ATTENDANCE: Joining us this morning were: Rick Archer, Rich Bedell, Bill Choler, Dave Christman, Roger Cline, Andy Denton, Mary Dula, Steve Dunton, Elizabeth Eaken, Mark Ferguson, Christina Gary, Dick Hall, Jim Laber, Carrie Leising, John Long, Annette Oborn, Bob Oborn, John Pribonic, Dave Renninger, Brad Ruth, Olivia Saltzmann, Steve Stimmel, Bob Sweitzer, Ron Taggart, Marty Tass, Kelly Toppin, Lisa Toppin, Linda Trevorrow, Marissa Williams, Mike Kostyack, Sue Figler and our speaker Elena Bell.
President, Linda Trevorrow opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and then Steve Dunton gave an invocation based on the Four Way Test.
HAPPY BUCKS:
Lisa Toppin told us that her daughter will be getting married in 10 days in an outside, socially distanced ceremony.
Sue Figler said that she is thankful that her three kids are in school every day.
Linda Trevorrow said that she is glad everyone joined us this morning.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Reverse Raffle: Bob Oborn reports that 90 raffle tickets and money have been turned in. If you have a ticket that you are unable to sell, let Bob know immediately because there is a waiting list for tickets.
Breakfast Money: Remember to get you breakfast money to Annette Oborn at 381 Silver Valley Blvd., Munroe Falls OH 44262 if you want to continue to participate in that project.
Foodbank: Next Wed., Oct 7, from 4:30-6:30 is our time to volunteer at the Akron-Canton Foodbank. We have 5 volunteers so far and can have 2 more. Go to https://doodle.com/poll/
Salvation Army Bell Ringing: We will be participating. More information to come soon.
Stow-Munroe Falls Community Foundation Beer Fest will occur this Saturday, October 3 from 2:00-5:00 outside of the Heritage Barn. Go to smfcommunity.org and click on the event tab for more information.
New Member Induction: Linda and Elizabeth Eaken, Membership Chair will meet tomorrow to figure out how to pin our two new members, Sue Figler and Micael Kostyack virtually.
Attendance: If you participate in a Rotary event that will give you a make-up, you can send Karen Monbeck an e-mail to get attendance credit for your work. She is at kmonbeck425@gmail.com.
PROGRAM:
Steve Dunton, Program Host told us that his Happiness Moment happens when he goes to help a retire friend with things around his house such as leaf raking and cleaning out his gutters. I am sure he is glad for Steve's company as well.
Steve then introduced Elena Bell who is the Manager of Public Relations and Marketing for the Akron Zoo. She is a graduate of Kent State University and resident of Barberton.
Elena told us that the zoo has been completely rebuilt since 2000, which was the first time that they benefited from a county tax levy. The Pride of Africa is the most recently opened exhibit bringing the total number of animals to 250 species. The zoo staff is heavily involved in education. With the pandemic this has slowed down, but in 2019 91,456 individuals were reached by zoo education efforts. This included 81 school districts with 35,404 children.
The zoo is a leader in conservation efforts and in fact won a National Award called the AZA Green Award for its efforts in sustainability. They have helped to save 46 endangered species. They are one of 237 accredited zoos in the country, although there are several thousand licensed zoos. The Wild Asia Exhibit will be opening in the spring of 2021.
During COVID the zoo has done live broadcasts on Facebook, hosted free meal distribution, hosted a Red Cross blood drive, made 1400 N95 masks available to healthcare providers and made and distributed over 3000 masks.
Issue 47 will be on the ballot this fall to support the zoo. There will be a very slight increase which will cost the owner of a $100,000 home $2.92 per month. Both the animals and the people would appreciate our support for sure. The zoo says thanks to the community for their support by not only making continued improvements, but also by offering free days and finding continual ways to support their educational programming.
Elena also introduced us to her co-worker Kate who showed us a lovely boa snake. An interesting fact is that the males only weigh about 5 pounds but females can weight up to 35 pounds.
JOKE: Christina Gary told us a great joke about a person who went into the library and ordered a cheeseburger and fries. She will have to tell you the whole joke. Next week it will be up to Bill Choler to close our meeting with a joke.
Linda adjourned the meeting and sent us out in service.
Submitted by Andy Denton