This issue of Vibrant Club News (VCN) reports club activities 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.
As we know, our district is a sum of all our clubs. I want to take a moment to drill down even further. Youdear reader are what Rotary is. It’s your time, your heart, your hands, your support. Your inspiration is 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. 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, 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:
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. ~Submitted by Jane Meckes
The Allentown Rotary Club has been engaged and busy! Not only are we gearing up to celebrate our 110 years of service above self, but we have also had amazing programs and events that reflect our commitment to the Lehigh Valley and community service.
Sponsorship of the New Da Vinci Science Center
The Allentown Rotary Club and Foundation is an official sponsor of the New Da Vinci Science Center at the PPL Pavilion in Allentown. We have committed to a $50,000 sponsorship for the Upland Forest exhibit. We highly recommend visiting this remarkable new science center to explore the amazing changes happening in Downtown Allentown.
Mullin Scholarship Recipients
On May 17, we celebrated our Mullin Scholarship Recipients. Since 1991, the Allentown Rotary Club has provided almost $400,000 in scholarships to outstanding Allentown high school students attending a four-year, non-profit accredited college or university. These scholarships, renewable for four years, are awarded based on community service, leadership skills, financial need, academic achievement, and interview skills. We are proud to support the educational aspirations of these exceptional students.
Tree Planting Efforts with the Wildlands Conservancy
On May 18, we joined the Allentown West Rotary Club and planted trees at Earl Adams Memorial Park in Breinigsville, PA. This Rotary initiative with the Wildlands Conservancy, reflects our ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn @Allentown Rotary Club to stay tuned for more vibrant news as we continue to serve our community.
The Warminster Rotary Club finished off the last three months of this fiscal with a variety of things! In April we held our annual Golf Event and joined the District at our conference in Bethlehem. In May, we participated in the Warminster Township Memorial Day parade with partner club Huntingdon Valley Churchville. In June, we wrapped up our fiscal by awarding six grants from our Foundation to local charities. We also held our first ever changeover dinner which welcomed guest members from the HV/Churchville and Warrington clubs. During the changeover we followed the district example and passed the gavel from all the past presidents to Mike Cerino, who is serving for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
Past President Karin Suttmann and incoming President Mike Cerino.
Far left is Karin's family Shane, Pat, and Kevin.
Some of the past presidents of the Warminster Rotary Club
Passing the gavel
The new Rotary year is already shaping up to be new and exciting for our club. We've joined a partnership with the Huntingdon Valley/Churchville Rotarians wherein we support each others club activities and membership initiatiaves. Of coure we're really excited and proud of the home club of District Governor Katie Farrell and ready to give our full support to her in the new fiscal year.
During the week of July 1-6, 2024, the West Reading-Wyomissing Rotary Club hosted their signature community service event the Berks County Field of Honor® at the Wyomissing Stone House. Over 230 US flags were displayed, honoring Active-Duty Military, Veterans, Fallen Servicemen & Women, First Responders, and local heroes ranging from Teachers to Non-profit Leaders, and Neighbors. Visitors to the Berks County Field of Honor® could read dedication medallions and reflect on the incredible stories of heroes. The event featured a Flag Disposal Box for collecting worn flags, which will be properly retired by Hawk Mountain Scouts. The Celebration of Heroes Ceremony, held on July 3 included the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Anthem, Taps, a Musket Salute, and remarks from Berks County dignitaries and the Old Glory Sponsor. Participation in the Wyomissing Borough Prade and Celebration provided an opportunity to tell the Rotary story and engage with the community. We extend our heartfelt thanks to our sponsors, as well as ceremony participants, the Wyomissing Parks and Recreation Department (our collaborating partner), and fellow Rotarians and friends of Rotary who contributed their skills and time to make this event a reality.
Wilson Interact Club
It is always an engaging meeting when our Wilson Area School District#interactclub student officers 2023/24 and 2024/25 along with their Advisor Rotarian Chris Daubert join us to share what they have done and plan to do. These 100 Interact members are amazing! Our Club really enjoys when we have opportunities to work together with them on community service projects.
