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Rotary Club of Martinsburg - Martinsburg WV / Grapevine  / January 9, 2014 – Meeting Roundup

January 9, 2014 – Meeting Roundup

by
Grapevine
January 10, 2014

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We are meeting at the Purple Iris this week, and I used to say that means desserts. It still means desserts but, to give credit where credit is due, the Holiday Inn has been providing some decent dessert, also. (My mouth is beginning to water as I write this.)
As you know, one of our Club’s prime beneficiaries is the CCAP/Loaves and Fishes. CCAP, which is based in Martinsburg, provides qualified individuals with emergency financial assistance, and funds are made available to Berkeley County residents. They meet the needs of local residents by issuing vouchers that can be used to pay for rent, water bill and sewer expenses, prescription medicine, and other basic needs that people may have. CCAP/Loaves and Fishes was started 30 years ago by a group of churches in Berkeley County, one of which was Trinity Episcopal Church.
CCAP/Loaves and Fishes has no paid staff, which keeps its administrative costs to between 3 and 5 percent of its budget. The organization’s annual budget amounts to about $250,000. CCAP assists families with rent, prescriptions, utilities and transportation. It is funded through United Way of the Eastern Panhandle, support of local churches, civic clubs, private donations and by the City of Martinsburg through its federal Community Development Block Grant program. CCAP assists about 3,000 families a year.
The Loaves and Fishes side of the operation handles about $250,000 worth of food annually. It gets food donations through Mountaineer Food Bank and local donations. Saturday, Church of Latter-Day Saints congregations in Berkeley County collected about 7,200 pounds of food for the pantry. Loaves and Fishes has served about 4,100 families a year for the past several years, and is on pace to serve that many again this year.
PP Pam Wagoner recently became president of CCAP and will provide much more information about its needs and functions.
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Top Ten Events of 2013

Christopher Kinsler, editor of the Journal, presented the top ten news stories of 2013 as selected by the newspaper’s staff.
They were:

  1. The relocation of 150 patients at the VA Center due to mold being found at part of the hospital.
  2. The spring and fall Tough Mudder events. The two events attracted over 23,000 people. There was a death due to drowning at the spring event.
  3. The 150th birthday of West Virginia.
  4. Spring Mills High School. The north end of the county has a school that is state of the art.
  5. The retirement of Jay Rockefeller as US Senator.
  6. The local highway projects, Raleigh Street extended and I-81, are completed.
  7. Martinsburg Police Department killing a man who stabbed an officer.
  8. Eastern Panhandle teams in football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, and track winning state championships.
  9. Potomac Edison’s billing practices.
  10. The federal government’s shut down which affected several local agencies.

 

Cogwheels

Answer to last week’s question:
Women became eligible for membership in Rotary in 1989. This was in response to the pending loss of a tax-exempt status. Many clubs, including ours, had expressed their desire for female members in a straw poll taken several years before. Obviously, women have been a huge asset for Rotary and our club.
This week’s question:
Who was the first woman to join our club?  

Greg Smith, an Allstate agent in Frederick with a satellite office in Martinsburg, was a guest of Manuel Washington. Page Burdette brought his wife, Lois. Anita Cooper was back celebrating the New Year with her father, Walt Ridenour.
The Taste of the Panhandle is sold out. However, we still need items for the auction. Lou Scally, long-time weather man at WHAG and a member of the Hagerstown Rotary club, has agreed to be the auctioneer. Contact Pam Wagoner or Gail Moxley to donate items to be auctioned.
Thanks go to everybody who rang the bell for the Salvation Army. Our club has participated in this for many years, and it’s good to see the tradition continued.
It’s not too soon to begin thinking about the District 7360 district conference. It will be held at the Lehigh Valley Holiday Inn which is just 5 miles from downtown Allentown, PA (isn’t that where Kevin Knowles is from?). It will be from April 25-27 and is a great opportunity to visit with other Rotarians from the district and get new ideas for our club. If you wanted to continue the weekend in NYC, it’s not that far from Allentown.
Chris Knight needs greeters for the next six months. It’s an easy job as all you do is greet members and guests as they arrive, lead the Pledge of Allegiance, and give a prayer after the Pledge. It’s a great way to meet your fellow Rotarians.
The defibrillator has arrived and been given to the Holiday Inn. This was done in response to Larry Pitzer’s heart attack at Pam Wagoner’s installation. Fortunately, for Larry, Dr. Bill Queen was attending and he had a defibrillator in his car as there was not one at the Holiday Inn. I’m sure some of the staff will be trained in using the defrillator.
Ed Arnett seems to be celebrating his retirement by winning 50/50. He won again this week, but could not find the Ten of Diamonds. The pot is over $375 with only 27 cards left.