President Mary Parr opened the meeting by leading in the Pledge of Allegiance. Leslee Salhany followed with an invocation about kindness.
PROGRAM: Leslee introduced Rob Snyder who is a University of Akron graduate and who is globally recognized in the field of supply chain management. He is a Christian educator and also is president and founder of the Barberton Historical Society. Mr. Snyder utilized his interest in history to compile the history of Rotary in the United States and particularly in our area.
The first Rotary Club in the states was established in 1905 in Chicago by Paul Harris and three other friends. By 1910, there were 16 clubs and the first international convention was held in Chicago that year. Interestingly the first service project of the Chicago club was to put public toilets in the city.
More locally, in 1913, there was the Easter Flood when in Kenmore 44" of rain fell over a three-day period. Rotary clubs of Indianapolis, along with some other service organizations assisted in relief efforts after that. In the same year, there was the “Big Blow”, a storm that began on November 6 in our area. There were 90 mile per hour winds, 22" of snow and a wind chill of minus 40 degrees. The death toll reached 273 and 191 ships on Lake Erie were destroyed. After that, people from Akron met with the Toledo Rotary and the Akron Rotary Club was born. A major emphasis of the Akron Club has been the Akron Rotary Camp which now celebrates abilities of each child instead of focusing on their disabilities. Our own club was established in 1980. Two of our founding members, Dave Renninger and Ron Taggart were with us this morning.
Today, there are 1.2 million Rotarians around the world in over 35,000 clubs who honor The Four-Way Test and the Object of Rotary with the motto, “Service Above Self.” A major initiative of Rotary clubs around the world has been the eradication of polio. Dr. John Sever, Chief of Infectious Disease, was a Rotarian who was instrumental in establishing the Polio Plus Committee in 1994. Since then polio has been eliminated to the extent that there are now only 27 cases worldwide. To date, $850,000,000 has been raised for this project.
BUSINESS MEETING:
President Mary thanked Steve Dunton and Dave Renninger for checking us in this morning and for welcoming Rob Snyder.
CELEBRATIONS:
Happy Buck: Cindy Billideau reports that Say My Child's Name Foundation has officially raised $100,000 towards their remembrance memorial. The project will begin to be built in the spring of 2027 at Adell Durbin Park. Cindy is appreciative to Mayor Pribonic for his help with this but also says there is still time to become a sponsor or make a donation toward the project. Contact Cindy at 330-696-1632. (This is a correction of an earlier Happy Buck).
Rotary Anniversaries: Cyle Feldman is celebrating his second year as a Rotarian this week.
Birthdays: Lindsey Malin celebrated her birthday yesterday.
Drawing: The 8 of diamonds was drawn today, so the pot will continue to grow.
CONCERN: Sympathetic thoughts are with Aimee Budnik upon the death of her father.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Teacher Supply Cupboard: Dave Christman reminded everyone that people are needed to sort snacks at 4:00 this afternoon in the high school library. Be there if you can.
Foodbank: Steve Dunton reminded everyone that our next volunteer time at the Akron-Canton Foodbank is September 9 from 4:30-6:30. Please help if you can!
Summer Sunset Blast: Steve also reminded us to sign up for this event over Labor Day Weekend. We will sell 50/50 tickets from 5:00-10:00 on Saturday, September 5 and from 5:00 until the fireworks begin on Sunday, September 6. Sign up as you sign in next week.
Reverse Raffle/Silent Auction: Dick Hall explained that Reverse Raffle tickets sales for the October 14 event are going very well. Don't wait to buy yours! It would be great if every member of the club bought at least one ticket! Remember that this is a big fund raiser and supports many of our projects. Contact Dick at 330-328-2776 to reserve your ticket.
Gail Moseley, chair of the raffle prizes for the Reverse Raffle/Silent Auction says that she has letters you can give to donors when you are requesting donations of baskets or other prizes. Gail also reminded members that they can donate a basket, or can donate cash so that the committee can purchase basket items, Contact her at 330-907-4241 with questions or to tell her what your donation will be.
Irish Festival: Gail also reported that we made a profit of $375 through our help at the Irish Festival in Cuyahoga Falls. (Special thanks to the Moseley family!)
Adopt-A-Spot: Marty Tass thanked people who weeded our spot during this past season, including Ray Evans who weeded last week. It looks great and the flowers have filled in nicely.
Teacher Supply Cupboard: Dave Christman explained that when we are doing something that gets noticed, extra things happen. Noticing that we were collecting Stuff the Bus items, a person from Sorbent Carbon Co. in Twinsburg asked if we could use items like shelving, etc. that they were getting rid of. So, last Saturday, items were picked up in a box truck borrowed from Tinlin Team Real Estate Co. and Jeff Film, Dave Christman, Cyle Feldman, John Pribonic and Dinah Henderson unloaded the items. When people see “Service Above Self” in action, they also want to help.
To close the meeting, Mary led us in the Four-Way-Test with the background of pounding overhead while The Center gets a new roof.
DATES TO REMEMBER:
Today, 4:00 at the high school library. Sort snacks for the Teacher Supply Cupboard.
Wednesday, September 2, 7:30 a.m. Regular morning meeting at The Center. Chris Shulby is in charge of the program.
Saturday, September 5 and Sunday, September 6, 5:00-10:00 sell 50/50 tickets at the Summer Sunset Blast
Wednesday, September 9, 4:30-6:30 Volunteer time at the Akron Canton Foodbank.
Friday, September 11, 7:15 a.m. Board Meeting at City Hall
Friday, September 25 from 9:00-noon “Emergency Response for Seniors” at the Stow Community and Senior Center
Wednesday, September 30, Fifth Wednesday, No morning meeting.
Wednesday, October 14, Reverse Raffle/Silent Auction at the Center in the evening
Respectfully Submitted,
Andy Denton