Getting started. Ruth Grega gave the Invocation and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance to get the October 5 meeting underway. Guests included Andy Hire, director of the Strongsville High School orchestra, along with four talented string players. Superintendent John Krupinski also was on hand to pitch the district’s upcoming bond issue.

Clothes. Tom Snow saw his shadow and indicated that there would be two more weeks of Snow. Tom says we’re below the targeted collection volume for our annual clothing drive to benefit Lane Metropolitan Church, in Cleveland. The clothing drive was originally the idea of George Rogers and Bill Schaffran, back in 1903.

(Photo above by Dan Sage and stolen from the Rotary Facebook page.)

Is it the truth, Mate? Art Basa has returned from a trip to Australia, where he attended meetings of several down-under Rotary clubs. Art brokered an Aussie club donation of computers to needy folks in the Philippines.

Dash for Dads. Speaking of Art, on Sunday, his Southwest Urology will sponsor the Dash for Dad, a 5K run to support ZERO – The End of Prostate Cancer. The Dash for Dad is part of a national initiative designed to raise funds for prostate cancer research and community awareness.
ZERO provides comprehensive treatment information to patients, education to those at risk  and free testing to men at risk in Cleveland. The course begins at Southwest Urology (6900 Pearl Road, Middleburg Heights) and connects to the Cleveland Metroparks (Big Creek Trail). Contact Art for details. Or register online at http://greatprostatecancerchallenge.com/races/cleveland/.

Business Expo. Time is running out to get your table at the Strongsville Business Expo, hosted by the city’s Department of Economic Development, the Strongsville Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club of Strongsville and the Strongsville High School DECA Program. Brent Painter, economic development manager and club member said club members got first dibs on tables, but reservations are going to be opened up to the public in another week, so hurry up. WTAM’s Bill Wills will be the MC at the event. Who will? Wills will.

Clambake. The Strongsville Rotary clambake will be held on Sunday, October 21.

Breaking news. We interrupt this Rotary Club bulletin for some breaking news from Tom Snow and Connie Hatch, chairs of the clothing drive:

This year is no different than last year as we have an urgent request for clothes in the last two weeks of the 2012 Clothing Campaign. All of us have a tendency to procrastinate and this is one of those times. As chairman of the 2012 Homeless Clothing Campaign, I am soliciting your help to initiate this urgent request for clothes to be sent out to all Strongsville Rotarians. After this Friday, October 12, we have only five collection days left. Friday, October 19 will be our last collection day for the 2012 campaign.
We are only halfway there now.
We need this drastic push in the following seven days to have all Rotarians empty their closets of usable clothing that they no longer need. The poor homeless of Greater Cleveland get extremely excited when the truck pulls up with 5,000 pounds of clothing that they will wear throughout the winter and upcoming summer months.
Besides the collection of clothes we will need about 25 to 30 Rotarians at Adams Automatic at 9:00 a.m. Saturday, October 20'. This will be for our sorting, boxing and shipping operation. This operation will be from 9:00 to 12:30. Eight to 10 Rotarians will be needed in downtown Cleveland for unpacking and stocking the shelves at Lane Metropolitan Church at East 46th and St. Clair from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.
Remember; this is the most important Rotary event of the year if you are indigent and homeless.
Thanks for all your help,
Tom & Connie

So anyhow, the club's annual clambake will be October 21st from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. Tickets are available for $30 a person from Bob Cummins and Tom Gigliotti and includes clams, chicken and all the standard extras, including beer, wine and soft drinks. Extra clams and steak are available at additional cost.

Veterans Day. Jim Karecki is organizing the Veteran's Day program this year and would like to display photos of club member veterans in their uniform. Please bring in a photo of yourself in uniform for Jim to scan, or email the photo to Jim if you already have it on the computer. If you don’t have a photo of you in your uniform, wear your uniform to the next meeting and ask Jay Dzurilla to take your picture. If you can’t fit into your uniform, lose some weight, then put on your uniform and wear it to the next meeting and ask Jay Dzurilla to take your picture. Also if you do still have your uniform Jim would like to display it at the Veterans Day meeting.

Dictionary project. For those who don’t know, our club, each year, donates dictionaries to every third grade student in Strongsville, as well as Scranton Elementary School, in Cleveland. For those who don’t know, a dictionary is a book that has lots of words in it. Last week, Rick Voigt and a few other guys made the deliveries to Scranton. This is not a catholicon to illiteracy, but it helps. We will deliver dictionaries to the Strongsville schools following our October 26 meeting. If you want to participate in this project, make yourself utile and contact Dan Sage – where did I park my car? Pardon the anacoluthon. By the way, there is no truth to the rumor that one Strongsville lad has intentionally flunked third grade three times in order to hoard extra dictionaries.

Masters. Once again, as a part of our Chili Open fundraising efforts, we’re going to raffle off a trip to the Masters. If you want to help on that committee, contact Mary Beth Whalen.

Savor the Flavor. There still are tickets available for the Savor the Flavor coming up this Sunday, October 14. If you haven't purchased your tickets yet you can still purchase them online at www.tasteofstrongsville.com or from Bill DeMarco at Friday's meeting. Also don't forget to spread the word to your friends, co-workers, neighbors and Facebook/LinkedIn contacts to once again have a successful event to benefit local food banks and other Rotary projects. Let’s not bollix this fundraiser. There will be 25 quality local restaurants represented, as well as a selection of wines available for tasting (no tickets this year). The bar at the Holiday Inn will also be available if you want to purchase a beverage there. Rooms at the Holiday Inn also will be available if you do too much tasting.

Bored meeting. The Strongsville Rotary Board of Directors, at their October 10 meeting, approved the following contributions, bringing total contributions to $7,777 since July 1:
Boy Scout Troop 701: $651.78
Rotary Rose Parade Float: $450
Strongsville Historical Society (Trick or Treat): $200
City of Strongsville Christmas Winter Wonderland: $250
Breakfast with Santa: $250
Strongsville High School Model UN Club: $252
Get the U.S. out of the U.N.: $0.00. Maybe next year.

Foundation. What do you know about the Strongsville Rotary Foundation? Well, you’re going to know a hell of a lot more after tomorrow, when Rev. Mowry.speaks to the club about the foundation – its history and what it does. Mayor Tom Perciak, from Strongsville, Ohio, will be the speaker next week.

Shutterbugs. Our Rotary District 6630 is holding a photo contest to visually promote club activities, so if you are a budding or unbudding amateur photographer check out the full details and rules. There are two deadlines, December 1 for pictures taken by then, and April 1 for pictures from the second half of the Rotary year.

Quotable

“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” - George Orwell

“Shut up.” – Art Basa, to Jerry Balint who was talking and being otherwise strepitous while Art told the club about his recent trip to Australia.

Words of wisdom

A blond walks into a doctors office with both of her ears burnt.
The doctor asks her what had happened.
“Well,” she says. “I was ironing my work suit when the phone rang, and I mistakenly picked up the iron instead of the phone.”
"Well that explains one ear, but what about the other?"
"The jerk called again."