Kent Rotary Club July 21, 2020 meeting minutes
Sports & Ethics Next: Next week, our speaker will be Laing Kennedy, the retired Athletic Director of Kent State University. Laing continues to work on the teaching side of college sports and teaches a course on Sports Ethics. An interesting program coming up.
Announcements:
Remember! Zoom Charity Auction Saturday: Todd Kamenesh reminded Rotarians to register to participate in the club’s “Christmas in July” event from 7 to 8:30 pm Saturday. Todd said there are many good items available for bidding and plenty of good entertainment. You have to register to be admitted and registration costs $30 for a single and $50 for two. President Randy said the club goal is to exceed $30,000 and he believes we can top that as $20,000 has been already raised in pledges. It was mentioned that the Cleveland District Rotary officers may attend to pick up a few lessons. Todd said the code for getting on the Zoom meeting will go out two days before the event.
Days of Caring: Bill Childers announced that the United Way of Portage County is accepting donated items for Back to School, Senior Care, Personal Care Products, and pre-used children’s books if in good shape on Wednesday, July 29th from 2 to 5 pm. They are doing this on a drive-through basis so donors can maintain social distancing at the back of Chemical Bank on 999 East Main Street in Ravenna. A free barbecue will be ongoing so donors can have some delicious food.
Women’s Golf Team in Hunt for National Title
Our speaker, Head Coach Lisa Strom, entering her second year as head coach for the Kent State Women’s Golf Team, said the team with four veterans returning and two promising newbies will be in the hunt for its first national title just as it was last spring. The strongest team in years had to cut short its season in March because of Covid-19. Fortunately, Strom said, golf is a sport that lends itself well to social distancing and she anticipates the team ready to go as the fall semester begins. Kent State women’s golf has won 21 consecutive MidAmerican Conference titles and she said given the great work ethics of the team, she anticipates a repeat of this accomplishment. Ranked fifth in the nation last year, the team had just knocked off top ranked Texas at the ICON Invitational by a 7-stroke margin when the pandemic forced everyone to stop competing and take their teams home. KSU had been on its way to Augusta, GA to play in the Valspar Invitational and was four tournaments shy of its 22nd MAC championship when competition was halted. Strom said she began golfing at the age of 7 and played for Ohio State where from her sophomore year on, she qualified to represent Ohio State in every tournament. She spent five and a half years as an assistant coach working for Hall of Fame Head Coach Therese Hession. She was head coach at Texas State for three years and before coming to Kent and gave Texas State its best season ever. She said she is proud that KSU women’s golfers had a GPA of 3.73 this past spring with no one taking a pass-fail course. The team continues to honor the memory of Ashley White-Stumpf, an alumna and golfer, who died in 2011 serving her country in Afghanistan, killed by and improvised explosive device with two of her comrades while setting up tents to help care for women and children in Afghanistan.
VISITORS: Anne Compton (spelling?), guest of Roger Sidoti
PRAYER AND RESPONSE: Shawn Gordon provided the invocation and Chas Madonio gave the response to Coach Strom’s presentation.
Respectfully submitted:
Dave Dix, editor
