Jim Harris does the honors of putting up the banner and flags this day.
And here is Jill with the missing table.
Lee Hieronymus has brought along his guest Beverly Francis, of Miamisburg.
Another guest is Carla Parra, helping out with our speakers, Aaron Rourke and Hope Taft, former First Lady of Ohio.
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Terry Hanauer has been helping out the Interact Club and should soon get rid of his yellow new member ribbon.
Doc Hoback led the group in a great rendition of God Bless America this day. On key.
And look who's back, true to her word. Crissy Allums, who said she hopes to become a member.
President Preston is always a greeter. Here he's greeting Gerry Eastabrooks.
Ron Hollenbeck and Erich Eggers come in time to socialize before the meeting.
Would you believe this camera pro is camera shy and did a twirl to end up not facing the camera.
The group is never complete without Sally Beals, and here she comes today.
Ann Blackburn, our membership chair, has brought several guests. This is Jacquie Powell.
And here's another guest of hers...Brad Cummings.
It was Fish Fry Day and the cod was very, very good and the desserts, big and delicious. Lots of
choices.
And look who's back again. Rodrigo Garnica, our Rotary Exchange Student from Peru. Here he's with Jen Gibbs, of his first host family, and Jeff Senney.
The Centerville Rotary Club met at the Clubhouse at Yankee Trace at noon. Club President Boyd Preston led the Pledge of Allegiance; Harvey Smith gave the prayer; and the singing of God Bless America was led by Doc Hoback.
Menu this week:.Fish Fry
Menu next week: Italian salad with mixed greens, Italian and Ranch dressing, meat
lasagna, and garlic rolls.
Guests this week:
Former First Lady of Ohio Hope Taft; Aaron Rourke; Rodrigo Garnica; Crissy Allums; Beverly Francis; Brad Cummings.
President Boyd Preston presided over the meeting.
President Boyd Preston thanked our greeters Mark Gerken and Chuck King, for their service.
Next week will be a meeting to discuss the results of our April service days with the groups named below.
Foodbank of Dayton - packing food - APRIL 6
Project Read - sorting and packing books - APRIL 6...
Centerville-Washington Park District - sorting and cleaning a garage area - APRIL 6
St. Leonard's - light gardening & painting - APRIL 6
Hannah's Treasure Chest - repack diapers for distribution at local charities - APRIL 13
BOGG Ministries - distributing food, playing children's games, etc. - APRIL 16
Ann Blackburn said the recent social at Old Bag of Nails went well and that May 8 will be the Family picnic from noon to 5 at St. Leonards with cornhole and badminton games and
possibly a dunking tank?..Water and soda to be provided and potluck from participants to go with grilled meat. Lists for potlucks to be made..desserts, pasta, fruit, etc., she mentioned.
John Beals announced that RYLA will be holding its annual leadership event at Camp Kern on April 26, 27, 28. With the help of some school guidance counselors the club was able to come up with three students we will sponsor and take to Camp Kern, he said.
Carol Kennard said last Thursday's Interact project at Oak Grove Park saw Rotarians Jeff Senney, Terry Hanauer Ron Hollenbeck, and Sofie Ameloot help out several of the Interact students who showed up to ready five tables in the shelter for the April 27 finale in which the tables will be painted with the game board designs and Rotarians will help paint in the design colors. Jeff and Terry were given leadership for the April 27 event, which will be from 12:30 to about 3:30 p.m.
President Boyd Preston gave an update on happenings at the Saturday District Conference in Cincinnati.
He mentioned Xenia's decision to move out of the club and Trotwood's decision for a satellite club in Brookville.
Talk was also to see if a Rotary Club could be established in Brown County.
He said 91 kids will be attending RYLA this year.
He said emphasis was on the youth and that the Four-Way Speech Contest winner from the Beavercreek Club was outstanding.
He said Rotary has five criteria for a good youth program, and that our club has been doing well with four of them.
One is to sponsor an in-bound or outbound Rotary Exchange student. Our club has both, Rodrigo who is here from Peru, and Kim Foster, who is studying in London.
Number two is to sponsor an Interact Club. The one at Centerville High School has 100 members.
Participation with youth activities...The Four-Way Speech Contest has participants sponsored by our club. We sponsor RYLA participants and have $1,000 scholarships for students.
