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Designer Purse Bingo 2024 is here!

The West End Rotary Club is once again hosting a designer purse bingo event at the St. Matthews UCC located at 102 Church Road, Kunkletown, Pa on Sunday February 4th, 2024. You can play designer bag bingo for prizes including Kate Spade, Vera Bradley, Michael Kors and Coach designer handbags. Doors open at 12 pm and bingo starts at 1. There will be door prizes, raffles, and lunch is available. Admission is $30. In the past proceeds from the event benefit Operation Warm, a Rotary project that supplies new winter coats to needy kids in this area, and other Rotary projects. This event has been quite popular over the years, often selling out. So purchase your tickets in advance to insure a seat! Tickets are available to purchase at the offices of Creature Comforts Veterinary Service in Saylorsburg, or by calling 570-620-9315 or you may email honi.skip@gmail.com. They will also be available at the door (if we don't sell out) on the day of the event. This fundraiser addresses an important local need. If you'd like to help by sponsoring a designer bag, please call us at 570-620-9315. Join us for a fun day of designer purse bingo and help a very worthy cause. See you there!

Help Rotary Putt out Polio!

Saturday, October 24 from 2 pm to 6 pm (rain date Sunday Oct. 25)

Have fun and support a great cause at Snydersville Golf Range

Snydersville Miniature Golf Course is 18 holes nautical theme featuring a light house, water feature, tall reed grasses and roped piers.

The front 9 holes are wheel chair accessible. The course has some challenging holes to offer a fun experience for every age level.

Join West End Rotary for this fun event! In addition to miniature golf, we will have door prizes and raffles during the day. Plus we will have a 50/50 drawing at the end of the event. Cost of admittance is $10 per adult, $8 for kids 3-12. Children 0-2 are admitted free. Masks are required to enter.

PUTT OUT POLIO!! October 24 from 2-6 pm

Snydersville Golf Range 125 Meadowbrook Lane Stroudsburg Pa 18360

Meeting changes

Meeting changes for December

A new year

A beautiful dinner was arranged by our new president, Jim Manello and outgoing president, Honi Gruenberg thanked the club for a very successful year with much to be thankful for. We reached the community through our essay contest and dinner, our donations to the Garden of Giving of trees and an outhouse and Operation Warm. We've met many exceptional people along the way and hope that this year brings more of them into our fold.

Schedule changes

Pleased be advised of the following changes to our regular schedule:

Thursday June 27- Instead of a regular library meeting, we'll be meeting at the Garden of Giving to check out the planting of 14 fruit trees that the club donated to the Garden.

Thursday July 4 - No meeting that day. Enjoy the Holiday!

Thursday July 11- No morning meeting. We'll have our annual Installation and Awards Dinner at The Lakeside at 6 pm to celebrate our past year and start our new one.

We'll get back to our regular morning meeting at the Library on Thursday July 18.

April-May Club Bulletin is now available

President Honi has published the Club Bulletin for April-May. Click on the headline to download it.

Second Thursdays are Field Trip Days

West End Rotary is excited to announce that on the second Thursday of each month we will be taking our meeting out into the community to learn more about you and share more about us. If you would like to host us at your facility, please email gruenberg.honi@gmail.com.

On June 13, we will meet at the pavilion of West End Regional Park (weather permitting) and enjoy coffee and donuts after a short walk on the trails of the park. Please contact us if you're interested in joining us. The park is located at 578 Evergreen Hollow Rd in Brodheadsville.

On May 9, we toured the facilities of Brodheadsville Chiropractic, located at 134 Pilgrim Way, right across the street from the Library. Dr. Bob Van Metter gave us the tour and enlightened our knowledge of chiropractic care.

On April 11, we met at Creature Comforts Veterinary Service in Saylorsburg, where Dr. Karin-Susan Breitlach gave us a tour of the facility that takes such good care of our pets.

Meeting time was 7:30 am. It was interesting and enjoyed by 6 club members plus a last minute visit from a visiting Rotarian from North Carolina. Great way to start the day!

On March 14, we met at Doris's Cafe (the second floor of Shoprite) and had a group lesson on how to use our website and Facebook page to better promote our programs. Please bring your laptop or mobile device. The cafe offers free WIFI so we'll be able to connect. The meeting starts at 7:30. This is a BYOB (buy your own breakfast) so please get there a little sooner if you wish to purchase breakfast.

On February 14, we toured the new facility of Pleasant Valley Ecumenical Network at 2334 rt 209 in Sciota at 7:30 am.

On January 10, we toured the offices of Dr. David Pierce, DDS.

If you would like to host us at your facility, please contact gruenberg.honi@gmail.com.

