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Rotary's Theme for 2015-16
The GREETERS:
06/16/16 Carrie Lifer and Gary Kuntz
06/23/16 Sivaji Subramaniam and John Callander
06/30/16 Dave Wolf and Tom Broadwell
07/06/16 Dan Johnson and Judy Budi
If you cannot greet on the day assigned, contact Kitty and she will schedule a replacement.
The guests at the meeting included: Frank Perez, a former member of the club, guest of Arnie Biondo, who has been accepted back into the club and will be installed July 7; and Jennifer Webb, of Key Bank. She has been a Farmersville Rotarian and now that she is back in this area, is thinking of joining our Centerville Rotary Club. Welcome to both. The club also welcomed four of the six Rotary Scholarship Award winners who could attend, along with their families. See below for more information on them.
Greeters at the next meeting will be Carrie Lifer and Gary Kuntz. Help our new members get to know you as they greet you.
The Centerville Rotary Club met at the Clubhouse at Yankee Trace at noon. President Brad Thorp led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, Ray Merz gave the prayer, acknowledging our scholarship winners, and the parents of the these fine students for their community spirit and goals to better the world they live in, and for the fellowship of all at the meeting. Brad also led the singing of God Bless America. It sounded very good with the increased number of voices joining in.
Announcements:
President Brad Thorp welcomed the scholarship winners and their families and then called club member Boyd Preston to come up front to be presented with his pin for his third donation of $1,000 to the Paul Harris Foundation.
When someone yelled, "Speech, speech," a spontaneous loud Noooo,.....Nooooooo went up from the club members, since it is a standing joke that Boyd is not known for cutting to the quick and making his speeches short. Boyd smiled and sat down.
Brad noted again that next year's Rotary convention will be held in June in Atlanta, GA. He said when the group went to Chicago one year they rented a van and Jack Workman drove them there. He said if a group wants to again rent a van to go together with Jack driving, they can do so. Though Jack was not at the meeting to give his consent.
Judy Budi, of the Membership Committee, said Frank Perez will be installed as a new member in July and noted that new member Chuck King has fulfilled his commitments of new membership, and now can rightfully wear his club badge without the new member ribbon.
Brad noted that a small group from the club, including Chuck King, Ed Flohre, and Ann Blackburn, had helped out recently at the Walton House Museum, and noted that the historical society would be glad to have the extra help in other matters.
Brad noted that the officer transition and installation of new officers will be at Benham's Grove at noon on June 23, so do not head towards Yankee Trace on that date.
Brad mentioned again that the Dorothy Lane Market in Washington Square, off Whipp Road will be the location of our next Rotary social event on June 27, a Monday, from 6 to 8 p.m. It will be for club members and significant others and spouses and family. You pay for whatever you choose to taste. Brad again reminded all, "for Rand's sake," he said, that "this is a social event, not a competition." This will be the first social event under the new regime, he said. The event will be held in the flower shop area and wine/beer area. Go left when you come into the store.
Brad said Project Blessing has been looking for relief volunteers to go to Texas to help out where there has been flooding. He said it would be in the Rosenberg, Tx., area, and that by Friday of this week they would have housing available for a team of at least two people to do some work in Texas. He has the contact information, he said.
Dave Trout donated four tickets to a Dragon's baseball game for the club to raffle off. When there were no bids, Peachy spoke up and offered $40 for the tickets, to the applause of the club members. The tickets were for a 2 p.m. game on Sunday. The tickets were about 7 rows back from the field...Way to go Dave and Peachy.
Many members gave their dollars for our student guests and/or their parents and family.
Kim Senft-Paras gave $7 for the student scholars and Brad Thorp gave $5, his for his sister getting married and he to be the one giving her away.
Rand Oliver gave $8, one for a non-Boyd speech, and others for some golfing exploits, etc.
Deb Dulaney gave a dollar for the scholarship winners and also for going to Hilton Head.
Carol Kennard said her parents came to visit and got to meet their new grandchild, and she gave another dollar for the scholarship winners.
Drew Carter said he got to meet Joey Votto.
Chuck King gave for getting rid of his yellow badge ribbon.
Carrie Lifer gave $5, one for an ultrasound of her baby being very positive and also for noting that she a football from the Bengals, signed by all of them that is available for a charity raffle by the club.
Dan Johnson said his wife is in her first trimester with their baby and that he's going to spend time at a Tennessee Lake.
