President Brian Hayes welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Centerville Rotary Club and led the group in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Brian then provided the prayer.
President Brian had these announcements:
Thought of the moment – artist Andy Warhol once said, “Sometimes people let the same problem make them miserable for years when they could just say “So what.” That is one of my favorite things to say. “So what.”
Club Business – Past President, Frank Perez shared the slate of officers for the Centerville Rotary Board for 2022-23.
Lee Hieronymus made a motion, Wayne Davis seconded, and the club unanimously approved the slate of officers.
The annual MLK Breakfast is January 17 – here at Yankee Trace. Brian announced there were still two tickets left, which were quickly claimed.
Our next Board Meeting is Monday, January 10th at 5:30 pm via zoom. Be looking for the link tomorrow in your e-mail.
Today our Guest Speaker is Jen Dean from the Therapeutic Riding Institute and she will receive a proper introduction in a few moments.
Ron Hollenbeck shared again that our club recently received two awards recognizing our generosity. The Polio Plus challenge was for every club to donate $1,500. We not only met that challenge, but exceeded it by donating almost $12,000. Our club donations were $270 per capita, making us the #1 club in District 6670. The next highest club gave $170 per capita. Congratulations!
Bill Menker kicked off our 50th Anniversary year announcing we would be sharing trivia and information about our club and Rotary each meeting. The information will revolve around the Rotary monthly themes, with this month being Vocational Service. Did you know the Rotary Classifications are listed on all on badges? RI started with a list of what classifications you could have in the club, but no longer limits those. Bill looked at our archives and found a Beacon newsletter from 1986. The back page included the complete roster of our 63 members, including a column for “wife”, as women were not allowed in Rotary until the late 1980s. In this issue, 39 individual classifications were represented. Today’s trivia question was, “In September 1986, what was the top classification represented in our club?” Brad Thorp won a box of Esther Price with his guess of Education - there were 6 people with that classification.
Brian announced we collected $1,822 for our charity for last quarter Blue Star Mothers (of America) – which we hope to be able to present at an upcoming meeting.
President Brian thanked Elda Gotos-Gay for the cupcakes she brought for everyone!
This quarter we are collecting Recovery Bucks to help the relief efforts in Kentucky where there was much devastation from the tornado that was on the ground for 250 miles. Pat Beckel was our Sergeant at Arms today.
Recovery Bucks were given by:
- Ginger Clark was happy to be back with everyone and announced this Saturday 9am-1pm, the Park District will be collecting items for recycling. Drop off styrofoam, batteries, toothpaste tubes, and more. Check cwpd.org for more information.
- Jeff Senney had a great Christmas in Cleveland with kids/grandkids and is going to Hawaii in mid-Feb
- Brad Thorp gave for relief efforts in KY
- John Last had a fun Christmas with his sister & her kids
- Chuck King gave for a good 2022
- Ron Hollenbeck had a great Christmas with 2 granddaughters and their parents and announced today is Boyd Preston’s birthday which he shares with Joan of Arc
- Boyd Preston gave for his birthday, the holiday season, and for KY relief
- Kim Senft-Paras gave for KY relief and for a great Christmas in Colorado with 2 of her 3 daughters. They did lots of hiking and climbing mountains, and missed the wildfires by one day
- Adam Manning gave for KY relief, and noted he got an air fryer for Christmas which completely changed his life
- Don Stewart shared his son, Drew lives in CO but was home for Christmas and couldn’t return since area was evacuated. Fortunately, his apartment complex wasn’t burned but the hospital he worked in received smoke damage
- Carol Kennard gave for KY relief, and for a great Christmas with 4/5 grandkids, playing games, baking, and doing crafts.
- Harvey Smith said his family is spread all over the country, but they had a great zoom on Christmas afternoon. They were able to visit for 2 hours (thanks to Zoom for eliminating the 45 min limit that day). Family was is California, Las Vegas, Washington DC, Florida, and Ohio
- Uriah Anderson decided 2022 is going to be a great year, so there you have it!
- Dick Hoback had the crappiest Christmas - half of his family got COVID, so they only had 13 at Christmas dinner when they usually have 22
- Frank Perez had a great Christmas, and his wife pointed out everything he got was a toy or toy related!
- Tom Broadwell had a quiet Christmas due to COVID, and is looking forward to going to Palm Springs for 2 weeks next month
- Jim Harris had a great Christmas as all kids/grandkids made it here from Canada
- Bob Fry wished everyone a Happy New year, noting the holidays were a busy, fun time, and he’s happy to be back at Rotary
- Judy Budi gave for KY relief, and noted working for a 24/7 staffing facility with Omicron challenges, she is looking forward to the month being over.
- Chrissy Allums gave for Pat’s sense of humor, and OSU’s win at the Rose Bowl
- Wayne Davis was happy
- Elda Gotos-Gay had quiet holiday season, which she enjoyed
- Bill Menker announced he joined the American Red Cross Disaster Team. He also announced the library is currently out of COVID test kits, last deliveries went out in just 2 hrs. He said the ODH focus is getting test kits to K-12 schools now, with libraries on hold. Check the library website for availability.
- Lee Hieronymus enjoyed his first Christmas as married man. Noted he broke is heel in late September and was in a plastic boot for long time. He hopes to be walking normal in 6 months
- Pat Beckel was proud of his son who is a sophomore in HS who was just awarded his second Academic All American award; and his other son who is a freshman also received an Academic All American award
- Brian Hayes gave for KY relief
Our speakers today were from the Therapeutic Riding Institute and included
Jen Dean, Development Director, Jess Rice, Equine Manager & Instructor, and Sam Ingersoll, Assistant Program Manager, Volunteer Coordinator & Instructor.
Jen Dean shared that the Therapeutic Riding Institute is a 501(c)3 organization, located in Spring Valley near Waynesville. They provide equine assisted services for children and adults with special needs. She shared a video about Chase which you can view
HERE.
In the video, Chase’s parents noted this is the only event both of their kids have been able to do together. While on horse, Chase is able to focus. Chase is non-verbal but he first said, “please” when he wanted to ride a horse.
Jess Rice then shared they are currently serving 60 students/week but are off for the winter months as they don’t have heated facility. The program has an impact on the students and the 200+ volunteers that help each year. The volunteers experience the joy of students as they ride.
There is a large variety of disabilities they serve and this year offered a Caregivers program to help them manage and cope with stress.
The program serves a limited number of Veterans, but don’t have a full Veteran’s program now. They see a lot of teens/adults with anxiety and depression issues.
The program is limited by having only one indoor arena. Hope to increase to 115 per session next year, but need staffing and funding. They plan for three 10-wk sessions next year plus summer camp. Started in 1973 off Clyo Road in Centerville, and purchased a 23-acre farm after major fundraiser in 2019. They moved into the new facility and then COVID halted everything.
The student’s cost is about $450 per session and they have a scholarship fund to help with fees (funded by donors.) It is an accredited facility with certified instructors. Funding comes from fundraising and grants.
They currently have 8 horses and it costs around $5,000/horse per year for care.
Referrals are mostly by word of mouth, or school system referrals and Google search. They often times have a waiting list;
The club then sang the birthday song led by Brad Thorp for Boyd. Happy Birthday, Boyd!
President Brian noted next week our speaker will be Troy DIllabaugh and he will discuss Allstate Worksite Benefits.
Brian led the group in reciting the 4 Way Test and wished all a great week.
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