Meeting information

The Rotary Club of the West End meets at Cherry's Family Restaurant at 593 Interchange Road in Kresgeville, located right on Rt 209 across from St. Luke's Physical Therapy. Our meetings are still every Thursday morning at 7:30 am. We invite and encourage guests to join us for any of our meetings. You can also contact us by emailing westendrotarypoconos@gmail.com.

A New Year

A celebratory picnic was held at Chestnuthill Park for West End Rotary members and their families. President Kevin Noll honored Diana Cardwell with Rotarian of the Year and Debby York with Service Above Self. Dr. Karin-Susan Breitlach pins the president's pin on Honi Gruenberg as she assumes the presidency of the West End Rotary for the 2018-2019 year.

5000 Students can "Look it up in the dictionary"

This year West End Rotary reached the 5,000 mark in dictionaries that have been distributed to Pleasant Valley third graders over the years. Many of these students can now take their dictionary to college. Here President Kevin Noll and President-elect and Dictionary Chair Honi Gruenberg, receive the thanks of the Pleasant Valley students. It's us who should be thanking the students who are always delightful and inspirational when we deliver the dictionaries each year.

Preach and Reach

Debra Watts is our newest member. She is an interfaith minister who guides us through all life cycle events. Debra also helps us reach our financial goals as a Registered Representative of Mutual of Omaha Investor Services, Inc. The photos show Debra receiving her Rotary pin from District Governor, Karin-Susan Breitlach, also a member of West End Rotary.

Wheels of Change

Kenneth Rupert of Nazareth, PA, buys a Texas Hold 'Em ticket for charity at our booth at the West End Fair in Gilbert on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2016.

West End Rotary had another successful run at the West End Fair, renting a record 92 manual and power wheelchairs to help visitors navigate the grounds in comfort.

The club’s newest fundraiser, the Texas Hold ‘Em tear-off tickets, was also a hit.

West End Rotary will use the proceeds for its various community projects, one of which provides a dictionary to every third grader in the Pleasant Valley School District.

There are Ruby Slippers and Ruby Pins - Here's how pins make the difference

Our District Governor, Dr. Karin-Susan Breitlach is awarded her 9xPaul Harris Pin with 4 Rubies. Dr. Karin's generous donations to the Rotary Foundation have helped fund clean drinking water, schools, maternal and child health, fight polio, create peace throughout the world. It's part of the miracle of Rotary that Karin is proud to be a part of. Photo is of President Kevin Noll pinning Dr. Karin's latest Paul Harris pin on her.

A new start

West End Rotary installed its new slate of officers and directors this month. They are, from left: Dave Pierce, Kevin Noll, Diana Cardwell, Frank Mullane, Honi Gruenberg, Ed Gallagher, Jim Mannello, Luanne Linares Freeman and Karin Breitlauch.

Dictionary donation defines service

West End Rotary Club members recently distributed 350 free dictionaries to third graders at Pleasant Valley Elementary School. This was the twelfth year the club has donated the materials. Dictionary Project Chair Joey Krawitz called it gratifying to see the response from the children and teachers.

Rotary spreads warmth of holiday

Jean Reiff, Linda Salas-Mamary and Ellen Meli unpack new children's winter coats at Pleasant Valley Ecumenical Network's clothing pantry in Brodheadsville. The coats were purchased through a pair of West End Rotary fundraisers and are available for families living below the poverty level. Linda is a member of the club; Jean and Ellen are members of PVEN. See the full story in the Pocono Record.

West End Rotary grows membership

From left: Kevin Noll, Karen DeMatteo, Debby York and Luanne Linares

West End Rotary added to its ranks when Luanne Linares became the club’s newest member.

Luanne has been living and working in the West End for the past ten years. She has been employed with First Northern Bank & Trust for the past 5 years, working in their Stroudsburg, Palmerton and now Gilbert offices where she is the Assistant Branch Manager. Luanne is also involved in the community by serving on the Board of Trustees of the Western Pocono Community Library as well as the West End Committee of the Greater Pocono Chamber of Commerce. Luanne was sponsored by club President Debby York and inducted by Assistant Gov. Karen DeMatteo, the immediate past president of the Rotary Club of the Stroudsburgs.

In that ceremony, District Gov. Barbara Huffman-Belon installed officers and directors for the 2015-16 Rotary year. Officers are: Debby York, president; Ed Gallagher, president-elect; Honi Lynn Gruenberg, vice president; Diana Cardwell, secretary; Frank Mullane, treasurer; Dave Pierce, sergeant-at-arms, and Kevin Noll, immediate past president. Directors are: Jeff Widmer, public relations; Karin-Susan Breitlauch, membership; Jim Mannello, service projects; Joey Krawitz, club administration; Gruenberg, Rotary Foundation; and Luanne Linares, youth services.