Ron Hollenbeck said he was with family and friends.
Ray Merz gave for the scholarship winners.
Ed Flohre gave "a buck for Chuck," who he had sponsored.
Erich Eggers gave $5 for the scholarship winners.
Others not mentioned also gave, but it's sometimes hard to keep up with all of them.
HAPPY BUCKS:
Erich Eggers, our Sgt.-at-Arms collected Happy Bucks for Daybreak. He said he would just take two people from each table to talk to as we needed to leave time for our guests to speak.
Lee Hieronymus gave to recognize Miamisburg's upcoming BiCentennial Celebration in 2018. He brought in a big reflective sign announcing the bicentennial, and noted that from 1818 to 2018, the year the celebration will take place, much has changed in the city, including Lee, who grew up there. Lee put the sign at the back of the room, but as you can see from the picture, it has a way of taking center stage all by itself.
Below is our noted Lee Hieronymus and pals Jim Harris and John Callander
SPEAKERS: Club member Kim Senft-Paras introduced the four Rotary Club Scholarship award recipients in attendance at the meeting. They brought their parents and/or family members.
Kim's presentation follows:
"I want to welcome our guests to our Centerville Rotary Club scholarship winners’
luncheon," she said.
" We congratulate all of the graduates and their proud parents for everything
these students have accomplished.
For our guests, let me give you a brief overview of our mission. Rotary is an
International Service organization with clubs around the globe focused on clean water
and sanitation projects; polio irradiation; basic education and literacy; peace and
conflict resolution; maternal and child health; and economic and community
development. Interact and Rotaract are the branches of Rotary established to
encourage youth to participate in community service at an early age. There is an
Interact Club at Centerville High School. At your respective colleges, you might want to
consider joining their local Rotaract Club.
The Centerville Rotary Club’s Educational Foundation provides scholarships to
graduating seniors from the Centerville/Washington Township community. Criteria for
these awards is based on financial need, participation in service oriented projects, and
potential for success in college.
Members of the Foundation Committee are Dick Hoback, Mitch Biederman, Ray Merz,
Deb Dulaney and Ed Flohre. Dick is our secretary; Mitch serves as treasurer and I am
the executive director.
For 41 years, the Centerville Rotary Educational Foundation has giving scholarships to
graduating Washington-Centerville high school seniors. Since 1975, we have awarded
over $200,000.00 in scholarship money.
Money for this project is raised from our annual Pancake Breakfast, held the
fourth Saturday in October at Centerville High School. Mark your calendars now for
October 22, and plan to support an event that supports our community.
This year, 16 seniors from Dayton Christian Academy, Alter and Centerville High
School applied to our Foundation for scholarships and we awarded 6 scholarships
totaling $12,000.
Rotary’s motto, ‘service above self,’ has been exemplified by the four students Centerville
Rotary is honoring here today with $2,000 scholarships. Each of our winners will
introduce their families and briefly tell how their academic and career goals relate to
one or more of Rotary International’s areas of focus that I mentioned previously.
During our interviews with the students, some remembered receiving a dictionary or
thesaurus from the Centerville Rotary Club when they were in third or fifth grade. So
today, we want to add a special element to today’s presentation. Each student will
receive a book especially selected for them because of an interest, career or
educational goal described to the committee during the interview.
Claire Bebbington is a scholar athlete who represented Centerville High School as a
member of the National Honor Society and as a player on their soccer team. Her
service projects included Lunch Buddies, Elks Connector and SICSA. Her personal
references cite her leadership, dependability and humanity, all three of which were
recognized by the committee during her interview. Claire will attend The Ohio State
University to major in environmental engineering and hopes to find new ways to
eliminate the world’s water crisis. Out of Poverty: What Works When Traditional
Approaches Fail, by Paul Polak, is the book selected for Claire. It was suggested by
Design Outreach’s Greg Bixler when I asked him for a recommendation.
Kayla Flaute is a Centerville High School graduate who will attend the University of
Dayton to study early childhood education. Her scholastic activities included Centerville
Scholars Award, National Honor Society and the French National Honors Society. She
served as an Elk Connector and Chem Buddy in additional to helping young children
learn how to play volleyball. Kayla has been employed as a hostess at The Chop
House for the past two years. Her references detail her determination and tenacity as
well as her generosity and kind manner. One person wrote, ‘Kayla is a positive
influence on others in so many ways. The threads that runs through all of them
involves care of and for others.’ Kayla is receiving the book, Letters to a Young
Teacher, by Jonathan Kozol.
