For today's Club Assembly, President Bob opened the meeting by leading in the Pledge of Allegiance and he followed with an invocation.
He then announced that Mary Parr has agreed to be club's President-elect with her term going from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027.
Bob thanked Todd Hearty and Dave Renninger for checking us in this morning and welcomed our visitors, Jenni Snyder and Karen Perch.
NEW MEMBER INDUCTION: Three new members were brought into the club this morning. Cindy Billideau, and Jill Smith are both sponsored by John Pribonic and Eleanor Sovacool was sponsored by Todd Hearty. Welcome to you all and we are anxious to get to know you as we serve together.
CELEBRATIONS:
Rotary Anniversaries: Andrea Denton is observing 24 years as a Rotarian this week and Bob Sweitzer is celebrating 16 years.
Birthdays: Annette Oborn led us in singing to Tony Malorni, whose birthday is this week.
Concerns: Jim Laber, Karen Monbeck and Lindsey Malin have all had recent hospital contact recently. We wish them all fast and complete healing.
CLUB ASSEMBLY AGENDA;
Membership: Brad Ruth, Membership Chair welcomed the new members and had everyone who had joined in the past two years stand. He then said that this morning's meeting will give the members an overview of our activities so that they can sort out what their area of involvement might be. A committee manages the membership process.
International Project: Annette Oborn explained that each year it is possible to have a different project. This year, we will use a “Shark Pond” approach, similarly to “Shark Tank” when on January 28, we learn about potential projects in Africa and then make a decision whether or not we will fund any of them. Rich Bedell, treasurer of our foundation, explained that the club and the foundation are both non-profits but that our foundation is a 501©(3) where people can claim charitable deductions on their taxes. Rich stated that our foundation has a balance of around $42,000 right now and the club has $6,700 in its treasury. Both are high right now because our large fund raisers, the Golf Outing and the Reverse Raffle/Silent Auction were completed very successfully. That money is used to fund our various projects throughout the year. The budget process occurs every May when our club and our foundation decide what income is needed, how it will be spent and for which purpose in the organization.
Haven of Rest Coffee Drive: Annette shared that we are again collecting cans of coffee for Haven of Rest. This drive will go through the end of February. You may bring your donations to a club meeting or have Amazon send them to the Oborns' at 381 Silver Valley Blvd,, Munroe Falls, 44262.
Fundraising: Dick Hall, who is the board member who oversees the fundraising explained that every fall we have a Football Pool where 300 books are sold, Dick and Pat Messmore work on this project together. This year the profit was just over $3500. Last year's golf outing raised $12,689 with $2500 going to All Kids' Bikes in Stow. Scott Miller, chairperson explained that the committee will begin meeting soon to plan for this year's June 12 Golf Outing. The Reverse Raffle/Silent Auction, chaired by Gail Moseley last year will now be chaired by Gale Stawiery. Last year the profit was just under $15,000. Dick also reported on the high school's Club Interact, which is the high school students' brand of Rotary. The students assist in many of the Rotary Club's activities and also are active in benefitting other community organizations, such as the library and the school itself. Dinah Henderson, who is the advisor of Interact, reports to the club the events in which the students are involved and is the liaison if we need help from them.
The Rotary Foundation: Dave Renninger and Maria Ferrara chaired this campaign for donations. Different from our club's foundation, this Foundations is world-wide and has an international aspect to the use of its resources. Among other things The Rotary Foundation supports, there is the Polio Plus Campaign which has come close to irradicating polio. There is also an emphasis on clean water and mental health through world-wide projects. In a yearly campaign to raise money for this fund, our club raised over $17,500 in 2025, As people's donations accumulate to $1000 levels, they become Paul Harris fellows. The awards from the current campaign were distributed as part of this meeting. Jeff Frye became a Paul Harris Fellow. Steve Dunton earned PHF+1. Jim Laber and Leslie Salhany became PHF+2. Roger Cline, Andrea Denton and Brad Ruth became PHF+4. John Long, Annette Oborn and Bob Oborn became PHF+6. Tom Loepp became PHF+7 and Rich Bedell and Linda Trevorrow became PHF+8. Both Dave Renninger and Ron Taggart were recognized with Major Donor status.
District Relations & Club Administration: Mary Parr's board member responsibility is to report what is going on in the areas of District Conference, Membership and Programs. Bob Oborn, District Governor, reported that this year's District Conference will be Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25, at the Marriott Inn East in Warrensville Heights, on Harvard Rd. Friday's session begins at 2:00 and features the business meeting and Memorial Service. Then, an evening dinner will feature “Rotary Jeopardy”. On Saturday, the morning will consist of learning sessions about mental health and adult harassment. Lunch will feature the youth of our district, including inbound and outbound students along with presentations of their accomplishments. After lunch everyone will have the opportunity to participate in an international project. This will be followed by a cocktail hour and dinner where the keynote speaker is Katie Spotz, who became the youngest person to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Her next goal is to row the 10,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean with the purpose of attracting attention to the idea that everyone deserves clean water. Stow-Munroe Falls will be in charge of the Hospitality Suite on Saturday evening. Any club member who wishes to attend will have their registration paid for by the club. Programming is another topic that receives Mary's oversight. Carrie Malotte, Program Chair explained that as a Rotarian, each person is responsible for a weekly program. Generally people are assigned a program date based on alphabetical order. She suggested that everyone keep an ear open for a great speaker and then when it is your turn, you can talk to that individual. Carrie is the one who e-mails you when your turn is coming. If you can not do the requested date, let Carrie know asap.
