After Co-President Brad Ruth led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, Program Host, Dick Hall led us in an invocation about The Highway of Life.
CELEBRATIONS:
Birthdays: John Long will celebrate his birthday on the 19th and Eric Weber on the 22nd.
CONCERNS:
A moment of silence honored Jim Callahan, a past member and club president, upon his death February 6.. Calling hours will be this Saturday, February 19 from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. at the University Newman Center, 1424 Horning Rd. in Kent and will be followed by a Memorial Mass at 11:00 at the same location.
HAPPY BUCKS:
Dinah Henderson thanked Dave Christman for dumpster diving to retrieve boxes for the Interact students to use for their plastic lid project.
Dave Renninger was pleased that the Golden Flashes beat Toledo last night.
Dave Christman was pleased to announce that his son got a promotion at Cisco in California.
Dick Hall was pleased that his son is now a senior project manager for Disney and will be on a cruise ship to Germany.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
In person meetings: Brad announced that the board decided last week that we will begin to try in-person meetings on March 2. We will meet at Bellacinos where the cost of a hot breakfast will be $13.00. There will also be a zoom option for those who need it. The Board Meeting Minutes are attached to these minutes.
Foodbank Photo Reschedule:: Dinah Henderson announced that the Foodbank photo recognizing our club and Interact as Volunteer Group of the Year, has now been rescheduled for Wednesday, March 2, Photos will be taken between 5:00 and 5:30 when people are actually working and the award will not be acknowledged until April, which is National Volunteer Month. Mary Dula reminded Rotarians to wear their work shirts. Let Mary know that you plan to attend at 330-715-6358.
The Interact Talent Show will be on Friday, March 11. Proceeds of the event will go to scholarships. Stay tuned for more information.
The Interact students have been spinning cotton candy for basketball games as a fundraiser.
Interact continues to collect tabs for Ronald McDonald House and plastic lids that have any paper or metal removed for their project in having a bench created for the Memorial Garden at the high school. Save them and start bringing them to the in-person meetings at Bellacinos. Dinah explained that the Distillata Company has donated a huge number of tabs.
Brad told us we received a thank-you from Teammates who received a donation from our club.
Gail Moseley told us that the District Conference will be April 22 and 23 at Sheraton Suites and the our cluster of clubs will be the Sargeant at Arms for the event. More information to follow.
BULLDOG BAGS: The items for March are individual size cereals, Capri Sun, band-aides and hand sanitizer. Please drop them off in the lobby of City Hall by March 9 so that they have the items for distribution.
PROGRAM:
Dick Hall introduced Brian Bachtel from Kent Roosevelt High School, who is in charge of the Six District Compact programs there. Brian explained that the goal of the Career Tech Programs is to meet the needs of the community for workers and also to find jobs or further education that meets the needs of the students. Today's information focused on the school's Landscape and Forestry program. To find out more about the programs offered specifically at Kent Roosevelt, go to rhscte.net.
Brian then introduced Tom Franek, who is the head teacher for the forestry and landscape courses. He not only brings educational knowledge to the program but also practical knowledge as he owns a 160 acre Christmas tree farm. He has extensive community involvement in Portage and Geauga counties. He is a certified arborist and has Ohio pesticide application certification.
He explained that what makes this program so unique and successful is their close relationship with their neighbor, Davey Tree. Several students have gone to work for Davey or Bartlett Tree Service, Vizmeg Landscaping and for various golf courses, seed companies and parks. The students have had lots of help from Davey Tree as they work on many Kent City projects. About 1/3 of the program's graduates go into related industries, while another third go on to higher education and another third decide that is not the field where they want to spend their energy. A video of the students at work in their various projects up in trees and down on the ground gave us a real taste of the program. Safety is a real concern since the students are climbing high and using powerful equipment, so only 22 students are part of the program.
Mary Jane Stanchina further explained that this is the only such program in the state, and that Davey Tree and the many parks in the area provide excellent and unique resources for the students. As the industry changes, the program changes.
JOKE: Brian Bachtel told us a great joke this morning about a maple tree, an oak tree and a woodpecker. Ask someone who was at the meeting to tell you the rest of the joke.
Annie Hanson-Hilaire will have our joke for us next week.
DATES TO REMEMBER:
Wednesday, February 23 7:30, morning meeting on zoom for the last week of Career Tech Month, when we hear about the, EntrepreNEW Academy, housed at Woodridge.
Wednesday, March 2, 7:30, morning meeting at Bellacinos in person.
Wednesday, March 2, 4:30-6:30 pm is our volunteer time at Akron-Canton Foodbank. Between 5:00 and 5:30 photos will be taken in preparation for our award.
Wednesday, March 9, 7:30, morning meeting at Bellacinos
Friday, March 11, Interact Talent Show at the high school
Wednesday, March 9, judging of the Four-Way Speech contest at the high school.
Friday April 22 and Saturday, April 23 our District Conference is at Sheraton Suites.
Saturday, April 30, Get ready for an announcement from Bulldog Bags about a special fund-raiser and be prepared to offer some help.
Saturday, May 7 Help Interact at the Memorial Gardens at the high school.
Monday, June 6, our Golf Outing
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