The club continues to get thank you notes from the various schools at which dictionaries and thesauri were distributed to third and fifth graders. John Hole sent a large thank you card from the students and Gerry Eastabrooks and John Beals got back thank yous that thanked the Rotarian gentlemen....apparently not recognizing that women have a major role in Rotary these days. And Gerry said she was there to help distribute the books along with John Beals...but that's possibly a teacher rather than a student error....with teachers having grown up in a former era....right?
Ron asked again for ballots to be turned in for the Rotarian of the Year. They are needed by Nov. 17, and you can contact him if you need more info or a paper ballot.
Chuck King announced that forms are in for the 20 Adopt-A-Family program, with names and gift wishes. Take one if you wish to support one of the 20 kids our club has offered to help. A $75 limit is suggested for the gift giving. The gift(s) will need to be wrapped and returned to the school as of Dec. 1. Your phone number and/or e-mail address should be placed on the sign-up sheet.
With Veteran's Day Nov. 11, Ron asked the Veterans in our club to stand and be recognized by the group. There were Army, Navy, Air Force...Marines....(Peachy in Marines)..National Guard...represented, with Ron leaving out the Marines at first, knowing all along that Peachy is a proud Marine Veteran, and wouldn't let him forget it.
Ron said the Holiday dinner will be held Dec. 15, so by Dec. 1 names should be submitted as to who will attend and what guests or guests will also be attending. Each member is allowed one free guest, he said. Others are welcome with additional payment.
Letters were handed out regarding the Paul Harris Fellow donations. The club will continue to contribute $500 of the $1,000 for the award, as per the information on the letters. The new Paul Harris awards will be handed out at the Holiday dinner at Yankee Trace. Additional information was sent by e-mail from Ron about lesser donations and club points to match them.
Ann Blackburn said at a previous meeting that those going to the club socials recently said they would like to see them on a variety of days and not just Tuesdays, and that they would like to see them maybe monthly. Rebecca Quinones has offered to host one at her house Nov. 17, Ann said. Notes were sent out with address and time info.
Boyd Preston noted at a previous meeting that Friday, Nov. 18, will be our next service day at the House of Bread. Volunteers will work from 9 to 2 p.m. to help with making and serving a warm meal to those in need.
Jim Hester spoke about the youth exchange at a previous meeting, noting that three families are needed to host each exchange student. Our exchange student Saloni Bagwani needs a host parent from December 2016 thru February 2017 and a host parent from March 2017 thru May 2017. One host family has dropped out and Saloni will next be with host Ram Nunna.
Sgt-at-Arms Erich Eggers collected Happy Bucks for A Day of Caring, 365.
Erich started off the Happy Bucks by giving a dollar for Boyd loaning him a dollar for Happy Bucks, and then he gave $9 more for the Veterans, tomorrow (Nov. 11) being Veterans Day.
Gerry Eastabrooks gave $5 Happy Bucks for the Veterans and noted that Veterans were to turn on a green light at their house on Veteran's Day to let people know they served our country. A voice that sounded remarkedly like Rand Oliver's then hollered out...he would be selling green lights. Always good for making the club laugh...
Boyd Preston gave for a Day of Caring, and Peachy gave, and Ron Hollenbeck gave $5 for our past district governor being here today, Bill Shula, our speaker, and for his own granddaughter being around.
PDG Bill Shula offered Happy Bucks after he got a chance to go get his wallet, and Rebecca Quinones thanked Adam Manning for the great service Friday night, where her family celebrated at Carrabbas. She also had a sad dollar for an aunt who passed away. Her father served in the military, she said.
Sivaji Subramaniam gave Happy Bucks and Katherine Ullmer gave for her birthday and she and her mother Irene gave for the Veterans...Katherine's father James met her mother while serving in the Navy at a ship-building base at Saginaw Bay, Mich., before being sent to Okinawa...and a nephew, Jeff, has served two tours in Afghanistan, and is still in the U.S. Army, currently at Ft. Bragg, having become an Army veterenarian. He took care of the security dogs at the U.S. Air Base in Kabul on his last tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Doug Bockrath had money for his kids doing well in soccer, and Mark Febus had Happy Bucks to honor the Veterans.
Many gave in honor of the presidential election being over and the phone calls no longer coming in, and the fisticuffs among the candidates calming down. Win or lose, the country moves on, and everyone has to try to work together for the betterment of all.
Joyce Young was among those giving Happy Bucks for the election being over, noting that she served as an observer and found nothing wrong in the election day process.
Chuck King and several others gave for a nice and/or beautiful day, and Ann Blackburn gave for her birthday (next week is Nov. birthday table), and for the Vets and beautiful day.
John Callander got to give $5 for one of the best rides ever, getting a trip to Washington D.C. to be honored with other local Vets, having a police escort and being wheeled around by one of his daughters who served as his companion on the trip. His daughter is a nurse at Kettering Hospital, one of the sponsors of the trip. There were 91 Vets and 31 caretakers along on the trip, he said.
Dale Berry gave his Happy Bucks to remind us all of the 11/11/11 program at Stubbs Park in Centerville to honor the Veterans. It has been held annually at 11 a.m., on the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
Tom Zobrist gave to honor the Vets and the end of the election and John Beals gave to honor those who voted for the income tax increase in Centerville.
Drew Carter gave to honor his father at Kettering Hospital, and Adam Manning gave for the Vets.
