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Dear Fellow Rotarians,
What an extraordinary year this has been! I cannot believe
that it's almost an entire year since I stood before you to be installed as
Club President by Past-District-Governor Janice Black! The year has flown
by....
I knew when I began my term that our Club was blessed by
many committed members, but serving as President has made me far more aware of
this fact. Nowhere have I encountered such hard-working members of a volunteer
organization, anywhere. The Rotary Club of Harrisburg has around 40 committees,
but they work smoothly and independently, with the able support of our stellar
Executive Director Linda Freedenberg. Linda truly provides the continuity our
Club needs to ensure our success.
Our Youth Community Development Team is unique among the other clubs in the District,
fulfilling a true need in our City through teaching young people leadership and
philanthropic skills. The World Fellowship Committee organized several missions
to our dental clinic in Dominican Republic, and both groups and individuals
from the Club traveled to Biloxi to assist in Katrina Relief. On the local level, Club members assisted in
several home-building projects with Habitat for Humanity. The Pancake Breakfast,
huge undertaking that it was with dozens of Club volunteers, raised thousands
in support of the Harrisburg School District's early childhood programs. Al
Baker's Happy Hour raised funds to support our Ecology Committee's project with
students from Sci-Tech High. And our Exchange Student Ange Sauvage was a joy to
get to know this year!
When "my year" commenced, I announced at our Strategic
Planning session that I wanted to concentrate on three areas: Youth,
International Projects, and Membership Growth and Retention. We certainly
achieved great success in serving our area youth, and the international, and
national, projects, were inspiring. Our Club gained almost 20 new members...but
unfortunately, due to career responsibilities, moving, etc., our total still
stands at 199. BUT...our Club received the prestigious "Membership Retention"
award at the District Conference, so our efforts have been recognized. Our Club
is the third-largest in District 7390, so we should feel good about that.
There is still so much to accomplish...a year is too short
to really "make a difference." However, I feel very confident in the future
achievements of our Club. We have a "succession" team to be very proud of
indeed. President-Elect Barry Ramper, Vice President Carolyn Dumaresq, and
next-in-lines John Judson will continue our Strategic Planning goals with their
own styles, skills and visions. The
future of our Club looks bright with promise. Thank you for the opportunity to
serve for the 2007-2008 year.
Carrie Nicholas-Wissler-Thomas
President
CLUB SERVICE
1st Year Rotarians - Patricia A. Hindermyer, Chair
All new members of the Harrisburg Rotary serve on the
‘Rotarians First Year Committee'. Membership on the Committee is monitored for the initial twelve months
by the Club's Executive Director and the Committee Chair. The Committee's goal is to immediately engage
new members to the mission of Rotary.
We strive for our First Year Rotarians to ‘hit the ground
running' and be a visible, contributing member which further supports our
retention efforts. Our Committee
program is structured as follows:
- Meetings are scheduled quarterly and, in an
effort to support attendance, coincide
with our regular weekly meeting for time and location. Meeting duration is generally 45 minutes.
- Invited guests to each quarterly meeting
include Club Officers, Committee Chairs and interested Rotarians.
- An Agenda is prepared for each meeting and
provided to all attendees.
- In addition to the quarterly meetings, the
First Year Rotarians take on the task of planning and conducting a regularly
scheduled meeting from opening to closing bell. All positions required for the meeting are filled by a First Year
Rotarian including that of President.
- At the completion of the initial 12 months,
each exiting Rotarian is sent a ‘Congratulations' letter with a survey to
solicit their thoughts and suggestion
Website - Kent E. Frese, Webmaster
The new interactive website, which was launched as part of
our Public Relations campaign, includes; Club Leadership, Committees,
Membership Application, Calendar of Events, Membership access to our Roster,
Rotary Roundup, Good News Reporting, links to the District/RI and more.
Strategic Planning Retreat: April 30, 2008 - Kent E. Frese, Facilitator
Strategic Planning Committee - Carolyn Dumaresq, Chair
Leaders of the Rotary club of Harrisburg met to review the
past year's performance and set goals and strategies for the 2008-2011
years. Participants discussed our successes and areas for improvement
before determining our key areas of focus.
