Tuesday February 24th Lunch Meeting

Englewood Rotary Club – February 21, 2017

Meeting Location: Crowne Plaza, Englewood

Presiding:  Jill Abbott

Recorder:  Steve Wiessner

Birthdays/Anniversaries:  None noted

Visiting Rotarians and Guests: Visiting Rotarian Tamarha Ellerbe from the Teaneck Club was promoting ads for their upcoming Taste of Teaneck fundraiser which will occur on May 8^th at the Glenpointe with tickets at $45 per person.  For more information go to www.tasteofteaneck.com

Visiting Rotarian and Guest Speaker Lois Horowitz.

President Jill Abbott made the following announcements:

 

Jessica Tuzzio of NVE Bank is the proud parent to a baby boy that was born this past Saturday

 

Joe and Judy Klyde are heading to Australia on Friday, and Jill wished them well on their trip

 

There will be a Board meeting after the luncheon

 

The rescheduled Gift of Life dinner is February 23^rd at the Venetian. $110 per person, or discount with full table. 

 

Our Interact Club will organize the Senior Prom on March 10^th starting at 4:00 pm at St Paul’s Church in Englewood.

 

Our Community Awards Dinner will be held at the Englewood Field Club on Tuesday, March 28^th.  Tickets are $75 per person and Jill implored members to attend, bring guests and by ads in the journal.  Please bring checks to luncheons and give them to Susan Fetner, or mail payments to our mailbox which is PO Box 412, Englewood, NJ 07631.  We will be honoring Rotarians Jacqueline Guttman and Jim Gorman (Gorman Appliances) and Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle.

 

The President’s Ball will be March 29th at Westmont Country Club, $125 per person.  Susan will be accepting checks for this also, so please come out to support Jill’s presidency that night!

 

District Conference will be at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay in Cambridge, Maryland from April 20 to 23. Cost $749 Double Occupancy

 

The International Conference will be in Atlanta on June 10-14, more information at www.riconvention.org  

 

Jim Cole, Phil Ball, and Norman Davis noted the passing of one of our former members Henry Ebert.  He died on February 8^th in San Diego at the age of 87.  Jim noted that Henry was “A guy that got things done” and Norman noted that Henry along with Ray Strauss were instrumental in organizing the student/Rotary mentor program that our club was involved in with Dwight Morrow High School.  Phil mentioned that the Gift of Life program was important to Henry, and when he moved to California he and his wife Estelle were active in growing the initiative in California, with Estelle raising $250,000 for the program in La Jolla.  It was also noted that Henry also was very involved in the organizing and building of a hospital in Haiti in the 1980s.  I never met Mr. Ebert, but in listening to club members describe him and his efforts, he seemed like a person who represents everything that a Rotarian ought to strive to be.  Please read Henry’s obituary in The Record at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/northjersey/obituary.aspx?n=henry-ebert&pid=184143254&fhid=3140

 

Eddie Hadden noted that the International Projects Committee (IPC) met before the luncheon, and John Devol updated the committee on progress with the Jamaica project.  The Hanover Education Institute recently received an $85,000 grant from a Japanese led organization which will help support the school’s culinary training program.        

 

Eileen O’Driscoll noted that there have been some recent issues with the Clubrunner smart phone app, and she recommended that club members reinstall the app and that should solve the problem. Please check out her message to all members that she sent on Wednesday which details the app issue along with guiding members on how to log into Clubrunner through our website

 

Many Happy Dollars for Jessica and the birth of her baby son!

 

Rotarian Lois Horowitz reported on Rotary Friendship Exchange through which club members and their spouses can go overseas for up to two weeks to stay in the homes of other Rotarians.  Members and guests pay their own transportation but receive food and lodging from local hosts.  The next trip is to Australia heading to Melbourne on October 2 and returning on October 12^th.   

 

Lois also described a District 7490 program called the United Nations Rotary Kenya Female Career Education Program.  The project involves empowering girls in a Masai village in Kenya which she has learned about from the Maywood Club’s Tim Eustace and others. Lois noted that sanitary napkin products and undergarments are also necessary for girls and allow them to attend school regularly.

 

Lois has visited 48 clubs thus far encouraged our club to consider providing a scholarship for them to attend high school (near their home) and perhaps college.  Eddie Hadden has also visited the area and sponsored a long woman to go to college and recommended that the club support the initiative. Educational opportunities for girls are severely limited.

 

She is asking each club to provide $125 to be put towards providing feminine hygiene products for 5 years of schooling, and has raised $10,800 thus far.

 

50-50: With 16 cards in the deck and $107 in the pot, Eddie Hadden picked the 6 of Diamonds

 

Attendance:  23 out of 71, 32%