The Rotary Club of
Centerville, OH
 
Chartered 1972
eBulletin - January 7, 2021
Centerville Rotary Meeting Highlights
President Frank Perez welcomed everyone and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
 
Rev Harvey Smith gave a prayer with special remembrance for Joyce Young who passed away last week. We lost a good member of our club, a woman who gave a lot to this community and the whole area. No service scheduled because of COVID restrictions.
 
 
President Frank noted Joyce’s passing hit us all really hard. He encouraged others to give back to the community as she always did. He then gave the following announcements/preview to 2021
 
  • In regards to Zoom vs in person meetings, the District prefers no in-person before March 1. Hopefully shortly afterwards we can be back in person if conditions improve, cases are down and vaccine rollout is strong. Yankee Trace is closed for remodeling through March. Will discuss at Board meeting Monday night.
  • Membership is up to all of us to work on. Reach out to our existing members and invite new people to join us. Board members will be asked to reach out to those who have not been able to attend Zoom meetings. Everyone should reach out to their Rotary friends. Everyone is asked to look for new members and invite to the Zoom meetings.
  • Golf outing - May 8, 2021 new fundraiser; hope it becomes a secondary fundraiser for the club. Help maintain scholarships and help maintain other club activities since we don’t charge club dues. We will continue to do Pancake Breakfast in the fall as our main fundraiser.
  • Social media – Rebecca Quiñones has taken over the club’s social media and encourages everyone to like and engage with some or all of our platforms - Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Gives us a better reach when you interact with our posts. Links will be included in the bulletin each week. Facebook will have most content. Instagram will be more photo driven. LinkedIn was revitalized this week, and is more for professional connections. Reach out to Rebecca, Carol or Frank if you need help. To show our club is engaging, we have to be more active on social media. We will then show up more in searches. Birthdays are new post - stop in to give wishes.
 
 
  • January Board meeting is this Monday, 1/11, at 5:30 pm. It will be a zoom meeting, and all are invited to attend, listen in, and give your opinions. Runs for around 1 hour.
Happy Bucks
Our Happy Bucks recipient will be decided on at this Monday’s Board meeting, so for today, just be happy for everything. You can send your check to the club mailbox:  Centerville Rotary Club, PO Box 41431, Centerville, OH 45458
 
Boyd Preston was Sergeant at Arms and started Happy Bucks by donating $20 in memory of Joyce Young, for all of the birthday wishes, and for the amazing Cleveland Browns who are in the playoffs.
Dale Berry gave $10 in remembrance of his dear friend and political partner, Joyce.
Carol Kennard gave $20 in memory of Joyce, who was an inspiration and valuable part of our community. She will be missed.
Arnie Biondo gave $15 for Joyce, who was the first Rotarian he met at Pancake Day, for the Exchange students presenting today, and for his entire family finally recovering from COVID.
Elda Gotos-Gay gave $50 in memory of Joyce.
Jim Harris gave $10 for Joyce, saying she was such a wonderful person who’s presence was always felt at our meetings. He is also thankful none of our congressmen were injured yesterday at the Capitol building.
Rebecca Quiñones gave $10 in memory of Joyce and that she’s enjoying having her family together in New Mexico.
Brad Huffman gave $30 noting Joyce was such an inspiration and a very strong and nice person, always asked about his kids. He also thanked Rebecca for all of the great social media work and OSU for their latest win.
Chuck King gave $20 noting Joyce was a great lady, and how he learned the value of wi-fi for his new washer and dryer, as it gives him messages when the laundry is done.
Judy Budi gave $100 as the new year brings hope, in memory of Joyce, for receiving the 2nd vaccine this week, and that she and Gerry will become grandparents in May.
Kim Senft-Paras gave $20 in honor of Joyce, who was her Rotary sponsor, and noted she will be greatly missed. She is also happy that 2 of her 3 daughters got vaccine.
Peachy Metzner gave $20 in memory of Joyce, who was one of the most positive and kind people he ever met. She always thought of others and will be missed.
Brian Hayes gave $10 in honor of Joyce.
Harvey Smith gave $20 for Joyce noting we’ll really miss her. He was happy since he got his first coronavirus shot on Monday and has had no side effects.
Frank Perez gave $20 in memory of Joyce and is happy for the Cleveland Browns.
 
 
Our speakers today were Abbie Brunner and Autumn Gray, Rotary Exchange Students. 
 