The following are the initiatives the group agreed to:
Rotaract • Grants • Local community projects • District • Corporate Membership • Individual
Membership
Robert D. Hanson Rotary Excellence Award: January 14, 2008
Kent E. Frese
Kent has provided exemplary leadership, service and
commitment to The Rotary Club of Harrisburg through his continued expertise as
our webmaster.
Membership Committee - Sandy
Beck and Micheal Carbon, Co-Chairs
6/30/07 199 members 6/30/08 197 members
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Community Service Award: June 9, 2008
William M. Murray, MD
Bill Murray has served as a dedicated volunteer and he
epitomizes the values embodied in the Community Service Award. He has played a meaningful role in countless
organizations that have had a positive impact.
Harrisburg Rotary Foundation Grant - Harrisburg School District for $13,000
Dear Rotarians:
In collaboration with Capital Area Head Start, community
childcare providers and the Capital Area Intermediate Unit, the Harrisburg
School District Preschool Program (HPP) will begin its sixth year of operation
in September 2007. We continue to serve 560 students in seven buildings across
the District. This school year we were
fortunate to receive the PA PreK Counts grant which funded the majority of our
program. However, as we go into the 2008-2009 school year and that funding will
not increase, we are extremely grateful for organizations such as Rotary which
support our program.
HPP classrooms are located at Steele, Melrose , Marshall ,
Downey , Camp Curtin , Scott and Foose Elementary Schools . Classrooms consist of 16 children with two
teachers in each classroom. Except for Foose school, the program operates from
8:00 AM to 1:00 PM Monday through Friday (PA PreK Counts funded sites). At
Foose, Capital Area Head Start operates the program from 8:00AM to 12:30PM four
days a week. The fifth day, Wednesday,
is devoted to home visits and parent contacts. At the other sites, home visits
are conducted in the afternoons three times during the school year.
Parent/Teacher conferences are held at the schools twice a year. Childcare is
available to families at all sites and is operated in partnership with
community childcare providers before and after the instructional day. An optional six week summer program is
available for preschoolers.
Over the past five years, HPP has used the HRF donation to
purchase developmentally appropriate books, big books, books on tape, alphabet
strips, CDs for music and movement and resource materials for teachers. These
materials continue to greatly enhanced our classrooms and have provided rich
professional development resources. Your continued support of our program has
allowed us to surpass our goal of having 500 books in all of our
classrooms. Now these resources help us
to replace those books that have been lovingly used by the students.
We are deeply appreciative of this year's donation and
invite all of you to visit our classrooms to see the effects of your efforts.
Sincerely,
Debbie Reuvenny, Director
Early Childhood Program Harrisburg School District
Habitat for Humanity: May 2008 - Fred R. Hartman, Chair
Habitat for Humanity Work Day was on May 17 from 8 AM at 100 N. 13th Street. A group of ten Rotarians and their families
worked on the 50th Habitat House. The
Harrisburg Rotary Foundation donated $1,800 for a work trailer.
Pancake Breakfast: October 27, 2007 - Karen M. Paris and Jacqueline Bedard, Co-Chairs
The Rotary Club of Harrisburg presented Dr. Gerald Kohn,
Superintendent of the Harrisburg School District a check for $18,487.76 at its
January 28, 2008 meeting. Monies donated
were raised in conjunction with the Club's Annual Pancake Breakfast which is
held at the John Harris High School in Harrisburg. The Pancake Breakfast is a collaborative
effort by Harrisburg Rotary, the Harrisburg School District, and Dauphin
County's Family University. 971 people
attended the event. The School District
will use the funds to help support their backpack/weekend meal program which
provides food for certain Harrisburg school students for weekend meals and
vocational field trips for Sci-Tech High School students. This was the most
successful Pancake Breakfast in its eleven year history.
