After Co-President Brad Ruth opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance. Then for our invocation, Program Host Gail Moseley quoted four famous, influential individuals about service.
CELEBRATION:
Birthday: Sue Figler will celebrate her birthday tomorrow.
CONCERN: Mary Dula is in the hospital and everyone is wishing her a speedy and complete recovery!
50/50 DRAWING: Our speaker, Howard Parr drew the winning ticket but Don Coughlin pulled the 9 of hearts.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Scholarship Committee: John Pribonic asked for two more people to be on the scholarship committee. Scott Miller and Dinah Henderson volunteered. The meeting will be next Tuesday, April 19 at City Hall at 5:00.
Easter Egg Hunt: Steve Dunton said that in spite of the weather, the event was a huge success last Saturday. Special thanks to Dick Hall, Mary Dula, Gail Moseley, Maria Ferrara, Annette Oborn and Mary Parr for their help in making sure the hundreds of children got their treats.
District Conference: Our district conference will be April 22 and 23 at Sheraton Suites in Cuyahoga Falls. Register by going to the website at www.rotarydistrict6630.org. Keep your receipts and give them to Annette and she will reimburse you. Bob Oborn, who is in charge of the conference, gave more information about the event. He stated that there are excellent speakers for the District Leadership portion of the conference. He suggested we not miss the luncheon on Saturday when the youth from Interact are the stars. There will be a carnival after the youth luncheon where the proceeds go to fund the district's Interact programs.
Dinah Henderson added to the conference information by saying that they will be a big part of the "pop tabs challenge" where the benefits of the tab collection will go to Ronald McDonald House. They also have made 120 blanketss for RMH that will be presented at the conference.
More Interact News: Dinah also said that they have two full carloads of lids to take to the factory that will magically turn them into recycled benches. (We can't wait to see them.}
Four Way Test: Brad took the Stow winners of the Four-Way-Speech competition to the district contest in Kent last Saturday. Those students will present their speeches to our club on May 11.
Teammates Art Show: Brad told us that Teammates will hold an Art Show of original works created by the ART Teammates class from 7:45-9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 26 in the High School Library. They would like as many Rotarians as possible to attend since we supported them with a grant to enhance what they do. Twelve members of the class will have their work on display. When entering, please use the main entrance and have your driver's license ready to show.
Buses for Bags: Since our club is a sponsor for the April 30 event, it would be nice if we could get a team of 10 together to pull a bus. The proceeds of the event go to support the efforts of Bulldog Bags. There will be many activities for the whole family that day at the parking lot of the high school. Let Brad know if you are interested in being part of a team that will include Interact members as well.
Bulldog Bag Items: And speaking of Bulldog Bags, the items they are collecting now are cups of mac n' cheese, juice boxes and cash donations for sun screen. Take your donations to the lobby of City Hall before May 11 so that they are ready for their packing time.
Dairy Queen: Carrie Leising thanked everyone who went to Dairy Queen last night. They were very busy with Rotarian orders, but we do not have a total yet for the proceeds we received.
Foodbank: The club's next volunteer time is Wednesday, May 4th from 4:30 to 6:30 at the Foodbank. Sign up when you check in. Because we were named "Volunteer Organization of the Year" for 2021, we were featured in the latest edition of their newsletter, which was passed around for the members to see.
New Members: At last Friday's Board Meeting, four applications for membership were approved by the Board. They are: Matthew Baker, Maria Ferrara, Todd Hearty and Mary Parr. During the next two weeks, members can give any comments to Brad or John Pribonic and then Membership Chair, Elizabeth Eaken will work to establish installation in May. Get to know them as they attend our meetings. Minutes of that board meeting are attached to these minutes.
PROGRAM:
Program Host, Gail Moseley explained that COVID kept her away from work for two years. During that time she was able to reflect on the importance of family.
Gail then introduced Howard Parr, head of the Civic Theater complex in downtown Akron, who is passionate about the arts being downtown.
During the past few years, there have been many changes at the Civic thanks to a fund-raising goal of $8.5 million that resulted in a total of just over $10 million. There were five major accomplishments. 1.) The restoration of The Grand Lobby is finished along with changes in the arcade entry. 2.) An addition of the Knight Stage with the goal of 100 events a year was completed. Since August they have already hosted 85 events there. 3.) Office space was greatly redone. Gail has a new box office and new administrative offices were created when an old building was torn down. 4.) The outside of the Civic has been redone with 2 exterior walls holding two large murals and two smaller walls showing smaller murals. There is a 15 X 30 video wall coming along with a 1000 square foot deck adjacent to the south area over-looking Lock 3.
There have many challenges along the way. The Main St. construction has been a real problem. Then the pandemic hit. Because so much has happened, the goal of the staff is to be very responsible for their position in downtown. They do not take their success lightly. They expect that there will be 500 events a year that will keep people coming downtown. They look forward to a $10 million renovation to Lock 3 that is about to start and which will create an Akron Central Park, People are again looking forward to being in downtown Akron.
DATES TO REMEMBER:
Wednesday, April 20 7:30 morning meeting at Bellacinos when Rev. Jeff Kaiser of the Haven of Rest will be our speaker.
Friday and Saturday, April 22 and 23, District Conference at Sheraton Suites.
Tuesday, April 26, 7:45-9:00 a.m.Teammates Art Show at the high school.
Wednesday, April 27, 7:30 morning meeting at Bellacinos when Nate Leppo, Stow's Economic Development Director will be our speaker.
Saturday, April 30, 11:00, Buses for Bags at the high school
Tuesday, May 3, dinner celebration to honor Interact at The Barn at Silver Springs Park
Saturday, May 7, help Interact with the Memorial Gardens at the high school
Saturday, May 14 Heroes Day
Monday, June 6, our Golf Outing at Silver Lake Country Club
Wednesday evening, October 12, Reverse Raffle/Silent Auction.
Thursday evening December 15, Holiday Helping Hands
Submitted by Andy Denton
Andrea Denton
330-474-7265
330-414-1934