05/10/2018  Mike Wier and Mark Balsan

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 Mark Balsan and Mike Wier, who by the way has an upcoming concert on Sunday May 20, 4:30 p.m. at the Dayton Masonic Center, a joint concert with the Brass Band of Columbus.

 

Dick Hoback, seen here with Kim Senft-Paras, helped with the meeting set up this week, as Ram Nunna was AWOL. Dick just got back from a trip through the Panama Canal, and still seems in ship shape. 

 

Getting to know you....Carl L. Gill, Jr....promises to be a new member of the club and arrived

early before his host today, Katie Neubert. Gill is Director of Strategic Development at Ohio's Hospice of Dayton, and a friendly guy to get to know.

 

Our club president and Ray Merz, a retired minister, chat a bit about the upcoming Memorial service at our next meeting at the Kennard Nature Nook grove site in Grant Park on McEwen Road. Members are reminded that parking is sparse there so carpooling from Normandy Church on AB Road is recommended. Club members we have lost, Rick Terhune, Jack Workman, and John Laufersweiler, are to be remembered.

 

Rick Hood from sunny California gets to see his glasses darken from the sun this day. He is a repeat visitor to our club and area. From the Niles Rotary in Fremont, Calif.

 

And since he came from so far away and brought the sun, he deserves a second picture showing his Rotary shirt.

 

And here he's paying Mark for lunch, with the sun rushing in.

 

Rebecca Quinones sits inside waiting for some student guests to arrive.

 

While outside Sivaji Subramaniam arrives.

 

And then Bob Fry and Dave Trout...

 

And Sally Beals in a pretty peach.

 

And look at who Rebecca has been waiting for, Aneesh Kathula and Ramzi Elased, co-presidents of the Interact Club at Centerville High School, soon headed for college, Harvard and UC.

 

Brad Huffman also has a great smile and handshake and Eric Beach is just off to the left.

 

Here's a better picture of Eric.

 

Frank Perez, Brian Hayes, and Ron Hollenbeck are sharing stories.

 

Katie Neubert sits with her guest Carl Gill. Our Vice President Chuck King is to her left.

 

 

The Centerville Rotary Club met at The Golf Club at Yankee Trace at noon. Club President Peachy Metzner led the Pledge of Allegiance; Ray Merz gave the prayer; and Brad Thorp led the singing of God Bless America.

 

 

President Peachy Metzner presided over today's meeting.

 

 

President Peachy thanked our greeters for their service.

 

He played a video made by former Centerville High School student Kim Forrester, whom we agreed to help get a global Rotary grant to continue her studies in London. She attended a leadership program in Brazil sponsored by the Centerville Rotary Club in 2009 and then went to Miami University where she majored in International Studies involving conflict resolutions, along with Spanish and English Literature, and pre-law. She then went to Washington D.C. to a law firm where she worked with cases involving international work. She said after two years of 90-hour weeks she applied for a Fulbright Scholarship and went to Brazil to help with disadvantaged youth. Her original youth exchange in Brazil, sponsored by the Centerville Rotary, gave her the confidence to go back to Brazil for this work. She then did legal research with Lawyers Without Borders in Connecticut and now hopes to pursue a one-year masters program at the London School of Economics. She thanked the Rotary Club in Centerville, naming Peachy Metzner and Kim Senf-Paras for signing off on her application, and Frank Scott of the Dayton Rotary for going to countless meetings on her behalf. She said she is totally grateful.

 

Vice President Chuck King reminded members to sign up for a box lunch if they plan to attend the May 17 meeting at Kennard Nature Nook, at which we will have a ceremony in the memorial grove with dedication of the bricks memorializing our lost members: Jack Workman, Rick Terhune, and John Laufersweiler. Peachy said Ray, Sivaji and Harvey planned to work together on the ceremony.

 

President Peachy said that this day at 5:30 p.m. the District Assembly would take place at Normandy Church in Centerville. There is a dinner, and it is free. You can learn about membership, the Rotary Foundation, and other issues, besides networking with other Rotary Club members in our district. 

 

 

Below you see our Sgt.-at-Arms Erich Eggers with the sun trying to edge him out.

 

President Peachy gave for being Happy to be here, especially since his two young grandchildren have left him very tired.

Wayne Davis gave his Happy Bucks for our two guest students, whom he noted were heading to Harvard and the University of Cincinnati to continue their education.

He said he also likes the way we sing God Bless America.

Members of the Rotary Scholarship Committee started giving for the five scholars chosen to receive our club scholarships. Mark Febus gave $5 and Doc Hoback gave $5 for the five students and $5 for the great leadership of Kim Senft-Paras, and $2 for being away on a two-week Panama Canal cruise, and sad to miss doing all the interviews with the committee. Kim also gave for the scholarship committee, as did Judy Budi, who also gave a Happy Buck for our guests. Joyce Young gave for being happy the recent levies passed, and Mike Wier gave a Happy Buck for the club singing something next week other than God Bless America. 

You all probably saw that a woman named Zorn (means anger in German) graduated at the top of the class at the prestigious Citadel military school in South Carolina this year. Hmmm...a future presidential candidate? 

 

 

 

 

Aneesh Kathula said the club held a book drive to help out Project Read, collecting around 500 books that Project Read distributes to inner city schools and kids to help with literacy. They had advisories compete with one another to see which one could bring in the most books, he said.

 

Ramzi Elased said the school also helped after the hurricane in Puerto Rico by posting signs around the school to get cash to help pay 50 percent of the postage to get supplies there.

The club meets on Thursdays and 15 to 20 students would help with sorting and stocking shelves at Hannah's Treasure Chest, he said. Club members also went twice to the House of Bread, working five hours per time, to help with meal preparation and serving. "It was one of the best experiences I have had," he said. It was rewarding to see how grateful people were to have such assistance.

The club also wrote inspirational letters to put in a backpack with supplies and books from project read. For a lunch before Thanksgiving they decorated bags with turkeys and such.

 

The twin sisters attending the RYLA Leadership program said that they had been anxious about going to the program, as they had always done everything together. Being separated into different groups and not being together at night and relying on one another for advice and friends, was daunting at first they said.

But RYLA taught them a different togetherness. They learned to make new friends and how to share power and work together to accomplish a goal. They learned about having a positive attitude and how to adjust to a new and different environment, they said. They learned to work with others and work together to solve problems. From being anxious and wanting to stay together and be in the same cabin, they learned they could go out and do things apart, they said. They called it a great opportunity.