Today’s Meeting: Jane Sheffield & Jim Yeager of the St. Vincent de Paul Society – Monastery Gardens
Future Speakers:
August 14th – Sam Hayes, Jr. – Retired Secretary of Agriculture, Commonwealth of Pa.
August 21st – Donna Fisher – District Manager Bl. Co. Conservation Dist. – Natureworks Park
August 28th – Jerry Zolten – PSU professor – “How They Got Over: Black Gospel Quartets & the Road to Rock ‘n’ Roll.”
Whacha’ May Have Missed Last Week: Our guest speaker was Ed Krueger – Publisher of the Altoona Mirror. Ed’s talk however didn’t center on his 20+ years at the Altoona Mirror but instead on an inspirational message of how the “L” word is missing in business today. That “L” word is “love”, a 
word that Ed says is often too awkward for most people to say out loud in the workplace. His experience has been that work groups that are resistant to the word love often are the most dysfunctional. According to Ed, the word love in any language is beautiful and that no one should be embarrassed by it since it builds relationships, makes us happier, and the spirit of work is enhanced by it. He said that we should all be brave enough to take our hearts to work. Ed went on to say that doing what is right is being ethical. He said that while most people do mostly right things most of the time, we should strive to do right all of the time, stating that this takes courage and is not always easy, but doing so is always right. Ed completed his remarks by reading an introspective poem, entitled “The Person in the Glass”.
Guests of the Day:
…..Guest of Mike Strait was Brandi Noye of Doing Better Business of Altoona
…..Guest of our speaker Ed Krueger was his friend Bob Postlewait
News of the Week:
…..President Kristan announced a change to this Friday’s “kickoff” event for the Softball Marathon weekend of games in this year’s charity tournament. The AMBUCS team will now be playing a team put together by Kristan’s brother, who plays ball for PSU – Harrisburg. She stated that the WeCare Ambassador Child, Liam, will be in attendance to throw out the game’s first pitch. She encouraged the membership to come out and play and/or cheer on the team. So mark your calendar….the AMBUCS will compete in the WeCare Softball Marathon this Friday, August 10th, at the Seitz field in Eldorado, beginning at 5PM and concluding around 8PM. Tony Miller can still use some players. You can sign up to play and/or attend the after-game party. Oil up that glove, knock the dirt out of those cleats, and get some time in the batting cage as the AMBUCS look to bring home a victory. If you can’t play….that’s OK too as we need a cheering section for the game and people to attend the traditional after-game party! That party will be held at the Ed & Paulette Farabaugh hacienda located at 2102 17th Ave. in Altoona. The club will provide sandwiches, chicken and drinks, but you can bring a dessert to share if you would like.
…..Ken Decker promoted an upcoming fundraiser for Arts Altoona. On Sunday August 19th from 5PM – 9PM, “Art Jive One” will be held in downtown Altoona. Tickets are $99 which includes food, beer, wine, and all of the evening’s activities. See Ken for tickets and more information.
…..The last several years we have not had our annual “500 Club” lunch for those members who either purchased $500 of candy from our Christmas sale and/or made a cash contibution equaling our profit from $500 of sales. The lunch this year will be held on Tuesday September 25th and will include those members who were “500 Club” members in either 2016 or 2017, or both. Linda Horomanski is organizing this special lunch and will have more details soon.
…..As we did last year, there will not be a meeting on Tuesday September 18th due to the annual Operation Our Town golf outing held at Park Hills. This event draws a very large crowd and both parking and dining room space is at a premium. You’ll have to find your own lunch that day!
…..August birthdays and club anniversaries include:
Birthdays: Club Anniversaries:
13th – Jack McDougal Jack McDougal – 1988 – 30 Years!
15th – Vic Gioiosa Susan Barber – 2002
21st – Tony Miller & Chris Shirock Shandra Waksmonski – 2005
22nd – Bill Hoyne Amanda Marin – 2013
Sandy Gregory – 2015
…..It’s time to meet our newest Ambuc, Emily Sollenberger. Emily is a Penn State Political Science grad and is employed as a relationship banker at the West Plank Road office of M&T Bank. She enjoys cooking and decorating and spending time with her friends and family. She joined AMBUCS in order to share her time and give back to her community through a cause that is important to her. She stated that M&T encourages employees to become involved in the community and she’s looking forward to helping the Altoona AMBUCS carry out our mission. When asked what was something unique about herself…..she replied that her ultimate goal was to attend law school after graduating college, but she found that working at M&T in banking was her passion. That and probably meeting fellow Ambuc Jim Huff kept her from a law practice! Please make yourself known to Emily and greet her as our newest member.
…..Did You Know……our Grants Coordinator, Dave Aikens, will be attending the AMBUCS National Convention in Reno Nevada on October 3rd to the 6th? See Dave if you want him to place a bet for you while he’s out there.
…..Last week the raffle ticket of Jack McDougal was chosen by our speaker Ed Krueger. Jack went to pick his card looking very confident….however his selection…..the Two of Spades, was terrible. So that means the odds are even better for whomever gets to try to find one of those two Jokers this week. Remember, it could be you picking from the deck of 45 remaining cards with a potential winning pot of about $185.
In Closing: Here’s a sign you don’t often see in a neighborhood…..
