| A Flash from the Past Rotary Flashes of 09-25-2001 ROTARY FLASHES GREENSBURG ROTARY CLUB NO. 250 – CHARTERED OCTOBER 4, 1916 Volume 72, No. 13……………………………………………………..September 25, 2001 Inside This Issue Wise and Otherwise Next Meeting’s Program Listing Our Weekly Meeting and Birthday listings WISE AND OTHERWISE Sergeant At Arms, Tony Martino, reported that we had 2 visiting Rotarians: Gene Rusnock from the Jeannette Club and Doug Komandt from the Delmont Salem Club. We had 1 guest of a member at today's meeting: Jim Beer was a guest of Cesare Muccari. Students were: Lacy Cavic from Greensburg Central Catholic, Adam Pechart from Greensburg Salem, and Coleman Rusnock and Patrick Andre (our foreign exchange student from Belgium) from Hempfield Area Sr. High. MAKE-UPS - Bill Ovitsky and Gary Rutter both attended the Hempfield Club. Joe Cameron attended the Latrobe Club and Pradeep Kumar attended the Murrysville Export Club. TODAY'S ATTENDANCE was 72. This included 64 members, our speaker, 2 visiting Rotarians, 1 guest and 4 students. The Rotary Foundation Banquet will be on November 3rd at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort. Advertisements are being solicited for listing in the program book. Our Club will be displaying a full-page ad again this year. Members who wish to place an ad (and support the Foundation) should contact Mark Barnhart for the ad form. Ads range from $50.00 to $150.00. You may have a patron listing for $10.00. The Greensburg Rotary Club has sent a check in the amount of $500.00 to the Rotary Club of Somerset to assist in the rescue and cleanup efforts following the plane crash in the Shanksville area. Members attending the meeting today were able to sign a register book that will be sent to the New York firefighters showing our thanks and appreciation of their efforts during this tragedy. Our annual fall Health Screening project was a success. A check in the amount of $1,000.00 has been received from the Westmoreland Regional Hospital. This money has been placed in the Scholarship Fund. Our Birthday Table hostess, Bobbi Stemmler-Guest, kept us laughing with a great salute to the members who gained another year this month. What a great thing it is to be able to laugh again. Wonderful job! Mini-Autobiographies Dr. Pradeep Kumar took the podium to tell us a little about himself. He comes from a large family of physicians. His grandfather, father and many relatives are all physicians. He said that it was only natural that he enter the field of medicine. He started his practice in McKeesport. He moved to Massachusetts for a period of time and then 13 years ago he started his practice in Greensburg. He said that he started his business from scratch and is very pleased that he has a successful practice. He is married and has 2 children, ages 11 and 13. He stated that he and his wife were married in his hometown in India. Dr. Kumar is in the field of gastroenterology. (I had to look that one up) A REMINDER MESSAGE FROM THE COMMUNITY GRANT REVIEW COMMITTEE. NEXT WEEK'S MEETING: The program chairman for the month of October, John Sproull will present Chuck Burtyk, Director of Workforce Development, Private Industry Council. OUR WEEKLY MEETING Our speaker today was Bonnie Lewis, Executive Director of the YWCA. She discussed two programs currently at the YWCA. The first is a new program "Robotics for Girls", which is designed to help with math and science. She said that a new survey shows that the computer culture needs to catch up with girls. While the survey found that many girls find technology boring, 75% of all jobs in the new future will have much computer involvement. It is essential that we engage girls in the middle age years to become more involved with technology. The hands-on computer program gives 6th, 7th and 8th grade girls advanced training and mentoring. There is a modern lab that is available to the girls. It was noted that only 4% of girls are in computer sciences. The program allows the girls to learn basic computer skills and design robots. It is normally hard to get the girls enrolled, however, they get "hooked". Field trips are to the industries that use robots and to the National Robotics Center. Younger girls in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades are introduced to the "Lego Club" as a preview to the Robotics for Girls program. It is hoped that a competitive girls robotics team can participate in the upcoming statewide competition. THIS MONTH’S BIRTHDAYS:
TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY
Rotary Flashes of 09-18-2001
