Selinsgrove Area Club
Rotary Connects the World
Volume 92, No. 10 President – Carol Handlan Jr. Editor – John Stokinger

Next Meeting – Sept. 19 – Chris Berleth from the GSVCC will speak about Leadership Susquehanna Valley. 11:45 a.m., SVCC. Jared Roush will edit the newsletter.

September 12, 2019 – 18 Rotarians were present to hear Tom Gates introduce Bill French. Bill spoke about his recent purchase of Wood-Mode. He is also President and owner of Professional Building Systems, which has two plants in Middleburg. PBS employs approx. 350 people in their modular home business. Bill relocated to our area 30 years ago after a successful career on Wall Street. Bill told us the good and difficult portions of the Wood-Mode transaction.

Good: Today he approved 128 paychecks for their current Wood-Mode, LLC employees. Many of the people they’re rehiring have 25-45 years’ experience. They’ve satisfactorily begun working with dealers nationwide and in Canada who were shut off by the old Wood-Mode. He complimented the 7 area news organizations for their accuracy in reporting of information. He’s pleased that vendors, who were owed millions by the old Wood-Mode, are willing to work with his new company. He also complimented the local county assessor’s office. He had many questions and they were helpful.

Difficult: Trying to work with Great Rock, old Wood-mode’s lender. His initial contact with them went unanswered. Lawyers were difficult. Other banks were less supportive than he anticipated. Even Kreamer Municipal Authority threatened to shut off their water because they were owed $16,000+/-. There were toxic materials left on site that needed to be removed.

He anticipates that they’ll have approx. 200 employees by Oct 1st and hopefully 500 within a couple of years. They also purchased the Wood-metal real estate in Selinsgrove but haven’t determined whether to continue that line of business. For now, Wood-mode will continue manufacturing both Wood-mode and Brookhaven cabinet lines. The first employees re-hired will be asked to perform 3 or 4 different jobs instead of being specialized on only one job function.

Announcements: (1) John Fischer reported that they had “a beautiful day” for the Golf Tournament. He thanked everyone for their help. A final $ tally is pending. (2) Marv announced that he hopes to have our exchange student, Jose, speak to the club on 10/24. He’ll coordinate with Art B. (3) Mike F. has had contact with a past GSE team member from So. America. He’ll speak with Marv and Toby regarding possible joint ventures. (4) Pres. Carol announced that the club will have a float in the Halloween Parade on 10/15. Some members will ride and some will walk. (5) Dan Mahoney is coordinating Club participation in this year’s Market St. Festival, 9/28. Signup sheet for providing snacks was circulated. (6) Do use sale of Golf Ball Drop tickets as a way of increasing knowledge of club activities among non-members. Goal this year is to sell all 1000 tickets. (7) The District Conference will be held in Gettysburg in April. Note change for calendar – DG’s visit is scheduled for Oct. 3. (8)The Dictionary Project is scheduled for Oct. 4 at the Intermediate School at 12:30. Rotarians are invited to attend. Don Summers has organized the project, Toby Skinner and Marv Rudnitsky volunteered to assist.

Sergeant at arms: Marv Rudnitsky collected happy fines as follows: Marv-golf tourn, Dave L- speaker, golf tourn and Dan M, Mike F-Utah and speaker, John F-speaker, golf tourn and 80th b-day, John S-AZ trip and missed meeting, Tom G- speaker, John F’s 27th golf tourn and Dan M, Carol H- speaker, John F and positive report on relatives, Charlie-John F and Dan M, Toby- John F, HS reunion at a winery and speaker, Mary- missed meeting and good EKG, Konrad-speaker, Ken-speaker, Dan- “Mr. Fischer” and Earl-meeting our goal and the speaker.

Future Programs:
Sept. 26 – Officer Monty Anders, Selinsgrove Police Department and Derrick Shambach, Snyder County Emergency Management will speak about Personal Safety. Charlie McCuen is the host. 11:45 a.m., SVCC
Oct. 3 – District Governor Swan Stull’s official Club visit, Board Meeting precedes at 11:00 a.m., 11:45 a.m., SVCC.
Oct. 10 – Javier Vidalia, Youth Program Director for the REC will be the speaker. Marty Blessing is the host. 11:45 a.m., SVCC.

Birthdays: Sept. 24 – Don Summers. Oct. 4 – Chad Cohrs and Sarah Maneval; 21- John Reed.

Quotation: “Getting fired from work does not make you a failure. Letting it take control of your life is what does” — Sunday Adelaja