Christina Gary opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance this morning and John Pribonic led us in the invocation. He then thanked Gail Moseley and Steve Dunton for getting us checked in and welcoming us.PLEASE NOTE THAT AS OF TODAY, SINCE WE NO LONGER NEED THE ZOOM LINK, WE WILL JUST HAVE ONE GENERAL WEEKLY COMMUNICATION INSTEAD OF HAVING ONE ON BOTH WEDNESDAY AND MONDAY.
HAPPY BUCKS
Don Coughlin shared that his grandson, Michael Holland who is a freshman at Ohio's Miami University, was one of only four people at Miami to be honored with the All American Scholar Athlete Award.
Christina Gary reported that District 6630 awarded the A.Z. Baker Award to our club again this year. She also explained that our club member, Bonnie Housley received a special recognition from the district as the first female Rotarian of our district.
Christina also cautioned people to be aware that the Burning River Endurance Run will be going on this weekend and since it is a 50 mile run, there are likely to be very tired runners on the road, so please be watchful of them when you are driving.
CELEBRATIONS:
Birthdays:
Three people have birthdays this week. Jenny Coleman on the 23rd, Ray Evans on the 24th and Tom Loepp on the 26th. Led by Pat Messmore, we sang really well to Ray Evans.
Wedding Anniversaries:
Mark and Connie Ferguson will celebrate 39 years of marriage on Saturday and Don and Sue Greenleaf will celebrate 46 years on Tuesday.
CONCERNS:
Mary Dula reported that Bob Oborn is coming along well. He is home from the hospital now and getting stronger every day, although he is still very tired. Nurse Annette is taking great care of him. He appreciates cards and well-wishes.
Steve Fry can still use our prayers and good wishes for healing at sfry@neo.rr.com.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Stuff the Bus: Carrie Leising (cleising23@gmail.com) circulated a clipboard for people to sign up for a shift for the event which will take place on August 6,7,and 8 during tax-free weekend. This is our opportunity to collect donations for school children and teachers in our community.
Adopt-A-Spot: Marty Tass (marty@khbent.com) had a clipboard ready for us to pick a week for weeding. If two people a week worked on our plot, it would always stay beautiful.
Beer Tent: Christina Gary (christinamgary@gmail.com)
Football Pool Books: Pat Messmore (pat@messmoreagency.com) says we only have 60 books left. They are $20.00 each so offer them to your friends and family before they are gone.
50/50 Drawing Pat Messmore's table had the winning ticket but Chief Film drew the three of clubs so we will try again next week.
Pop tabs: Don Coughlin reminded us that he is still collecting tabs from pop cans to benefit Ronald McDonald House.
PROGRAM: For this morning's program, John Pribonic led us in a club assembly. Various topics and projects of the club were discussed.
Budget: Rich Bedell led us in a discussion of our budget which was created by a committee consisting of John Pribonic, Brad Ruth, Rich Bedell, Tina Gary, and Annette Oborn. It is a break even budget and includes a combination of club and foundation funds. It is a break-even budget where the club is projected to have a deficit of $6000 and the foundation expects a surplus of $6000. This budget includes the club's anniversary party, a career tech mentoring program, an international project, subsidy of club means and supporting the Rox Project at the high school which is a program empowering women for readiness for dating, the workplace and other life events. The two major sources of income are the Reverse Raffle/Silent Auction and the Golf Outing. The club's board has approved the budget but the foundation board has not as yet done so.
Reverse Raffle/Silent Auction: Marv Mills made the arrangements for us to return to Guy's Party Center on October 13 for the event. Committee members Tina Gary, Brad Ruth, John Pribonic and Mary Dula discussed that the tickets will remain at $125 per couple but there may be the possibility of virtual tickets at $100. We have to have 100 people present at Guys for our cost to remain the same but if we have virtual tickets, they have the possibility of 200 tickets on the board. At this point the committee is considering 150 regular tickets and 50 virtual.
The Rotary Foundation: Dave Renninger will lead our efforts for the Foundation drive this year. This international foundation funds efforts toward things like elimination of polio and clean drinking water around the world. We need a prescribed level of contributions in order to apply for district grants, as some of that money is able to come back to our club in that way. Dave hopes that every member will at least give something to this fund by the end of the year.
