Announcements: July 19, 2022
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July 19, 2022
The Washington Rotary Club met on July 19 at our new meeting place, The Center on Strawberry in
downtown Washington. Our guests were our speaker Stephen Rydzak with interns Anthony
Romasco and Carley Popielarcheck.
The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by an invocation given by Susan Priest.
Announcements:
President John Hopper had some housekeeping rules for meeting at our new venue. We
need to be out by 1:10. No glitter, confetti, bird seed, or other hard to clean up items. No
candles unless preapproved. He asked members to be sensitive to the 5 parking spaces and
to leave them for members who have mobility challenges. If you use the Citizens Library, ask
for a free parking placard to put on your car’s dashboard and park in one of the spaces
reserved for that purpose. Jim Uram said that the two lots immediately across from the
Center belong to a building owned by the Urams and told members that they could park in
any empty space. Kathy Sabol pointed out that there are no restrictions to parking along
Strawberry itself.
Bob Wicker needs some more support from the club for the Pony World Series.
We can do this!
Any Rotarian that can help can call Bob at 724-344-0620 or e-mail him at bobwicker29@gmail.com
Here is what we have so far.
Date Time Name
Fri. Aug. 12th 5:15pm 1) Jim Uram
2) Susan Priest
7:45pm 1)
2)
Sat. Aug. 13th 12:45PM 1) Mike Sears
2)
3:15PM 1) John Hopper
2)
5:45PM 1) Susan Priest
2)
Sun. Aug. 14th 11:45AM 1)
2)
2:15PM 1) Bill Price
2) Susan Price
4:45PM 1)
2)
Mon. Aug. 15th 5:15pm 1) Susan Priest
2)
7:45pm 1)
2)
Tues. Aug 16th 5:15PM 1) Lisa Hannum
2) Joe Piszczor
7:45PM 1) Joe Piszczor
2) Kathy Sabol
Wed. Aug.17th Brandi Miller
Championship 6:15pm 1)
2)
While we have had two meetings this month, there will be a special meeting next week to
inform the club of plans for the coming Rotary year. After that, we will meet on the second
and fourth Tuesdays in August, August 9th and 23 rd. After that we will meet on the first and
third Tuesdays every month through December, and we will meet at the Center on
Strawberry through December. A calendar will be developed and sent to all members.
Karen Reese said that the picnic for the Pony League teams will be on Friday, August 12.
She will inform the club as soon as she has more details.
Gratitude Greenbacks
Joe Piszczor was grateful for a special planning meeting of the board last Saturday, although he
was unable to attend.
John Hopper was grateful for Joe Piszczor for preparing the agenda for the special planningmeeting last Saturday.
Susan Priest was grateful for the de-coning of her cat, who had minor surgery and was NOT a
happy camper for the 7 days she (the cat) had to wear a cone.
Bill Price was happy that the cat was happy and for the birthday yesterday of our President,
John Hopper.
Mike Sears was grateful for our new home.
Susan Price was grateful to have corrected an error for President John.
Kathy Sabol was extremely grateful for all the Rotarians who helped at the Whiskey Rebellion
Festival, especially Energizer Bunny Brandi Miller.
Brandi Miller was grateful (?) that the twins never shut up. Either they babble to each other, or
speak in sentences to their parents. She was also grateful for the 8 community members who
signed up to help at the United Way Golf Outing on Friday, July 29, at Lone Pine Golf Club. They
include 4 Rotarians. Shifts are still available. Contact her.
John Tecklenburg was grateful for: I’m proud of myself for single-handedly managing a
successful upgrade and deployment of a new environmental illumination system in our home with
zero cost overruns and zero safety incidents. He asked members: What did I do? *(see below)
Program: Stephen Rydzak – Pony Baseball
At this point, President John asked Karen Reese to introduce our
speaker. Karen introduced Stephen Rydzak, a member of the staff
at Washington and Jefferson College, and longtime member of the
board of Tournaments Incorporated, which manages the logistics for
the Pony League World Series.Stephen began by saying that all
members of the board of directors of Tournaments Incorporated are
volunteers, and he is very grateful to Rotary for providing volunteers
over the years. In all there are over 600 volunteers working at the
World Series, parking cars, working in the concession and souvenir
stands, and performing other functions.
Pony Baseball was founded in 1951 when Lew Hays, who worked
at the Observer-Reporter, was concerned that there was no
organization for boys 13-14 who wanted to play baseball. Little League stopped at age 12, and there
was a national organization for boys starting at age 15. For years the board of Pony met at the
Observer-Reporter until it became too large. It began with 6 teams in Washington County and there are
now half a million boys in 50 countries involved.
This year the tournament will run from August 12 until August 17. It marks the 70 th year and the 39 th
consecutive year in Washington. This year, with no Covid travel restrictions, the tournament will include
the full roster of 10 teams.
