President Arnie Biondo welcomed everyone to the Centerville Rotary Club and led the Pledge of Allegiance. PDG Sivaji Subramaniam provided the prayer.
Frank Scott has COVID so is unable to speak today. We all wish him a speedy recovery.
Announcements today included:
- 50th anniversary report - Boyd Preston announced we will have a ground breaking in the fall for our project at Grant Park, trees have been purchased, and the engraved bricks ordered. Stay tuned.
- Jeff Senney introduced his guest, Ashlee Walton, who returned for another visit and seems very interested in the club!
- Mike Weir announced 37 tickets are still available for the Dragon’s game on August 4 at 7:05 pm. Let him know if you want tickets.
- President Biondo received word from the Rotary Club of Eaton that they need volunteers to help work at the Preble County Fair on July 30. Check the email from Arnie with more details.
The thought for the day: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” By Maya Angelou
Happy Bucks this quarter go to support Operation Warm, providing new winter coats to children.
Lee Hieronymus was our Sergeant at Arms today and he proceeded to “fleece the flock.”
Many gave generously:
- Mark Febus, Adam Manning, and Ron Hollenbeck were happy.
- Boyd Preston for his week in Tampa FL, and he shared that it is HOT in Tampa in the summer.
- Chuck King gave his last Happy Bucks for awhile because his air conditioning went out and he needs to replace it.
- Ger Eastabrooks was happy.
- Larry Marchand gave for a coat and said he’d give another $20 if Lee keeps his hand off him ;-) (Lee putting his hand on your shoulder was the signal to donate.)
- Jim Harris was happy.
- Chris Norman announced he’s happy to be joining the club.
- Dale Berry gave for a coat.
- Elda Goto-Gay announced her son is getting better.
- Bob Fry and Don Overly were happy.
- Jeff Senney commented on the dress code, as he wore the 50th polo to the anniversary dinner, while all else were dressed in ties. (Did he check the bulletin for recommended attire???)
- Ashlee Walton donated for a coat.
- Brad Thorp was happy.
- Matt Kuhn spent last weekend in Biloxi, MS where his son graduated top in his class in cyber warfare. He will be stationed in San Antonio.
- Arnie Biondo gave to announce the Board voted to admit Chris Norman to the club.
- Michael Norton-Smith for Agave & Rye, a new restaurant going in at the old Panera location in Uptown Centerville.
- Harvey Smith was happy.
- Mike Wier was happy.
- Tom Broadwell for a good morning.
- Robert Ford was happy.
- Carol Kennard for a great beach week with her kids/grandkids, which included seeing a shark in the ocean, and for granddaughter Kaycee’s 7th birthday.
- Frank Perez could not give as his wife got into his wallet! He will be happy next week.
- Crissy Allums for Operation Warm.
- Ray Merz was thankful to be here as often as his health permits.
- Sivaji Subramaniam was happy to see everyone.
- Lee Hieronymus announced he did well at the fairgrounds, having the grand champion feeder goat (which then went to market).
Our speaker this week was Adam Manning, Pancake Committee co-chair.
Adam said his co-chair Brad Huffman wasn’t able to attend today due to his air conditioning being out. After having to cancel the last two years, we are planning to have Pancake Day this year! (Fingers crossed!)
The club’s main fundraiser prior to 2001 was Spaghetti Dinner at Antonio’s Restaurant (where Sweeney’s is now). The staff prepared the meals and Rotarians served.Tony paid his staff to work our event. Over the years the operating costs kept rising so the decision was made to stop.
Adam said we are a full service restaurant from 7 am - 12 pm. He has 16 years in restaurant business so he welcomed the opportunity to chair this committee. In his restaurant, they put on a show every day and made sure everyone had a great experience.
Our Pancake Day is a great community event. It’s only $6 for all you can eat and takes a lot of volunteer help to make it run smoothly. In 2019 we had lots of help from Interact and CHS Honor Society volunteers.
Meals served usually hovers around 1,000 but that’s not evenly spread out over the open time. Around 9-9:30 am we get really busy and sometimes have a wait for tables.
Ticket sales - Each Rotarian is responsible to sell 25 tickets ($150). The top ticket seller over the past several years was Tom Broadwell. Can anyone beat his record this year?
The proceeds support student scholarships and other Rotary activities, including our 50th Anniversary project this year.
When COVID-19 hit and we had to cancel the Pancake Day, a new focus was suggested by Harvey Smith - a golf outing. Brad Huffman spearheaded the new fundraiser which helped mitigate the loss of Pancake Day funds.
What can you do in 2022? Join the Pancake Dream Team. First committee meeting is August 4, 11 am at Yankee Trace. Sign up, volunteer, bring a friend.
Adam then provided some inspirational messages:
- Goal from his first regional manager, Mike Sopko, “Butts in seats” - when you have people there, you’re successful.
- Carrabba’s owner, Johnny Carrabba shared “No love is more sincere than the love we put into our food.”
- And from our own Adam Manning, “Food brings them in, service brings them back.” They come in to support Rotary so we want to put our best foot forward and give them a great experience.
Adam shared a story about when he was first taking over the Pancake committee, he shared it with his parents. His dad just nodded but his mom had a concerned look on her face. She said, “Those poor people! Why would they put you in charge of their biggest fundraiser?” (Editor’s note: although his mom teased him, our club sure is fortunate to have Adam leading this successful fundraiser. Thanks, Adam!)
Adam said he adopted a style similar to Marco Pierre White, a famous chef who is a great cook, but can get crazy in the restaurant. Check out some of his videos on YouTube:
Adam closed saying with no Pancake Day for 2 years, the community will welcome it back AND it will take lots of work to make sure everyone has a great experience. Let him know how you would like to help!
Next week’s speaker will be Lee Truesdale of the Foodbank.
President Biondo led everyone in reciting the Rotary 4-Way Test and wished all a good week.
GREETER SCHEDULE
Please arrange for a sub if you are unable to greet on your assigned day.
July 28 - Judy Budi & Jeff Senney
August 4 - Ginger Clark & Kim Senft-Paras
August 11 - Nick Cruz & Susan Schnell
August 18 - Wayne Davis & Phil Raines
August 25 - Jack Durnbaugh & Rebecca Quinones
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