December 15, 2008 Presentation:  The Harrisburg High School Tour Choir Greeter:                            Guy Patterson Invocation:                        Jeff Boswell Club Singing:                     Bob Hostetter Good News Reporter:          Nick Connolly Publications:                      Maria Persico

PROGRAM: The Harrisburg High School Tour Choir is a small vocal ensemble selected from the larger HHS Concert Choir.  They have performed extensively throughout the community including the State Capitol, the Governor's mansion, various service organizations and nursing and assisted-living facilities, and also at Strawberry Square.  They also performed at the second inauguration of Governor Ed Rendell.

The Tour Choir will be performing selections for the holiday season.  Performance venues this holiday season include the Rutherford House Senior Citizens Center in Harrisburg and the Loyalton of Creekview Assisted Living Community in Mechanicsburg.

The Choir is directed by Mr. Michael Clements, assisted by Mrs. Stacy Milanovich, and accompanied by Mrs. Georgia Clements.
UPCOMING PROGRAMS / MEETING LOCATIONS:             

December 15      Holiday Program with The Harrisburg High School Tour Choir

Hilton

December 22     NO MEETING

Hilton

December 29     NO MEETING

Hilton

Janaury 5      Dr. Joyce Davis, Senor VP Content WITF

Hilton    “My View For The World On The Eve Of A New Year”

For complete programming go to our website: hbgrotary.org and click on calendar.

NEWS AND NOTES:  
• The Board accepts with regret the following resignations:  Mark Koellner, Barbara Skelly and Tom Weber.

• The Rotary Club of Harrisburg will host Breakfast meetings on Thursday, January 15th and Tuesday, January 27th at the Diner in Homeland Center (1901 N. 5th Street) at 7:00 AM.  No cost.  Please come to use this as a meeting make-up or opportunity to bring a prospective member.  RSVP to Linda by Wednesday, January 14.

• The Nominating Committee welcomes nominations in writing until January 4 for the Vice- President position (President 2011-12) and the four Board vacancies (serve 2009-11). Rotarians must have at least 3 years of Rotary service.

•  It is time for you to select the Rotarian that you feel has done the most for our Rotary Club through leadership. (The Robert D. Hanson Rotary Excellence Award)
Robert D. Hanson was an outstanding member of the Rotary Club of Harrisburg for 36 years.  During those years he has clearly demonstrated leadership.  Bob was a role model for all and exemplified the Rotary 4 Way test in his personal, professional and Rotary life.  We were indeed honored to have him as a member of the Rotary Club of Harrisburg and acknowledge his exemplary leadership in this manner.

Goal:  Build leadership, serve as incentive for all members of the Rotary Club of Harrisburg and acknowledge the dedicated Rotary service of Robert D. Hanson.

Criteria:  Recipient exemplifies the Rotary 4-Way Test in his/her personal, professional and Rotary life.  Recipient has positively affected the major objectives of the strategic plan through committee work, fundraising or fellowship. Past-Presidents, Current President and President-Elect’s are not eligible.

Award:  $2,500 expenses toward attendance at Rotary International convention within two years.

PLEASE MAKE NOMINATION BY December 14, 2008.

•  4th Annual Teacher Impact Awards seek to recognize teachers (Pre-K – 12) who have made a significant difference in the lives of their students. Nominations are being accepted now thru January 30, 2009. Five winners will receive a plaque and $1000 to their school. Form is available from Linda or online at www.office7390.org

• HOST FAMILY NEEDED in Central Dauphin High School: Paul (Po-Kai) Huang, our 17-year old Rotary exchange student from Taiwan needs a Host Family.  Since he is attending Central Dauphin High School, we are seeking a 2nd and 3rd host family in that area.  We are looking for a host family from mid-December through March and another host family from late March until July 1st.  Please contact Linda or Ron Guss.         
• DISTRICT INFO: 

2008 District Conference  April 30-May 1

Check out the tentative schedule:

Thursday, April 30 Golf Tournament—Country Club of York
Friday, May 1– Yorktowne Hotel Plenary / Breakout Sessions
Lunch/ Factory Tours including Harley Davidson
Dinner at Sovereign Bank Stadium

Saturday, May 2—Yorktowne Hotel - Plenary Sessions
Lunch/ Downtown/HistoricalTours/ Governors Banquet

Registration materials will be available shortly!!

100th Rotary International Convention  Birmingham, England  June 21-24, 2009
Register early take advantage of special pricing! First deadline: December 15. Register Online! It’s convenient and secure. Your confirmation materials will be e-mailed to you.  Birmingham Convention Bureau will handle all individual and group housing requests. Reservations are filled as requested. E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

You will receive a hotel confirmation from the Birmingham Convention Bureau indicating the hotel name, address, room rate per night, room type requested, and dates reserved. All housing changes/inquiries must be made directly to the Birmingham Convention Bureau until 8 May 2009. Please return your completed reservation form by 17:00 GMT on 8 May 2009.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR KATRINA BUILD

Joining Hands, District 7390’s disaster relief project, will be building its second new construction home along the Mississippi gulf coast from January 5th – March 27th, 2009. Major financial support will be coming from a $15,500.00 District Simplified Grant. Clubs participating in this Grant are Hanover, Colonial Park, York, York North, Carlisle, Hershey, West York, Mechanicsburg North, Littlestown and Mt. Joy.

