President Arnie Biondo welcomed everyone to the Centerville Rotary Club and led the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance. PDG Harvey Smith provided the prayer.
Quote of the day: "Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, as long as ever you can." John Wesley
The club sang Happy Birthday to Dale Berry, who is celebrating a special birthday!
Our special guest today was Dayton Rotarian, Bob Daley who shared information about the upcoming Washington Township RecPlex Levy, Issue 4, on the ballot May 2. It is a 1.5 mill levy, replacing an expiring 1 mill levy. It provides 50% of the RecPlex revenue, with the rest coming from user fees and grants. The levy provides:
- Programming and services inclusive of all ages and abilities including the fitness center, walking track, climbing wall, pools and waterslides, summer camps, senior center, Town Hall Theatre, and more.
- Ensures the recreation department can recruit and retain qualified and professional staff.
- Helps fund the recreation department's operating budget through a cost recovery model. This model balances user fees, memberships, and grants with tax dollars.
For more information, visit
Yes4Rec.com. There is also a tool on
washingtontwp.org where you can enter your address to see exactly what you would pay for this levy.
Guests today also included: soon to be member Nicolas Hutton, Lisa Goris May’s guest Andrea Share, our speaker today, Jill Waters and her Dad (who she is trying to get to join Rotary), Joe Scott from the Oakwood Rotary Club, and Mike Williams guest of Jim Stuart who both played 9 holes of golf before Rotary.
Club announcements:
- Brad Huffman said we need volunteers to help with the upcoming Golf Outing, especially a photographer. Check the email that went out or let Brad or Adam know how you can help.
- Frank Perez said we have 72 golfers registered but reminded that he needs names of golfers with the sponsorships. Next Friday is the deadline.
- Rotary Board meeting announcements
- Cody, Sherre, & Socks attended
- Nick & Kristin Hutton will be inducted next week
- Rand Oliver & Scott Kujawa will be offering CPR training for Rotarians, watch for details
- Crayons to Classroom upcoming service project
- Sofie Ameloot reported we have received 10 scholarship applications so far. The committee will go through and then set up interviews.
Happy Bucks this quarter are going to East Palestine Rotary Club. Erich Eggers was our Sergeant at Arms with assistance by Jim Stuart.
Happy Bucks were given generously:
- Jim Stuart thanked Mike for joining today.
- Carol Kennard for having lunch with Bob Daley, who she then convinced to move from the Dayton to Centerville Rotary Club!
- Susan Schnell was back after a few weeks away, she’s glad to be done with the semester, and happy to see so many new faces.
- Sofie Ameloot gave thanks for the condolences and notes upon the passing of her dad, and noted it has been an eventful week - she chopped her thumb, Delphine tore her other knee so is back on the surgery wagon, and daughters MT and Delphine celebrated birthdays!
- Ger Eastabrooks for all the new faces; she needs to learn some names!
- Crissy Allums for all new members.
- Jeff Senney visited son & family, watched Cleveland Guardians play the Nationals, going to Boston next weekend for a get to know you baby party with his son’s wife’s family.
- Amy Hary was grateful.
- Dick Hoback for East Palestine.
- Jim Harris for new members.
- Elda Gotos-Gay was happy to see Bob (a fellow St Leonards resident).
- Scott Kujawa shared info on the tables about the upcoming Fire levy.
- Harvey Smith for the beautiful spring day.
- Brad Huffman said it was good to be back.
- Dale Berry gave thanks for the birthday greetings, and noted also on the ballot May 2 is Issue 5, a renewal levy for Fire Emergency Services. Reminded all to get out and vote on May 2
- Gina Smith had a good author event last weekend.
- Uriah Anderson for his tardiness today as he got delayed while interviewing for open staff positions at the Joyce Young center.
- Matt Kuhn glad to be back from LA and got to meet his future in-laws.
- Lee Hieronymus feels a weight has been lifted as he turned in his taxes. Celebrated by being on a tractor for 4 hours today.
- Mark Febus for Dale Berry’s birthday.
- Dan Johnson said 4/5 of his family have birthdays at same time, so he is ready to put all those parties behind him.
- Brad Thorp announced next week he begins his retirement thanks to son Wyatt taking over the business. He is heading to Pinehurst, Montenegro, Tennessee, and other places and will be back in a month.
- Rand Oliver was glad to be back from FL and glad to help with the golf outing.
- Chuck King happy to see Joe as he helps with Ron at the Grotto on Tuesdays.
- Arnie Biondo happy his two brothers are coming to visit today.
- Cody Terrell was happy that the next time we see him, he will have played softball.
- Ray Merz announced his oldest grandson is getting married next year and will pursue post doc work at U of Wisconsin-Madison.
- Jill Waters for the great room full of strangers, who treat her like we’re good friends.
- Adam Manning happy to see everyone.
- Brian Hayes for Jill and her dad.
- Socks Bowersocks happy his daughter Andrea is going to join, and his 16 yr-old great-granddaughter is starring in her High School production as Annie.
- Andrea Share for sitting between two of her favorite people.
- Lisa Goris May for sitting in this room, for Andrea, and for her daughter finishing her 28th round of chemo.
Our speaker today was Dr. JIll Waters, an Oakwood Rotarian with a PhD in Clinical Psychology. She lives in Centerville and has a passion for international travel.
Jill Waters spoke to the club on what polio looks like, and gave a call to action.She stated most of us are familiar with Rotary’s Polio Plus program, but wanted to share some stories of what polio looks like.
Polio is an ancient disabling and life threatening disease. It starts with flu like symptoms and usually gets better in 2-5 days. Some will develop meningitis, and some will develop brain and spinal cord issues. One in 2,000 victims develop paralysis of respiratory muscles.
A vaccine was developed and is most commonly administered as drops. Can have some minor side effects, but nothing compared to suffering with polio.
By the end of 1980, America was totally free of polio. In 1988 the Rotary global polio campaign began and in 2007, the Bill Gates Foundation joined the fight providing much needed funding. The lack of vaccine adherence was evident with new cases of polio starting to show up in the US.
Not all Rotary clubs participate on the international community level. Many rarely send people to see the impact of their donations to the polio programs.
Jill announced they are planning a vaccination trip to India in 2024 and are looking for 10 Rotarians from the Dayton/Cincinnati location to participate.
Jill shared information about the recent trip in 2022 to India.
- Stayed in 4-5 star hotels
- Made sure safe travel in international country while there.
- Explored India on Day 3,
- Day 4 Taj Mahal
- Day 5 free evening in Jaipur
- Day 6 visited limb factory (rotary project) and had dinner with Jaipur Rotary Club.
- Day 7 back to Delhi,
- Day 8 talked to patients at hospital that specialized in post polio surgeries, and rotary club events
- Day 9 Rotary rally and project.
- Day 10 administered polio vaccinations
- Day 11 returned home
Costs $2,600 per person based on double occupancy. $950 supplement if going as single. Air fare is an additional $1500 on average.
Being able to see the impact of the Rotary Polio program on people’s lives is most meaningful.
Jill noted the identified barriers include you may not have the money or don’t have the time.
She takes money donations for those who can’t go but can support those who don’t have the money.
If interested, send your info to Jill. 707-339-2338
President Biondo announced next week’s happy bucks will go toward this project.
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