WISE AND OTHERWISE Shoot for the moon - even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. Sergeant At Arms, Tony Martino, reported that we had 1 guest of a member at today's meeting. Daria Forsythe was a guest of Anne Peagler. We were quite pleased that our exchange student from Belgium, Patrick Andre, attended today's meeting with Katy Doran. Students were: Michael McClincy from Greensburg Central Catholic and Karim Boudadi from Hempfield Area Sr. High. MAKE-UPS - Elinore McMahan and Frank Cassell both attended the Hempfield Club. Katy Doran attended the Jeannette Club and Charles Strobel attended the Youngwood/New Stanton Club. TODAY'S ATTENDANCE was 61. This included 56 members, our speaker, 1 guest and 3 students. WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST MEMBERS - Jerry Supko and Chris DeDiana. The Club looks forward to working with both of you in our pursuit to help make the community, nation and world a better place to live through our commitment to Service Above Self. Welcome! Words of concern and love were received from Irina and her parents in Romania, Kotomi in Japan and Nevenka in South Africa. How reassuring it is that these exchange students, who stayed in and experienced the culture of the United States of America, feel our grief, sorrow and outrage of the terrorist attacks on our civilians. The words "love", "peace" and "hope" accompany words of "shock", "insanity" and "horror". Our exchange program is making a very positive difference in the world. Dr. Rutter spoke during an inspirational moment of remembrance for Al Meadows. "He was a kind man, a man of vision with an adventurous spirit. He was an exemplary Rotarian who truly lived by the motto "Service Above Self". Our annual fall Health Screening project was a success. The event is escalating. We were able to provide health screening to 150 individuals. A MESSAGE FROM THE COMMUNITY GRANT REVIEW COMMITTEE. ROTARY MINUTE 1. Is it the TRUTH? Correction of e mail address for Anne Peagler. Please make sure to correct this in your roster book. Pittalum@msn.com OUR WEEKLY MEETING Our speaker today was Judy Sinemus, Jury Commissioner for Westmoreland County. Judy explained that this is an elected 4-year term. There is 1 jury commissioner from each party to have equality. The two jury commissioners and Judge McCormick make up the Board. The purpose is to provide the County with potential jurors by the use of questionnaires sent to residents. Drivers' licenses and voter registration records are used to send out 50,000 to 55,000 questionnaires annually. There are over 275,000 prospective jurors in a pool over a course of a calendar year. Westmoreland County is unique in that there is no age limit for prospective jurors. The minimum age is 18. The annual budget is $216,000. The majority is spent on postage and printing costs for the questionnaires and summons. There are 3 employees in the office whose task it is to send out the forms and input returned information. Six weeks notice is given prior to jury service. There is a toll free number that is used to check on the status of your appearance. You should call the night before you are scheduled to appear. The County is under a 1-day, 1-trail system. This means that if you appear and are not selected to serve, you are excused. Also, once you appear in a jury room, you are exempt from serving for the next 3 years. The average length of a trial is 3 to 5 days. Jurors can be picked in Westmoreland County and be made to travel to other counties for the trials that have too much publicity for persons of that county to be considered to serve. Judy said that the question that she hears most is "How do I get out of it?". She said that it was not easy, however, in some special cases, work deferment considerations are made. She closed by saying that "it is an honor to serve on a jury". THIS MONTH’S BIRTHDAYS: MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY
Rotary Flashes of 09-11-2001
WISE AND OTHERWISE Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of the terrorist attacks, their families, the rescue workers and our Nation's leaders. May God be with them all. God bless America. Sergeant At Arms, Paul Hochendoner, reported that we had 1 guest of a member at today's meeting. Morrie Brand was a guest of Cesare Muccari. MAKE-UPS - Elinore McMahan and Dave Robinson both attended the Hempfield Club. TODAY'S ATTENDANCE was 35. This included 33 members, our speaker and 1 guest. Attendance was very low due to the awful tragedy that has occurred to the United States of America. On Wednesday, the following words arrived via e-mail (to Bill Kern) from Nevenka Ristic, our former exchange student from South Africa. " Dear Bill and all Greensburg Rotarians and families, I am absolutely shocked at the terrorist attacks that took place yesterday - no words can aptly describe my shock and horror! This is just a note to say that my thoughts and prayers are with you and all the rest of America. My Love and Best Wishes, Nevenka. It is with much sorrow that I inform you that Azel "Al" Meadows, Past President of our Club from 1964-65 and Past District Governor from 1976-77, has passed away in Florida. Sympathy cards can be sent to his wife Dorothy at the address listed in the Club's Roter Directory. Our annual fall Health Screening project was held on Saturday, September 8th at the Health Place in the Westmoreland Mall. Thanks to the following members for their assistance: Cy Wolverton, Bill Ovitsky, Norm