Volunteers to help with the building are needed for any of the following weeks. Some of the weeks have Rotarian Crew Chiefs. Needed are skilled construction/handymen, painters, and folks just
willing to help. Construction framing/roofing/siding phase will be January 5-8, January 12-17, January 19-23 with Crew Chief Jason Mead from Colonial Park Rotary, and January 26-30 with Crew Chief Chuck Van de Water from East York County Rotary. Drywall Installation will be February 16-20. Interior painting/flooring/cabinets/doors phase will be March 2-6 with Crew Chief Gail Crissey from Lancaster NorthEast Rotary, March 9-13 with Crew Chief Randy Sibert from Colonial Park Rotary, March 16-20 with Crew Chief Peg Sennett from Hanover Rotary, and the week of March 23-27.

If you desire to volunteer but don’t want to work on the house, we can use cooks to prepare meals for the volunteers.

We will be housed at Camp Gospel, Pass Christian MS, an established camp that is currently housing volunteers. The camp is located on the beach, provides 3 meals, hot showers, bunk rooms, laundry facilities, fellowship, transport to/from airport. Volunteers either fly into Gulfport Airport or drive their own vehicles.

Learn more about the Joining Hands project and Camp Gospel at the District Web site. In left hand column of the site go to Search Our Site, type in Joining Hands and enter the site for District Relief. Volunteer by contacting Peg Sennett: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 630-8281. 

For more information contact District Initiatives chair Diane McNaughton or Linda.

For meeting cancellations due to inclement weather.... Tune to ABC27-TV
or check your e-mail or call the Rotary office at 234-1208.

ATTENDANCE:
LAST ROTARY MEETING:  12/8/08       54%                      
Rotarians  78     Active Specials   11   Guests  28        Visiting Rotarians  0  = 117

Minutes by Karen Paris: 
We were treated to the magic of “All the Things You Are” among many other nostalgic songs by our pianist “Big Al”, that’s Morrison at the end.  President Barry called the meeting to order at 12:17 PM and was followed by Howard Ammons invocation, reminding us to “transform our hearts”.  A lively rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” was led by John Hickey.  Meet-and-greets among members, visiting Rotarians and guests were numerous. 

Bonnie McCann gave us a “Rotary Minute”.  She recalled her own travels and noted that the luxury of clean water is something many people (1,000,000,000) in our world do not have access to.  She further noted that 2,000,000 children die yearly due to some water-borne disease.  Rotary does have many water projects around the world to help combat this problem and they are a fairly low-cost solution.  Bonnie asked everyone to keep in mind the issue of clean, safe water when giving their $100 donation to the Rotary International Foundation because it is a concrete way of improving the public health around the world.  Envelopes for this contribution will be out soon.

Four Rotarians were thinking ahead and brought guests:  Chad Barger, Kevin Lutz, Jeannette Archer-Simons, and Diane McNaughton.  Thanks for bringing guests “guys” and introducing them to Rotary.

Somehow, President Barry managed to put Jim Rowland on the spot to wish Penn State well in the Rose Bowl in front of the whole crowd.  Jim, it’s been a tough year – will they ever stop picking on you…

Ron Guss reported that we are still in search of a second host family for Paul from January through March; Paul is in 11th grade in the CD school district.  A third host family will also be needed to round out the calendar from April through June.  Even if you can’t host, call Ron, Linda, or Dave Bedard if you know of a potential host family living in that district.  It’s down to crunch time.

Hal Hurwitz has only one time remaining – a 10 AM Wednesday slot for the Salvation Army Bell Ringing at Strawberry Square.  Join us other ding/dongs for some great camaraderie for a great cause.  Maybe you’ll be the shift that gets the gold coin donation!

Ex-pres Carrie shared three weeks of clips with us.  In the news were: John Cavanaugh, Norma Swain, Robin Scaer, Barry, Steve Feinour, Greg Sutliff, Linda Freedenberg, Charles Clevenger, Pauline Wallin, Kendall Hanna, and Jean Beatty.  According to Carrie, there were so many items in her folder, they got like potatoes – in her words they were “mushed” – oh, sorry, the word for potatoes is mashed – I must still have Thanksgiving on my mind.

Pres. Barry thanked both Al Morrison and Linda Freedenberg for their service.

Two new members were introduced.  They are Roger Morgenthal who works for Smigel, Anderson and Sacks.  He was a Student of the Month 45 years ago and says he came back because he remembered how good the food is…  He’s an ex-member of the Carlisle Rotary Club.  Our second inductee is Steve Samara.  Steve works for PA Telephone Association.  He has two sons and has been a guest of the Club in the past.  He says he’s looking forward to an active career in Rotary.

The highlight of the week was presentation of awards to those non-Rotarians who have made a significant volunteer contribution to the betterment of our community.  Ellen Kyzer and Jeannette Archer-Simons headed up the committee.  Ellen noted that this is a very special time of year and that we all have so many good things to be thankful for.  She urged everyone to make a New Year’s resolution to find a way to give back to the community and make it a better place as have those being honored.  She pointed out that if everyone picked one small issue out of the enormity of the problems that we face, we could make it a better world. 

There were a total of 10 individuals recognized: Tracey Hanwell, Arlene DiMarco, Leigh Hurst, Dwight Worley, John D. Laskowski, Marcellene Currens and Alan Wirt. Honorable mention went to: Honorable mention went to Marty Laminoff, and the top awardee for the year was Sharon Egan.  
President Barry passed on his congratulations to all of the winners, noting that everyone benefits by all of the good works performed; he noted they are all a “bright light” for the community.

At the end of the meeting, the President led us in the 4-way test, noting that there are copies on the table.  It sounded like we’re getting so good we won’t need the table copies in the future – like Barry said, we could always read the 4-ways on the Rotary banner behind the podium. 

See you all next week, or if you’re not coming on Dec. 15th, see you next year!