In his remarks, Kevin reviewed the club’s contributions to the community last year. They included providing a stair chair for West End Ambulance, dictionaries to every third grader in the Pleasant Valley School District and winter coats to needy children. Fundraising events and service projects such as the Oktoberfest and Car Show, Basket Bingo and wheelchair rentals at the West End Fair rounded out the list.

The club also presented awards for service to the community. Awards and their recipients were: Service Above Self, Ed Gallagher; Rotarian of the Year, Jim Mannello; Reach One Keep One membership recruitment and retention, Karin Breitlauch. Kevin distributed presidential citations to Honi Gruenberg, Debbie Borger, Dave Pierce and Jeff Widmer.

Seven Rotarians were made Paul Harris Fellows: Kevin Noll, Dave Pierce, Maureen Tatu, Frank Mullane, Diana Cardwell, Karin Breitlauch and Erin Gallagher. Eight club members received perfect attendance awards: Kevin Noll, Ed Gallagher, Karin Breitlauch, Honi Gruenberg, Diana Cardwell, Jeff Widmer and two Rotarians from the Slate Belt satellite club, Valerie Noble and Bill Skinner.

A new honor Kevin created, the Quiet Rotarian award for service without fanfare, went to Diana Cardwell, Frank Mullane and Joey Krawitz. For his service, Kevin received a president’s gavel and plaque.

New leadership announced

West End Rotary has nominated new leadership for the 2015-16 year. Officers and directors include:

President - Debby York
President Elect - Ed Gallagher
Past President - Kevin Noll
Vice President - Honi Gruenberg
Service Projects - Jim Mannello
Publicity - Jeff Widmer
Administration - Joey Krawitz
Membership - Karin Breitlauch
Treasurer - Frank Mullane
Secretary - Diana Cardwell
Youth Services - Luanne Linares
Rotary Foundation - Honi Gruenberg

Rotary donates to Burnley

The West End Rotary Club has donated $500 to Burnley Employment & Rehabilitation in Snydersville. The money was raised from the club's Oktoberfest and Car Show. From left, Judy Sanner and Charlotte Wright from Burnley accept the donation from club President Kevin Noll.

Crowdfunding helps Rotary spread warmth

Members of the West End Rotary Club and the Pleasant Valley Ecumenical Network prepare winter coats for donation to children in the area.

West End Rotary has gone high-tech to keep children of the Poconos snug this winter.

In a campaign called Operation Warm, Rotary has given 150 winter coats to the Pleasant Valley Ecumenical Network for distribution to families in need. That’s nothing new for a club that donates thousands of dollars each year to ambulance corps, fire companies and other charitable organizations. What is new is the way in which West End Rotary raised the money.

Each year the club holds several fundraiser and designates the proceeds for a specific cause. Last year’s Oktoberfest and Car Show in Gilbert would have raised thousands of dollars for Operation Warm, a program that provides new winter coats to children in need in an effort to boost school attendance and self-esteem.

“But despite our best fundraising efforts, it snowed on the day of our car show and we were not able to meet this community need without help,” said Karin Susan Breitlauch, the West End Rotarian who spearheaded the project. A veterinarian who with her husband, computer specialist Ed Gallagher, uses advanced technology in her practice, Breitlauch decided to rely on the high-tech version of the kindness of strangers: she crowdsourced the fundraising.

Innovative funding
With a goal of purchasing at least a hundred coats for the ecumenical network, Breitlauch established a page for the project on GoFundMe, a San Diego-based crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for causes, events and special needs. In less than two months, the club raised enough money to buy the coats from Operation Warm, an organization that provides garments manufactured from 100% recycled materials in two styles and 12 colors.

But while West End Rotary exceeded its goal, the club realized it had to do more when the ecumenical network said it would like to distribute 400 coats.

West End Rotary President Kevin Noll said he sees the community need every time he drives to work. “More and more families cannot afford to buy a new winter coat for their child. It’s sad to see a child on the side of the road waiting to get onto a bus without the bare essentials of a winter coat, something most of us take for granted. It’s not a good way to start their day.”

Breitlauch said the weather also plays a part in that equation. “The weather experts are suggesting that 2014-15 will exceed 2013-14 in cold and snow. There is a real sense of urgency.”

Donors who would like to support Rotary’s work can contribute toward future coat purchases—$20 per coat or $102 for a case of six—at gofundme.com/hmipbo or by contacting Breitlauch at ksbvet@ptd.net or (610) 390-0351.

