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Rotary's Theme for 2015-16
The GREETERS:
05/12/16 Gerry Eastabrooks and Bob Fry
05/19/16 Gary Kuntz and Joyce Young
05/26/16 Matt Kuhn and Drew Carter
05/26/16 Tom Broadwell and Carrie Lifer
If you cannot greet on the day assigned, contact Kitty and she will schedule a replacement.
05/05/2016
President Brad Thorp opened the meeting at the Clubhouse at Yankee Trace with the Pledge of Allegiance. Sivaji Subramaniam gave the prayer, and Brad Thorp led the singing of God Bless America.
The guests at the meeting included:
Chip Houghten, owner of Look-at-a-Book, guest of member Joyce Young; Martin Kimani, with Wiley (sp?) Co., guest of Mike Gentile; and LaKisha Taylor, owner of Green Apple Academy, guest of member Ann Blackburn.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Our Greeters at the next meeting will be Gerry Eastabrooks and Bob Fry. Help our new members get to know you as they greet you.
The District Conference in Mason April 29/30 was a grand success, with 12 of our members attending. Some of them were the speakers at today's club meeting (see below.)
Reminders:
Ray Merz passed along a note at a previous meeting stating that Dr. Squire Brown will be making a presentation about the new Fourth Hangar at the Air Force Museum on May 26. The hangar is entirely for presidential airplanes. This will be days ahead of the formal ceremony.
On Friday, May 27, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., members are needed to work at the House of Bread, Boyd said. Five members have signed up so far, but they could use up to 12 members.
Members from the Centerville Interact Club will be at our May 12 meeting and members have been advised that they should bring $10 to buy a water bottle, which will help with the student effort to help with the African clean water project our club is working on.
Further announcements:
President Brad Thorp presented Carrie Lifer with her packet and Rotary pin, which had been left on his office desk when he came to the last meeting where she was inducted as a new member. Welcome Carrie.
Carol Kennard took a picture of member Bridget Herzog, who accepted the Happy Bucks check for St. Vincent dePaul for $1,347. The club is now collecting Happy Bucks for Daybreak.
Brad read a thank you note from Jimmy Finke, one of our student speakers in the recent 4-Way Test Speech Contest, He received $100 from our club and thanked us for the award and said he enjoyed the Wright State finals.
Brad mentioned that a past club member, Ron Hartley, passed away on Monday and that the funeral visitation would be from 4 to 6 p.m. at Routsong Funeral Home this day of the meeting.
HAPPY BUCKS:
Sgt.-at-Arms Erich Eggers collected Happy Bucks for Daybreak.
Many members gave to the Daybreak cause.
Erich gave his $20 in Happy Bucks for playing real well for part of the golf game he and Brad played recently, He said he got 5 pars and two birdies on seven holes, but did not do as well on the rest, but made a 93 overall, and has been improving on his golf game.
Dave Trout gave his Happy Bucks for Daybreak and attending seven soccer games in a week and for his youngest granddaughter's team winning the Select Soccer Tournament in Cincinnati.
Carol Kennard gave $5 in Happy Bucks, which she called tired bucks, for taking care of her granddaughters while her son and fiancee moved to a new apartment. The extended time with her granddaughters made her and her husband exhausted, she said.
Mike Gentile gave $10 for the 10 weeks he's missed, saying he was working and couldn't take off work.
Carrie Lifer gave $5, stating she won't be here next week, and that softball will be starting in June. Her 16-month-old was given a soccer ball, but needs to learn how to throw rather than kick, she said.
Joyce Young said she was happy for Mitch Biederman running the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati over the weekend.
Mitch said this was his second worst time ever running, but that it was for a great cause. His time was 3 hours and 47 minutes. He took 466th place among about 4,000 runners, he said. The humidity didn't help matters, he said.
Ron Hollenbeck gave money for Chip, our guest, mentioning his special jacket...
Judy Budi gave her Happy Bucks for her niece hitting the most homeruns and doubles on her ball team and for Drew and Carrie being new members, etc.
Chuck King said he was happy because his cousin got his PhD in psychology.
Jeff Senney said he got two new clients, but his business has now interrupted his golf days.
Lee Hieronymus gave so as not to be picked on by his lunch buddies, but it didn't help, much.
Patrick Beckel gave to acknowledge the first time his two sons will be in a commercial together. It is a GE commercial for Mother's Day. Congrats boys!
