My name is Bruce Yenk, and I was introduced to LeTip by my mother, Sandra Yenk. When my mom told me that she joined a networking group and attended a weekly meeting at 7am, I was blown away. Then she told me that there were over 70 people that attended her meeting each week, and she wouldn’t dare miss a meeting, I started to understand how important this group was to her personally, and for her business. Not only was her LeTip chapter important to her business in the temporary employment industry, but she made lots of friends. The person I will never forget was her chapter President and the famous Sy Schaefer. Sy became the LeTip representative for the entire Northeast, and a very important person to me
Fast forward to 1999, when my mom told my brother-in-law and myself about a new chapter opening in the town we live in, we joined. Sy Schaefer would come to visit our chapter over the years and teach us how to run a meeting, attract new members, how to Showboat, and in general, how to run a successful chapter.
In 1999, when I first joined our chapter, we were called LeTip of Marlboro. In 2010, 8 of us decided that we needed to branch out and we started LeTip of Morganville. By 2019, we had over 50 members. While membership goes up and down, even with Covid, we still have a little over 40 members.
While I helped start the chapter and was President for many years, our group is headed up by Lori Ragovin, Century 21 Realtors. Lori has done an amazing job as President, evidenced by the strong number of members even during Covid.
LeTip of Morganville prides themselves in concept of “Once You Join, Your Chapter Becomes Like Family”. This is evidenced by our annual summer barbeques and our winter Holiday parties. David Cuciti, our VP, has a band that we have been lucky to have entertain us at different events.
Certain members, like Sherri LaRouche, from the Provident Bank, has been out Treasurer for many years, bringing consistency and a steady hand to the Board. Some people, like Dennis Bernstein, our chapter’s TipMaster, provides leadership and professionalism that is unparalleled. I could go on, about the important role that our members play in our success. Dennis likes to remind everybody that we passed almost 4,000 tips in 2019. Wow.
It was without a beat that our Board quickly adapted to the new Covid world by moving our meetings to Zoom. The chapter made sure members knew that their best interests and safety were top priority. Robin Yenk (my wife), for example, as the chapter’s Program Director makes sure that everything is scheduled out properly.
While Sy and my Mom have both retired, without men and woman like them that blazed the trail for all of us, we would not have LeTip. I am a proud SECOND GENERATION LeTip member and I look forward to my next 10 years, when I will celebrate 30 years with LeTip.
Written by Bruce Yenk, CFP, member since March 17, 1999
Son of Sandra Yenk, Letip Member Parsippany NJ Chapter 1985 – 2000 (estimated)
