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President Randy Smith welcomed Rotarians. Patriotic song America the Beautiful was led by David Dix on piano. President Randy Smith led the Pledge of Allegiance. Rachel Kerns offered today’s invocation. Guests Kelly Tremaine, joining the club, former guest of Shawn Gordon Mark Pennell, retired from WKSU, guest of Kathy Myers Announcements Randy Smith shared the following: - Amanda Senn is the new Membership Director
- A proposed by-laws change was sent via email to all Rotarians. A vote will take place at the meeting. Share your feedback with any board member.
- Rotarian of the Year nominations are due now and will be announced at holiday event.
Todd Kamenash announced there will be a virtual holiday event. No date is set yet. If you’d like to be on the planning committee reach out to Todd or Rebecca. Carol Crimi provided an update on the latest grants approved by the Foundation: - $500 to Davey Elementary to purchase birthday books for every student
- $2,000 to Davey Elementary to purchase classroom books
- $800 to Davey and Walls Elementary art teacher for sketch books for each student
- $1,500 for coats for kids program
Carol Crimi announced the following on behalf of the Foundation: - Lauren Talion is a new board member
- Matt Carroll provided the Foundation’s financial records for the website
- Next Foundation meeting is 12/8/20. Grant application forms (available here) for consideration at this meeting are due by 11/30/20.
Rachel Kerns is collecting toys and gift cards for the annual toy drive. The needs this year are higher than ever. Donations may be dropped off to Habitat’s ReStore location in Kent or the Habitat office in Ravenna. Bill Childers led the singing of Happy Birthday to Jeff Roeger, celebrating his recent birthday and Jeff’s announcement of his good health one-year after his surgery. Roberta O’Keefe asked for volunteers willing to offer the invocation. Let her know if you are able to do so and she’ll arrange a date. 100th Anniversary Moment Jim Myers shared a story, which included Duncan and Daisy Wolcott, about a program offered during the 1929-1930 Rotary year. Speaker Curt Stumpf introduced Josh Daily and Amy Mesh, from Middle West Spirits in Columbus, OH. Josh and Amy detailed the history of the distillery, noting that Josh joined the business in 2010 and Amy in 2017. Middle West was founded in 2008 with three employees. They opened for commercial production in 2010. In 2010, they were only the 56th micro-distillery in the nation. Today, there are over 2,500. In Columbus alone there are now six or seven distilleries. Middle West employs fifty people today. Today, their spirits can be found throughout Ohio and in seven other states. Locally, one can find their products in Giant Eagle. One can also purchase directly from their website: shop.middlewestspirits.com. In 2021, they hope to expand further. The distillery produces whiskey and dark goods under the Middle West brand and vodka and clear goods under the OYO brand. They pride themselves on using locally sourced products as much as possible to create artisan spirits honoring Ohio. The majority of the wheat they use is grown in Fostoria, OH and Josh noted that their spirits taste like the agriculture and environment from which they come. Middle West operates in their main location off High Street in Columbus as well as two additional warehouses. Currently, whiskey is their most produced item. Josh invited Rotarians to take a trip to Columbus for a group tour when the COVID threat is no longer present and the distillery is able to provide tours again. During the initial COVID-19 health emergency, Middle West pivoted their production to make hand sanitizer. In late March and early April 2020 they produced and donated 75,000 bottles of sanitizer to local EMS and other providers. Hand sanitizer is for sale on their website. Josh and Amy took time to detail the production process of several spirits, sharing the proof, ingredients, and processes for whiskey, bourbon, and vodka. Interestingly, they also reuse the bourbon barrels to produce a maple syrup. Samples provided to several Rotarians included Middle West Spirits Straight Bourbon, Michelone Reserve and OYO Stone Fruit Vodka. Responder Today’s responder was Asad Khan. Respectfully submitted, Stacey Richardson
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