President Brandon opened the meeting at 12:27 and Donna Haar led the Pledge and Prayer.
Attendance: 27 members were in attendance which represents 35.53% of our membership. Guests included 7 students of the month; Mark Albright, Rotarian from a Club in Brazil; Jessica Waltersdorff, prospective member and guest of the Club; and Kasey King, Iron Valley Realty guest of the Club.
Announcements:
Deb Stambaugh - Rotary is sponsoring a fundraiser here at The Markets, Public House in conjunction with National Polio Day from 12:00 to 2:00pm. 10% of all drinks sold will go to the Polio cause and then matched 3x by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Bob Kalinowski - Bob agreed to take over the Chair of the Foundation Committee. He encouraged us to attend the Annual Rotary Foundation Dinner. You must register by Nov 9
Tammy Miller - Spring Grove will be having a hiring event held at Windy Hill On The Campus Tues Oct 26, 2021 from 1:00 - 5:00. Please share this info with any potential employers and those looking for employment. Tables for employers are free.
Dale Brubaker - York Co Literacy will be making a video promoting literacy at Hickory Falls. They are looking for families with kids in K through grade 5 to participate in the video. Please call Dale if you would like to participate.
Brandon Gething - Glenn from the Ale Trail invited Rotary to be among the first to experience his new Hanover Brewery Bus Tour. Brandon wanted to know if there is enough interest in the Club to participate.
Induction of a New Member:
Brandon inducted Jessica Waltersdorff into Rotary membership. Jessica's sponsor is Kathi Fuhrman.
Program: John Gerken - Immigration
Our own John Gerken spoke to us about his experience as a 1st generation immigrant. He feels strongly that our country would not be what it is today without the people who immigrated here. He gave us there are 4 types of immigrants and shared various statistics like over 1 million immigrants have come to the US this year, and there are 44 million foreign born individuals living in the country, and there are 200,000 immigrants in Pa.
John then told us the story of his family immigrating here from Germany. His father came here in 1926 and then his uncles and a friend by 1929. He relayed how each of them got started in various careers through hard work and sacrifice and learned the language by being immersed into our culture. His father became known for making furniture in New York City and through a roundabout way re-settled here in Hanover in the furniture business.
John told a story which was a microcosm of thousands of stories that played out during that time and years since. The whole example showed how our country developed piece- by- piece, family -by-family through the years.
Next Week's Program: Deb Stambaugh - what is this disease called Polio?