Summer Sunset Blast: Steve Dunton said that we will have a booth to sell 50/50 raffle tickets at the event. It will be held at Silver Springs on Saturday and Sunday, September 4 and 5. Steve will be recruiting people to help at the booth.
Breakfast Committee: Brad Ruth reported that the Breakfast Committee is still searching for more economical places to meet. There are both space and cost limitations that the committee is facing.
Four-Way Speech Contest: Brad reported that last week we heard the speeches of the three winners from 2021 and that we plan to judge the contest at the high school again next spring.
Fourth of July Parade: The plan at this point is that there will be a parade next summer and that we will participate according to Brad.
Salvation Army Bell Ringing: Mary Dula says that we want to do this again and hope to be indoors. She has been in contact with the organization. If we have to be outside again, the shifts will be one hour long and if we are inside, they will be two hours.
Akron-Canton Foodbank: Mary also reported that the volunteering is going well and that generally those who volunteer have some dinner together afterwards. We have the first Wednesday of each month from 4:30-6:30 at the Foodbank in Akron.
Ronald McDonald House: About once a quarter, Mary says that we provide the evening meal for those staying at the Ronald McDonald House. We should be asked to do this again in September. Covid rules will dictate whether we send a meal or make a meal. She credited Carrie with having some great recipes for groups.
Holiday Helping Hands:We do this project in early December to help needy families in our community. It is hope that this year we can wrap gifts and prepare for distribution in person.
Weekly Speakers: Carrie Leising is in charge of arranging with our members to take charge of our programs. In alphabetical order, each member is responsible for their week. When Carrie sends you the e-mail saying the date for which you are responsible, she asks that you respond that you are looking for a speaker. In fact, think now who you would like to invite to present. It is important that each person secure a speaker, rather than expecting Carrie to do it. Then, when you have a speaker, give her their e-mail address so that she can communicate with them and give them the information that they need. This helps things go very smoothly.
Teacher Supply Closet: Carrie also talked with us about this effort which was begun by our club but has gathered assistance from other service clubs in the area, such as the Stow Schools Foundation, Kiwanis, and Lions. Because of the pandemic circumstances, we did not use all of the supplies we collected last year so will ask for some very specific supplies for this year. Snacks will be distributed right away to the schools and perhaps we will only ask for about 5 other items. The last Monday of every month, at 5:00 at City Hall, supplies are packed for the teachers that request them. Carrie especially thanked Lisa, Olivia and Marissa for their help.
Dictionary Project: Because of the pandemic, dictionaries could not be distributed last year. So, this year the budget calls for them being distributed to both the third and fourth graders. Pat Messmore is in charge of this project. The date has not yet been set but will be early in the fall.
Fortieth Anniversary Celebration: Again, because of the pandemic, this celebration could not be held as scheduled. Carrie Leising and Dave Renninger will reactivate their committee and see if we can find another date. This is an important date for our founders to be recogninzed.
Veterans' Day: Tom Bahr reported that we may need to rethink the way we do this program since residential facilities are not happy about having large groups of people come to their residences while COVID variants are still hanging around.
FOR OUR HOMEWORK
John Pribonic suggests that we look at some realities of our club. We need to work on membership recruitment if we plan to continue to carry out all of our projects. Or, do we need to eliminate some projects and make sure we do what we do well. We don't want to overburden the club members and create burnout. Fifty-five members are on our roles at the moment with an average of 32 attending the meetings.
Joke of the Day: Ask Tina to tell you the joke about the man who went to the nursing home.
Next Week: Don Coughlin will be in charge of our joke.
DATES TO KEEP IN MIND:
July 24 Beer Tent for Burning River Endurance Run at Silver Springs Park from 10:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
July 28 Club Meeting: Induction of Scott Miller, Speaker Cathy Jansen of Stow Joshua Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution as well as Football Books for Sale
August 4: Volunteer at Akron-Canton Foodbank 4:30-6:30
August 6,7,8 Stuff the Bus for the Teachers' Supply Closet
August 13, 7:15 a.m. Board Meeting virtually
September 4 and 5: Summer Sunset Blast
October 13: Reverse Raffle/Silent Auction
Submitted by:
Andrea Denton
330-474-7265
330-474-7265
330-414-1934