Gabrielle Johnson wrote in her application essay that ‘it is her dream to invent
something that changes the world for the better.’ Her plan is to attend the Brigham
Young University and major in mechanical engineering with a minor in Mandarin
Chinese. At Centerville High School, Gabrielle participated in Centerville Jazz Band
Color Guard, Engineering Club and Concert Choir as well as being recognized as a
National Merit Scholar. Her family moved to southern Ohio from the south and one of her
major community service activities reflects her passion for the Mississippi Delta area.
She worked in Gulf Coast cleanup after major storms and raised money to build a
playground in Waveland, Mississippi. Locally, she helped generate donations for the
local food bank and the Feed Ohio campaign. Because of her interest in mechanical
engineering and relocation to Montgomery County, the committee selected The Wright
Brothers by David McCullough for Gabrielle.
Nicole Ochieng is a Centerville High School graduate who will attend Baylor University
to major in pre-medical biology with the goal of becoming a medical doctor and
opening a medical clinic in Kenya, her mother’s home country. In high school, she was
a member of the Spanish Honor Society, the Biotechnology program, and the track and
field squad.
Her references note Nicole’s ability to maintain a rigorous high school
course load, working part-time at Wendy’s Restaurant, offering her services as a
volunteer, and achieving a respectable academic standing. Her community service
work included mentoring young math students and incoming high school freshman and
helping at blood drives. Mountains Beyond Mountains: the quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a
man who would cure the world, by Tracy Kidder, was the book selected for Nicole by the
committee.
Two of our winners could not be with us today. Casey Swoboda and Kaarthika Thakker
are travelling with their families. They will join us at our club meeting June 30.
Finally, I want to thank club members for their support through our annual Pancake
Breakfast of this important initiative we provide to our community."
Claire Bebbington introduced her mother, a school teacher, and said that her father Jim Bebbington, who works for the Dayton Daily News could not make the meeting. She said she want to go into bio-medical engineering, as she believes in making an effort to help bring clean water to areas of need. She said as a young girl she used to go down to a creek near their house and play in the water. She said she believes water filtration methods can help make safe drinking water and she wants to be of service to her community and those around her.
Kayla Flaute said she'd like to study abroad in France and plans to study early childhood education. She hopes to promote peace in the world and hopes it will begin in the classroom where she teaches.
Gabrielle Johnson said she enjoys problem solving and hopes in studying mechanical engineering to make a positive impact on people’s lives, doing service above self. She said she hopes that by accepting people as they are, she will be able to show love and hope and make a difference in people’s lives. People of all different backgrounds should be able to work together, she said.
Nicole Ochieng thanked our Rotary Club for giving her the scholarship award, which she hopes to put to good use in her mother's home country of Kenya. She would like to become a doctor and open a medical clinic there that would benefit all, she said. Giving hope to the people would be her gift to the world, she said.
President Brad Thorp gave each of the girls a coin with the 4-Way Test on it, noting that by remembering and/or looking at the words one can often be helped with decision making, as the test asks: Is it the truth? Will it be fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? and Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
Brad added that he had an ulterior motive for having his picture taken with the girls. "I have four sons," he said, "and I have never had my picture taken with four girls." And smart ones at that....
The short bios of our two absentee scholars, who were traveling with their parents, follow:
Casey Swoboda is also a Centerville High School graduate and as most of you know was Co-President of the Interact Club. His additional activities at the high school include National Honor Society, German Club, Environmental Club and Hiking Club all of which put him in the committee’s scholarship winner circle. Casey’s references cite his tenacity, good nature and ‘service above self’ style of leadership. He is a rock climber and life guard. Casey will attend the University of Cincinnati to major in organizational leadership. Casey is receiving the book High Altitude Leadership, by Chris Warner.
Kaarthika Thakker is also a Centerville High School graduate and also holds the title of Interact Co-President. Her academic awards coupled with her other numerous projects include National Merit Finalist, tutor, Physics Friend and business entrepreneur. Kaarthika’s references call her ‘intuitively brilliant, dependable and passionate.’ She will attend Rice University to study economics, poverty and justice with plans to pursue a Master’s degree in public health Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond is the title selected for Kaarthika by the committee.
