October 23, 2008

                                        Selinsgrove Area Rotary Club

                                        Make Dreams Real

Vol. 82, No. 16                    President – Michael P. Hayes                       Editor – Dottie Anderson  

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This Week: Oct. 30th – Joseph McGranaghan, member of the Government Affairs Committee of the GSV Chamber of Commerce, will address the Club on the Susquehanna Valley Thruway Project. SVCC,

Oct. 23, 2008 – 28 Rotarians and guests were present for President Michael’s introduction of Michael Piecuch, Chief of Staff for Speaker of the PA House of Representatives, Dennis O’Brien. M. Piecuch has been in his present position since January 2007.  He and his wife live in Selinsgrove.

Mr. Piecuch informed us that Dennis O’Brien is a resident of Philadelphia, and was first elected more than 30 years ago.  As a representative, Mr. O’Brien represents a densely populated district encompassing a small area of approx 1 square mile.  In January 2007, he was elected Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.  He is the 135th Speaker since 1682. He was elected by a house with 102 Democrats and 101 Republicans. 

The Speaker’s role he is the chief executive officer of the house.  [The following information has been taken from http://www.speakerobrien.com/history.asp ] “One of the most important roles of the Speaker is to refer all bills to committees for consideration. Once a bill is passed, the Speaker must sign it before it is sent to the Senate for consideration or sent to the governor for signature.”

            Mr Piecuch described his job as the “Chief of Stuff”.  He has a staff of 14 and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the House, including Security and Scheduling.  Accountability and Transparency are critical to their successful operation. He stated that his knowledge is “a mile wide and an inch thick”.  He has a very talented staff. When questioned he stated that he doesn’t believe salaries are a detriment to keeping/retaining quality people.  A bigger issue may be the appearance that there’s a lack of integrity. 

            For more information on the PA Speaker of the House go to http://www.speakerobrien.com/.

Announcements: President Michael introduced David Lawer, father-in-law of our speaker.  Leo M introduced his guest, Karen Hackman, Fred J introduced Selinsgrove High School math teacher, Don Wilhour.  He in turn introduced our Student-of-Month Nabeek Akhtar who is a senior and presently number one in his class.  President Michael Acknowledged Don Wilhour’s additional accomplishments as the school’s track coach.

Fines: $38 total from John R, Art B, Mike F, Tom G, Jeff E, Bob S, John F, Mary P, Hal D, Fred J, Nelson B, Konrad K, Joyce A and others that I missed.  They were for the thruway petition, student-of-the-month, Phillies in the World Series, Yellowstone webcams, a mother-in-law swimming, etc.

Future Programs:                              

Nov. 6 – Hospice Care / SUN Home Health CEO.  Steve Richard will speak.  Jan Wilson hosts. SVCC,

Nov. 13 – Veteran’s Day presentation by Robert Rachau, Post Commander of the VFW Post 6631.  SVCC,

Nov. 20 – Presentation on energy conservation by Megan Epler and Jess Scott from SEDA-COG.  SVCC,

Nov. 27 – Happy Thanksgiving.  No meeting.

Dec. 4 – L. Jay Lemons, Ph.D., President, Susquehanna University, will provide the Club with a classification talk.

Birthdays:  Nov. 2 – Chris Kenawell; 6 – Donna Schuck; 8 – Jerry Rhoades; 15 –Art Bowen; 29 – Paul Spiegel., Dec. 5 – Judy Spiegel

Quotations:  (in honor of the World Series) "It ain’t like football.  You can’t make up no trick plays.” ~Yogi Berra                                                                    “Most games are lost, not won.” ~Casey Stengel