Salvation Army Ringing: December 18 and 19, 2007 - Harold S. Hurwitz, Chair
36 Rotarians were Bell ringers and $1,535.88 was collected
for the Salvation Army. Many thanks to the Rotarians who donated their time for
this worthwhile event.
InterClub Thanksgiving Luncheon: November 19, 2007
Twelve service clubs attended the luncheon hosted vy the
Lions Club and $930.00 was collected for Pennsylvania Lions Beacon Lodge Camp
Service Above Self Awards: November 5, 2007 - Ellen M. Kyzer, Chair
The "Service Above Self" award is presented
annually by the Rotary Club of Harrisburg to recognize outstanding volunteer
service in the non-profit community. The committee considered an array of
worthy candidates and was unanimous in its selection of the following
individuals for recognition.
Top Awardee: $1,500 Lauren Rudick YWCA
Honarable Mention: $750 Russell and Patricia Bricker CHANNELS
INTERNATIONAL SERVICE
Rotary International Foundation - John P. Judson, M.D., Chair
Contributions: $13,535
Paul Harris Status - Fellows: 83 (7 of which are new), Sustaining: 78 (29 of which are new)
World Fellowship - Robert J. Hall, Chair
JOINING HANDS: REBUILDING HOMES DESTROYED BY HURRICANE
KATRINA
Club members played
an active part in Hurricane Katrina disaster recovery. The program, developed
by Rotary District 7390, had a fitting title: "Joining Hands." Our
club members joined hands with many other partners to carry out home rebuilding
in Biloxi, MS.
Joining Hands
partners included the District and its clubs that raised the money for tools
and building materials, Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia that supplied
coordination, supervision, and materials: the Bethel Evangelical Church's
Disaster Recovery Ministry that provided volunteers with food, lodging and
ground transpiration; and Rotary members that donated a week of their time and
paid for their food, lodging and airfare. Our Board dedicated funds received at
a meeting from one "good news reporting" toward the costs of
construction
Our club members
volunteered for this important rebuilding in Biloxi throughout the winter and
spring. Tom Conners was the first from our club to serve. His report helped others to see that they too
could make a valuable contribution. Tom Johnston and John Judson both led
teams. Peggy Grove served for two weeks: once with Harrisburg Vocational
Technical students and another on John Judson's team.
It was the hope and
vision of those on the World Fellowship Committee that a significant number of
our club members would serve together rebuilding victim's homes. A number of
members indicated that they wished to serve, but work and family conflicts prevented
their doing so. Now that we have successfully completed the home for the
disabled Gaines couple, Joining Hands has decided to take on other
construction. They have scheduled three more trips: April 2-19, May 11-17 and
June 15-21. With more work to be done we can still realize the World Fellowship
Committee's vision
Group Study Exchange: May 12, 2008 - David Morrison, Chair
District 4580 in Brazil was the GROUP STUDY EXCHANGE TEAM
which visited the District in May.
- Dr. Claudio Mafra De Siqueira, Team Leader: Educator
- Mr. Antonio de Vasconcellos, Building technician
- Ms. Carmem Gomes, Psychologist
- Dr. Samuel Jorge, Medical Doctor
- Mr. Sandro Soares, Nurse
Youth Exchange - Terry Barnaby and Ron Guss, Co-Chairs
INBOUND: Ange Sauvage from France
Counselor: Andrew R.
Rebuck
We thank the Vreeland and Davis families for hosting Ange.
A-N-G-E, that's right, Ange Sauvage, our rotary exchange
student from Lyon, France. He spoke to
our club on June 9th and highlight his
past school year here in Harrisburg. We
got a good glimpse into his school year, his extra curricular activities, his
newly formed friendships and his desire to pursue a college graduation in the
USA. At the same time, it goes without
his even saying one word that we have hosted a brilliant, warm, adventurous
young man over these past months and he has represented himself and our club
with true Rotary spirit.
