12/11/14 Dan Johnson and Pat Beckel
12/18/14 NO meeting: Christmas Dinner begins at 6 p.m. at Yankee Trace...see below
12/25/14 NO meeting: Merry Christmas
01/01/14 NO meeting: Happy New Year
01/08/15 First meeting of the new year: John Laufersweiler and Gary Kuntz
01/15/15 Kim Senft-Paras and David Trout
If you cannot greet on the day assigned, contact Kitty and she will schedule a replacement.
12/4/14
Club President Vas Appalaneni opened the Centerville Rotary Club meeting at The Clubhouse at Yankee Trace with the Pledge of Allegiance. Member Harvey Smith gave the prayer and Don Gebhardt led the singing of My Country Tis of Thee.
The guests at the meeting included: Robert Stemper, a soon-to-be new member, from the Libertyville Sunrise Rotary Club in Illinois; Van Wert Rotary Club member Ned Dull and his daughter Cindy Kline; Arnie Biondo, the new director of the Centerville-Washington Park District, who is past president of the Carol Stream Rotary Club in Illinois, and a potential member of our club; and our speaker, Andrew E. Rodney, Centerville City Planner/Zoning Administrator.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Club President Vas Appalaneni said member Bill Abrams still had a few Super Bowl raffle tickets left to sell and noted that the drawing for the winners will be Dec. 14. The first-place winner gets two Super Bowl tickets, $1,000, and a four-night stay in Phoenix, Arizona. The second place winner gets $1,000, and the third place winner gets $500. The winners will be posted on our Web site, Vas said.
Member Dan Johnson gave an update on club membership, which stands at 57, with Robert Stemper to soon make it 58. Several others at the meeting also expressed an interest in joining the club.
Ron Hollenbeck noted that the club's Christmas dinner will be two weeks from this meeting and that names need to be listed for members and any guests attending, so an accurate count can be made for the dinners. Anyone needing something other than the traditional turkey dinner fare needs to note that also.
Past president Judy Budi read off the names submitted for the new board of officers and the club voted on the list. It includes the president for 2015-16: Brad Thorp; Rotary Foundation, Bill Abrams; Membership and Attendance, Shelley Fisher; President-elect, Ron Hollenbeck; Treasurer, Gerry Eastabrooks; Vice-president, Mark (Peachy) Metzner; Secretary, Mark Balson; Immediate Past-President, Vas Appalaneni; Club Foundation Director, Kim Senft-Paras; Youth Services Director, Kim Senft-Paras; Club Affairs Director, Carol Kennard; International Service Director, Ray Merz; Interact, Kim Senft-Paras; Community Service Director, Boyd Preston; eBulletin Editor, Kitty Ullmer; Social Activities, Shelley Fisher and Gerry Eastabrooks; Pancake Chair, Gerry Eastabrooks; Sergeant-at-Arms, Erich Eggers; Public Relations, Cynthia Fraley, Gary Kunst, Kitty Ullmer, Joyce Young; Fund Raising, Tom Zobrist; R.Y.L.A., John Beals.
Joyce Young had asked members to participate in a project jointly with the local Red Cross to help area military Veterans. She asked that members bring in Christmas cards that can be signed by members and given to locals Veterans in the community and to those on active duty or at the VA. Members signed the cards during the meeting this week.
Sgt.-at-Arms Erich Eggers collected Happy Bucks for the House of Bread.
A reminder was made about the Open House for Carol Kennard's retirement as director of the Centerville-Washington Park District. The Open House will be at Yankee Trace on Dec.11 from 4 to 7 p.m. There will be a cash bar. Club member Brad Thorp said his office will also hold an open house at about that time from 4 to 6 p.m. All are welcome to stop by.
The club's annual Christmas dinner will take place beginning at 6 p.m. Dec.18 at Yankee Trace. Member Ron Hollenbeck said the group would like this to be a "nicer dress affair" and that the traditional turkey dinner with all the fixings will be served. The club will pay for each member and one guest for that member. The cost of the dinner for additional invitees will be $12.50. Forte will help entertain and there will be other activities and a special guest appearance, he said.
SPEAKER: Andrew E. Rodney, Centerville City Planner/Zoning Administrator; coordinator for the Safe Routes to School program for Centerville
Club member Ron Hollenbeck introduced our speaker of the day, Andrew Rodney,who has been the city of Centerville's planner since July, 2013, replacing Steve Feverston, who retired.
Rodney came to speak about the Safe Routes to School program, a nationa/internationall program that the city is participating in, but first he spoke a bit about his credentials as a city planner. He said he began his career as a planner for the city of Dayton in 2009. Among other things, he authored the city's first bike route map in 2010 and helped the city win its Bronze Medal Bike Friendly Status from the League of American Bicyclists.
He served on the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission from Aug. 2005 to Jan. 2009, working on the long-range transportation plan and Dayton Regional Safety Initiative, among other things. He was an intern with the Ohio Department of Transportation for four months in 2003.
As a planner for the city of Centerville, his duties include evaluating applications for zoning and subdivision approval, interpreting the Unified Development Ordinance, ensuring a quality built environment for the city and protecting historic qualities of the downtown historic district. Some of the commercial and residential developments being worked on include: Cornerstone of Centerville, Showcase Cinemas site, Woodbourne Library, Randall Residence/Woodland Green, Grove at Yankee Trace.
As per the Safe Routes to School program, Rodney said that though it is not new to the Dayton region and the nation as a whole, it is new to the Centerville region in some ways.The program is a movement to create safe, convenient and fun opportunities for children to bicycle and walk to and from schools. It hopes to also reverse the nationwide trend toward childhood obesity and inactivity, and cut down on traffic congestion and car accidents, one of the leading causes of children's deaths.
Rodney said in February of this year a program was adopted to improve the area around Cline, Stingley, Magsig and Tower Heights schools with flashing school zone lights to make it safer for children to walk or bicycle to school, Flashing school zone lights will be added. In front of Magsig on W. Franklin. The area is a small school zone. Flashing lights will also be put on Maple and Irongate roads,near the Stingley and Tower Heights schools.
Rodney said Rotary Clubs can get involved by being advocates for the program, serving as volunteers in program activities, and being partners in the program. Pizza parties and gift cards for kids who walk or bike the most need sponsors, he said.
The number of students walking or biking to school in 1969 was about 50 percent, compared to 13 percent in 2009, Rodney said. Rates of childhood obesity have also risen. He cited statistics that show the major cause of death for children being car accidents, and the high cost of bus and car transportation involved in getting children to school these days. Centerville pays $8 million a year for school district transportation, he said.
In 2005 the U.S. Congress approved $612 million in funding for five years of state implementation of Safe Routes to School programs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The money is being used to construct new bike lanes, pathways and sidewalks, and for education, promotion and enforcement campaigns in grades kindergarten through eighth grade schools.
While many children do not live within walking distance of their schools these days,as there are separate primary schools and one high school in each district, many younger students, especially in the elementary schools, still live close to the schools they attend in Centerville, Rodney said.
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