President Sofie Ameloot welcomed everyone to the Centerville Rotary Club and led reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance. Ray Merz provided the prayer.
Quote of the day provided by Don Overly: "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. " Dalai Lama
Today’s announcements:
- Thanks to today’s greeters: Jim Stuart and Wyatt Thorp.
- Welcome today’s guests Ernie Havens who has submitted an application to join the club; Raj Grandhi’s nephew, Kevin Allan, back for another visit
- The banner highlighting youth opportunities is hanging at the CHS stadium under the bleachers.
- DG Dottie Meade is hosting a Pints to End Polio at Star City Brewing Company in Miamisburg, Friday night, 6-9 pm.
- Our next Rotary Social is scheduled at The Famous restaurant on Tuesday, October 29, 5:30-7 pm. Rotary will provide appetizers and soft drinks as we celebrate the success of our Pancake Day.
- Rotary Family Social is planned at Hidden Valley Orchard on November 17, 3-5 pm. Plan to bring your kids/grandkids for a fun afternoon!
- The first meeting of the Rotary Coffee Club will take place on Tuesday, November 12, 8-9 am, at ContempoRoast, 967 South Main Street. We will meet the first Tuesday of the month afterwards.
- Uriah Anderson said club member’s Pancake ticket revenue turned in so far is only 63%. Pay your bill.
- Brian Hayes said to check your emails and pay your bill.
- The next Adopt a Highway is November 2, 8 am-12 noon, and kicks off our Service Week. Stay tuned for more service opportunities that week.
- Delivery of dictionaries/thesauri will take place soon, after which we will need volunteers to pack them for the schools.
- This month’s Board meeting was moved to this Monday by Zoom. Ask Sofie for the link.

Adam Manning gave an overview of what to expect for Pancake Day this Saturday, October 26, 7 am - 12 pm at Centerville High School West Commons.
Thanks to committee members who have worked hard to put together this major fundraiser. It takes lots of helping hands.
This year’s committee includes:
- Publicity Kristin Hutton & Carol Kennard
- Ticket sales Boyd Preston & Uriah Anderson
- Inventory Chuck King & Ron Hollenbeck
- Donations Sofie Ameloot, Kelly McDonald, Brad Huffman, Lisa Goris May - donations are the key to the event’s success
- Volunteers Jackie D’Aurora, Gina Smith, Socks Bowersocks, Adam Manning - 80-90 people are needed for this one-day event
Please recognize and thank our sponsors this year:
Lots of time and effort put into getting sponsors and Adam especially recognized Sofie for her effort each year. She really goes above and beyond. Thank you, Sofie!
Grand total $15,567.50 in donations
Chef Marco Pierre White said, “Perfection is a lot of little things done correctly.” Our guests are worthy of our best effort so let’s make sure we give them the best experience.
Friday 3-5 set up
Saturday first shift starts at 6 am.
Double check your work shift time and be sure to eat before or after your shift (not during.)
Here is a link to this year’s Pancake Volunteer assignments.
Our attendance was down a little last year, but we hope to bounce back again this year. There is a band competition at CHS on Saturday and they will make announcements about our Pancake Day, so that may bring more in.
The grills will be inside this year. We are using Miamisburg Rotary Club’s electric grills. Big thanks to Lee Hieronymus, who was responsible for getting CHS to upgrade their electric to accommodate these grills and he coordinated with the Miamisburg Rotary Club.
12 PM Cleanup starts so please stay and help. “Many hands make light work.” According to Arnie Biondo, Sr., and we need your hands!
Greeters - Always give a warm welcome and communicate with kitchen to anticipate rush.
Servers - Always give a warm greeting, serve promptly, be available for whatever they need
Volunteers - know who your section leader is and go to them when you need help.
Doors open at 7. Make guests feel welcome. If you see a need, fill it, even if it’s not your section.
Make sure the volunteers feel welcome
Gina, Jackie, and Raj Grandi worked hard to bring student volunteers in to volunteer.
Expect 9-10 am as the busiest time.
Active political campaigning cannot happen inside. They can wear a shirt promoting a candidate or issue, but can’t go table to table. If someone holds a table for a long time, let Sofie or Adam know.
This is not a gluten free event. If there is a food allergy, let Adam know. We do have sugar-free syrup.
We’ll have a great time on Saturday and Adam thanked everyone for their hard work to make our Pancake Day successful.
Our speaker today was Bill Tschirhart, Chief of Administration for Five River Metroparks, sharing information about our county park system.
Bill shared Five Rivers Metroparks has been around for more than 60 years. It first started when dedicated citizens recognized the rapid urban sprawl and understood that you only get one shot at land preservation. The slogan for the first levy campaign was, Lets win the race for Open Space.
Five Rivers Metroparks:
- 96% Montgomery County residents are within a 10 min drive of a Metropark
- 15,831 acres of land protected
- 90% of parkland is in its natural state
- 300,000+ county residents per year visit the County Metroparks
- Have 30 locations at 18 clean, safe Metroparks, Conservation areas, 8 bikeways all managed by Five Rivers Metroparks
Main pillars: Conservation. Education. Recreation
Conservation - protecting natural lands for future generations - protect clean air, energy and water, habitat restoration allowing native wildlife to return to their natural areas, wildlife and invasive species management.
Education - many of us played outside as kids, but kids today don’t. Programs teach how interact with nature, how to grow food, live more sustainably, and show teachers how to incorporate into their classes.
Recreation - great hiking trails, learn backpacking skills, introduction to new activities through the Try It program, such as mountain biking, kayaking. Many opportunities exist in our backyard.
Host Annual Events:
- Wagner Subaru Outdoor Experience
- Make a Difference Day this weekend
- Adopt a Park in the spring
- Bike to Work Day - pancakes at Riverscape
- Celtic, African American and other festivals hosted at RiverScape
2024 Levy is on the ballot for keeping and protecting areas that we have. Not for new parks or facilities.
There is a $58 million backlog of items that need addressed, shelters, roadways, bathrooms, etc.
The 1 mill, 10 year levy will cost $3/month per $100,000 home value.
What if it fails?
- Will start to see decline in park maintenance, things decline or close
- Events cancelled
Bill shared they go after grants and philanthropic support so its not just a burden on the county residents.
Work together with CWPD, prairie management, equipment loan, etc.
A question was asked about Centerville-Washington Park District acreage in comparison to the national standards.
According to data collected by the National Parks & Recreation Association, the average parks and recreation agency offers one park for every 2,386 residents with 10.6 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents.
- Centerville-Washington Park District has 1,063 acres at 51 parks, serving 61,000 people. 17.43 acres per 1,000.
- Five Rivers Metroparks has 15,831 acres at 30 locations, serving 537,309 residents. 29.4 acres per 1,000.
It is clear our county supports the value of parks and open spaces!