Rotary's Theme for 2019-20
Centerville Rotary Club Meeting Sept. 19, 2019
Official Greeters for the week:
09/19/2019 Brad Huffman and Ram Nunna
09/26/2019 Mike Wier and Robert Ford
10/03/2019 Crissy Allums and Butch Spencer
10/10/2019 Ann Blackburn and Doug Bockrath
Our official greeters Ram Nunna (L) and Brad Huffman greet our soon-to-be inducted
member, Crissy Allums.
Even before Crissy became a member, she got her boss Robert Ford interested in the club,
and he joined. What a great duo.
Our Pancake Breakfast Committee is just getting ready to meet. Adam Manning chairs the
meeting and knows all about service above self, being a co-manager of Carrabba's Italian
Grill. He's seated along with Doc Hoback (L).
Here they are hard at work, except for the camera's interruption. President Chuck King
has joined them. Carol Kennard will arrive soon with a special young guest.
Jim Harris makes sure the club's big banner hangs straight.
Today's paper carried a story about PDG Harvey Smith...to be honored at an upcoming
charity event. Harvey helps make sure we're right by God.
It was rough coming in this day, as you could not drive up to the entrance or the first two
big parking areas, as they were blocked off for work being done on the pavement, and cement
cutters making noise, etc. By the end of the meeting, the entrance area was cleared and a
man driving a golf cart appeared just as my 96-year-old mother was getting set to trudge
down the hill. God gives his blessings in small ways sometimes. The ride down was quick
and easy, as opposed to the walk up the hill.
Here a worker is using a loud cutting saw on the roadway in front of the entrance..
This was before the meeting.
This was a fun meeting that brought in a lot of extra money for Operation Warm. Erich
Eggers set it up by sending out an e-mail this past week to members saying there would be an auction of items, including a bottle of Bourbon, to raise extra money. He told members to bring
things to auction if they had them. Dale Berry hit the jackpot with his display of what he
brought: He said he won a bucket of booze at the Dayton Horse Show last year, but since
he's a non-drinker except for an occasional beer, he wanted to auction off the bottles for
Operation Warm. The bidding was hot, as you will see a bit later.
Only the bottle with the rope was a hard sell.
The story behind this rare bottle that Pat Beckel brought in was also a money bringer, though
for reasons you'd never guess. Only Pat could do it justice. Taste at your own discretion.
You can see how attached (not) Pat was to the bottle, which he said he won, somewhat like Dale
and his lot.
Pat brought a guest, whom he said likes to do a lot of charity service work: Carol Otte.
A future Rotarian is among our midst this day. She perhaps doesn't know it yet, but this is
just the beginning. Kaycee Kennard, 4, of Miami Twp., chose to come to Rotary with her
grandmother Carol Kennard, rather than stay at home with her grandpa. Everyone applauded
the choice. Carol said she surveyed the menu before suggesting that Kaycee come, to make
sure it would be something she would eat. The pasta salad sealed the deal, along with a
video game she could watch or interact with while the adults busied themselves with other
matters.
Ram Nunna greets Ron Hollenbeck as the room begins to fill.
The lady on the left, Elda Gay, is full of good cheer, and seems to be a great story teller especially when she meets a group of friends at DLM on Fridays. They all laugh a lot. She is a guest of Jen
Gibbs this day.
Jill Williams, lover of all things pumpkin spiced, and always stylishly dressed, makes sure
all is well at Yankee Trace.
Everyone breaks out in laughter when Elda Gay brings her gaiety along.
At 96, she still exists, and brings along some homegrown wit. Irene Ullmer is a regular
at our meetings. You're never too old to learn something new. A farm-raised girl from
Michigan, she's taken to Ohio and had three kids go to OSU. Bless her heart.
A half sandwich is like a whole sandwich at Yankee Trace...at least this day.
Past President Boyd Preston had a good time in Maine and always puts a lot of energy into
all he does for the Centerville Rotary Club. A lot of people don't know that he likes to scuba
dive with his son when he heads south.
Our greeters give a good handshake to Rick Hauser.
And Erich Eggers brings several special items to auction.
Bob Fry and Gerry Eastabrooks share some news.
A return guest, Jana Ramos-Ratliff, is hosted by Jeff Senney. She is with TLC Insurance
Group.
The Centerville Rotary Club met at Yankee Trace at noon for the weekly meeting. President Chuck King led the Pledge of Allegiance; PDG Harvey Smith gave the prayer; the singing of God Bless America was led by Arnie Biondo.
Menu this week:
Half a sub sandwich and Chef's pasta salad, with different types of cheese cake
Menu next week:
Chicken Finger Platter, Yankee chips, Yankee cole slaw.
Guests this week: Our speaker Jared Stlll; Kaycee Kennard; Elda Gay; Jana Ramos-Ratliff.
President Chuck King presided over the meeting.
Announcements:
President King thanked our greeters.
PDG Harvey Smith inducted our newest club member, Crissy Allums.
He congratulated her after giving her a Rotary pin and certificate, and dinner badge that came
with a yellow ribbon attached. He said she will soon learn what it takes to have the ribbon
removed, which will teach her a lot about how the club works. He then asked her to tell a bit
about herself.
Crissy said she was born in the Philippines. She worked in the health industry for 16 years and now has begun work in the insurance industry. She said she is the mother of one and has four other children from her husband. She said over the years she has learned the importance of serving the community and hopes to do a lot more with the club.
Jen Gibbs reported on the first club service day with BOGGS on Sept. 17. She said quite a number of members showed up to help, including: Erich Eggers, Gerry Eastabrooks and her daughter Amber, Mark, Sury, Sivaji...
She mentioned the night's social at St. Leonard, and said the new executive director would be there.
