Happy St. Patrick's Day!
ATTENDANCE: Members with us this morning were: Rick Archer, Rich Bedell, Bill Choler, Roger Cline, Jenny Coleman, Andy Denton, Mary Dula, Steve Dunton, Ray Evans, Christina Gary, Dick Hall, Annie Hanson Hilaire and Lizzie, Brad Jagger, Mike Kostyack, Jim Laber, Carrie Leising, Tom Loepp, Annette Oborn, John Pribonic, Brad Ruth, Olivia Saltzmann, Smedi, Steve Stimmel, Bob Sweitzer, Marty Tass, Linda Trevorrow, Eric Weber, Marissa Williams and our guests, Dawn Distler and Milli Morrison.
To begin our day, President Linda Trevorrow led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Program host, John Pirbonic followed with an Irish prayer for our invocation.
HAPPY BUCKS:
Bob Sweitzer, Mary Dula and Linda Trevorrow are all excited to be in the pipeline for their vaccines.
Carrie Leising reported that her daughter, Sienna will be a cybersecurity major at the University of Cincinnati starting this fall.
Steve Stimmel was happy to share the good news that he has finished his third cycle of chemotherapy and that scans showed no new tumors. He also said that he is fully vaccinated.
Annette Oborn reported that Bob is coming along and thanked the club for their cards, e-mails, texts, gifts and other supports that have been shared with them.
CELEBRATIONS:
There were no birthdays or anniversaries to celebrate this week.
Milli Morrison has submitted her application for membership and was approved by the Board at last Friday's meeting. She introduced herself to us at the meeting this morning. See Linda's e-mail from last evening for her full application.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Easter Egg Hunt: Steve Dunton thanked the volunteers who will be helping with the March 27th event. Mary Dula, John Long and Gail Moseley will work at the 9:30-11:30 shift and Dave Reninger, Dick Hall and Jennifer Coleman on the 11:30-1:30 shift. There will also be two Interact students helping at each time.
Golf Outing: Dick Hall said that the committee will meet tomorrow at 5:30. They are working on gaining sponsorships now and will be contacting people who might like to recognize the golf outing as a good place to advertise through some type of sponsorship.
Meal Delivery: John Pribonic reported that $860.00 has been delivered to Rich Bedell as our share in the tips from the Saturday meal delivery. We will have our next meal delivery on Monday, March 29th.
PETS Training John also reported that he attended the virtual President Elect Training this weekend and said that it looks like will will be able to start having in-person meetings this July.
Blood Drive Olivia Saltzmann Smedi said that Wichert Insurance will sponsor a blood drive on June 16. People need to register ahead of time. She wanted us to know about this so that in case other drives fill up, this one will be available. She will have more information later.
Grant Committee: President Linda said that the District Grant Committee will meet this morning after the general meeting, since we have been approved for the grant and can move ahead with the project. Linda Trevorrow, Annette Oborn, John Pribonic, Tina Gary and Andy Denton are on that committee.
Breakfast Donations If you plan on donating the money that normally would have been spent on breakfast at Silver Lake, please get that money to Annette Oborn, 381 Silver Valley Blvd., Munroe Falls, OH. 44262. There are 5 Wednesdays in this month so the total would be $65 for the whole amount. But, the club will be glad to have whatever you donate. Last month the donations were down from what we have been giving, so hopefully they will pick back up this month so that we can continue our service.
Four Way Test Speech Contest Brad Ruth said that the high school speech competition will be on Tuesday, April 6 and he is looking for judges. Contact him at bruth@glbainc.com or 330-524-8205 to offer to help.
Boy Scout Trailer Stolen John Pribonic related a very sad situation that a scout troop's trailer holding all of their equipment has been stolen. Be on the lookout for a closed in trailer that looks like writing has been painted over on the side. Call the police if you should spot such a vehicle. Also look for information about a Go-Fund-Me site for donations to help replenish the stolen goods.
PROGRAM:
Program Host, John Pribonic told us that part of his happiness comes from having the Four-Way Test as part of his life and how it guides his activities. A plaque in his office showing the test grounds him and is the basis of what he does.
He then introduced our speaker, Dawn Distler who is the CEO of METRO Transit. She began her career as a bus operator thirty years ago and now is the CEO here. She spent part of her time in Tennessee. She explained that METRO is trying to rebrand themselves and wants to be a real mobility option. Every part of the area has different needs for transportation so if something isn't working, they are trying to make changes that will work and serve the community. They are trying to "think outside of the bus" through their five-ten year strategic plan. One interesting part of the plan is Flex-ride where a business can purchase a ride from home to business for a month at a fixed fee. Another change is their circulator service which had low ridership. Now instead of a bus just circling a route over and over, Metro-Connect can receive a call from a bus stop and the rider explains where they need to go on that route and the driver responds. Basically, the METRO team is reviewing community needs and seeing if buses are really going where they are needed and trying to develop more of a service mentality.
Dawn talked about life for the transit system during the pandemic. Working closely with the Summit County Health Department, they created as safe an environment for their riders as possible. Busses went from carrying 60 to a capacity of 10. Operators and passengers are required to wear masks and hand sanitizer is available in all busses and facilities. Service was down to 50% and now is up to about 72% as we crawl out of this situation.
School transportation is a significant part of their service. Students from eighth grade and older can swipe their school ID for a bus ride. METRO counts their student riders and is reimbursed by Akron Public Schools for up to 450,000 rides per year. In addition, income comes from sales tax, the farebox and federal and state money. Grants are also a part of their income. In the near future, they will have 2 electric buses. They are budgeted for 270 bus operators utilizing 270 fixed route buses and 100 smaller vans.
JOKE:
In honor of St. Patrick's Day, Jenny Coleman told a joke about two Irish mothers bragging about their sons. If you contact her, she can tell you the whole joke.
Next week's jokster is Rick Archer.
Linda dismissed us by saying to have a safe an happy St Patrick's Day.
Submitted by Andy Denton