July 18th

• Christian Pentecostal Church Community Day, Orange Park, Irvington, NJ
  • Distributed free frozen ice pops
  • Gumball Count Guessing Game Raffle
  • Distributed info about Rotary to the adults

August 3rd

• Irvington Police Department’s National Night Out, Civic Square, Irvington, NJ
  • Provided free water to attendees & distributed club informational print material

August 7th

• Rotary table at St. Rose of Lima Church flea market in Newark, NJ
  • Sold new and gently used items

August 14th

• Township of Irvington’s 9th Annual UNITY Day, Orange Park, Irvington, NJ
  • Provided  water to attendees
  • Movie Night Basket Raffle
  • Distributed club and Rotary International informational print material

August 23rd

• Irvington Public Library’s Children’s Summer Reading Program Finale, Irvington, NJ
  • Registered attendees
  • Assisted with distribution of reading prizes
  • Donated 20 Newark Bears’ Tickets via a raffle
  • Served guests

August 28th

• Annual Father Knows Best Back-to-School Giveaway Event, Chancellor Avenue Skate Park, Irvington, NJ
  • Provided Pencils and Club Rotary brochures to attendees

On Friday, September 10^th, we will be providing free school supplies and tote bags to children at the McDonald’s restaurant, located at 783 Springfield Avenue, Irvington, NJ, from 4pm until 8pm.  Parents and caregivers – see you there!

So much has happened since the New Year!  We’ve distributed dictionaries to the third graders of the Irvington, NJ public school district, made contributions to the Haitian Relief Effort, donated dictionaries to students of the Center for Wisdom and Character Excellence (CWACE) in the remote village of Montesunting, Carmen, Province of Bohol, Philippines through participation in the More from Men/International Cultural and Educational Foundation Book Drive and Community Dinner, and are now planning for our April 19^th Athletic Read at the Irvington Public Library’s Annual Readout in the Children’s Library room (more info to come), as well as our May 1st volunteer service participation in Jersey Cares Day 2010.  Whew!  And we’ve also been receiving lots of valuable information from our keynote presentation speakers at each weekly meeting – Club Speakers’ Corner and more pictures are an upcoming addition to our site so get ready!  And tomorrow, I’m off to my first PETS (President-Elect Training Seminar) meeting – I’ll fill you in on that next time.  So on that note, see you next time!

What I think about beginning a New Year is that it’s like a new day but with the benefit of 365 before it and a new chance to accept grace (favor, blessing) to be more of who God says I am and to walk in that.  I thank Him for those I hold dear who He has allowed to enter it with me and to bless them.  If there are things about myself that I see I need to change (and there always are) I acknowledge that to Him alone and ask Him to help me to make the necessary changes in the ways I can and should and for Him to do the rest.  I forgive myself of anything that is brought to mind to trouble me of what I am not or haven’t accomplished (just as He said He has already forgiven me if necessary) and I ask for His help.  Then I believe I receive what I’ve asked for and receive His joy for choosing to bring me into a new year for His good pleasure.  

So this post is about me as an individual, not as a Rotarian, but I hope all who read it find it helpful – and I endorse this message :)  Happy New Year everyone!

 “Rotary clubs are groups of business people in a town organized as a service club and to promote world peace.  The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. Members usually meet weekly for breakfast, lunch or dinner, which is a social event as well as an opportunity to organize work on their service goals.

The object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:

1. The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
2. High ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
3. The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life;
4. The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

This objective is further set against the “Rotarian four-way test”, used to see if a planned action is compatible with the Rotarian spirit. The test was developed by Rotarian and entrepreneur Herbert J. Taylor during the Great Depression as a set of guidelines for restoring faltering businesses and was adopted as the standard of ethics by Rotary in 1942. It is still seen as a standard for ethics in business management:  Of the things we think, say, and do:

• Is it the truth?
• Is it fair to all concerned?
• Will it build good will and better friendships?
• Will it be beneficial to all concerned “

Let’s all be reminded that these are the ideals we represent as Rotarians as we busy ourselves in our daily interactions and be encouraged that we can accomplish the goals.   And let’s remember to examine ourselves – the things, we think, say, and do – would we want them thought, said about, or done to us?  And do they measure up to the Four-Way Test?  Am I my brother’s keeper?  Yes, we all are.  So everyone, be encouraged today to know this – you matter.  What you are trying to do everyday – it matters.  And because of it everyone is touched.  And if no one has said this to you today, or even if they have, I say it and mean it.  Thank you.