The only thing we don't have right now is a Rotaract Club.
President Preston said there were no new policies or procedures.
We need to look at our by-laws and make sure they fall in line with any changes in membership by-laws.
Harvey Smith then interrupted to let the club know that our president received a star on his chest for the activities of this club.
Boyd mentioned that as they have been cleaning out some of the club's old files they needed to know if any of the items they plan to pitch need to be saved for any reason. They have been looking for items and photos to use for our 50th club anniversary coming up.
At a previous meeting Pat Beckel announced several fun events coming up that are sure to create great memories.
DATE NIGHT - May 2 at Benham's Grove includes games (for adults) such as the Newlywed Game and other fun activities.
CIGAR & BOURBON EVENT - in May at Benham's Grove, $100 per person
SECOND FRIDAY EVENTS - May through August at Normandy Square
Arnie Biondo is still looking for a host family so we can sponsor a female exchange student next year. He suggested asking your friends and neighbors or your church, as the host does not have to be a Rotarian. Jen Gibbs noted before how wonderful the experience was for her entire family when they hosted Rodrigo. They got to learn about his culture, what a fantastic cook Rodrigo is, and they also got to know his parents.
President Preston mentioned at the last meeting and again today that the District 6670 2019 Golf Outing Monday, April 22 at Wetherington Golf & Country Club,
7337 Country Club Drive, West Chester, Ohio. There's a ten a.m. start. Breakfast, hole assignments, course and tourney instructions begin at 9 a.m. Entry fee is $100 per player. It includes continental breakfast, range balls, golf, cart, and lunch. The format is a four-person scramble. Deadline for registration was April 15. Soft spikes only, collared shirts and no denim.
Boyd said a four-some plans to go from our club: Jim Stuart, Don Stewart, Erich Eggers, and Jeff Senney.
Sgt.-at-Arms Erich Eggers and Club Treasurer Gerry Eastabrooks collected the Happy Bucks.
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HAPPY BUCKS: Happy Bucks this quarter go to Artemis House. The program supplies support and intervention for victims of domestic violence.
Many in the club gave for Artemis House and/or our guests, and others gave for just being Happy. Frank Perez gave for going on a vacation in South Carolina. Sofie Ameloot gave for a senior and Chuck King gave hoping his lawn mower is ready for use.
Jeff Senney gave for winning $100 yesterday in a basketball pool, only the sad part was he had to pay $200 to get in it.
Crissy Allums gave for being back at the club and being infatuated with the fun everyone has in being here.
Lee gave for his guest and $5 for his birthday.
Jim Harris was one of many happy to be here and happy for the guests.
Dale Berry gave for announcing that the Centerville High School band has been selected to march in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in 2020, giving them time to gather the funding for going there.
Mike Wier said in 1982 his son was in the CHS band when they got to be in the parade, and that it was "a great, great experience."
Carol Kennard gave for Sofie's daughter helping out last Thursday at Oak Grove Park shelter, where they prepared five tables for the April 27 painting of game boards on them. Carol said Sofie's daughter has just turned 18 and is a member of the Interact Club at CHS, which is designing the game boards.
Judy Budi gave for being late, having been in Cincinnati, and said the scholarship applicants have all been taken care of.
Don Stewart said he was glad to be back and to be taking part in the District Golf Tournament coming up.
Boyd gave for the visitors and for not wearing his star, which he said he was too humble to wear.
Ron Hollenbeck gave for Artemis House, the guests and for the Blue Jackets of Columbus winning over Tampa Bay in the NHL. Tampa Bay had been beating everyone else all along, and The Blue Jackets showed them a thing or two.
Dick Hoback led the group in the singing of Happy Birthday for those Rotarians born in April.
Speakers of the Week: Former First Lady of Ohio Hope Taft, with Little Miami Watershed Network, and Aaron Rourke, Regional Scenic River Manager, President of Rivers Unlimited.
Club Vice President Frank Perez introduced our speakers.
Here we see Ohio's former First Lady standing by the opening 50-year celebration message.
And here she is with Club Vice President Frank Perez.
Frank said Hope Taft has been involved in alcohol and other drug prevention activities at the local, state and national levels since she started a countywide coalition in 1986.
