The 2018 State of the Union Address was presented to Congress by Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, last week in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives. This annual event is the time when the president describes the condition of the country, outlines the nation’s most serious problems and proposes his annual program of legislation.
In January, our Rotary year, which runs from July to July, is half over. It is time for us to take status of the state of our Rotary union, check up on goals and plunge into the service work planned for spring and summer.
We have made great strides in connecting with other Rotary clubs around the world. The new district governor for our region of 1100 members will be our own Rotarian Roger Mattes, who has been preparing for this job for two years. He and his wife Jackie recently traveled to San Diego, California for training and to meet others who will also be new Rotary leaders. Through seminars, Roger learned how to be skillful in the post of governor of District 7410 and to be ready to take his oath of office in July 2018. A district conference is coming up in April at Kalahari resort in the Poconos with fun events mixed with the Rotary message to engage and rich Rotarians.
A local goal for our club is to reach out to other service clubs in an effort of friendship and solidarity. We will hold our second annual Rotary/Lions dinner on Feb. 27 at the Ramada Inn. The evening has been planned by chairman Steven Selige. Rotarians will sit at round tables with members of the Lions Club and share common problems and search for new answers together.
Our spring fundraiser is not for ourselves. Our annual spaghetti dinner will be held in the afternoon on March 18 at the senior high school. Diane Calabro and Chris Selige will chair the event. We will share the work of this production with student groups. They will help us with distribution of tickets, set up on the morning of the event, serving of the spaghetti and clean up. While they share the work, they will also share in the profits of the event. In the past, we have worked with the Abington Heights Band, Boy Scouts, Interact club, and the senior class. We hope you will buy tickets and eat in or take out.
One of our most notable Rotarians is Howard Hyde, who celebrated his 99th birthday at our recent luncheon meeting. With song and candles, we proclaimed the birthday of one who has served our community through Rotary for 48 of those 99 years. He never misses a Thursday Rotary meeting.
So that’s the “state of our union.” We continue to build connections with other clubs on a local, national and international level. We support our student groups and we celebrate the life of one who has lived and worked with us so long.
The state of our union can be summed up with one word – strength. With your help, the future is solid in service for others.
