Today’s Meeting: Tom Duvall of Express Employment – Discussing today’s workforce
Future Speakers:
May 29th – Neil Rudel – Altoona Mirror
Whacha’ May Have Missed Last Week: Felicia Robinson of Family Services, Incorporated was our guest speaker last week. While Family Services provides many essential services, Felicia‘s topic was their Victim Services Program. This program, of which Felicia is the Coordinator, supports and advocates for children, youth, and adults affected by crime and abuse. The program’s victim advocates are trained to provide assistance to victims of rape, sexual assault, stalking, robbery and human trafficking…..to name just a few. These services are also extended to the victim’s family members. Felicia went on to say that the advocates are now available to come to wherever the victims need them, providing services such as assisting with protection from abuse orders, custody issues and divorce assistance. The advocates take turns being “on call” so that assistance for individuals is available 24/7. Additionally, the program provides a support group for victims and their families. These groups meet for several hours each week. The support that Felicia and her team provides comes at a traumatic time for the victims and provides support and education on what is needed to get these victims the help that they deserve. Allison answered questions from the membership following her presentation and explained a new term to many called “sextortion”. Sextortion happens when a person threatens harm or promises a reward in order to coerce sexual acts, images, or videos from a victim. For more information on the Victim Services Program, visit their website at www.familyservicesinc.net.
Guests of the Day:
…..There were none.
News of the Week:
…..Rachel DiAndrea conducted the meeting and showed the membership a handmade card sent from Penn Cambria Elementary to the club, thanking us for the donation of several Amtrykes.
…..With two of our recent new members in attendence, Rachael asked the membership to go around the room, one by one, introducing themselves to Jim Berkhimer and Chris Shirock. For more information on Chris, please see his profile later in this bulletin.
…..Rachel also recognized the efforts of grant writer, Dave Aikens, for all of the work that he’s done toward the recent publicity the club has received in the Mirror and on local television.
…..Jim Huff announced that at this time he doesn’t seem to have enough interest in a Pirates game. He did state that if enough people are interested, that he will organize the trip. So, if you’re up for a possible trip to PNC park, talk to Jim.
…..Amtryke Chairman, Michele Lloyd’s Amtryke building minions were at it again last week when Dave Aikens and John Lloyd built a tryke for 4 year old Cohen of Altoona.
…..COME ON FOLKS…..Program Chairman, Ken Decker, is still looking for volunteers to take a month (or share one with a fellow Ambuc) to provide interesting programs for our meetings. The new club year begins in June and there are still a number of slots left on the sign-up sheet.
…..Paul Dick distributed AMBUCS Committee Preference Sheets and asked each member present to review the list of committees and rank several of which they would be willing to serve upon. Committees are the backbone of the work that the club performs for the community, the fun that we have as a club, and the way in which we build up our membership. Please take a few minutes and turn in your completed forms to Paul or Secretary Bob Reffner. The board will be meeting this week to set up the board positions and committee members for club year 2018/19.
…..The winner of last week’s raffle ticket was…..well…..NOBODY! Unfortunately someone stole, threw away or somehow disposed of our card deck. Bill Hoyne’s ticket was chosen last week, but he had no Joker to find. So here’s the deal…a new deck of cards will be purchased and enough cards will be removed to get the deck down to 17 cards including the Joker. At the beginning of the meeting next week, Bill will get to pick a card. If he wins, we’ll open a new deck and start over. If he chooses unwisely, we’ll rip up the card he chooses and sell tickets as normal with the winner getting to pick from the remaining 16 cards.
If Bill doesn’t pick the Joker, the pot for the day will be over $800!
…..Today we’re about to meet new Ambuc Chris Shirock. Chris is a CPA for Young, Oakes, Brown & Company in Altoona. Chris is a graduate of Penn Cambria High School and has a B.S. degree from Mount Aloysius College. He’s engaged to his fiancée Kathryn, who has a 14 year old daughter Deerin. Their wedding date is set for August 25th. In his leisure time, Chris enjoys shooting pool, walking, biking and rooting for his St. Louis Cardinals. He wanted to join AMBUCS so he could become involved in a civic organization that would allow him to meet people and help others in the community. Chris is also serving the community by being the treasurer of the Gallitzin United Methodist Church and a board member of the Gallitzin Moose. When asked what was unique about himself that few people would know….he noted that he once flew in a helicopter….certainly something that many of us haven’t done. Welcome aboard Chris!
In Closing: Speaking of helicopters…..
Walter took his wife Ethel to the state fair every year, and every time he would say to her, “Ethel, you know that I’d love to go for a ride in that helicopter.” But Ethel would always reply, “I know that Walter, but that helicopter ride is 50 dollars and 50 dollars is 50 dollars.” Finally, they went to the fair one day, and Walter said to Ethel, “Ethel, you know I’m 87 years old now. If I don’t ride that helicopter this year, I may never get another chance.” Once again Ethel replied, “Walter, you know that helicopter ride is 50 dollars and 50 dollars is 50 dollars.” This time the helicopter pilot overheard the couple’s conversation and said, “Listen folks, I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll take both of you for a ride; if you can both stay quiet for the entire ride and not say a word I won’t charge you! But if you say just one word, it’s 50 dollars.” Walter and Ethel agreed and up they went in the helicopter. The pilot performed all kinds of fancy moves and tricks, but not a word was said by either Walter or Ethel. The pilot did his death-defying tricks over and over again, but still there wasn’t so much as one word said. When they finally landed, the pilot turned to Walter and said, “Wow! I’ve got to hand it to you. I did everything I could to get you to scream or shout out, but you didn’t. I’m really impressed!” Walter replied, “Well to be honest I almost said something when Ethel fell out…..but, you know, 50 dollars is 50 dollars!”