media and communications. As one past RI director described the TGIG goals, “We need to honor our past but retool for the future.”
 
Our District 7430 Public Image website is also full of “retooling” resources, including pages on branding, club communication,  social media, video, story telling and press releases.  These resources have been compiled from the best tips that RI and the Region have to offer and they are incorporated into the Showcase videos, “Welcome Aboard” and “Vibrant News” communications produced for you with help from members of the D7430 Public Image team.
 
We look forward to designing and initiating the 2022 Governor’s Challenge in January as our way of helping clubs try new tech tools and to have some fun while doing it.  Our goal for the second year of the Challenge is to include even more D7430 Clubs than last time!
 
As always, we encourage every member of every Club in the District to keep telling stories of Rotary achievement, of community service and of “Rotarians at Work & Play” to spread the word about Rotary across Northeast Pennsylvania!
 
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Do you know someone who would be a good addition to the D7430 Public Image Team?  Would you like to help us tell our D7430 stories and encourage our club members to do the same?  Reach out to us via e-mail and we will get right back to you to talk about opportunities we have available.
 
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Learning Committee Objectives

The objective of District 7430’s Learning Committee is to provide high quality communication and learning events. 

Committee members provide scheduling support and advice to create a master schedule of District 7430 Learning Committee events and communications. The schedule tracks tasks and resources needed to reach the Learning Committee’s objectives. 

We obtain input and feedback from committee members and District 7430 Rotarians regarding potential topics, presenters and authors.  We provide guidelines for presentations, videos and articles. The committee continues with the implementation of Rotary Brand Awareness in all of our media.

The Learning Committee provides Project Showcase and Showcase Tuesday presenters with due dates for deliverables. We schedule rehearsals for Showcase Tuesday events. This ensures that the Learning Committee meets its commitments to the district to provide timely and high-quality communication and learning events.

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A Tribute to Linda
What is a tribute? Definition: “A tribute is something that you do, say, or build to show that you respect and admire someone or something”. 
 
I write this message to say how much I admired Linda,  Through her work with Rotary International. Rotaplast she was able to help children in under served countries who were born with cleft lip and cleft palate deformities.  Linda made servals mission trips to these countries to help the children and their families. She knew if the children could be helped then their family were also helped. In many third world countries children and family are stigmatized when a child is born with a cleft deformities.
 
I met Linda when I became active with Rotaplast. She inspired me to join her on many Rotaplast missions. Linda was at the forefront of raising monies to enable the mission to go forth. Linda broke into a big smile when she spoke about carrying a child out of surgery and and the seeing the parents' faces light up with joy at first sight . One story Linda told was about when she brought a mother into the recovery room and led her to her child. The mother immediately said "this isn’t my child.” The surgery was so successful the mother did not recognize her child
at first!
 
I will always keep Linda’s smile face in my mind. I really learned from Linda what Rotary was all about, “Service Above Self.” Linda was a living example of “Service above Self.” As we think of and appreciate Linda's life and works, we know that her memory lives on in the many individuals that she touched.
 
Andy Johanson is a member of the Blue Bell Rotary Club.
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What's Cooking in Fleetwood?
   Use this link to register for Fleetwood's "Gourmet Gala" or call Loretta Ottinger at 610-914-5947.
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12th Annual Lehigh Valley Youth Leadership & Ethics Conferences
 
Dear fellow Rotarians,
 
On October 19th & 20th, 2021, De Sales University and Kids of Character will be hosting their twelfth annual Lehigh Valley Youth Leadership and Ethics Conferences.  This year’s conferences will be virtual.  The first day will be for eighth-grade students and the second day will be for high school juniors.  Each school in Lehigh and Northampton Counties will be allowed to bring six – 8 students and two faculty members (often guidance counselors) for each of the days.  With the sponsorship of local Rotary International Clubs over the past eleven years, we have been able to make this opportunity free to our local schools. 
 
The purpose of the conferences is to motivate both students and faculty to pursue the development of competence and character within their own schools and throughout their lives as they aspire to be citizens of competence and character in society.  In the first century BC, Cicero stated that, “Within the character of its citizen lies the welfare of the state.”
 
For the 8th grade conference, we will have a keynote speaker who will talk about “What I Know Now that I Wish I’d Known Then.”  Students will then be broken up into 3 groups and will rotate in and out of concurrent sessions.  The sessions will focus on 1) Leadership and Character, 2) Appreciating Differences, and 3) Teamwork and Communication.

