What an incredible honor to have been inducted as President of the Rotary Club of Kent for the 2021-2022 year! Thank you, President Randy for your year of service to this club. Your Rotary year will go down as one of the most challenging ever. You not only rose to the challenge, but you excelled.
It was so wonderful to be meeting in person again! While I did not get a count of who was in attendance in person and online, it was so great to be together! Thank you, President-Elect Dave, for spearheading the hybrid meetings. He has a small cadre of members who will be assisting to keep the hybrid format running smoothly… not only for members who are unable to attend in person, but to allow us to continue to have remote speakers for our meetings. I think we all agree that we had excellent programs last year, both local and at great distances, thanks to using Zoom. If you are interested in joining the Zoom Squad, please contact Dave Myers, dmyers11@gmail.com.
While we will not require that people attending the in-person meetings be vaccinated, the board discussed it and agreed that there is an expectation that in-person attendees are vaccinated. I predict that we will be relaxing that expectation, possibly in the near future. It will be a topic at our next (and possibly every) board meeting. If you have thoughts you’d like to share, please feel free to reach out to me or any board member. Until we have a better idea of how things go, we will continue to ask you to bring your own lunch and/or beverage.
Speaking of Board Members, I am delighted that we have such a tremendous board to assist and guide me this year. Thank you to President-Elect Dave Myers, Program Director Asad Khan, Secretary David McKeen, Treasurer Matt Carter, Membership Director Amanda Senn, Service Projects Director Todd Kamenash, Outreach Director Curtis Stumpf, Club Administration Director Roger Kramer, Ways and Means Director Chas Madonio. There are many others who are key to keeping our club running well and I am grateful to them all.
While we missed having our 100th Anniversary Gala last October, it has been rescheduled for October 23rd at the Kent State University Hotel. You should have all received the Save the Date card. More details to come.
We are fortunate to have one of our very own members, Larry Lohman serving this year as District Governor! Please join me on July 14th for the official banner exchange and launch of Larry’s year. I am hoping that we have a number of people there to support our fellow Kent Rotarian as he starts his year as governor. You can attend virtually if a trip to Parma is not in your plans next week. There is no cost, but registration is requested. Go to https://rotarydistrict6630.org and click on the banner in the center of the screen to register.
I look forward to seeing you all in person or on-screen at our July 6th Rotary meeting.
All my best,
Kathy
