Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night nor COVID stays these Allentown Rotarians from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. Sorry for the plagiarism, but after several disappointing postponements, we finally had the opportunity to conduct our world-renowned Monte Carlo Night with our long-time good friends at Good Shepherd.
The house was filled. Through their superlative gambling prowess, 44 wheel-chair bound residents achieved a complete winning wipeout of all the donated prizes. Despite Tyler Stalletti dealing from the bottom of the deck and Julie Ambrose deliberately double-dealing, the blackjack players cleaned house.
Even the blackjack players at the table of the demonic duo (Kathy Frasier and Tom Gehringer) managed to overcome the ungodly odds and also cleaned house. Over at the roulette table, Tina and Larry Campbell tried similar shenanigans. The residents quickly caught on to the misplacement of bets and the incorrect odds calculations. And, again, despite not releasing the fire engine, these roulette players cleaned house.
The picture was similar at Bingo. Despite consistently insisting there was a “D” in BINGO, Linda tried to read “D56” in an attempt to thwart our astute residents from covering the called out number. They would have none of it. Additionally, Marci Schick, Nancy Schlake and Theresa Podugski routinely circulated through the crowd trying to uncover already called out numbers, thereby, ensuring a non-winning card. Our residents would have none of it and again, they cleaned house.
Thanks to the volunteers mentioned above and thank to the many members that donated the prizes. And, despite some Allentown Rotary mischief, we thank the staff at Good Shepard for giving us the opportunity to enjoy the company of the residents. We hope they had as good a time as we did. Thank you.
Thank you to Rolf Schlake for organizing this wonderful event and to all the ARC volunteers! We have also received this thank you letter from Good Shepherd and wanted to share it with all of you:
"Dear Rolf and Allentown Rotary Club,
Thank you so much for hosting the annual Raker Monte Carlo Night. Thank you for your extraordinary kindness of donating your valuable time in running the games and sharing your kindness toward the residents. The residents all had a great time playing the games. You have helped touch the lives of our residents with your compassion. We appreciate all the wonderful prizes you donated for the evening. They missed having you come in the past. We hope to see you again next year for the event again."