Posted on Aug 25, 2021
Assistant Rotary District 7430 Governor Michael (Mike) Mueller introduced Bob:
 
Bob learned about Rotary through his friends who were exchange students sponsored by the Emmaus Rotary Club. He graduated from Emmaus High School, Penn State University, University of Virginia and Dickinson School of Law. He met Florita after law school. They have a daughter, Karen, and a son, Stephen, both Penn State graduates. Bob is an attorney practicing in southeastern Pennsylvania. He practiced with large law firms for 34 years and now enjoys a solo practice. Bob regularly publishes legal articles with the Business Law Sections of the American Bar Association and Pennsylvania Bar Association and with many other business organizations. Bob serves as Director and Board Chair of Ontelaunee Region Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA). He served as a Director and President of the Burn Prevention Foundation, Director of Kutztown Rotary Charitable Foundation, Inc., Diakon and its predecessor organizations and was a Founding Director at Northeast Berks Chamber of Commerce. Bob is a Senior Master Judge and Team Captain for the AACA and a member of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America, showing antique BMWs at national meets. Bob has been a active member of the Kutztown Rotary Club since 1986. He served District 7430 as Parliamentarian, Assistant Governor, Annual Fund Chair, member of the International Service and DEI Committees and as counselor in the Student Exchange Program. He teaches for the Rotary Leadership Institute. He is also a member of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Rotary Action Group and the International Fellowship of Motorcycling Rotarians. Bob thanks his wife, Florita, for serving with him in Rotary.
 
Bob started his talk around this years Rotary theme Serve to Change Lives. He explained that service should be intentional. 
He quoted Rotary Internationals Mission Statement - We provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through our fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders. He then explained that the We in the statement is not just Rotarians but also the people we do business with who have a shared vision, such as the in Rotary Internationals case the United Nations https://www.rotary.org/en/history-rotary-and-united-nations
Bob talked about service, and said that when we serve others we not only change their lives but also our own. Bob told a story explaining this. it was about our current Rotary International President Shekhar Mehta. As a new Rotary member in his mid twenties Shekhar was part of a group of Rotarians in India who organized an artificial limb camp, where they would fit limbs for people who did not have legs and give them hand-crank tricycles. Everybody was given a job. Shekhar was given the responsibility to determine whether the recipient had enough hand or arm strength to pedal one. So he would have the person grab my hands and he would pull. Shekhar saw the first person coming, but he wasn’t walking, he was crawling. And as he stretched out his hand, and Shekhar stretched to pull his, he shuddered. he didn’t want to touch his hands; they were very soiled. The fourth person was a leper, but he had no option: he had to hold every hand. But by the seventh or eighth hand, he had forgotten about his reservations and he was thinking about their plight. Shekhar said that’s when he became a Rotarian: he started feeling how others felt. Bob asked the group if any of us had been personally transformed by service. Gloria Inlander told of how she had accompanied Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (VOSH) to Guatemala and Haiti and how that had made a lasting impression on her. Bob told another story about how he was working at a church in Kutztown providing meals for low income community members, but not all could make it to the church to get the meals. Bob and others had to deliver some meals, but when Bob realized he had to deliver to a house just a few doors down from the church, he felt annoyed that they could not be bothered to come and get the meal. However, when the person answered the door to get the meal Bob saw that it was a lady with severe MS not someone taking advantage. Bob explained that service should be planned. he explained how one of his hobbies is yachting. In yachting you have to chart your course and the set sail. when Bob goes yachting he is given the job of plotting the course. Bob asked the group why this is important work. Tony explained that it is the only way the boat will get to its destination. Bob agreed and said that a goal without a plan is just a wish!
Bob also explained that it was not enough to do good you have to let others know. This can be done through social media and Rotary Internationals Main | Rotary Showcase
Bob told the group this year District 7430 has built their Action Plan from Rotary Internationals Plan. Bob discussed District 7430 priorities and how our club could contribute to these priorities. 
  • Increase Our Impact - Conduct a community needs assessment for Service Projects and then tell the story (Facebook, website, Rotary Showcase). Plan a Rotary Days of Service around our new area of service - The Environment, invite non Rotarians to it.
  • Expand Our Reach - Grow membership possibly from participants at service projects
  • Enhance Participant Engagement - Bring in youth and offer new programs. Give members what they want or they will leave
  • Increase Our Ability to Adapt - Virtual meeting options, new fundraisers, etc.