Bureau, Mary Clymer, Joe Cameron, Ken Ruoff, Chuck Strobel and Nelson Mayer. Former member Bill Henry and a student also assisted. A MESSAGE FROM THE COMMUNITY GRANT REVIEW COMMITTEE. Jack Waite reported that the Rotary After School Program starts next Monday. There are a number of students already signed up. He anticipates that 20 to 25 enrollees will be realized this year. A letter of appreciation was received from Rotary International for this Club's support of this project, which has benefited many children in our area. NEXT WEEK'S MEETING: September's Program Chairman Eric Bononi will present Judy Sinemus, Westmoreland County Jury Commissioner. OUR WEEKLY MEETING Our speaker on Tuesday was Tamara Geisler, Division Director of The American Heart Association. She advised us that 1 out of every 2 would be affected by heart disease. The American Heart Association was founded in 1924 and reorganized in 1948. There are 15 affiliates around the nation. Cardiovascular disease is the # 1 killer in the US since 1900. Stroke is the # 3 killer. The goal is to reduce death by 25% by the year 2010. The strategy is to continue with disease management, reduction of smoking and the use of Automated External Defibrillators (AED's). Operation Heartbeat works to teach CPR in the high schools and the community, put AED's in the community and have the Heart Saver Award Program. Sponsorship is needed from corporations. This can be from multi-year commitments from $250 to $10,000. She stated that $2,500 could pay for CPR training in each school. $5,000 could provide for a Save A Life Saturday program in Westmoreland County. THIS MONTH’S BIRTHDAYS: MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY
Rotary Flashes of 09-04-2001
WISE AND OTHERWISE It is better to wear out than to rust out. Sergeant At Arms, Paul Hochendoner, reported that we had the following guests of Rotarians: Ed Guest was a guest of his wife Bobbi Stemmler-Guest, Chris DeDiana was a guest of Ed Nemanic and Morrie Brand and Carmen Pedicone were guests of Cesare Muccari. MAKE-UPS - None reported. TODAY'S ATTENDANCE was 50. This included 46 members, our speaker and 3 guests. REMINDER ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THIS SATURDAY: Our annual fall Health Screening project will be held this Saturday, September 8th at the Health Place in the Westmoreland Mall. Nelson Mayer will be the coordinator. Volunteers are to arrive at 6:45 a.m. REMINDER FOR NEXT WEEK!!!!!!! The September 11th meeting will not be at the Four Points/Sheraton. It will be at noon at the Westmoreland County Community College. MEMBERSHIP PROPOSALS: The Classification and Membership committees, as well as the Board of Directors, have approved the following membership proposals. Unless there is written objection submitted to the Secretary within 7 days, the following proposed new members will be admitted as members of the Club. ROTARY MINUTE NEXT WEEK'S MEETING: September's Program Chairman Eric Bononi will present Tara Geisler from the American Heart Association. OUR WEEKLY MEETING Our speaker today was Paula Pedicone, Director of Westmoreland County Elections. Paula said that the normally "ordinary and mundane job" has gotten great notoriety since the 2000 Presidential Election with the situation in Florida. She reported that Westmoreland County uses a lever voting system. This is her preference due to the fact that it is a very secure voting system. There is never an "over-vote" due to the fact that, for example, when you are asked to vote for a "maximum of 4" in a particular area, the machine will not allow more than 4 levers to be engaged. There are 675 machines for the County. She referred to them as 700 lb. monsters. They are very accurate, fully mechanical and virtually tamper proof. They are also very quick to count. Some surrounding counties such as Cambria, Washington and Butler use the punch card ballot system. National statistics from 1998 indicated that 40 % uses the optical scan system, 18% use punch cards and 15% use lever voting machines. Paula advised that in Westmoreland County, the vote always goes on! Since the lever machines have nothing electronic in them, even a power outage could not stop the vote. In advance of an election, 8 to 10 men are transferred from the Public Works Department to service the machines. In the event of a voter machine failure, a replacement machine could be installed with 40 minutes. It would cost a minimum of 3 million dollars to convert from the lever system to a new electronic system. It would first have to pass on a referendum. Paula stated that election judges and inspectors are always needed for the 306 precincts. Three important dates to remember are: October 9th, the last day to register to vote, change name, address or party. October 30th, last day to apply for absentee ballots. November 2nd, last day for voted absentee ballots to be received. THIS MONTH’S BIRTHDAYS: MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY
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