AKRON ROTARY

The Akron Club celebrated 107 years of distinguished service on April 1, 2021. 
 
President, Dr. Rob McGregor said, "Hmmm, seems our club has always had a sense of humor since we got chartered on April Fools Day!  107 years of being official!"
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
by Sandy Naragon
 
The Rotary Club of Akron sponsored a 4-Way Test Speech Contest for students at North High School. The contest provides a challenging way for students to develop critical thinking, ethical decision making and public speaking skills.
 
The purpose of the speech is to apply the principles of the 4 Way Test to a current ethical issue. Students are challenged to identify a topic they feel passionate about and to adopt a point of view from which they will seek to persuade others. In addition to recognition, students can also win cash prizes at the Club and District levels of the contest.
 
The contest was held on March 31st.  Rotary judges included Lynda Farkas, Sandy Naragon and Cheryl Warren.  Based on the judging criteria and point distribution guidelines from Rotary District 6630, judges awarded:
 
Tam Chau – Third place with prize of $75
Ter Nay – Honorable mention with prize of $50
 
Although the Club didn’t have a contestant qualify for District, the students had strong messages and were given constructive feedback to raise scores based on Content, Organization and Delivery. They were encouraged to enter again. 
 
Yours in Service - 
Sandy Naragon
 
 
 
Speaking of fun ... The Akron Club is having a little fun while recognizing members.
Congratulations to our newest Akron Crown recipients
(L-R) Terry Dalton and
Wanda Raber Whipkey
 
Terry was selected as King for being an integral part of the Zoom meetings, keeping Dr. Rob's Rotary calendar straight, all his work on the scholarship program and for writing the weekly speaker re-caps. 
 
Wanda was crowned as Queen of the Chili Open for who has shepherd it the past couple years with various co-chairs. She did an outstanding job again this year and continues to set the bar higher each year for the event.
 
ABOUT THE AKRON ROTARY CROWN
 
When our Club began meeting remotely, Katy was so impressed with Cheryl Warren's handling of our Zooms that she spontaneously sent her a Tiara and crowned her the Queen of Zoom!
 
Cheryl approached Katy to ask if they could "pass it forward", so they decided to keep it moving every other month or so, crowning a Queen or King or Both for their efforts to benefit our club! Katy secured a Kings crown to have in addition to the Tiara.
 
The member(s) who receives the crown(s) must wear them for a month to our weekly meetings – either virtually or when we go live.
 
We will do it every other month to allow time in between to transition the “Akron Rotary Crown”
 
The member(s) who last received the crown(s) then helps Cheryl and Katy identify the next worthy member(s) then he/she drops off the committee and the next recipient joins us – so it rotates.
Now, Terry and Wanda will be part of the committee to help pick the next recipient(s) and will then drop off and the new recipients come on...so it rotates.  
 
It's important to point out that this is not a popularity contest - some month's there may be no one and other month's there may be more than one person.  We are looking for members who are often doing things quietly behind the scene or big things too.
 
We encourage the committee chairs and all members to submit ideas to Katy and Cheryl - just email us.  We want to continue recognizing members for all their good deeds!
 
Student Scholarship Program - Parts II and III
 

On April 20, 2021, our Club honored students in the fields of Allied Health, Automotive, Bio-Science, Criminal Justice and Education.

On April 27, 2021, we honored the last of our 2020-2021 students. This group focused on career fields of Business and Hospitality/Tourism.

Each student receives a $1,000 scholarship from the Akron Rotary Foundation.
 
Terry Dalton serves as a member of the Akron Rotary Club Board of Directors and as the Club Secretary and has chaired the Rotary Scholarship Committee for about 10 years. 
 
Thanks to the committee members who participated in the interview and selection process: Ryan McCauley, Zach Prosser, Jay Rutter and Kevin Smith.