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Rotary Club of the Abingtons

October 8
Thank you to Our Community Rotary Club of the Abingtons With Leah Ducato Rudolph

A huge Rotary Club of the Abingtons thank you to everyone who contributed, assisted, and participated in the 2008 Taste of the Abingtons. Jamie Kresge and his committee did a tremendous job with over 600 people in attendance. Special thanks to our vendors, sponsors, and volunteers including Abington Heights Interact Club, Boy Scout Troop 160, Roba’s Tree Farm, Remick’s Floral, White’s Floral, and Calming Creations - Joe Petry, and the more than 60 Rotarians that contributed in some way. It is important to remember why we do this and who it benefits – our community, our nation, and even our world, with Rotary funded projects. Congratulations are also in order for Rotarian Gus Vlassis who sold the most tickets for the Taste.

Welcome to our new Rotary Exchange Student!

Former Rotary Club of the Abingtons member Larry Aiken and wife Grace, North Carolina, visited Clarks Summit with their son Blair from New York and former Rotary Exchange student from Brazil, Fabio Santos. Gus Vlassis and the Aikens were host families for Fabio’s visit in 1984. They are shown with current Abington Heights High School exchange student Anna Paula Garcia from Ecuador.

Anna-Paula Garcia hails from Portoviejo, Ecuador and is attending Abington Heights High School. Here is a little bit about her, in her own words.

“My parents are so nice. My mother’s name is Yara and she is a dentist. We always lunch together with my dad. Every night we spend a lot of time talking and passing great moments. My father’s name is Brucker and he is a doctor. He is funny and always makes me laugh. My dad loves cooking and sometimes we cook together. I have two brothers who are both older than me. Alesandro is my oldest brother and he is 25-years-old. He is like my dad – very funny. He lives in Utah because he is an agricultural engineer and the manager of a farm with 5,000 pigs. Enrique is my other brother. He is 22-years old and very kind and friendly. He is a dentist so he works with my mother. In conclusion, I am very proud of my family and they are the best!

“In Ecuador I often played basketball and was a cheerleader. My friends and I also danced to represent our high school.

“While here in the U.S., I want to learn about your culture, meet people, make friends, and learn English very well.

“This is not my first trip abroad. When I was about 9-years-old I traveled to Argentina and Chili. When I was 10-years-old I traveled to New York. My brother graduated from Honduras so I have been there. I have also visited Las Vegas and Utah. When I turned 16-years-old my parents gave me a big present: I went on a cruise to Jamaica, Caymen Islands, and Mexico. Earlier this year I went to Miami on vacation.

“I feel good about being here. In my high school (Abington Heights) the people are nice, teachers are kind, and my friends are too. My host family is nice (Rotarian Stephanie Westington and her family), they are polite and always eager to help me when I need help and do their best to make me feel welcome!

Special Moment

Rotary Club of the Abingtons members were delighted to have a visit recent from former Rotarian Larry Aiken, his wife Grace, and son Blair. They were in the area with former exchange student Fabio Santos of Brazil. Fabio was a guest of this club in 1984, when he attended Abington Heights High School and stayed with the Aikens and Gus and Irene Vlassis.

Adopt-A-Highway

Rotarian Doug Thran will be the new Adopt-a-Highway chair for Rotary. He is taking the reins from Howard Hyde, who has been a faithful leader for many years. Thank you to Howard for a tremendous job well done!

Dictionary Project

Are you a home-schooling parent of a third-grader? Rotary Club of the Abingtons and the Abington Community Library would like to present your child with their very own brand new dictionary. Simply stop by the Abington Community Library and provide your name/contact info to director Leah Rudolph, and we’ll make sure your third grader gets one, compliments of the Rotary Club of the Abingtons. Lenora Cunningham chairs this committee.

What you missed by not being a Rotarian:

• Rotarian Mike LaPolla’s presentation on his experiences on tour as a professional golf caddy for eleven years;

• Rotarian Jim Lowan’s discussion on Drug-Proofing Your Kids and steps Rotary may be taking to assist;

• Agriculture in the 21st Century as presented by local farm owner Keith Eckel of Eckel Farms, INC.;

• A touching presentation on the devastation of one particular school in China during the recent earthquake by Shu Qiu, director of the Dalton Community Library and the Lackawanna County Library System, assisted by Mary Barna of the Valley Community Library;

• Abington Area Joint Recreation Board member Barbara Grabfelder’s presentation on the Abington Community Garden.

Rotary Club of the Abingtons meets each Thursday at 12:10 p.m. at the Inn at Nichols Village. Get involved by contacting President Tata Mbugua at 570.587.5528, asking any member, or attend one of our weekly luncheons.

Leah Ducato Rudolph is the publicity chairman of the Rotary Club of The Abingtons. She may be reached at 570-587-3440 or lrudolph@albright.org.