She mentioned the two upcoming service projects on Saturday, Sept. 21, one at the House of Bread and one at the Food Bank in West Carrollton.
Sofie Ameloot said we won't be able to put the labels in the dictionaries and thesauri until after Oct. 10, as the area we need to use will not be clear until then.
Sofie said thus far the club has $8,042 for Operation Warm. Our goal was $7,500 ...or several million, as Erich imagined, but he went on to say that even though we have reached our goal, we ought to see how much we can exceed it by, to do our best.
Brad Huffman showed how to spread the word about the Pancake Breakfast day via social media, by getting on our Rotary Facebook page and going to where it says show events and clicking on event and then clicking on share and posting.
President King said Kim Forester, who we helped go to the London School of Economics on a Global Rotary grant, will be in town over Christmas, though she can only come to the club on Jan. 2. He asked for a show of hands to see how many people might show up then, to be sure we would be holding a meeting. A number of people showed they intend to come to that meeting.
President King reminded members to pick up their Pancake Breakfast tickets to sell.
He said at the board meeting the board approved the new by-laws, and was going to go through them so the members can vote on them, but Boyd Preston reminded him that the board has to allow 10 days to pass before a vote by the membership can be taken, so that was postponed until the next meeting.
Our next Happy Bucks will go to the Dayton Food Bank, he said.
It was also announced that Butch Spencer, who said he would be retiring from his work at the auto dealership, has turned in his resignation from the club for the end of September.
Project Read has a new executive director, Kevin Sorice, so we will have to see what the needs are for that service project. He replaces Laura Mlazovsky.
Happy Bucks were collected this week via an auction by Sgt.-at-Arms Erich Eggers, with Club Treasurer Gerry Eastabrooks collecting the funds.
The Happy Bucks go for Operation Warm, which provides new warm winter coats to needy children. Sizes are provided by Hannah's Treasure Chest, which works with area social agencies to find the need.
Erich had the members introduce their guests. Elda Gay said she is from Puerto Rico but has lived in the states thirteen years now. Patrick Beckel said Carol Otte lives at Yankee Trace and is in charitable work.
Jeff Senney said Jana Ramos-Ratliff is with TLC Insurance.
Pat Beckel started the auction off with his bottle of alcohol that he said was from a Chicago company more than 100 years old, and can only be bought in Chicago. Only one in 47 people can stand it, he said. It is made with wormwood and the look on someone's face who tastes it is priceless, he said. They have a saying, he said, one of which is "Is it tonight the night you fight your death." You wouldn't think after that introduction that no one would want it, but Arnie Biondo bid $40, and then Tom Groskzo bid $45,. and then it went to 55 and Arnie came in at $60 to win the bottle.
The auction of items took the place of going around the club for Happy Bucks this day.
No one seemed to want the bottle with the rope, but Bob Fry said he'd take it for $20 for a coat.
No one else bid on that. Then Erich sold the Bailey's original Irish Cream to Mike Wier for $20, and the New Amsterdam gin to Bob Fry for $20, and the Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey for $25 to Brad Huffman, and the Bacardi superior to Elda Gay for $40, and the Margaritaville Silver Tequila to Tom, who outbid Gerry's $20, with a $35 bid, and Doc Hoback got the Seagram's Extra Dry Gin for $20.
Speaker of the Week: Jared Still, Director of Individualized Giving for the Kettering Medical Center Foundation.
President-Elect Frank Perez introduced our speaker, who talked about Operation Gratitude.
Jared showed this picture and the next to explain what the Foundation is all about.
Jared said they hold a Walk for Women's Wellness, that has been going on for 30 years.
They have held a Gold Classic since 1924. The last was June 24, 2019. On Sept. 25 they will
have a Heart to Heart concert. And Oct. 8 at Sinclair College, the Ribbon of Hope will
feature Olympic metalist Shannon Miller.
Project Gratitude is somewhat similar to Operation Gratitude, a 501, non-profit, volunteer-based organization that annually sends 100,000 care packages filled with snacks, entertainment items and personal letters of appreciation addressed to individually named U.S. Service Members...
In this case though, it is the patients who are asked to show their gratitude for the care they have been given.
From the Project Gratitude's Web site:
For the Kettering Medical Center Foundation, it is patients who show their gratitude for the extra care they get from the medical personnel.
Patients often give a gift back to the Foundation in gratitude. And they share their stories.
Every healthcare journey is unique. We are committed to making sure that every patient receives the most personal, compassionate care possible. From our nationally recognized physicians and innovative research, to our friendly volunteers and beautiful facilities, we want your experience with us to be a positive one. Here at Kettering Medical Center, Sycamore Medical Center, and Kettering Behavioral Medical Center, every staff member shares the same goal, to improve the quality of life of the people in the communities we serve.
Kettering Medical Center Foundation is the fundraising organization of Kettering Medical Center, Sycamore Medical Center, Kettering Behavioral Medicine Center, Kettering College, Middletown and Troy. The gratitude of former patients and their families who received the best, most compassionate care helps us continue the Kettering legacy. That's why we created 'Project Gratitude', a special program where you can make a gift and honor a physician or staff member who made a difference during your health care journey.
Jared told of a family seeing their doctor as the wife was pregnant with twins. They were having
ultrasounds done every week and at week 23 everything was fine, but at 32 weeks they weren't
getting the response they should on the heartbeat monitor. They had a decision to make. The babies had to be delivered. One weighed two and a half pounds and one weighed three and a half pounds. You could hold them in the palm of your hands, he said. That story is his family's story, he said. The pictures below show the twin girls as they have grown.
The Rotary meeting was adjourned with the reciting of the Four-Way Test
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