Butch Spenser gave for getting to go to see West Point Military Academy.
Kim praised the students who interviewed for our club's Rotary scholarships, and thanked the hard work of the committee that interviewed them over a two day span.
Mike Weir praised the fact that he was offered two more baseball tickets to games that had rained him out.
Brad had a Happy Five for a number of things, including more golf.
Brad said there were more than 200 people at the District Conference in Mason, with 70 young people from R.Y.L.A., the youth exchange program, Interact and Rotoract. Twelve members of our club were there, including our exchange student Mato, he said. There were 3,100 pairs of shoes and 2,000 pairs of socks donated for the Shoes for Orphan Souls program, he said. Around $3,000 was raised in the silent auction with $520 offered for the Wine barrow from our club which had 40 some bottles of wine, wine glasses, crackers, coasters that looked like flip flops with bunches of grapes on them that the bottoms of the wine glasses fit into, and a large woman's high heel that held a wine bottle, along with decorative flowers and the picture perfect organizing of it all by member Dick Hoback.
Club member Boyd Preston received the District's Service Above Self Award for going above and beyond in all he does for the club and community. He received nominations from club members.
Ron Hollenbeck said our club gave 38 pairs of shoes and 58 pairs of socks to the Shoes for Orphan Souls program.
Kitty Ullmer noted that Forte, the Centerville High School a cappella singing group, recently won the International Championships of High School A Cappella national championship at The Town Hall Theater in New York City. The group entertained at our last Christmas party. We knew they were good, but who knew they were THAT GOOD? We shoulda known, shouldn't we?
SPEAKERS: Members of the club who attended the recent District Conference in Mason, Ohio
Picture shows Dick Hoback, Brad Thorp, Mato Palovic and his host mom Diana Pressnell, Sivaji Subramaniam, and Arnie Biondo in first row. In second row left to right: Boyd Preston, Harvey Smith and Peachy (Mark) Metzner.
Our club's exchange student Mato Palovic, of Slovakia, is shown here with all the pins he has collected during his stay. To his left as we look at the picture is none other than Centerville Rotary Club member Sivaji Subramaniam.
Ron Hollenbeck said the speaker from India was outstanding in her descriptions of some of the sad situations in India involving the trafficking of children and the fact that the orphanages are filled with girl babies. She told of a man who dressed his daughter like a boy and sold her for $40, he said.
Peachy said he also was impressed by the speaker from India and all the adult speakers, and by the girl who won the 4-Way-Test contest at Wright State University.
"It shows there's so much hope for the next generation," he said. He said he appreciates what the Foundation does and showed his painted fingernail, a symbol used in other countries to show that someone is vaccinated against Polio.
Many are afraid to be marked because when they go back home to their village and family they may be chastised for getting vaccinated, he said.
Harvey Smith said that when he was a District Governor in 1986 there were 250,000 to 400,000 cases of Polio in the world.
There were 50,000 deaths from Polio, he said. This year there were only 10 cases of Polio in Pakistan, two in Afghanistan, and Africa has been clear of Polio for the last 18 months, he said.
Dick Hoback said more than one billion 200 million dollars has been spent on eradicating Polio. He noted that Arnie Biondo was in charge of all the Exchange students. He said everyone should attend at least part of a District Conference. He said he made a video that shows Mato, our exchange student from Slovakia. He is holding up the video in the picture below.
Sivaji Subramaniam said the club members sat together at the conference and also got to meet and talk with other District members. It showed him that the Centerville Rotary Club and the other clubs have been doing much for the local and world communities and that we should be proud to be Rotarians, he said.
Arnie Biondo encouraged everyone to attend at least a half day of a District Conference to learn about the good Rotary is doing in the world and the needs and caring and work of the Foundation. He emphasized how well the Rotary Foundation is organized and respected by various groups that rate such charitable organizations. It is top rated and it shows how well it is being managed, he said.
Boyd Preston said he was thoroughly impressed by the whole conference and said it is powerful because Rotary does not have a political or religious agenda. It is humanitarian.
Boyd also thanked the club for nominating him for the District's Service Above Self Award. All in the club appeared to agree that Boyd is most deserving for all he does. That despite a recent triple by-pass heart surgery. Way to go, Boyd!
We also need to note that Fred Wier was back again at the club and that we are still missing member Bill Abrams and hope he is doing well.