Our new Rotary year began on July 1^st – welcome DG Karen Castora – and to our now PDG Janice Teetsell, we’ll still be keeping you in the loop because you added our club and that makes you Momma Teetsell .

We celebrated International Literacy Day on September 8^th with a program speaker from the United Way of Essex and West Hudson representative of the Celebrity Read program, Mr. Milton Balkum.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Celebrity Read, here is brief description submitted by Representative Donald Payne for the Library of Congress Local Legacies project (extracted in its entirety from http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/NJ/200003310.html):

“Celebrity Read was established by the United Way of Essex and West Hudson in 1991 as a community-building initiative to diversify the United Way volunteer base while inspiring elementary school children to read, dream, and set and accomplish goals. Recruited from all walks of life, Celebrity Readers travel to local schools where they read a brief passage about the accomplishments of model people of color who have played an important role in American or world history. The Readers also share their own life experiences to instill in the students a sense of pride and hope for the future, emphasizing the importance of education and reading in particular. As one reader said to a class of 7th graders, “They can take away your house, your car, your clothing, and all your money, but no one can take away your knowledge. When you can read something, it becomes yours forever.” Originally conceived as a way to celebrate African American History Month, the program was subsequently expanded to include people of other minority descent.”

Learn more or volunteer for Celebrity Read by going to: http://www.uwewh.org/celebread.html

We also recently completed our book donation project – we donated free books to the children and adults of the Irvington community on September 25^th at the McDonald’s restaurant on Springfield Avenue – what a treat – and participated in the Greenway Recovery Center’s October 3^rd “Celebrate Recovery” event, sponsored by Irvington Mayor Wayne Smith and Irvington Municipal Alliance, by doing the same there.

We would also like to announce the following:

The Rotary Club of Irvington

Presents its

1^st Annual Service Above Self Awards Brunch

Saturday, December 5, 2009

11 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.

The Hanover Manor, 16 Eagle Rock Avenue, East Hanover, NJ

$50

I’ll catch up more with you later, but for now, off to class.  Until next time…remember the Rotary Club 4-Way Test in all you do:

Of the things we think, say, or do:

1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIP?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

Good afternoon everyone. As I’m giving some of my brain cells a break from working on a paper for one of my classes, my mind has reflected back to our Charter Party event. How inspiring!

 Thanks to all of the clubs, family, and friends who came and celebrated with us and thanks to the clubs who gave our club gifts as well. We’re ringing the bell, hanging the banners, saluting the flag, wearing the caps, going shopping with the gift certificate, and depositing the checks! Thanks to Mayor Smith for the Key to the City of Irvington as well. Hmm… which bank did you say that would open? And Denville Sunrise, if you’re wondering about the baby you passed along to us (since we’re now the newest club in the district and thus the new baby club), she’s doing well and enjoying every meeting .

Even at our meeting that next Friday, everyone expressed enthusiasm, a feeling of accomplishment, and the honor it felt to be poised to do well in the community. Thanks to all of you who worked hard to make our event a success.

Another of our club members (Rhonda) and I also participated in our first District 7470 Walkfest event last Sunday. It was a lovely morning and awe-inspiring to know that 50% of the money we raised was going to dispensing polio vaccine to save children from polio in pockets of four countries where it is still literally a crippling reality. Then to know the other 50% would come back to our club as a fundraising product was definitely a win-win situation! That’s our first fundraising event – wooooooo whooooooo!

Thanks also to Frank and Terri Mangravite from the Morris Plains Rotary Club for visiting with us this past Friday. Frank was our program speaker and gave us some great pointers to help us along our journey.

Ready for some Service above Self anyone? Okay, break’s over; back to my paper!

By Cassandra Graham

Rotary 4-Way Test
Of the things we think, say, or do:
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIP?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?