Youth Exchange Weekend: March 15-16, 2008
Terry Barnaby and Ron Guss, Coordinators
The Harrisburg Rotary Club hosted the international exchange
students on the weekend of March 15. Some of the students stated that it was their favorite of all this
year's weekends in the District. Some
changes in this year's program were made to streamline the logistics for the
organizers and the hosts. The weekend
began at the Pennsylvania State Museum and Planetarium. The students had a tour of the Capital and
time to enjoy the St. Patrick's Day Parade and a tour of St. Patrick's
Cathedral. The day was capped off with
dinner and a movie. Dinner at Strawberry
Square and a movie at the IMAX Theater in the Whitaker Center. The group then went to the Harrisburg YMCA
overnight where they could swim in the pool, play volleyball, basketball, use
the exercise equipment and "hang out". There were lots of snacks and music provided
by the students. The weekend ended with
breakfast at the Y on Sunday morning, before the very tired students left for
home.
Support for the Troops: June, 2008 - A. John Smither, Project Coordinator
For the fifth consecutive year, our Club has continued its
support of our overseas troops. Initially. We provided financial aid to cover the costs of shipping
personal items donated by local citizens and collected by various community
groups. Over the past 3 years, our
support has gone to the "wounded Warrior Project," an organization
headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, to help fund its mission of ministering
to the personal and family needs of those servicemen and women grievously
wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan, who face long-term medical and rehabilitative
care at Walter Reed and other military hospitals. Our Club's goal has been to raise $2,000 each
year ($10 from each member) as our contribution to these necessary and most
worthy wartime endeavors.
Thanks to the 138 members who either contributed the %10
requested , or who generously made larger donations, we collected, $2,530 this
exceeding our 2007-08 goal, which brought the Club's total financial aid to our
troops disbursed over a five year period to $13,530.
VOCATIONAL SERVICE
Harrisburg Rotary Foundation $1,000 Scholarship - Peggy A. Grove, Chair
- Benjamin Carraher, Bishop McDevitt High School
- Shanon Watts, Harrisburg High School John Harris
- Monica Colbert, Harrisburg Sci-Tech
- Quinteria Russell, Harriburg High School William Penn
Ecology Committee - John R. Detweiler and Mark S. Koellner, Co-Chairs
Harrisburg Rotary Foundation - Ecology Award $500
Stephen Davidson,
Susquenita High School - for his project entitled, "Magnetorheological Fluid Applied to Ship Hulls"
Two classes from Harrisburg School District attended the
Chesapeake Bay Foundation Ecology Day on the water.
Rotary Leaders Conference/Messiah College: June 15-19, 2008 - Fred R. Hartman, Chair
Lauren Hartwell and
Bradley Kunisky from Bishop McDevitt
Students and Teachers of the Quarter
John H. Sutliff, Coordinator
Thirty-two students and teachers from Harrisburg High
School, Harrisburg Sci-Tech, Career Technology Academy, A.C.T.S. Program and
Bishop McDevitt High School were honored at our quarterly ceremony. Each recipient received a certificate and $25
gift card to Barnes and Noble.
Rotary Belle - Deb Abel, Cowmootee Chair
Rotary Belle grazed quietly in storage for too long. Now she has moooved to a more active place at
SciTec High School where she can be part of the action!
New Members: (+)18
- Patrick Amice
- Jeannette Archer-Simons
- Kirt Barden
- Julie Girsch
- Betty Hungerford
- Steven Infanti
- Jessica Malone
- John McHenry
- Lisa Paige
- Beth Peiffer
- Jessica Malone
- David Reed
- Shane Rottier
- Robin Scaer
- Joseph Schmidt
- Evelyn Soehner
- Mark Totaro
- David Warren
- Tom Weber
Attrition: (-)20
- Edna Baehre
- Rosemary Browne
- Tama Carey
- Bob Christie
- Charles Clevenger
- Rick Conner
- Barry Dively
- John Dormuth
- Jeff Dunaway
- Cindy Fillman
- Larry Gardner
- Keith Gillaspy
- Janet Kelley
- David Kruft
- Matt Malick
- Chip Milspaw
- Bridget Montgomery
- Sharon Stabinski
- Joe Summers
- Mel Wilkerson
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