~Submitteed by Gail Landis
West Reading Wyomissing / Wilson Interact Officers
On April 3, we were joined by a very special guest speaker, the “Voice of the Eagles” Mr. Merrill Reese. Each year he joins us to update the club on “The State of the Eagles.” Even non-sports fans are easily captivated by his gentle voice and humble demeanor. We held our Annual Spring Food Drive on April 20th at McCaffery’s Market benefitting the Wrightstown Food Bank. On April 26th we held our Hope on the Vine Fundraising Gala. This event is the Newtown Rotary’s biggest fundraiser. Unlike our other events where we raise money for a specific cause, all the proceeds from this event go back to the Newtown Rotary so we can disperse among the local community and abroad. The event held at Rafter’s Venue in Newtown was catered by Chef Joe Garvey. Also featured were a DJ, a full bar, a cigar bar, Iron Hill brewery beer, and KLYR rum. This year we raised over $31,000!! Our Annual Road Cleanup was held on May 11th. Newtown Rotary adopted the road in front of Newtown Middle School and holds a cleanup twice a year, in Spring and Fall.
On June 11 we celebrated our Presidential Changeover Dinner and the passing of the gavel from Mick Petrucci to Debra Porter beginning on July 1. The event serves not only to pass the gavel but to recognize Rotarians for their achievements throughout the year. On June 19th, we held our last lunch meeting of the calendar year. During this meeting, President Mick Petrucci officially swore in President-elect Debra Porter. Mick did a “show and tell” with new pieces we inherited from the now defunct Morrisville-Yardley Rotary Club. Then as a surprise, Mick gave his classification speech after 9 years in Rotary. ~Submitted by Stephanie Eubanks
On May 22, Interact Officers from Council Rock North and Council Rock South visited our lunch meeting. Each gave an impressive presentation on the state of their club. Afterwards, the students presented Nyaka Global with a check for $1,000 raised by both Interact clubs throughout the year.
We have enjoyed our fantastic speakers including a Bucks County Commissioner, Step Up Academy and the NAMA Project. We marched in another thrilling July 4th parade, held our first mixer with the Chalfont New Britain Business Association and thanked Michael’s Restaurant for hosting our meetings and the Montgomery Township Rec Center for hosting our mini golf fundraiser. ~Submitted by Andrea Duffy
Warrinton - honoring Past President Lou Altamri's three-year term
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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 
Penfield Macungie Mountain Preserve, followed by wine at the nearby 
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! 
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. 
On May 18, we joined the 
Bethlehem. In May, we participated in the Warminster Township 
Memorial Day parade with partner club Huntingdon Valley Churchville. In June, we wrapped up our fiscal by awarding six grants from our Foundation to local charities. We also held our first ever changeover dinner which welcomed guest members from the HV/Churchville and Warrington clubs. During the changeover we followed the district example and passed the gavel from all the past presidents to Mike Cerino, who is serving for the 2024-25 fiscal year. 
Non-profit Leaders, and Neighbors. Visitors to the Berks County Field of Honor® could read dedication medallions and reflect on the incredible stories of heroes. The event featured a Flag Disposal Box for collecting worn flags, which will be properly retired by Hawk Mountain Scouts. The Celebration of
Heroes Ceremony, held on July 3 included the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Anthem, Taps, a Musket Salute, and remarks from Berks County dignitaries and the Old Glory Sponsor. Participation in the Wyomissing Borough Prade and Celebration provided an opportunity to tell the Rotary story and engage with the community. We extend our heartfelt thanks to our sponsors, as well as ceremony participants, the Wyomissing Parks and Recreation Department (our collaborating partner), and fellow Rotarians and friends of Rotary who contributed their skills and time to make this event a reality.
Even non-sports fans are easily captivated by his gentle voice and humble demeanor. We held our Annual Spring Food Drive on 
April 20th at McCaffery’s Market benefitting the Wrightstown Food Bank. On April 26th we held our Hope on the Vine Fundraising Gala. This event is the Newtown Rotary’s biggest fundraiser. Unlike our other events where we raise money for a specific cause, all the proceeds from this event go back to the Newtown Rotary so we can disperse among the local community and abroad. 
The event held at Rafter’s Venue in Newtown was catered by Chef Joe Garvey. Also featured were a DJ, a full bar, a cigar bar, Iron Hill brewery beer, and KLYR rum. This year we raised over $31,000!! Our Annual Road Cleanup was held on May 11th. Newtown Rotary adopted the road in front of Newtown Middle School and holds a cleanup twice a year, in Spring and Fall. 
Presidential Changeover Dinner and the passing of the gavel from Mick Petrucci to Debra Porter beginning on July 1. 
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