Rotareminder
The Rotary Club of Kent
December 2, 2025
President Amanda Senn called the meeting to order at 12:20. We sang the National Anthem and President Amanda offered the invocation. Dom Bollenbacher led us in singing “For Once in My Life” with David Dix at the piano.
There were no visiting Rotarians at today’s meeting. J. R. Campbell, Director of Kent State’s Design Hub, was the guest of Mary Beth Harper. Beth Khan and her daughter Sara and Stacey Richardson’s daughter Peyton joined us to support Rotary Exchange Student Emelie Helbert, who is today’s speaker.
Announcements
Jen Lennox announced that our December 16 meeting will be held at the Seed Campus. The Aces will perform and a tour will be held afterward. Please RSVP to Jen.
Tom Hatch announced that Tap Talks will be on Dec 9 at 7 pm. David Hassler will talk about the Wick Poetry Center’s Poets for Science project and the newly published anthology, “The Nature of Things.”
Nancy Whitehead noted that the next Foundation meeting will be held on Dec 9 at 7 in the Library.
Bill Childers asked for volunteer bell ringers for Thursday’s Salvation Army effort at Acme in Kent.
Nithya noted that the Auction Committee will be sending out a survey to help plan for our upcoming auction.
President Amanda invited everyone to sign up for the Holiday Party by today. Also, bring toys to the meeting to support Rachel Kerns’ Habitat toy drive. She asked members to consider becoming the Rotary Youth Exchange Officer or joining the Tech committee.
Happy Bucks
There were many Happy Buck contributors today, including Doug Fuller, Will Underwood, John Flynn, Chas Madonio, and Amanda Senn. Family Thanksgiving celebrations and OSU victories brought happiness. Mary Beth Harper congratulated Adam Alderson on his recent performance at Weathervane Playhouse.
Today’s Program: Emeile Helbert, Rotary Exchange Student from Germany
Stacey Richardson introduced Emelie, who is a junior at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Kent. She’s been in Kent since August and is currently living with the Beth and Asad Khan family.
Emelie introduced us to her home city of Hamm, which is near Cologne in the Ruhr valley. The Ruhr is a coal region with lots of mining and industry as well as beautiful cathedrals, typical half-timbered houses, and castles.
Germany is about three times the size of Ohio and comprises 16 states, including Nordrhein Westphalen, the state where Emelie’ family resides. She also showed us photos of spectacular landscapes around Germany with beautiful mountains, forest, and lakes.
Hamm, Emelie’s home city, has a population of about 180,000 and the city mascot is the elephant. The city even boasts a unique elephant-shaped building. The city was largely rebuilt after World War II and has a beautiful train station and churches.
Emelie is an only child, has many friends, loves dance and ballet, and performs in the yearly Christmas Musical. Even though her father’s favorite soccer team is Dortmund, she’s not so much a fan. She’s looking forward to a one-week trip to Washington, Philadelphia, and New York and a two-week trip to the West. Emelie loves Kent and finds the people she’s met friendly and warm.
Response
Kathy Myers provided the response thanking Emelie for her impressive presentation.
Respectfully submitted,
Thomas Hatch