Arnie Biondo introduced our speakers for the day, Abbie Brunner, and Autumn Gray who were Rotary Exchange Students to Finland this past year. Arnie thanked Abbie & Autumn for taking a break from online school to speak to our club today. Abbie is a Miamisburg student, while Autumn attends Bellfontaine. They are the only two students who were able to spend the entire year in exchange during the pandemic.
 
Autumn Gray shared many photos of her exchange experience in Finland. She said Rotary sponsored many events including to an amusement park, bowling night, Christmas party, and more.
Trips were cancelled after COVID, but she got to take one to Santa’s Village in Sweden, with a Christmas centered area. She mostly enjoyed being out in nature and enjoyed snowboarding and kayaking,
Autumn said she got to see the world through the eyes of a pilot at an Air Force Museum, participated in a Prom dance and Halloween party. She spent the most time with her first host family from August - January and really enjoyed all of her host families. She shared photos of some of the food she enjoyed, and translation of some phrases she learned.
Autumn noted she changed a lot from who she was when see first started her Exchange and is very grateful for the experience. The biggest problem is homesickness, but she knew it was just a year in her life and she would see her family again soon. Exchange changed her view of the world - Finland is more socialist/capitalist with higher taxes, free education, and free healthcare, which is really nice but she realizes it may not always work in all countries.
 
Abbie had some audio difficulties, but talked about how Finland handled COVID. She worried they would be deported, and saw a lot of friends who were sent home early. She was glad they got to stay. Stayed around home for the most part.
 
Her host families were the best things that happened to her. She was with the first family until after Christmas. They were a very musical family; the host father was pastor, and she was able to sing in the choir. She said sometimes the family would just burst into song.
Abbie’s second family didn’t work out as she was the only kid in house at the time. She was able to find another host family, and got really close to them. They had other kids/pets, and lived on farm so COVID was no problem.
 
School was all virtual classes, and she took mostly English and history classes. Most of her friends were exchange students. She feels they understand each other and build a special bond automatically.
She got to see other exchange students on trips, went to concerts before COVID shut things down, and found she could even sing along with some songs.
 
Abbie said she was able to visit Sweden twice since there was a ferry that ran between the two countries. She said Sweden was a beautiful country.
 
Ray Merz asked how the education compares with the USA. Autumn said she feels their curriculum was more advanced than her high school here. Felt the year below her knew more than she did. Tests for graduation are very intense. She felt inferior in a way with her schooling and said they are very smart people.
 
Arnie said, If you get a chance to meet these two in person, you’ll feel all is right with the world, and thanked them for sharing their experiences.
 
President Frank noted next week our speaker will be Kim Bramlage to talk about Polio vaccinations in India.
 
Frank led us in reciting the 4-Way Test, thanked everyone for being here and wished all a good week.
 
 
 
Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) directives, our Rotary club has gone back to Zoom meetings only. Please join us!
Club Information
Welcome to our Club!
Centerville
Service Above Self
Thursdays at 12:00 PM
Golf Club at Yankee Trace
10000 Yankee Street
Centerville, OH 45458
United States of America
All meetings via Zoom right now. Email President Frank Perez frankop49@gmail.com for the link.
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Sofie Ameloot
January 3
 
Boyd Preston
January 6
 
Susan Schnell
January 22
 
Spouse Birthdays
Maureen Perez
January 14
 
Join Date
Dick Hoback
January 1, 1974
47 years
 
Donald K. Gerhardt
January 1, 1974
47 years
 
Frank Perez
January 1, 1999
22 years
 
Jen Gibbs
January 1, 2013
8 years
 
Sally D. Beals
January 1, 1993
28 years
 
Wayne Davis
January 1, 2012
9 years
 
Jeffrey Senney
January 5, 2004
17 years
 
Boyd Preston
January 9, 2014
7 years
 
Arnie Biondo
January 15, 2015
6 years
 
Dan Johnson
January 17, 2013
8 years
 
Speakers
Jan 21, 2021
Shriners Hospital
Jan 28, 2021
Centerville Washington Park District "What makes us Golden"
Feb 25, 2021
Update on Centerville Washington History
Mar 04, 2021
Montgomery County Sheriff Mission and News
Mar 11, 2021
Miami Valley REgional Planning Council
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ROTARY THANKS
We received many thanks from 3rd and 5th graders for our donation of dictionaries and thesauri. Here are a few to enjoy!
 
 
 
 
 
And some thanks for the Adopt a Family supporters:
 
 
 
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