Meets Noon Mondays at the Hilton
www.hbgrotary.org
Executive Director: Linda Freedenberg
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Telephone: 717-234-1208
Fax: 717-234-3234

November 2, 2009

Program:  Dauphin County Judicial Candidates Forum

Greeter: Beth Peiffer
Invocation:  Terry Masch
Club Singing:  John Hickey
Publications:   Andy Rebuck

PROGRAM: ROTARY TO HOLD DAUPHIN COUNTY JUDICIAL CANDIDATES FORUM!

In an effort to provide you, as Rotarians, and others that may be interested, direct access to the five candidates, they have been invited to speak to you on the eve of the election, November 2!

All have accepted which is truly a salute to them and to us as a dynamic Rotary Club!

The following candidates will be asked two questions by our moderator, Rotarian Karen Snider.

. What qualifies you for the court?

. What do you see as the primary challenge facing the court?

Karen will define the allotted time for their response and allow for some time for Q & A.  They will be asked to speak in alphabetical order:

DEB CIRCILLO
BERNIE COATES
ANDY DOWLING
BRIDGET MONTGOMERY
LORI SERRATELLI

Corporate Member

Birthdays:
Carrie W. Thomas  NOV 2
Rich Bowra  NOV 3
Chuck Wingate  NOV 4
Harry Yaverbaum  NOV 5

UPCOMING PROGRAMS / MEETING LOCATIONS:

• November 9 – Major Henry Heim

• November 16 - Kim Walsh-Phillips, President of Inside Out Creative

“Social media phenomenon  Twitter”

November 23 - InterClub Thanksgiving Luncheon

For complete programming go to our website: hbgrotary.org and click on calendar.
For meeting cancellations due to inclement weather.... Tune to ABC27-TV
or check your e-mail or call the Rotary office at 234-1208.

NEWS AND NOTES:
• MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Please send or give Linda your $10 cash or check for the 2009-10 Support the Troops effort.

• HRF 100% participation goal – All Rotarians have received their $100 invoice for the Harrisburg Rotary Foundation.  We have already received 55% of our membership’s contributions.

• DISTRICT NEWS:

1.  Check out the District Newsletter: www.hbgrotary.org
click on click on About Us
click on District 7390
click on District Happenings
click on Rotar- E Reporter
or  http://www.rotary7390.org/Portals/0/August%2009%20Newsletter.pdf

ATTENDANCE:
LAST ROTARY MEETING:  10/26/09       51%
Rotarians  81    Active Specials 7             Guests  7      Visiting Rotarians  1   = 96

Minutes by: Karen Paris
After checking to see whether all participants were prepared for their roles, The Big C (that’s President Carolyn) called our meeting together.  Sally Klein led us in a verse of “America the Beautiful” and Bridget Montgomery gave an invocation which she wrote personally.

It was a “heavy” week for greetings, leaving this writer in awe that after all of the camaraderie on Saturday at the Pancake Breakfast, we all had so much more news to share with each other. (Of course, I’m a bit biased – I think the Breakfast encourages that kind of interaction.  Maybe we should do Pancake Breakfasts every other week…).

We had a Visiting Rotarian from Strasburg and several Rotarians brought guests.  Gib Parthemore was having a bit of difficulty finding the birthday list but Jeff Boswell saved the day by pointing out that it was listed under “Birthdays”.  It’s OK, Gib – you had a VERY busy day Saturday and you’re still working on the letter “A” for auction.  We’ll move on to “B” (for birthday) next week…

Jacqueline Jackson-DeGarcia “wowed” up the Pancake Breakfast with the great news that we had a great day on Saturday despite the rain.  Over 770 people attended the Breakfast!  She praised all the Rotarians who worked on the event, noting that everyone who played a part made the event a success.   We’re up to $24,000 in income; the bills haven’t arrived yet but there will be a final number in the near future.  A special thank you to the Lions Club in E’town for the great griddles.  (Did you all see the size of the pancakes that were made - they had to be 10”, a new record from the chefs.)   Al Baker – I’m sure you would have done just fine on the new griddles making pancakes; it was just that we really, really, needed beverage workers and we knew you’d be great at that also.  So, if someone wants to start a sign-up sheet for next year, Al can have first pick of either (or both) position(s).  Special thanks to Jack Huskin for leading the charge on the water sales; technical glitches “washed out” the sales, but we’ll try again soon!  And yes, Linda has appropriately credited all 76 of you who worked at the Breakfast with a makeup.

