President Arnie Biondo, welcomed everyone to the Centerville Rotary Club and led the club in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Ray Merz provided the prayer and then Lee Hieronymus, Jeff Senney, and Dick Hoback led singing of God Bless America.
The Rotary theme this month is Disease Prevention and Treatment.
The quote for today: "When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it." By HENRY FORD
Announcements today:
- Thanks to our greeter today, Chuck King and thanks to Adam Manning for filling in when President Biondo was sick or out of town.
- Welcome to our guests, Gina Smith, guest of Carol Kennard and prospective member, and recently Board approved members Rand Oliver and Bob Sacks.
Carol Kennard and Boyd Preston welcomed Centerville-Washington Park District Director Kristen Marks and Park Commissioners Alex Pearl and Jeff Senney for a presentation.
Carol gave a quick overview of the Club’s decision to select a 50th Anniversary project, noting the Grant Park renovation project was favored since it gave us the opportunity to enhance the natural environment and also upgrade the Rotary Memorial. She then presented President Pearl with a check for $35,000 as the remainder of our contribution to that program.
Boyd noted the total donation was just over $51,000, but that the club had paid directly for some items. Kristen shared more details about the park project and invited all to go visit, as the new parking lot is now open.
President Biondo shared a few items from last night’s Board meeting:
- Approved 2 new board members
- Wyatt Thorp attended (new member checklist item)
- Don Stewart reported we are in good shape financially
- Next quarter Happy Bucks will go toward Florida disaster relief
Sofie Ameloot reminded all to RSVP for the Christmas party on Thursday, December 15, 6:30 pm at Yankee Trace. Bring your partner or friend who is interested in joining the club! Let her know if you are attending or reply to her email.
Crissy Allums reminded that today 3-6 pm is drop off at Cline Elementary School for the Adopt a Family gifts or Monday from 7-10 am at Centerville Schools Central Office on Virginia Ave.
This quarter our Happy Bucks will go for Puerto Rico hurricane relief. Pat Beckel was our Sergeant-at-Arms.
Pat Beckel announced the Freedom Whiskey event raised $35,000 for Veterans PTSD and thanked our Rotary Club for the sponsorship. He mentioned with that with the holidays coming up, remember it’s about getting together with family, so don’t stress over the perfect turkey! He spent time on east coast with his sons - NY, University of PA, Greenwich, Ct and Philadelphia
Happy Bucks were generously given for:
- Jeff Senney’s grandson and his dad ran the turkey trot. His 11 yr old grandson ran the 5 miles in 32 min and won the division. His dad came in close behind him but was chased by a turkey at the last minute.
- Ashlee Walton announced everyone in her family has been sick, including her daughter who had scarlet fever! All got better right before Thanksgiving and are healthy now.
- Kristen Marks gave $5 from Boyd and doubled it to thank Rotary for the donation to the Park District and she was thankful her 9 and 12 yr old boys were helpful with the Thanksgiving meal this year.
- Carol Kennard was thankful for being with kids/grandkids for Thanksgiving, and really thankful that although her youngest granddaughter came down with the flu while they were there, she has remained healthy. She was also thankful for the CWPD guests and prospective member Gina Smith.
- Crissy Allums gave thanks for support from Rotarian of community projects which have led to success.
- Kelly McDonald was happy to get the garage cleaned over the Thanksgiving holiday since the weather was so nice.
- Dan Johnson happy for our new members.
- Kim Senft-Paras was thankful for Thanksgiving in Massachusetts with 2 sick grandkids, and for making it through the snow in Buffalo.
- Bill Menker for the new members.
- Ron Hollenbeck for Thanksgiving, and brought attention to the banner and cup he brought back from his 8 day trip to Mexico for the Heart to Heart program. It is a great Rotary partnership, where they assist with hospital equipment, refurbish bathrooms in schools, and hospital corsets for scoliosis patients. He shared that while he was away, his wife was the walking dog, when 2 other dogs attacked his dog. Fortunately a neighbor came to help and no one got hurt.
