05/17/2018  Meet at Kennard Nature Nook..at Grant Park..Greeters will be Adam Manning and Doug Bockrath....carpool from Normandy Church on AB Road...

05/24/2018  Frank Perez and Tom Broadwell

05/31/2018  Carol Kennard and Sofie Ameloot

 

Our official greeters today were Adam Manning and Doug Bockrath who arrived in good time to greet all our members, except for those who came to set up and ever-late Jeff Senney, who came early to make sure he got a turkey sandwich in his box lunch. President-Elect Boyd Preston did the honors of presentation as Club President Peachy Metzner looks on.

 

Delivery of the box lunches from Dorothy Lane Market were made by Steve Spirk of J&S Courier, for DLM.  He got help bringing them in by our advance crew, seen above.

 

And here are our official greeters of the day: Doug Bockrath (L) and Adam Manning, standing in front of the Kennard Nature Nook, where they could greet and meet in the great outdoors of Grant Park on McEwen Road.

 

And here's the Kennard Nature Nook....dedicated in the name of Carol Kennard, long-time director of the Centerville-Washington Park District and dedicated and super-active member of our club,

 

 

 

 

We had come this day to honor the members we have lost, Jack Workman, John Laufersweiler, and Rick Terhune. The memorial bricks with their names had been placed earlier at the entrance to the Rotary memorial grove in front of the Kennard Nature Nook. 

 

 

The plaque on the stone can be seen below:

 

Boyd checks out the lunches just brought in.

 

The room looks freshly painted with fewer animals on the walls than in the past. Irene Ullmer,

soon to be 95, awaits the arrival of the rest of the crew. She gets an early start on the box lunch. She chose ham over roast beef or turkey.

 

 

Our Vice President Chuck King also helped with the early setup. 

 

It's been raining every day but the sun shone all the while we were at the nook.

 

Our two official greeters came in for a photo op moment...Jen Gibbs is to their right.

 

Great outdoor lighting on this group: Don Overly and his wife Dottie and Dale Berry to the far left, with John Callander, Brad Thorp and Dottie at right.

 

Carol Kennard takes excellent photos with her camera.

 

 

President Peachy Metzner presided over the meeting.

 

He had Boyd Preston light three candles for our deceased Rotarians, Jack Workman, Rick Terhune, and John Laufersweiler. The candles remained lit through the meeting. Color pictures of the three men at various Rotary functions were also shown on a small screen throughout the meeting.

 

 

President Peachy said he is not sure if we should meet on July 5, as the July 4th holiday is right before that meeting. This was left undecided at the present time.

Peachy said Don Gerhardt called him concerned about missing meetings and getting thrown out of the club for that, but Peachy said that isn't about to happen, and then someone popped up and said Don was just at our last meeting. His wife has been ill and that is why Don has missed a number of meetings, but he is one of our most dedicated members, Peachy said.

 

Dick Hoback said that the next networking meeting will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. May 24, at the Rumble Seat Wine Co. in Swiss Village on Far Hills. It is to be catered by Life Essentials, he said, noting something about hydro therapy.

 

Peachy said we will have two guests at next week's meeting, Kimberly Forrester and Carol Hughes. Kim is the one we saw in the video last week, the former CHS student who applied for a global grant to study in London. Carol is from the Springboro Club and has been appointed assistant district governor for next year.

 

Rebecca has posted on Facebook a need from the House of Bread for peanut butter and jelly and apple sauce packets. Members are asked to bring such items to the next meeting at Yankee Trace.

 

The next board meeting is Monday May 21 at the Nature Nook, Peachy said. 

 

Lee Hieronymus noted that the Americana Festival on July 4th means he will be driving the fire truck in the parade and needs fellow riders to help squirt the crowd. He said those joining in on the fun should meet him at the Centerville City Building at 9:30 a.m. that morning. Bring any Super Soakers you might have, he said. Water will be provided.

 

 

 

 

 

Sivaji led off by speaking about how our lost Rotarians, Jack Workman, Rick Terhune, and John Laufersweiler lived our Rotary motto of Service Above Self, and contributed greatly to our club and the community for many years.

 

Harvey then read off the names of the other past club members and presidents of the club whose names also appear on the memorial bricks, as seen in the pictures above, from Hans Berkel and Oti Peters to Nick Peth and David Dawson, Don Caltrone, Don Sortman, and Jim Landeslieder, etc. 

Sivaji then read several passages from the Bible, one saying: Let us not become weary of doing good....and another from First Timothy, Chapter six....stating that one should command those who are rich in this present world to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share, and to put their hope in God.

Ray, a Methodist, quoted John Wesley from the 18th century
...

“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”

 

 

 

Ray explained how we are often thwarted in doing good by red tape. There are critics who question our motives. Are we seeking publicity for ourselves they ask. There are those who question our timing. How do we know the best time? How do we know what is the right time? We dare not let them block our vision, he said. God's working in the proper time and we will reap a harvest if we do not give up, he said. Rotary has worked to eradicate polio, to provide coats for those who don't have them, to make new wells for clean and safe water in places like Africa and Haiti, to feed the hungry at the House of Bread, etc. "It's so easy to become weary of doing good," he said.

He told of a paraplegic man who had claws for hands who helped distribute 55,000 pounds of government surplus goods to those in need in the Zanesville community where he worked for nine years. He worried about mixing church and state, but realized that part of their mission was to help people of that community, he said.....as John Wesley said....

 

Harvey gave a brief background of each of our three members. Jack Workman was a veterinarian and co-owner of the Suburban Veterinary Clinic, he said. Jack had his degree from The Ohio State University and helped organize service projects toi South America, where his expertise helped sew up one of our injured members on one trip.

 

John Laufersweiler joined the club in Sept., 1972, just after the club was established in June, 1972. He was associated with Sacksteder's Catering for years and later was a financial advisor and stockbroker in his brother's firm. He also graduated from OSU.

 

Rick Terhune, who passed away in February of this year, joined the club in 1993 and served as a past president. He owned his own dental clinic in Centerville for more than 35 years. He also graduated from OSU, Harvey said.

"We're proud of these Rotarians who served long and courageously...and are grateful for their service and friendship over these many years," Harvey said. If we wish to serve we must emulate their service, he said. We need to do our best to use every opportunity for others to grow. "We give thanks to these men who have served with us," he said.