Gib asked for good news reporting.  Jacqueline Jackson-DeGarcia had too much good news as she remembered a second item and had to pay double.  That reminded President Carolyn of New Years’ Day and she noted that all proceeds from today’s event will go toward the Rotary Float in the Rose Parade!

President Carolyn also credited Andy the Man (a.k.a the guy with the mean spatula) with the great RI billboards running for the District.  Hey Rebuck – when you gonna’ put that great pancake recipe in one of your Rotary minutes?  We only get them once a year and they are sooooo good).

Our speaker today was Ann Van Dyke.  She has worked at the PA Human Relations Commission since 1979.  Her topic was an overview of the issue of “hate crimes”.  She asked a question to start: “Is Pennsylvania a hotbed for these crimes?”  Unfortunately she had to answer that with a “yes”.
She also noted that the fundamental question we should all be asking is:  “Why here, and why now?”

She gave us a history of the Civil Rights movement in PA going back to 1955 when the first civil rights law was passed to cover 1) employment, 2) housing and commercial property, 3) public accommodations, and 4) education.  In 1971, the PA Inter-Agency Task Force on Civil Tension was formed to monitor and coordinate prevention and responses.   She noted what constitutes a “protected class” and talked about the 180 day statute of limitations.

The category of bias-related incidents includes hate crimes, ethnic intimidation, unlawful discrimination, racial supremacy, and other public expressions of bias, prejudice, and bigotry.

Several graphs of PA demographics were presented, showing the increased diversity of the population in PA.  Almost every county has had growth in the number/percentage of persons of color during the last 7 years; three counties exceeded a 100% growth rate.  With all of these changes, the key is 1) how do we react to these changes and 2) do we take a defensive stand or an accepting perspective?

She noted that it boils down to how we define “WE”, in that if people view the demographic changes as a threat to their own existence and what they stand for, then many problems can arise.

The vast majority of hate crimes are committed by Caucasians against people of color.  Attacks on Hispanics between 2003-2007 increased by 40% in PA.  FBI typology categorizes people who commit hate crimes into three groups.  The first category is thrill seekers (generally young, white males in groups, not gangs.  This is the largest group in the Country, outside PA).  The second category is reactive offenders, or those with a sense of entitlement who can’t handle differences. (young males between 20-40 years old.  This is the largest group in PA).  The final category is mission offenders, who are generally people who have been schooled/indoctrinated in racial supremacy and violence.  Hate crime always carries the message “we hate you all”. (This is the smallest group in PA and in the country).  Ms. Van Dyke estimated that only 10% of all hate crimes are reported.

She concluded her very educational presentation with a note about “Towns in Trouble”, saying that these towns are locations where there is a fear of changing populations, places which have a struggling economy, communities where there is a disconnect by the community leaders in failing to address these issues, and communities where the rest of us sit in silence, not speaking up for what is right.   She referred us to a web site from which we can learn more:  www.teachtolerance.org.

President Carolyn thanked her for her presentation and willingness to speak on such an important topic.  We concluded our meeting with the Four Way Test and a message from Carolyn to “go forth and serve.”

OFFICERS:

DIRECTORS:

Carolyn Dumaresq            
John P. Judson, M.D.      
Robert S. Saline              
Barry Ramper, II,             
Carrie N. Wissler Thomas
William B. Boles                
William M. Tillett

President
President-Elect
Vice President
Immediate Past President
Secretary
Treasurer
Sergeant-at-Arms

Caryn J. Carr
John R. Detweiler
Kent E. Frese
John J. McHenry
Lawrence M. Means
Maria B. Persico
Andrew R/ Rebuck
Karen F. Snider