I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. I’d like to share some club news with everyone. Our Board had a conference call this past Monday. Below are some of the highlights:
- Our Run with Rotary has been canceled for 2020. We’ll set our sights on our 2021 efforts.
- Funfest will move forward as planned. It is scheduled for September 20th. The Rotary Club of Montgomery/Rocky Hill will be managing and operating the event. We will have an 80/20 partnership with the Montgomery Business Association. In light of the RWR being canceled due to the Corona virus, this event may be very timely for us. It has been the largest attended event in the community. I have no doubt that moving forward we will continue to add to Funfest’s success.
- The Montgomery Township Food Pantry is in need of Gift Card donations during these challenging times. During this past week, our Board (through our Giving Budget) has requested $2000 for Shoprite gift cards from our Foundation. We receive a 5% bonus in SR cards for bulk purchases. The cards will be given to the Montgomery Township Food Pantry to distribute.
- We were also contacted by the Montgomery EMS requesting a donation for much needed PPE face masks for our first responders. Our club is providing our EMS with 1400 face masks that have just been ordered and should arrive next week.There will be a “Virtual Meeting” next week. Zoltan and I spoke today. He had a great idea! He is setting up a Zoom account which will allow everyone to “video in” for a meeting. I understand that the screen is like the Brady Bunch intro. It should be fun! Please get your Happy Dollars ready and mark your calendars for next Thursday at 7:30am (details will follow).
As terrible as this virus is, I believe that goodness can be found in our challenge. The goodness to help one another. The goodness that sees the compassion for all people. The goodness that unites the majority of mankind for a common cause. The goodness that finds the sameness in all people instead of the divisiveness. There’s a power in that goodness that can bring out the best in all of us.
As president of our great club, I’ve been struggling with what to say to reassure everyone that everything is going to be alright.
For some reason, during these turbulent times, my inner voice has been trying to tell me something. My inner voice has been saying, “Tell a joke Tony. For the good of everyone, tell a joke.” It was very compelling. So here goes….
“I told my wife she was drawing her eyebrows too high… She looked surprised.”
Yours in Rotary,
Tony Parziale