Up Next: Laing Kennedy will prepare us for NCAA March Madness.
Meeting Opening: President Randy called the meeting to order. David Dix played God Bless America. President Randy led the Pledge of Allegiance and Rick Bissler provided the Invocation.
Guests: David Sommers’ guest was Philip Lanier, Director of Marketing for DS Architecture; Chas Madonio’s son Patrick and daughter Erin joined us; Bill Childers had as his guest former ILEP student from Rwanda and current graduate student Pacifique Niyonzima; Olivia Pilon introduced Jake Jackson who covers scouting in Kent, and Dave Myers’s guest was Ben Wolford.
Announcements: President Randy asked for input on if Kent Rotary should participate again in the shoebox project since we took a hiatus because of the pandemic this year.
Todd Kamanesh said the club would not do a contest for March Madness this year but would participate in an April food drive competition with the Stow/Munroe Falls Rotary Club. Details to follow.
Bill Childers announced that United Way would be doing March Madness bracket buster and squares for NCAA men’s and women’s. Details to be sent in the next newsletter.
President Randy said he learned the local Lions Club is trying to collect 500 pounds of grocery bags to make a bench for downtown Kent.
100th Anniversary Moment: Jim Myers gave us another fascinating glimpse into our past talking about the fourth international forum sponsored Kent Rotary and Kent State University on the subject of neutrality. Full text can be found in this newsletter.
Speaker: Todd Kamanesh introduced our speaker, former Kent Rotarian Lori Wemhoff. After spending 10 years as the Executive Director of the Kent Area Chamber of Commerce (KACC), Lori moved to Chicago to become the Senior Vice President for Communications and Marketing at the American Osteopathic Association (AOA).
Todd interviewed Lori with questions he had not shared with her to make an interesting dialogue. Here are her answers (sans questions).
Lori started her new job on January 13, 2020 and worked in the office until March 16, 2020. Except for an occasional sneaking into her office, she has been working from home. Her days consist of 6 to 7 Zoom meetings a day and overseeing her staff around the country of 16 people. Besides marketing and communications, she oversees graphics, public relations and putting out “fires.”
They moved from the 3,000 square foot home they built in Kent to a 1,600 square foot apartment on the 38th floor of a building overlooking downtown Chicago and two blocks from her office.
When asked about what connections she still has in Kent, she said, “Kent and Ohio will always be home.” She still shops locally including 20 cans of caramel corn from Popped that she sent at Christmas to staff around the country including Florida, California and North Carolina. She renewed her Jeep lease with Klaben and she and Rob have stayed at the Kent State University Hotel the 3 or 4 times they have been back in Kent. She says she reads The Portager and Record Courier daily. And she and Rob are huge supporters of Kent State men’s and women’s basketball.
Lori said she is an optimist and tries to post something positive on her Facebook page every day by 8:30 a.m.
She described the view from her apartment that faces southwest that includes the Tribune building, the Sears Tower and her favorite architecture the Wrigley Building. She said reality came home when the recent protests on Michigan Avenue were right below their apartment. She said it was unnerving, disturbing and scary.
When asked about the future of small businesses, Lori said in 2012 the KACC hosted 32 ribbon cuttings. In 2020 the Chamber had two ribbon cuttings. She said it will take a lot of effort, leadership and investment but she believes small business will for sure make a comeback. She said Kent has “too much pride” to not have a comeback. But she said the comeback will not happen overnight.
AOA is about to launch a new ad campaign that focuses on “The Doctor will hear you now” which emphasizes the holistic approach of doctors of osteopathy. Eleven percent of physicians are DOs and 25% of medical students. AOA represents 150,000 members.
In response to a question, Lori said her husband retired from First Energy and the next day started a new career as a doorman for a company representing 45 businesses. She said Rob loves his new career.
Response was by Laing Kennedy, who was her professor in his athletic ethics course she audited.
Respectfully submitted, Anita Herington
