Jake Sashen was in the hospital from Dec 3 – Jan 3. He had triple bypass surgery, got a new valve and a pacemaker. He’s home and doing fine but says “they won’t let me do anything.”

2/20-21: M. Handler is driving Lukas and Hannah to Spring Mt. Ski Area (750 Spring Mount Road, Schwenksville, PA) . Arrival: 9am Sat. February 20.

Departure: 9am Sun. Feb 21. Please contact pattathome@yahoo.com if you can drive them home.

January 6, 2010 –We welcomed 2 Students-of-the-Month. Dashiell Kopp of BHS has participated in baseball, soccer, tennis, basketball and Ping Pong Club. He is also a member of the Art Club. He is active in his church group and has worked at Bear Creek Hotel as a bellhop, and for Baum Construction during the summers. He plans to go to RIT in the fall.

Alex Cevallos of KAHS has participated in chorus, show choir, and the high school musicals. He is a veteran of the Academic Challenge, debate team, PA Math League, and the Science Olympiad. He was a National Merit Scholarship Commended Student. And he has volunteered at Friend Inc. and for the Maiden Creak Watershed Association helping identify macro-invertebrates. Alex does not plan to attend Kutztown University.

January 13—Nancy Hildenbrand introduced Eric Weaknecht, our Berks County Sheriff. Sheriff Weaknecht grew up in Kutztown, became a constable at the age of 19, and was hired by the sheriff’s department the next year. In 2007 he was elected to head the office he has worker for these past 25 years.

The department has four divisions. The Court division is responsible for the safe transfer of inmates between the county jail and the courtroom. The deputies are also in charge of the inmates during the hearings.

Central Booking is a division started 8 years ago. When a local police officer arrests someone, he calls the central booking office, which sends out a van to pick up the person in custody. The local police officer fills out his paperwork while the van is en route. This saves him from having to drive to Reading and stay for the arraignment, and gets him back on the streets faster.

The sheriff’s deputy does a fingerprint scan and within 10 minutes has the person’s rap sheet, including “if the person is wanted in the US or Interpol.” His/her fingerprints are also matched against unidentified prints from crime scenes and checked for citizenship status. The person in custody is also photographed; both front and side head shots, as well as shots of the full-body, and all tattoos and scars. Arraignment before the sitting district justice is done by video.

The warrants division has over 4,000 active warrants out, 19% more than in 2008.

The busiest division is the patrol division. These deputies serve civil process such as mortgage foreclosures and evictions. They can also arrest people for driving infractions. Properties up for auction by the sheriff’s department are a gamble. The department does not own title, so prospective buyers cannot walk through the properties. The buyer also assumes all outstanding debt, liens, taxes, etc. on the property. Since property values have come down and many owners borrowed much more than the current value of the house, there are few bidders at auctions nowadays. And eviction proceedings cannot begin until the gavel has fallen, which gives tenants time to trash a house.

New programs: Remote firearms licensing the 3rd week of the month from different locations in the county. Canines, one trained to find narcotics and the other to find explosives. Both are trained to “apprehend.” Tobacco compliance checks at retail outlets, paid for by state funds. Department chaplain. Honor guard for military and law enforcement funerals.

Finally, if you have a choice, LoJack works better than OnStar for catching carjackers.

January 20— Club Assembly: We went over our expenditures/income so far this year. We need to raise at least $3k to cover expenses we have already incurred. In other areas:

1. The club voted to accept Dave Owens as a new member.

2. The Berks Kennel Club sent us $1000 despite only earning $150 income. They are moving their event to Macungie and will not need us next year.

3. Omega Health Screening is March 27, 2010.

4. Gary from Lambda Chi Alpha accepted our $300 check on behalf of his group.

5. Fundraisers: Keep our eyes open for a project that leverages our talents and gives us the most money for the muscle. Discussion ensued re: Flatworks, Minigolf, Energy Fest.

6. Casino Night. Our sponsors cover our expenses. The ticket sales is where we make the money. Please sell tickets.

7. Farmers’ Night. We should have just under 100 attendees. The speaker, Dennis Wolff, is bringing his wife. The District Gov. will be there, and a few gov. officials. Members almost to a man have sponsored a farmer. Please prepay.

8. Do we want to sponsor an inbound student next year? No discussion ensued.

9. In March, Heather Piperato, and Steve Sharadin will give classification speeches.

10. The club and its members donated $600 to Shelter Box last month, and we are not in a position to donate more funds at this time.

January 27—Ms Howard introduced Andrew Friedlund, 2008 Donald Boyer Community Service Scholarship recipient, who spoke about his upcoming cross-country bicycle tour to raise awareness about clean water in the 3rd world, and to raise money to build a well in Marale, Uganda.

Statistics: 97.2% of earth’s water is in the oceans. Of the 2.8% left, 60% is in the ice caps and 30% is underground. The human body is 2/3 water by weight. Losing 2% of that water can lead to loss of energy, vision, strength, and mental acuity; losing 15% of that water means death. It is estimated that 1.1 billion people travel at least 3 hours for water; 1.5 billion have no access to clean water.

Andrew and Matt Friedlund’s response: Ride for Marale. They plan to leave from Boyertown on May 30 and ride their bikes to Seattle by August 16, stopping to give talks and raise money along the route. With the $5,300 they plan to raise (that’s only $10 from 530 people), they can help the town of Marale dig a well and protect the town’s above-ground water supply. Andrew is working with the organization Food for the Hungry, which engages with the local communities to build public support for and partial financing of water projects, and to educate the population about the need for sanitation/nutrition/a clean water supply. Donations can be sent using the promotion code: EK21AC0MC, and item code: 26000Bike Ride. Mail to: Food for the Hungry, Attn: Cheryl Johnson, Marale Water Project, 1224 E. Washington Street, Phoenix AZ 85034.

(A hearty welcome to Pat Kutz, friend of Darlene and Steve Henning and alumna of Kutztown HS.)

Announcements

• Board meetings are the 3rd Wed. of the month.

Birthdays

• 2/21—P. Keegan
• 2/21—P. Grossman
• 2/28—J. Sashen
• 3/8 –K. Snyder

Anniversaries

• none

Programs

• Feb. 3 - Rural-Urban Night
• Feb. 6 – Casino Night
• Feb. 10 - Valentine Party -- N. Hildenbrand
• Feb. 17 - No Meeting (Ash Wednesday )
• Feb. 24 - Comfort Keepers - K. Snyder
  

Please notify Patt when you have lined up your speaker so she can add it to the bulletin.

Board Meetings are the Third Wednesday of the Month

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Kutztown Rotary Club Officers

Avenues of Service

Meetings: the Club Room at the Kutztown Tavern, 272 West Main Street, Kutztown