Ed, Judy, Dan, John, gave for the Veterans and Ray for the tax paying and then came Mike Wier, who said the Brass band he plays in came in with second and first place in a recent contest and is going to compete in the world championships.
Deb Dulaney gave for the Vets and for her daughter and grandson visiting.
Vas Appalaneni gave $5 Happy Bucks, for the Veterans, and for our super smart exchange student Saloni Bagwani competing with the Centerville Speech and Debate team in the Speech and Debate competition sponsored by the Akron Rotary Club, with 26 schools taking part, and coming out first, so she goes on to the state competition. Saloni is seen in the picture below, along with Vas at the front of the picture, taken at a previous meeting.
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Carol Kennard had a Happy/Sad Buck concerning her daughter. She had a great weekend dance performance, but then was in a car accident. She was not hurt, but the car was, as someone ran her off the road.
Mark Balsan gave for his Cubs' win.
Jim Briggs gave for the Vets and the U.S. Army
Shelley Fisher gave in honor of her guest last week who said she was so impressed with the club that she is considering coming back and joining the club when she and her husband return from wintering in Australia. A reminder of our guest, Irene Dalichau, is in picture below:
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Brian Hayes gave for the Veterans, for the election being over and for Saturday's Rotarian Leadership program. He said he was there with Peachy and Boyd and that "somehow we got tagged as the Three Stooges." Someone in our club shouted out that Brian was probably Curly, but he said, "I was going for Mo."
Seeing a picture of Brian you might know why Curly doesn't seem quite appropriate. (See Picture Below)
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Today's Speaker: Past District 6670 Governor Bill Shula
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PDG Bill Shula reads list of our club's achievements over the past few years in regards to our Paul Harris donations.
Boyd Preston introduced our speaker, knowing that new members to the club wouldn't be as familiar as the rest of the membership with Bill's background.
He noted that Bill is a member of the Cincinnati Rotary Club and a Paul Harris fellow as well as a Paul Harris Society member, those pledging a thousand dollars each year.
Our PDG Bill Shula began his presentation with kind words about the generosity of our club in giving to the International Rotary Foundation.
He said he had a surprise presentation for our club, the presentation of a banner honoring.....see above...at top of page.
Sharing the Gift is what Rotary is all about, Bill said. He noted that at a past meeting with us he shared a life threatening moment in his life in which everyone came together and "those people shared their gift." It is all about connection, connecting with other people, he said. The Interact Club and the 4-Way-Test Speech contest are ways of helping people connect, he said.
Bill said he was a teacher and administrator for schools and taught at the college level for 20 years here in Ohio.
He praised our all-club service day and the Pancake Breakfast fund-raiser we do, creating interactions all around. "I'm here to thank you. You have been living what you say," he said.
We have been the first club in the district as far as per capita contributing to the International Foundation, he said. In 2012-13 the club gave $14,000. In 2013-14, it gave $13,000, and was the second place giver.
In 2014-15, the club gave $19,000 and was a second place giver, but in 2015-16, we were first again with $19,367 donated. And already we've given $5,500 by this time of the year, he said. He called up Brad Thorp, our past president, and Ron Hollenbeck, our present club president, to receive a small banner acknowledging and recognizing the club's success in giving and being one of the top three highest per capita givers in the world.
He said last year was big for the Foundation. The motto now is Serving Humanity, and the Foundation is celebrating it's 100th anniversary, he said. He said God has rejected him thus far, and that after four surgeries he sent him back to do more work for humanity.
Bill said he went from being a member of the Lions Club to becoming a Rotarian when he saw what polio can do to children and what Rotary was doing to fight for the eradication of polio. At a Catholic school in Cleveland he first thought about getting those drops to fight polio himself, he said. "We're almost there," he said, noting that the celebration of Rotary International's 100th year is coming up and though there will be a celebration at the district level, he hopes next year everyone will want to attend the celebration in Atlanta where the Foundation got its start with the help of Arch Klumph, the sixth president of Rotary International. The Arch Klumph Society, named in his honor, is reserved for those who have donated $250,000 or more to the Foundation during their life time, Bill said.
In 1905 Paul Harris started the Rotary Club with a few business friends who rotated their meetings around the Chicago area, Bill said. One of the things they did was to buy a doctor a new horse so he could make his rounds to the people.
An original Foundation endowment of $26.50 from Kansas City in 1917 grew to $3 million, Bill said. Klumph died in 1951, and to honor him, many gave in his name. Some $1.3 million was raised in 18 months, he said. The first World War and the Depression were harder times, but people began leaving money through life insurance and in wills. In 1930 the first donation for the Society of Crippled Children...later called the March of Dimes...was made.
The Foundation has grown, with global grants and matching grants and an ambassador's school and literacy program in the 1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s rural health was addressed and the three H's, Health, Home and Humanity.
The Polio Plus program has been making progress since 1985, Bill said. Bill Gates has added millions to the campaign, making matching challenges through the years. The Foundation has branched out into many more areas, from safe, clean water, to educational scholarships and programs, and sustainable small business help, etc.
Bill said it is easy to donate to the Foundation through the various Internet sites, and that he hopes each member gives at least $26.50 to the Foundation in honor of that very first donation.
Seen below: PDG Bill Shula picks the winning 50/50 ticket...Judy Budi, who had taken the last ticket, wins!
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The meeting ended with the group standing and repeating The Four-Way Test, and our President Ron Hollenbeck then ringing the brass bell for the meeting's closure.
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