Caribbean Area: a team from Puerto Rico
Asia Pacific: Chinese Taipei, a perennial entrant. They won the series in 2015, 2016, 2018,
2019, and only failed to be a competitor in 2021 because a typhoon interfered with play-offs.
Mexico: Monterey, which won the series in 1972.
Europe: London, which beat out 12 other countries, including Ukraine, which fielded a team
despite the war.
The team from Washington County will be a contender, consisting of players from many
clubs in the County, instead of just Washington and Canonsburg as in the past.
The Host Area Team and the North, South, East and West areas are not yet settled as
playoffs continue into August.
While he hopes all who will plan to attend the games in person, there are options for those who
cannot. MLB.com will live stream all games. ATT sports net will cover 9 games, reaching 13,000,000
homes. Due to a conflict with a Pirate Game, they will not televise the championship game live. The CW
will be covering the championship game. Of course WJPA will cover all games on radio, with Lanny
Frattare doing the announcing.
New this year: Jeff Jimerson will perform before the championship game. There will be expanded use
of the video board provided by Dicks Sporting Goods. There is a new retaining wall replacing the 40-
year-old railroad ties. TREX had provided new decking behind the stands and in front of the concession
stand and the souvenir stand.Schedule:
August 11: Fan fest at Dicks Sporting Goods in Strabane Square
August 12: Morning (11:00 am): Skills competition; home run derby and fastest runner
competition. Noon: Service Clubs luncheon for players and coaches at the Kiwanis Pavilion.
Watch for how Rotary can help. Two games, 5:30 and 8:00
August 13: Mascot night. At 10:00 am the popular Champions League game between two
teams of special needs children. Those who have seen one of these games often say that it
is the highlight of the week. Three games: 1:00, 3:30, 6:00
August 14: All teams will have breakfast at the Doubletree. Three games: 12:00, 2:30, 5:00
August 15: Four games: 10:00, 12:30, 5:30, 8:00
August 16: Military and First Responders Night: All current and former members of the
military or first responders enter free with ID. Four games: 10:00, 12:30, 5:30, 8:00
August 17: Championship Game at 7pm
There will be a Pirates Night, date to be determined. Check the website, www.plws.org, for the most up
to date information.
Steven then introduced his interns, Anthony Romasco and Carley Popielarcheck. Anthony is a
senior at W&J and is responsible for operations. He is working on getting new sponsors and for the
signs and banners we are seeing around town. He is in charge of updating the website and is working
on getting mascots for Mascot Night. So far there are 10 lined up and they will be scattered over four
hours, from 3 to 7 pm.
He is also responsible for getting roster info from each team and getting it to Augusta Sportswear.
Augusta Sportswear is supplying all uniforms for the teams. He has contacted most VFW’s, American
Legions, and first responder stations around the Pittsburgh area and has asked us to continue to help
get the word out to members of veterans’ groups about August 16, Military and First Responders Night.
Carley Popielarcheck, a junior at California University, is responsible for work with Photoshop and
getting the word out on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tik-Tok. She is also working with
the Pony Princess and Pony Hostess candidates. Darlene Manson was the first Pony Princess in 1952,
and the concept was revived in 1981. The girls, 13- and 14-year-olds are responsible for the different
teams and also for selling 50/50 tickets. They are judged on poise, stage presence, and how they
present themselves. There is a special prize for the 50/50 top seller. The Pony Hostess is the girl who is
seen as most helpful and energetic. Carley was Pony Hostess in 2014.
Questions/Comments
Jim Uram asked about an article in the Observer-Reporter about the Youngstown team recruiting
from areas in Pennsylvania such as New Castle.
Stephen explained that any team may claim any area not covered by another Pony team.
The boundaries are not limited to any state. The areas being recruited by Youngstown are
not in any other Pony territory and are closer to Youngstown than too many areas in
Pennsylvania.
Brandi Miller suggested that they might consider using Boy Scouts, who have flag units.
Joe Piszczor asked about what we could do to help, beyond volunteering in the souvenir stand.
Stephen said that we can share on social media, help get the word out. There is also a
Booster Club, where for a small donation people can get tickets. Most importantly: COME TO
THE GAMES
Finally, President John urged members to explore the RI website, in particular the sections on
fellowships and action groups. He shared that we have a member who has joined an action group on
Human Trafficing, Brandi Miller. Brandi shared that this is a real problem in Southwestern PA, not so
much in Washington County, but in other counties.
The meeting ended with the recital of the Four Way Test, let by President John Hopper.
*He changed a light bulb.Speakers
July 26th August 9th
John Hopper Dominick Wrobel
Club Assembly: The new Rotary year Interning with EU Parliament and the Importance
of International Alliances
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