The 11th grade conference features a keynote speaker.  Teacher mentors will begin with team-building activities and then introduce students to the concept of a “Value.”  Students will identify and discuss their own values. Using short stories (vignettes), with moral-ethical implications, mentors will challenge the students to discover
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Welcome to Rotary - Sept 27th
You are invited to attend a special webinar to learn the basics of Rotary.  This virtual event, called "Welcome to the World of Rotary", will be held on Monday September 27 at 7pm.  If  you participated in a previous Welcome to the World of Rotary event, we hope you found it informative and will encourage your fellow new Rotarians to join us!
 
The purpose of the event is to network with other Rotarians and learn more about the “World of Rotary” outside of your Club.  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.
 
Please join us for some virtual Fun, Fellowship and Learning.  You must pre-register for the meeting by using the link below. If you are unable to attend this session there is an additional opportunity on November 8th at noon. 
When: Monday September 27 at 7pm
 
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
 
If you have any questions please let us know.  Look forward to seeing you there!
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District Four Way Test Speech Contest

Rotary International District 7430 hosts a Four-Way Test Speech Contest (FWTSC) each year. Rotary Clubs throughout the District invite students from local high schools to compete. Students share perspectives on the Four-Way Test.  Each speech must be based on Herb Taylor’s famous statement on business ethics. "Of the things we think, say or do: 

1. Is it the TRUTH? 2. Is it FAIR to all concerned? 3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? 4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?" 

Understanding, appreciating, and expressing the true meaning of the Four-Way Test is the most important aspect of each speech. While in our District students are asked to choose their own topic, some Districts ask students to incorporate Rotary’s annual theme.  This year the theme is “Serve to Change Lives”.  

District 7430 is divided into five regions with 8 to 10 clubs in each region.  Information on the clubs within each region and the individuals coordinating those clubs is provided on the District website.  Last year we went to a virtual format for all contests but 

this year we hope to return to in-person contests at all levels.  Usually we have 25 clubs participating so there is plenty of opportunity for growth.  If your club has not yet participated, make this the year that you give it a try.

The FWTSC provides clubs with an opportunity to introduce Rotary and our areas of focus to schools and the community.  In assembling a jury for the contest, clubs are encouraged to reach out to local Leaders and City Council members, Speech, Debate and Mock Trial Teachers and Coaches, Etc. to judge contests. By reaching out to the community for judges, community members become aware of the Rotary Four-Way Test and the Speech contest and that is a good thing.

The District 7430 FWTSC schedule is as follows: 

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Kutztown Haunted House
   To register or learn more about this event click here.
 
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"Stock the Box" Success
District 7430 Rotarians and friends gathered September 10th at the Steel Club for our Stock the Box Dinner in support of ShelterBox USA. We raised a record amount of $44,500 to purchase ShelterBox tents, cooking sets and tool kits to aid displaced people. The current disaster occurred August 14th with a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Haiti. ShelterBox responds to areas in conflict, too, such as 2014 in Iraq and 10 years of conflict in Syria.
 
Our past Ambassadors include Dale Rubicam, Hank Tur and Bill Tuczynski. Their fundraisers put us on the ShelterBox map.  Linda Mayger, George Morrison and the Saucon-Center Valley Rotary Club transformed the program to a District event. ShelterBox USA recognized District 7430 as the greatest contributing District to ShelterBox in the USA during PDG Herb Klotz’s year and as a top twenty all-time Districts contributing to ShelterBox USA during PDG Janet Kolepp’s year.
 
District 7430 Rotarians are committed to supporting ShelterBox USA. We thank our Ambassadors for creating awareness, generating donations and engaging Rotarians in our District. Perhaps you can increase our impact and tell our story by having a ShelterBox tent at your Club’s next event.
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Haiti Shelter Box Relief
 For more information about Shelter Box use this link www.ShelterBoxUSA.org.
 
   To make a donation, send your check to:
    Shelter Box USA
    PO Box 5055 
    Santa Barbara, CA 93150
 
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Upcoming Events
Potato Project Harvest
Becker's St. Peters Church
Sep 18, 2021
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
 
District 7430 Golf Tournament
Brookside Country Club
Sep 20, 2021
10:00 AM – 7:30 PM
 
Rotary Leadership Institute
Virtual
Sep 25, 2021
 
The Potato Project
Lenhart's Plot
Sep 25, 2021
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
 
Welcome To Rotary
Sep 27, 2021 7:00 PM
 
Race to ZERO Purple Pinkie 5K Run & Fun Walk
Oct 02, 2021
 
PETS I - Areas 1&2
Oct 05, 2021 7:00 PM
 
PETS I Areas 3&4
Oct 12, 2021 7:00 PM
 
Showcase Tuesdays
Zoom Web Meeting
Oct 12, 2021 7:00 PM
 
DEC Meeting
TBD
Oct 18, 2021 7:00 PM
 
View entire list
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