He said that after moving to Greene County, she became involved in maintaining the quality of the Little Miami River and its watershed, and was instrumental in the formation of the Little Miami River Kleeners and the Little Miami Watershed Network.
She graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1966 and married Bob Taft in 1967. She grew up in Camden, Arkansas. The Tafts’ have one daughter, Anna, who founded and directs the Tandana Foundation, an NGO working in Ecuador and Mali, West Africa. Bob and Hope now live in Greene County, on the Little Miami River.
Frank introduced her co-speaker Aaron Rourke, noting he is President of Rivers Unlimited.
Aaron mentioned the groups early work to help manage the rivers for water quality and usefulness, as further described in the description below.
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Rivers Unlimited was founded in 1972 to work for the restoration and protection of Ohio's rivers and streams. It is the nation’s oldest statewide river conservation group. Its founders and like-minded conservationists founded River Network, the national umbrella organization. For forty-two years, RU has worked with citizens to cultivate grassroots stewardship of their waterways.
The founding board members convened originally in response to a national wave of dam-building and channel-straightening projects which threatened numerous Ohio streams. Locally, RU had a hand in forging a compromise agreement which left the main stem of the Little Miami River free-flowing, with flood control provided by dams on two of the three main tributaries - Caesar Creek and the East Fork of the Little Miami. The lakes behind these dams now are the focal points of state parks named for the tributaries.
In the early days, the nascent Ohio Scenic Rivers Program and the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Program were gathering steam, and RU played a key role in bringing the first Ohio river – the Little Miami – designations in both the state and national programs. Ohio has the oldest scenic river designation program in the nation. It predates even the federal program. The Little Miami River was the first river designated in the program. RU has continued to be a principal advocate for Ohio’s program, defending it against budget cuts, raising money to augment its funding, and working to bring designation to more rivers.
Aaron said the group has shown what you can save even with development.
There are now 15 scenic rivers in Ohio protected under the Ohio Scenic River Law ORC 15476.82, he said. Private property rights are protected under ORC Sect. 1547.81, he said.
Southwest Ohio has three of the 15 Ohio Scenic Rivers.
They are the Little Miami River, the Stillwater River, and the Greenville Creek.
Hope Taft said that to become an Ohio Scenic River you need a letter of support, a designated study, a public comment period, and the ODNR Director's Journal Entry to make it official. Then after 30 days it can become final.
Ohio Scenic Rivers must have outstanding water quality, a contiguous filter strip or riparian forest buffer, limited human intrusion, high biological diversity, and local support.
When the river is shaded by trees such as the Sycamore and Cottonwood, the river is cooled, Brad said. Leaves that fall into the water help ad nutrients for the next year, Aaron said.
A picture of the Jeremiah Morrow Bridge was shown. It sits 235 feet above the LMR and has a span of 2,252 feet. It is Ohio's highest bridge.
Aaron said the LMR falls four feet per mile in our area.
The LMR has a high biological diversity. There are freshwater mussels, the Bluebreast Darter, and Hellgramite.
Hope Taft said the LMR is both a State and National Scenic River, running for 107 miles.
Aaron said it has the best quality ecology.
Hope said it is used for recreation, with biking, fishing, geology, with bedrock in Clifton Gorge, and is historic, with five mills on it at one time. There are archaeological features, with Fort Ancient and the Hopewell Indians 2,000 years ago. This is now part of the World Heritage Site nomination of Ohio Hopewell Cultural Sites.
It is in a frost free zone north into Lake Erie or south into the Ohio River, Aaron said.
There are a lot of up and down elevations, Hope said. She said 44 species of freshwater mussels have been recorded. Three are federally endangered and all are in decline statewide.
Protecting the waterways are important because while there has only been a ten percent increase in population, there's been an 85 percent increase in hard surfaces by the river.
It takes 500 year to make top soil, Aaron said.
As for the scenic river, "We use it. We love it," Hope said. And we need to preserve it "because we owe it to our children."
It's important to upgrade zoning codes and update land use, and use best practices and sustainable development.
People have to remember that what you pour into the storm drainage goes into your local creeks.
In closing, Hope said, "What are you leaving your children and grandchildren? Think about it and do your part."
The following picture shows all the Scenic Rivers in Ohio to date.
And here.
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