Public Relations: Dave Christman oversees the areas of Social Media, the Website and Clubrunner/Nova. Annie Hanson-Hilaire oversees our social media and has done a great job with Facebook and Instagram. Check out what is being posted on Facebook at Rotary Club of Stow Munroe Falls and on Instagram at smfrotaryclub. Like what you see and pass it on. Posts on both are very frequent. Roger Cline is our Webmaster, and although he is on vacation this month, he tries to keep everything up to date on Clubrunner/Nova. Clubrunner, now known as NOVA is the place where we keep all of our club information. Go to Rotary Club of Stow Munroe Falls and you can find notices, minutes and information about club members. It is important that everything is kept up to date here. You will receive most notices from the club, like these weekly minutes, through Clubrunner. Past minutes are available on the site as well.
Community Events: Pilar Parsons keeps in touch with the people working on Foodie Palooza, The Bunny Trail Hop, Fourth of July parade and Summer Sunset Blast. The Foodie Palooza will take place on January 31 at the high school and is replacing Pizza Palooza. Vendors will be there with food samples and organizations will have a chance to explain what they do. The Bunny Trail Hop will be the Saturday before Easter and really entertains the children of our community. We usually have a presence at the Fourth of July Parade. Sometimes the president rides in a car and other times it is a float. Summer Sunset Blast takes place on Labor Day Weekend and is a family event where we sell 50-50 Raffle Tickets. Steve Dunton leads the Summer Sunset Blast along with the Bunny Trail Hop.
Service Projects: Todd Hearty explained that one of the benefits of our ongoing service projects is that people who joined in the last couple of years join with newer members to carry out service, and get to know each other through working together for the benefit of others. Our volunteer time at the Akron-Canton Foodbank is every second Wednesday from 4:30-6:30 at the Foodbank in Akron, led by Steve Dunton. A great perk is that the participants usually enjoy dinner together afterwards. Four times a year, a group cooks for the residents of Ronald McDonald House. Denise and Eric Green generally lead the group but an additional 3-5 volunteers are needed each time. Salvation Army Bell-Ringing, coordinated by Mary Dula happens every November/December as we assist the Salvation Army in their money-raising efforts. During the spring and summer we have our Adopt-A-Spot where Rotarians, under the leadership of Marty Tass plant and maintain the flower bed by the doughboy at the corner of Graham and Darrow Rds,
Annual Service Projects are monitored by John Pribonic. The Literacy Project provides dictionaries to every third grader in Stow-Munroe Falls. Stuff the Bus occurs around the beginning of August when Marcs and other locations host Rotarians and Club Interact students who collect school supplies. They are sorted down into a Teacher Supply Cupboard and as the school year moves along, teachers can request items for their classrooms. Students pack the orders and Rotarians deliver them to the schools. Holiday Helping Hands provides about $8000 worth of gifts every year for families who are struggling in Stow. That money comes through our club's fundraisers and individual donations. Families are identified through the schools. In December there is a wrapping party for the gifts and then they are delivered by a Rotarian team. This is coordinated by John Pribonic. The Four-Way Speech Contest is held at our high school in March and then the winners move on to the District Contest in April. De-de Mulligan is in charge of this event and will use judges from the club. Students present short talks on any topic but base their comments on the Rotary Four-Way Test. Scholarships are given at the end of every school year. Last year the club gave $7,000 in scholarships. Mayor Pribonic also heads this effort.
SMF Foundation: Linda Trevorrow, President of our foundation told us that the foundation functions as an asset to the club because it can offer tax deductionsas a 501(C)(3), that the club as a 501(c)4 cannot offer. There are functions that both the club and the foundation are authorized to accomplish that enhance the work of the other. The budgets of both organizations are established in tandem each spring for the following year.
Bob Sweitzer closed the meeting by leading us in the Rotary Four-Way-Test.
DATES TO REMEMBER:
Wednesday, January 21 7:30 a.m. at The Center for regular weekly meeting when our program will be by John Shulan of the Bath Observatory.
Saturday, January 31, Foodie Palooza from noon until 3:00 p.m. at the high school
Wednesday, February 11, 4:30-6:30 Volunteer time at the Foodbank
Friday, February 13, 7:15 a.m. Board meeting at City Hall
April 24 ad 25, District Conference at the Marriott in Warrensville Hts. on Harvard Rd.
May 10, Heroes Day
June 12 Golf Outing
Respectfully Submitted
Andrea Denton