July 8, 2021

Selinsgrove Area Rotary Club
Rotary Opens Opportunities
Vol. 94, No. 1 – President – Robert Bertram – Editor – Carol Handlan
Rotary Newsletter

Next Meeting – July 15 – Dottie Anderson, host. Speaker Colleen Kerber and Maddie Rice, Summer Seals Co-directors will talk about camp programs.

JULY 8, 2021: 19 fellow Rotarians joined us at Isabella’s. President, Bob Bertram, welcomed everyone and then introduced Carol Handlan who provided an update on Selinsgrove Projects Inc., (SPI) activities that are going on in 2021. Carol discussed the upcoming Hops, Vines & Wines Festival that will be held on July 17. More than 1,300 tickets have been sold. The event had to relocate to the Susquehanna Valley Event Center due to the pandemic and the new venue sits on 12 acres that will allow for plenty of social distancing. Five of our downtown restaurants will be providing the food and Ann Kerstetter Band will be playing on the main stage and Jason Yoder will also be performing in another area of the festival. In addition, Carol spoke about the success of the Rudy Gelnett Summer Music Series and how the weekly series draws between 150 to 200+ people to the Commons every Thursday night. SPI has announced that the Market Street Festival will be held on September 25 as well as the Halloween parade. Both of these events bring thousands of people into downtown.  SPI is also rounding up volunteers to help with weeding “weed and feed” and is trying to get volunteers to adopt a business; this is one way people can help their downtown and support our small businesses, who are still struggling to recover from the pandemic. We also have volunteers who maintain the Commons, which is owned by SPI, and also water the hanging baskets daily. SPI uses funds, from its fundraising activities, for is matching facade grant program that assists our downtown business and residents, along Market Street with repairs and upgrades to its buildings. She mentioned about the SPI Board expanding with new members representing the businesses and shared that our own Rotarian, Chapin Jones, is now on the SPI Board. Carol encourage club members, who use Facebook, to follow Downtown Selinsgrove, for information that is going to in the borough that includes, events, businesses, special public service announcements, etc.  For more information on SPI their website is www.selinsgrove.net.

Announcements:  1) President Bob shared that Jared Roush has agreed to step in the role of President-elect and Carol Handlan agreed to continue in the role of Past President for 2021-2022.  They will be installed by Dottie Anderson at our next meeting. 2) Tom Gates gave an update on Wheels in the Grove, stating that things are moving along nicely but they are still looking for more people to register their cars for the event and solicited members to take some registration forms. 3) Carol Handlan gave an update on the 1st Annual Rotary Yard Sale sharing that for our first year, it went well, and thanked those who participated and help with setup.  

Sergeant at Arms: Marv Rudnitsky shared some humor and also collected Happy Fines from Ken (no storm damage), Konrad (good food and service), Art (trip), Tom (Mike Flock), Dottie (Jared Roush), Bob (Jared, Carol & Ken), Charlie (missed meeting), Mary (missed meeting and Sarah), Hal (Bob), Marty (Bob, Sarah & Jared), Marv (Bob), Toby (got a lot done).

Future Programs:
July 22 – Club Assembly, Bob Bertram Presiding. Calendar distributed, Audit Committee appointed, budget presented and discussed – Sarah Maneval, Treasurer.
July 29 –  Michael Damiano – host

Birthdays:
July: 19 – Hal Dunkelberger and Jared Roush

Quotation: “Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines. – Robert H. Schiuller