LOWER MACUNGIE TWP. — On Wednesday night, Emmaus Rotary Club members sat at Rising River Brewing, enthusiastically chatting amongst themselves — many with beer in hand.
It was a different gathering for the club, which holds breakfast meetings every Thursday.
But club President Meghan Reed said the new meeting time is not meant to replace the club's regular meetings or service offerings.
- Emmaus Rotary, a service organization involved in many projects throughout the East Penn area, held its first "night shift" meeting to attract new members and volunteers
- The group hopes the new time can attract new and young members and lead to new ideas for service projects in the area
- Many service organizations in recent years have had difficulty maintaining and attracting members, but organizers say they feel a desire from others to give back after the coronavirus pandemic
Instead, in a bid to grow membership and reconnect with those who have fallen by the wayside, Emmaus Rotary Club has launched a new monthly "night shift" meeting at the brewery.
Local chapters of service organizations such as Rotary, Lions and Kiwanis in recent decades have been hit by declining membership.
For example, Macungie's Lower Lehigh Lions club recently disbanded, leaving its annual Halloween event to be taken up by new local organizers after 61 years of service activity in the area.
Generational differences, perception issues, decline of local businesses, cultural shifts influenced by the internet, and other factors are thought to have influenced the drop off.
Even more recently, COVID-19 restrictions caused challenges for in-person organization of all types, including service organizations.
'A project-focused program'
Emmaus Rotary is a service organization that raises money and volunteers time to assist in local and, at times, international projects.
Recent initiatives include the East Penn Food Coalition and holding an exchange of teachers between East Penn School District and a school in Zambia, to which it also provided a providing a vocational training program.
Upcoming projects include environmental work at the Wildlands Conservatory and events such as the Emmaus Public Library Book Sale.
The Rotary Club's Reed emphasized that the new meetings will be very project-focused for the East Penn area, and not just a social club.
"Let's just come out with some product ideas, let's identify some needs in the community. Just put them all out there and then sift through those, see what sticks and create a project based off of that."Emmaus Rotary Club President Meghan Reed
"What I want to try to accomplish with this evening meeting is more of like a project focused-program," Reed said.
"Let's just come out with some product ideas, let's identify some needs in the community. Just put them all out there and then sift through those, see what sticks and create a project based off of that."
While Wednesday's first "night shift" meeting focused on introducing and reaffirming what Rotary does and why, highlighting the international and local outreach the club does on its own and coordination with other groups, the next two meetings in the series will be all about pitching local projects, then working out how they will implement them.
'We transcend all these issues'
The initial "night shift" meeting saw many members prompted to say why they joined and stayed, with many saying that while they initially joined for the business connections, the visible impact on the community and friends made are what had them stay.
"When we get together, we transcend all these issues of politics and religion and all these other things that can potentially divide people. We're very fortunate that we can do things for the benefit of others."Emmaus Rotary Club member Mark Erle
"When we get together, we transcend all these issues of politics and religion and all these other things that can potentially divide people," member Mark Erle said.
"We're very fortunate that we can do things for the benefit of others."
Peter McCullough, a new member having only joined in the past year in his early 30s, is set to lead the night shift meetings, and brings a young face to the club.
"We're hoping it's going to be a way to, and we're just hoping it's a great way to, engage with individuals that are of a younger generation that want to give back but just didn't have the network or the outlet to do that stuff," McCullough said.
"I didn't even really know what Rotary was until, like, about two years ago. I literally thought it was for more of like the older generation, but there's plenty of people of all ages that get involved in it."
Future night shift meetings will be at 5:30 p.m. on the third Wednesday of the month.
Staying strong
While many service organizations have seen declining membership, Reed said the Emmaus Club has remained relatively strong. It currently has nearly 100 members.
"I would say the hardest part has been keeping members active and engaged," Reed said. "As far as attracting new members, I think it's there. I think people want to join — we've actually just had sort of a surge of new members.
"In a lot of ways, I'm Exhibit A of why this night meeting makes sense. This is why I now I'm going to join and become a member."River Brewing Company owner Ron Beitler
"I think that people feel a need for purpose. And they want to actually like get back out in the community, roll their sleeves up, and see that they can make a difference and want to."
Reed said the club is holding the new meeting time in response to demand heard from many community members that they would love to join Rotary, but could not make their normal meeting due to schedules.
Rising River Brewing owner Ron Beitler, a Lehigh County Commissioner, said between getting his daughter to school on time and other responsibilities, the Rotary's 7:30 a.m. breakfast meetings were not doable for him, despite wanting to participate.
"I've always been interested in joining ... but it just never, it never worked out," Beitler said. "Because the morning has never worked for me.
"In a lot of ways, I'm Exhibit A of why this night meeting makes sense. This is why I now I'm going to join and become a member."
Beitler said the meeting and recent "history on tap" event held at the brewery are part of the goal to make the location a community hub for events.
Representatives from Emmaus' local government and the Chamber of Commerce were among the 35 attendees for is first meeting according to the club's count.
Reed and Beitler said they hope people just coming to the brewery for a drink during the meetings can get curious about it, and then get involved themselves.
