After Co-President Brad Ruth led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, Program Host, John Long led us in a wonderful invocation about Ukraine and our need for peace in the world.
Brad welcomed our guests Jim Costello, Dr. Mary Parr and Natalie Katzenmeyer. He also thanked Steve Dunton and Gail Moseley for getting us checked in.
CONCERN: Brad announced the death of Janice Mills, Marv Mills' wife. Calling hours will be tomorrow, Thursday at Redmon's from 4:00-7:00 p.m. A Celebration of of Life will follow on Friday at 11:00 a.m. at First Christian Church, 3493 Darrow Rd.
CELEBRATIONS:
Birthday: Mark Lucco will celebrate his birthday tomorrow.
Wedding Anniversary: Lisa and Kelly Toppin will celebrate their 28th anniversary on March 12.
Rotary Anniversaries: Rich Bedell will celebrate 12 years as a Rotarian tomorrow and on the same day, Brad Ruth will observe his 23rd anniversary.
HAPPY BUCKS:
Brad Jagger was full of good news this morning. This winter his oldest daughter became engaged at Disneyworld. He had bariatric surgery on February 25 and with his treck for good health, walks 3 miles per day on the treadmill. He also is sprouting braces.
50-50 DRAWING:
Tom Loepp had the winning ticket but pulled the 8 of spades, so the pot will continue to grow.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The Four-Way Speech Contest will be held this afternooon at the high school. Brad Ruth, Sue Figler, Carrie Leising, John Pribonic and Andy Denton will be judges.
Haven of Rest Collection: During this month we are collecting toiletries that will go to the Haven of Rest for the bags they give to clients for Easter. A list of what is needed is attached to these minutes. If you want to have Annette shop for you, you may give her a check or if you want to, you may make a check directly to the Haven of Rest and Annette will pass that on. Otherwise the items can be brought to a meeting or delivered to the Oborns at 381 Silver Valley Blvd. in Munroe Falls.
Bulldog Bag Items: The items currently being requested are: Ramen noodles, individual fruit cups and soap. Please drop your items off in the lobby of City Hall by April 13 so that they are ready for distribution.
Interact Talent Show: Dinah Henderson, Advisor and Interact President, Natalie Katzenmeyer told us about the students' show which will be this Friday, March 11 at 7:00 at the high school. Doors will open at 6:30 and the cost is only $5.00 proceeds will go toward scholarships.
Interact Collections: Remember that the students are collecting plastic lids that will be melted down into new benches for the Memorial Garden at the high school. If you have been collecting them, bring them to next week's meeting when Interact will be our program and Dinah Henderson will be inducted as a member. The students are also collecting tabs from cans that will be donated for Ronald McDonald House. They will be presented at the District Conference on April 23.
New Board Members: Four people have submitted their names as candidates for the three vacancies on our club's board. They are Jennifer Coleman, Scott Miller, Bob Oborn and Brad Ruth. John Pribonic will take the past-president seat on the board. Elections will be next week and those participating on Zoom will be given a phone number to call for their vote.
President Elect: We still need a dedicated member who is willing to be President-elect for the 2023-2024 Rotary year. It is an exciting position to hold and one that offers just as much in rewards as it does in requirements. To talk about it, see either John Pribonic or Brad Ruth or recent past president, Linda Trevorrow.
Board Meeting: Our Board will meet this Friday, March 11 at 7:15 a.m. at City Hall. Brad will provide coffee and donuts. Minutes of the February meeting are attached to these minutes.
Golf Committee: In preparation for the club's June 6 event, the committee will meet Monday, March 14 at 6:00 p.m. in the FOP blue building behind The Church in Silver Lake at 2951 Kent Rd., Silver Lake. Anyone is welcome who would like to participate in the committee's work. Scott Miller is chairperson of the event.
PROGRAM: John Long, Program Host, first told us how Covid affected his life. His 94 year old mother died in November of 2020 and the family was unable to see her before she passed away. Also, the person who took over Long Shoes died unexpectedly of heart failure, so John was back in the business and dealing with Covid and supply issues and other business problems from that angle as well.
He introduced us to James Costello Finance Director of Stow. A Stow resident who had served as a Councilman for 15 1/2 years, became Interim Manager and then then Finance Director. He too talked about the issues during Covid as that meant shut downs, working from home and staggered work forces. It was projected that the city would lose 20% of their revenue, but with county, state and federal assistance Stow came out pretty well. They had money from the CARES Act to supplement safety forces and first responders and paid administrative leave for those who had to be quarantined. When federal dollars became available, that money could be used for public health issues, essential worker premium pay and infrastructure issues. In the future we will see a new fire truck, two platforms to improve resident notification in times of disaster or potential disaster and improvements allowing for transparency of government.
Mr. Costello also discussed unresolved implications for taxes as far as the residence of where a person works and lives, particularly concerning issues for those who have worked at home. He also discussed national economic trends and how patterns are unclear at this time. Technology is replacing some workers and for other businesses, baby boomers are retiring and there are not enough younger workers to replace them. All sorts of issues have changed the economic future of the country from supply issues, to illness to now the war in Ukraine. All of that, of course, filters down to our area.
DATES TO REMEMBER
Friday, March 11 7:15 a.m. Board Meeting at City Hall
Friday, March 11, 7:00 p.m. Interact Talent Show at the High School
Wednesday, March 16, 7:30 Morning meeting at Bellacinos featuring Interact
Wednesday, March 23, 7:30 a.m. Morning meeting at Bellacinos with Women's Suffrage Project as our program
Friday and Saturday, April 22 and 23, District Conference at Sheraton Suites
Saturday, May 7, Help Interact at the Memorial Gardens at the high school
Monday, June 6, Golf Outing at Silver Lake
Submitted by
Andrea Denton
330-474-7265
330-414-1934