ATTENDANCE:
Joining us this morning were Rotarians: Rich Bedell, Bill Choler, Dave Christman, Jennifer Coleman, Andy Denton, Mary Dula, Steve Dunton, Ray Evans, Christine Faranda, Mark Ferguson, Steve Fry, Christina Gary, Dick Hall, Annie Hanson-Hilare, Brad Jagger, Mike Kostyack, Jim Laber, Carrie Leising, Tom Loepp, John Long, Pat Messmore, Karen Monbeck, Milli Morrison, Gail Moseley, Annette Oborn, Bob Oborn, Dave Renninger, Brad Ruth, J.T. Stimler, Steve Stimmel, Bob Sweitzer, Ron Taggart, Linda Trevorrow, and Marissa Williams. Guests were Jon Leissler, Dinah Henderson and our speaker, George Chase.
President, Linda Trevorrow, opened the meeting by leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Program Host, Steve Stimmel led us in an invocation about hope and gratitude.
HAPPY BUCKS:
Steve Stimmel told us that his scans show no cancer for the first time in 18 months!
Bob Sweitzer recognized that today would have been his father-in-law's 87th birthday. Bernie Rice was important in the founding of our club and a long-time member.
Tina Gary said that she participate in a Spartan Trifecta this weekend. It will be a 1/2 marathon, a 10K and a 5K, all within 48 hours.
CELEBRATIONS:
Birthdays: Steve Stimmel is celebrating his birthday today so we gave him a Rotary birthday wave.
Steve Fry celebrated his birthday yesterday. He is still under the weather so you might want to send him a greeting at sfry@neo.rr.com.
Ron Taggart will celebrate his birthday on Friday.
Wedding Anniversary: Rick and Carol Archer are celebrating their anniversary today.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Golf Outing: Chairperson, Dick Hall says that all is coming along well. Volunteers to put the goody bags together should meet at 5:30 Friday at the FOP Hall behind the Church in Silver Lake. The volunteers for Monday morning should be at the club at 7:30.
Foodbank Mary Dula said that there are 9 volunteers for tonight at the Foodbank. They are Steve Dunton, Mary Dula, Marissa Williams and 4 Interact volunteers along with their advisor, Dinah Henderson. As the COVID restrictions lift, the Foodbank expects that the number of volunteers will be able to be increased.
Virtual Rotary Convention President Linda said that the registration for the International Rotary Convention. June 12-16 open. Go to Rotary.org for more information. It is a virtual convention this year.
Our Meetings: We are working on reopening in-person meetings but next week will still be on Zoom. Stay tuned for weekly updates.
PROGRAM:
Happiness Moment: Steve Stimmel, Program Host said that he has been delivering Meals on Wheels for many years and also works on serving meals to 50-60 senior citizens in Cuyahoga Falls two times per month.
Steve then introduced Dr. George Chase, Director of Research at the University of Akron. He has his PhD in Chemical Engineering and is a Professor in Chemical Engineering. He has 15 patents, has written 2 books and has achieved over 6 million dollars in grant funding. He spoke with us today about his experiences in working with international graduate students coming to the University of Akron.
Dr.Chase has worked with 82 visiting graduate students with the largest group coming from India, followed by China. Some of the students return to their native country while many want to remain in America. In an effort to keep these bright students in their home country, many countries are investing in education to offer more opportunities.
When the students are here, they are part of a cycle. The students work on papers related to specific topics. The papers can lead toward research grants and the research grants can support graduate students. For students who become involved in the research and then writing a paper, they are credited as being a lead author.
Some benefits of having the students here is that cultures are shared, working toward creating a stronger world-wide community. They generally come from very competitive environments while the US students tend to have more hands-on experience. They share their attributes.
For more information, Dr. Chase can be reached at gchase@uakron.edu.
JOKE: Pat Messmore gave us a series of one-liners this morning. His first one was:Q. What do you call a woman who sets fire to her bills? A. Bernadette. (Say it out loud.
)
)He can tell you more if you ask him.
Next week John Long will give us the joke.
Submitted by Andy Denton