Selinsgrove Area Rotary Club
Rotary Opens Opportunities
Vol. 94, No. 6 – President – Robert Bertram – Editor – Carol Handlan
Rotary Newsletter
Next Meeting – August 19 – Ken Miller – host; speaker will be Selinsgrove Grove Police Chief, Tom Garlock fellow Rotarians and 3 guests (Linda Turner, Fran Czeponis and Larisa Calvo) joined us at Isabella’s. President Bob Bertram, introduced fellow Rotarian, Earl Ferster, who provided us with the work he has been doing with the Gideon’s. Earl started out with a comparison of Rotary International (1905) vs Gideon’s International (1908) referencing our four-way test; specifically – Is It The Truth and Is It Beneficial To All Concerned and the similarities of the two organizations world impact. The Gideon’s International is the result of a meeting between two businessmen who wished to band commercial travelers together for evangelism. What began in 1908 as an Association of Christian businessmen placing Bibles in hotel rooms has evolved into an expanding mission to provide bibles/scriptures to all people in nearly every facet of life. Over 2 billion, in more than 95 languages in 200 countries and territories across the globe have been distributed. You will find them in hotels, hospitals, prisons, nursing homes, etc. to provide a sources of comfort. Earl shared that they usually visit these places around the holidays and check on the bibles to see if they are in good condition and replace them if necessary; mentioning that many have the first page usually torn out….the page that is most important to many. The Gideon’s are headquartered in Nashville. Snyder County has the largest formed group in the state; even larger than Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The groups help each other out by traveling to assist them with spreading the distribution of bibles. There is no overhead and the Gideon’s fund themselves but of course, accept donations. Earl has for many years and continues to travel in his dedication to this organization and shared humorous accounts of those travels and his experiences. The discussion was very enlightening and informative.
Announcements: 1) Marty Blessing introduced her guest, Linda Turner; 2) Carol Handlan introduced her SPI Interns, Fran Czeponis and Larisa Calvo; 3) Tom Gates gave an update on Wheels in the Grove and shared 114 cars are now signed up to participate. He thanked his committee and everyone for their support of this first time event that takes place tonight; 4) John Fischer announced that the Golf Brochures are now printed and available at the front table. He also stated the mailing will be sent this week; 5) Marv gave an update on the International Student Exchange Program; 6) Cheryl Stumpf mentioned that we had an issue with the lock box at Rotary Field and a former member found it open with the cover and keys laying on the ground. Cheryl asked that any member, who needs to access our storage area or plans on an event, needs to contact her in advance. We need to know who is going in and out of our facilities.
Marv Rudnitsky shared some humor and also collected Happy Fines from the following (sorry if I missed any because it’s hard to hear): John (golf outing); Carol (Earl, guests, wheels committee); Earl (meeting goal, birthday); Konrad (birthday); Ken (wheels, guests); Marv (missed meeting, 55th wedding anniversary); Dave (golf, Carol, Ken’s help with wheels insurance); Dottie (missed meeting, SECTV); Marty (Tom); Mary (guests, 60th high school reunion); Bob (guests, Carol, wheels).
August 26 – Ken Wagner – host