President Annette Oborn opened the meeting by leading in the Pledge of Allegiance. Roger Cline, Program Host followed with an invocation that was a meaningful version of the Serenity Prayer.
Annette then thanked Sgt. Steve Dunton and his helpers Maria Ferrara and Dave Renninger for welcoming everyone this morning. Then she welcomed our visitors, Denise Green, Aurora Cooper, Pilar Parsons and Matthew Aguiar, as well as our speaker, Wendi Polman.
CELEBRATIONS:
Rotary Anniversaries:
Brad Ruth has been a member of our club for 25 years, Don Coughlin for 24 years, Carrie Malotte for 16 years and Rich Bedell for 14.
Birthday: Mayor John Pribonic is celebrating his birthday this week so Maria Ferrara led us in singing really well to him.
Blue Badge: Maria Ferrara received her blue badge this morning signifying that she is a full member of the club.
Drawing: Brad Ruth had the winning ticket but drew the 4 of diamonds, so the pot will continue to grow.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: If you find that you can't be with us for meetings in person, join us on zoom. The link is attached o these minutes.
Membership Event: Brad Ruth thanked everyone who participated in last week's event. There were five guests with us today as a result of the event and so far four membership applications have been turned in. He thanked his committee, Maria Ferrara, Todd Hearty, Annette Oborn, Scott Miller and Leslee Salhany for their excellent work and great evening. Annette in turn thanked them for their hard work.
Board Meeting: Our board will meet this Friday, March 8 at 7:15 at City Hall. Board members are expected to attend but everyone is welcome.
Coffee Drive: Donations are still coming for the coffee drive for the Haven of Rest. We now have collected 275 cans of coffee which will be our number to beat for next year.
Foodbank Volunteer Time: Next Wed., March 13 is our time to volunteer at the Akron-Canton Foodbank from 4:30 to 6:30. The Interact students cannot be there because of testing so we really need to step up to volunteer. You can sign up when you check in next week.
Bunny Trail Hop: This will take place on Saturday March 23 at Silver Springs Park. Plan now to help distribute candy and enjoy the kiddos as they gather their prizes. Workers are needed for two shifts. The set-up group will work from 9:30 to 11:30 and the closing group will be there from 11:30 to 1:30. Steve Dunton guarantees a sunny 70 degree day!
Club Interact Drive for the District Conference: The students are leading a drive for cleaning items and baby proofing items that they will present as a group at the District Conference for a refugee home in Cuyahoga Falls. If you want to place an order, the Amazon links are below. They can be shipped directly to Dinah Henderson at the High School or you may bring your donations to club meetings where there will be baskets for collections.
Cleaning Items
Baby Proofing Items
District Conference: And speaking of the District Conference, this will be at the Sheraton Suites on April 25 and 26. Registration is now open on the District 6630 website. The club will cover any member's registration but not hotel since we are so close. Saturday, the 26th would be a great day to attend.
Bulldog Bags: By April 10, Bulldog Bags hope to collect the following items from us: microwave pasta cups, fruit cups, shampoo, 3-5 packs of microwave popcorn, boxes of CapriSun drink pouches and boxes of macaroni and cheese/ Bring your items to a meeting or drop them off in the lobby of City Hall.
Four Way Speech Contest: If you have signed up to judge for this event, remember that it is next Wed. afternoon at the high school. For any questions or concerns, contact De-De Mulligan at 330-472-7673. The three winners will be with us for our morning meeting on March 20 to present their speeches.
PROGRAM:
Program Host, Roger Cline talked about joining Rotary so that he could participate in Youth Exchange. During the time he worked with the district programs, he was in three continents and 12 countries. His daughter, Wendi, our speaker this morning, was an exchange student in Brazil in1989.and Roger joined the club in 1990. We never know where the younger generation will lead us.
Wendi Polman is an ultra runner who in her professional life coaches people and businesses through challenges they face. She is an experienced, walker, runner and hiker. Wendi loves adventure and has been rim to rim at the Grand Canyon and experienced alpacas carrying supplies in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.
She explained that all of us have an elephant in our lives...something that is just too big to conquer. Her suggestion is that we all can learn to manage that elephant by breaking it into little chunks. That is how she has managed exercise and running. She makes the impossible ordinary through this method. How about walking from her home in Broadview Hights to Clines? That was over 20 miles. She already completed a 50 mile walk in 2017. Right now she is training for a 24-hour walk that will encompass 62 miles. Her biggest fear is whether or not she will be able to stay awake since she generally has about 9 hours of sleep per night. But like the rest of her challenges, she is breaking it into smaller pieces and finding ways to break down this new elephant.
For most of us, hiking a long distance is not our goal, but there are other things that we may wish to conquer. So Wendy asked, what is holding us back...education? physical challenges? fear? First establish what the name of the elephant in our lives is and then break it down bit by bit. She says to look at where you are and where you want to be. Then deal with what is in between and chip away at your goal. Break it into pieces. Is it exercise, business, education or equipment that you need? She did not exactly say that anything is possible, but it sure seemed that way.
Annette closed the meeting by leading us in the Four-way Test and told us to go out and create hope.
DATES TO REMEMBER:
Friday, March 8, 7:15, Board Meeting at City Hall
Wednesday, March 13, 7:30 weekly meeting at Bellacinos with Judge Jen Towell as our speaker
Wednesday, March 13, 2:45, Four-Way-Speech judging at the high school
Wednesday, March 13, 4:30-6:60, Foodbank Volunteer time at the Foodbank
Saturday, March 23, Bunny Trail Hop from 9:30-1:30 at Silver Springs Park.
Wednesday, April 10, Bulldog Bag items due.
Friday and Saturday, April 25 and 26, District Conference at Sheraton Suites
Saturday, May 11, Heroes Day
Friday, June 14, Golf Outing at Fox Den
Friday, June 21, Board Retreat
Wednesday, October 9 in the evening, Reverse Raffle/Silent Auction
Submitted by Andy Denton