- Dick Hoback participated in the Adopt a Family program by purchasing for a 15 year old boy so he was glad to find the gifts on the wish list from stores he’d never visited before.
- Lee Hieronymus gave the final farm report - corn is all all done, and now they’re waiting for the river to get bigger. And he is going to Hawaii next week.
- Susan Schnell was thankful for her 28th wedding anniversary and she handed in the last 2 assignments for this semester so she is officially halfway done with her graduate program.
- Boyd Preston was happy for the progress at Grant Park and noted the competition between Kim and Carol used to focus on the number of grandkids, but now is on who has the sickest grandkids!
- Harvey Smith said he was proud of this club. In the 50 years since they started club we have done amazing things around world and locally.
- Dale Berry was happy to see more than 40 people here today and hopes we get back to 55-60 again soon.
- Rand Oliver said this is the one and only time he will be referred to as new, next week he will be an old member at the old guys’ table.
- Chuck King was happy for the new members and ladies teeing off again today.
- Bob Sack was glad his membership application was approved.
- Jim Harris gave for the new members and visitors.
- Mark Balsan for the new members.
- Brad Thorp for new members and noted he has yard work Boyd could help with.
- Our speaker, Cindy Comperchio was happy to live/work in this community.
- Adam Manning was happy to beat pneumonia.
- Brad Huffman had a great birthday in Florida and enjoyed watching CHS band march at Disney. He then thanked elected/appointed officials for the tough work they do.
- Sofie nice Tgiving girls, and Greg’s family; Delphine collecting food for Food Bank, until Dec 16
- Ray Tgiving with family in Perrysburg
- Elda St Louis Tgiving, met Jen Gibbs at DLM and says hi. Promoted, supervising 6 facilities
- Arnie Biondo was happy to be back this week.
- Dave Trout was happy to have Rand Oliver back, and noted he had a run in with a German Shepherd but came out ok.
Our guest speaker today was Cindy Comperchio with the United Way.
Cindy Comperchio has been in Dayton for 10 years and is a former member of the Lebanon Rotary club. She lives in Centerville, and enjoys community support, pets, hiking, and camping. Prior to being with the Unite Way, she worked in banking & Senior Care.
She started by saying she was a mean mom - every summer she gave her kids a project to do. One summer they were required to work for Rotary. They made cookies/brownies to sell in the neighborhood and raised over $300 for the dictionary project.
Cindy came prepared to talk about the Strong Family Initiative, but instead, decided it was more important to share about the HelpLink 211 program as people are struggling to give families a good holiday,
HelpLink 211 is supported by United Way and is a referral service. You can call and talk to someone about whatever your issue is. They are able to be connected you to an organization for assistance.
Cindy said she noticed on the Next Door app, 5 people said they needed help in just the last week. She directed them to Helplink 211
The Dayton HelpLink 211 provides coverage for a 15 county area, as some of the smaller United Way offices don’t have enough staff.
They provide connections to over 225 different organizations in Greene, Montgomery, and Preble counties.
Cindy asked everyone to take a business card with 211 info on back - give to someone in need. The needs are not always financial. It could be help raking, need transportation, or school supplies, for example.
Rotary recognizes needs out there, so keep HelpLink 211 in mind as we encounter needs. Cindy is concerned about the winter forecast, which could result in higher utility bills. They anticipate calls will go up 20-25%.
United Way supports a number of agencies and initiatives primarily in Montgomery County. Many give money to UW through workplace campaigns but those are raising a lot less than they used to. They used to decide what percentage is allocated per program need, but found overlap between some agencies, so now they are supporting a primary initiative called Strong Families. It works to keep kids in their home school, offering financial strength through financial literacy.
The 211 program started 25-30 years ago. Every UW across the country is covered by 211. It provides help with just about anything you can imagine.
Our 50th Anniversary project continues to progress! Thanks to Boyd Preston for these photos!
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