June 7, 2012

Selinsgrove Rotary Club

Reach
Within to Embrace Humanity

Vol.
85, No. 47     President – Patricia A. Pinkowski                 Guest
Editor – Michael Hayes

Next Meeting:
June 14 –
Dr. Pat Bruno will speak about child
abuse and bullying.  SVCC, 11:45 a.m. Nelson Bailey is the host. Mike
Flock will edit the newsletter.

 

May
31, 2012
:

Twenty-seven
Rotarians and five guests were in attendance for a program by Janel Ashburn.
Janel founded Ashburn’s Animals on a Mission (http://ashburnsanimals.com/), a 55-acre
farm located in Kratzerville. Its programs are dedicated to enhancing the
well-being of people of all ages and abilities through animal-human
interaction. Janel left a career in critical care nursing behind after spending
time at Camp Victory with her animals. Witnessing the interactions between
children struggling with illness and a petting zoo of her animals brought Janel
a deeper sense of meaning. Today Ashburn’s Animals and its varied programs
(e.g., petting zoos, animal-assisted therapy and literacy programs) serve a
host of organizations, including SUNCOM, the Cerebral Palsy Foundation and the
Boy Scouts of America. The farm also partners with the Pennsylvania State
Police as an animal rescue. Growth in the number and types of animals on the
farm has led to increased operational expenses. As a result, fundraising is
increasingly important to maintain and to expand Ashburn’s Animals programming.
Petting zoos at area festivals/fairs is a major source of funding where staff
sell feed for the animals to participants and pony rides. Janel noted her
husband, Dr. Ashburn, is the farm’s primary donor!

 

Announcements:The Polio Plus
Bike Ride is scheduled for 6/23 – members are urged to participate by riding or
to sign-up to provide assistance at Rotary Field on the morning of the bike
ride. *4th Annual Savor Selinsgrove (www.selinsgrove.net) is scheduled for
Saturday, June 23rd, from 2 to 5 PM in downtown Selinsgrove –
Rotarians organizing this event are Michael Hayes, Donna Shuck, Melissa
Laniewski, and John Stokinger. Each Rotarian is urged to help by selling at
least two tickets to the event.  Proceeds benefit Polio Plus and The
Commons. **New DG Jim Eberly’s installation is June 30 at Tofftrees Resort.
Cost is $30 per person for brunch beginning at 11 a.m. RSVP to Carol Walsh,
CAWALSH@aol.com. ***Movie Nights on Rotary Field will occur
the 2nd and 4th Thursdays from June through August at
dusk. Mike Piecuch and Dave Lauer are co-chairing this Rotary initiative and
invite each Rotarian to come out for each of these fun-filled, community-building
times for fellowship with family, friends and neighbors. ****The club received
a request from Morgan Adams, SAHS student, and has agreed to sponsor her as an
outbound foreign exchange student this coming year. She would like to spend her
year abroad in Brasil, but the location of her exchange is yet to be
determined.

 

Sergeant at arms: Happy fines
were collected from Mike Flock (looking forward to daughter’s visit and today’s
speakers), Don Harnum (physical recovery, recent trip, golf marathon fundraiser
for the Selinsgrove library, upcoming trip with daughter and family), Mike Damiano
(daughter’s graduation), Chad Cohrs (graduates /end of school year, chicken
bar-b-q), Dave Lauer (grandson’s b-day and basketball win), Donna Schuck (golf
tournament – win on 1st hole, visiting sons in Philly and NY,
leaving early), Hal Dunkelberger (President Pat’s leadership), Nelson Bailey
(SASD HS/granddaughter’s graduation), John Fischer (trips to Nags Head and Long
Beach Island), Pat Pinkowski (grandson’s
8th grade science award), Art Bowen (granddaughter’s ballet
performance and Don’s golfing) and Joyce Anderson (guest speaker and Brian
Neitz’s photo in the paper)

 

Future Programs

June 21 –
Snyder County 4H speaker Kathy Weller. Toby Skinner is the host. SVCC, 11:45
a.m., Mike Flock will edit the newsletter.

June 28 –
Installation of 2012-13 Officers and Directors and Awarding of Paul Harris
Fellows. SVCC, 11:45 a.m.

 

Birthdays:   June 24 – Pat
Pinkowski.

Quotation: “We need our public schools because they create the
educated citizens necessary to sustain the experiment in democracy that started
here in Pennsylvania 236 years ago. We need great teachers… to take up this
noble work
.” L. Jay Lemons