eMeeting on July 14, 2020

President Randy Smith opened the meeting and welcomed the group.

The patriotic song, God Bless America, was led by David Dix.

Rick Bissler led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance.

The invocation was offered by Al Barber.

Sue Hetrick is handling Rotareminder duties.

 

Todd Kamenash is asking for Rotarians to complete the registration form for the July 25^th Christmas in July Event.  Fun activities are planned for the event and all funds raised will go back to the community.

Rachel Kerns said that a new family will move into a recently completed Habitat home at 1436 Hillcrest in Atwater. A traditional open house will not be held, but a drive-by welcome will be held instead.

Carol Crimi needs 5 to 6 volunteers to work from 10 until noon on July 25^th to prepare a lunch that will be distributed as carry-out to participants.

President Randy reported on the recent District ceremony.  Our club received the AZ Baker award.  In addition, Shawn Gordon, Will Underwood, and David Hansford all received awards and recognition for their work with the district.

 

Jim talked about the initial organization of the Kent Rotary Club.  He noted that William Walls served as the first president.  The club initially met twice and month and then moved to weekly meetings.  He told us that William S. Kent, an early charter member, died during the first year.  He also read a list of early members, who were well-known community leaders.

Jim suggested we all read the information contained in the last Club Bulletin about club history.

 

Laing Kennedy introduced Todd Starkey, the KSU Women’s Head Basketball Coach, as our speaker. Todd is in his fourth season and was the MAC Coach of the Year in 2017. This past year KSU won the MAC East and was poised for an exciting finish to the season until the pandemic interrupted tournament play.

Todd told us that Zoom calls are the new normal these days.  He recapped the last season for KSU women especially nearing the season finale and the hopes for a great tournament finish.  Initially Todd thought that the tournament would proceed as planned, but the virus spread caused abrupt changes.  KSU reported to Cleveland to play Buffalo.  KSU was down at first, but rallied after Coach Todd got a technical foul.  KSU went on to win the game and was the highest seed remaining in the tournament. The team was hopeful about going on to the NCAA to continue the season. Then came the devastating news that the tournament would be cancelled.  It was hard to tell the team that the season was over.  The women concentrated on academics after the basketball season ended.  The team had a record-high academic record of 3.68.

Going forward, Todd said that recruiting is still happening but not in person He talked about several of the new recruits coming to Kent to play.   Kent also signed a contract to play Florida State and DePaul.  Todd’s goal is to continue to have Kent play nationally recognized teams to prepared them for tournament action in the future.  KSU is also going to Ohio State to play if the season can proceed as planned.

Coaches are meeting with players via Zoom.  They are stressing effective conversations and bolstering the mental health of players.  Todd is trying to get some voluntary workouts on campus.  There are still many unanswered questions about moving forward.  But the goal is to get to the NCAA Tournament.

 

Anita Herington thanked Todd for his presentation and talked about how excited she has been to see what he has been able to do with the team since his arrival here.  She is also excited about the talented new recruits coming aboard.  She is expecting lots of NCAA tournament action.

 

Respectfully submitted,