History of service
This isn’t the first time West End Rotary has spearheaded the program. In 2010, the club purchased 128 new coats and repeated the effort for another relief organization the following year.

Other projects have followed. Over the past three years, the club has donated a stair chair to West End Community Ambulance, water-rescue equipment for the Jackson Township Volunteer Fire Co., thermal imaging software for Blue Ridge Hook & Ladder Co. and dictionaries to every third grade student in the Pleasant Valley School District.

West End Rotary meets for breakfast at 7:30 a.m. on most Thursdays at the Western Pocono Community Library in Brodheadsville. The public is welcome to attend.

Club donates stair chair to ambulance corps

Mehmet Barzev, center, representing West End Community Ambulance, accepts a nearly $3,000 donation from West End Rotary Club President Kevin Noll, left, and the club’s Foundation Chair Honi Gruenberg.

A donation from the West End Rotary Club is helping the sick and injured get out of tight places.

To help it maneuver patients in confined spaces, West End Community Ambulance is purchasing stair chairs that help responders safely navigate homes that cannot accommodate a stretcher.

“West End Community Ambulance responds to more than 3,000 calls a year,” said Honi Gruenberg, the club’s foundation chair. “They have four Stair-PRO chairs but need two more so they will have a chair for every ambulance."

The Rotary donation of $2,976 will enable the EMS organization to equip a fifth ambulance with that piece of equipment. Gruenberg helped secure club funds and a grant from Rotary District 7410 to purchase the chair.

The Stair-PRO chair uses bulldozer-type tracks to safely glide over stairs. It can accommodate patients weighing up to 500 pounds in narrow passageways, stairs or basements where a stretcher is unable to reach.

Patients aren’t the only ones who will benefit from the donation, said Mehmet Barzev of the ambulance organization. “The Stair-PRO uses the conventional chair design with the addition of bulldozer tracks to transfer the weight of the patient to the stairs, rather than to the back of the rescuers moving the patient. This is important to EMS personnel because the majority of EMS-related injuries are due to lifting and moving patients. There are few times a responder is more vulnerable than when traversing stairs.

“When used properly,” he added, “this device can revolutionize how EMS gets patients from their homes, with minimal risk to the patient and to those moving the patient.”

West End Rotary is a service club that meets for breakfast most Thursdays at 7:30 a.m. in the Western Pocono Community Library. The public is invited to attend.

Home, home at the fair

Marge Myler, West End Rotary’s polio ambassador, shakes hands with Miles, the mascot for the Monroe County Transit Authority, this week at the West End Fair. Both our organization and the Pocono Pony are providing transportation services at the fair—we’re supplying wheelchairs for those who need mobility while the transit authority provides bus service. As a polio survivor, Marge plays a large and serious role in the club’s outreach efforts but in typically modest fashion she says of this photo, “You can say we were just horsing around at the fair.”

West End Rotary provides mobility at fair

Marge Myler, left, and Joanie Loveless offer comfortable mobility to visitors at the West End Fair through the West End Rotary Club’s wheelchair project.

   To help people navigate the West End Fair with ease, West End Rotary will once again provide wheelchairs at the annual event, August 24-30 at the fairgrounds, Route 209 and Fairgrounds Road, Gilbert. The Rotary booth is located to the left of the main entrance on Farm Machinery Road.
   Both conventional and motorized chairs will be available. For manual chairs, a suggested donation of $5 for the first four hours and $2 an hour thereafter helps to fund the club’s non-profit activities in the community. Guests are asked to leave a driver’s license or other photo ID and a cell phone number in case they are late in returning the chairs.
   This is the 19th year West End Rotary will provide mobility at the fair. The project began in 1995 when members cleaned and donated a truckload of medical equipment to hospitals in Poland. By the end of the project, members decided to bring the initiative closer to home by providing access to fairgoers. All wheelchairs are donated by local medical equipment suppliers or individuals who no longer need them.
   In addition to the project at the fair, West End Rotary offers community members several opportunities for camaraderie and public service. The club meets at 7:30 a.m. on Thursdays in the community room of the Western Pocono Community Library, Route 115 in Brodheadsville.

Rotary honors members for service

West End Rotary’s outgoing President Debbie Borger, left, distributes awards for club service during the organization’s annual installation event. Honi Gruenberg, second from left, received the Service Above Self award for her work in promoting the Foundation of Rotary International. Three club members were made Paul Harris Fellows: Debbie Borger, Joey Krawitz, second from right, and Zena Keller, right. Jeff Widmer, not pictured, received the Rotarian of the Year award. Congratulations to all of our award-winners.