Board to Discuss In-Person Meetings During Covid-19 Upsurge:  President Kathy said the board would discuss the issue of meeting in person during the upsurge in Covid-19 infections and mentioned she had conferred with Joan Seidel of the Kent Health Department.  She got a round of applause when she said she has grown impatient with those who refuse to get vaccinated which has sparked the Covid-19 upsurge that has made gatherings in person so difficult.

 

No Luncheon, But Meeting Goes On:  Having foregone the luncheon out of concern, in the face of the renewed spread of Covid-19, for the ladies in the kitchen who prepare the luncheons, Kent Rotarians and their guests sang “God Bless America”, pledged allegiance to the flag, and Roberta O’Keefe gave the invocation.  The group then sang, “When You’re Smiling”, despite most of us wearing masks which made it difficult to share our smiles.

 

Next Year’s Slate of Officers Approved:  By acclimation club members approved the following Rotarians to lead Kent Rotary for the year beginning July 1:  President, Dave Myers; President-elect, Asad Khan; Secretary, David McKeen; Treasurer, Matt Carter; Program Chair, Rachel Kerns; Service Project Director, Brad Ehrhart; Kent Rotary Foundation Board Member, Nelson Burns;  Membership Director, Amanda Senn; Outreach Director Curtis Stumpf; Club Administration Director, Roger Kramer; Ways and Means Director, Chas Madonio; Immediate Past President, Kathy  Myers; Youth Protection Officer, Todd Kamenash.

 

Lexi Lenczewski, Stanton Student of the Month:   Anthony Horton, principal of Stanton Middle School, introduced Lexi Lenczewski as Stanton’s student of the month.  An 8th grader, Lexi’s teachers said she leads by example and is always respectful of teachers and her peers.  She  is a three-year member of the band and plays clarinet, a two-year member of the Girls’ Soccer Team, and participates as a member of STAC, Students Taking Action Club, which works on school connectedness, improving grades, goal setting and helping others with homework.  Lexi is active in her Girl Scout Troop through which she gives to the community by boxing food and supplies for families in need, working with young children to help them learn crafts, and picking up trash and debris in downtown Kent.  She said she gets her desire for service from her family, especially her mom and grandmother.  Lexi was joined by her proud parents, Alicia and Thomas Lenczewksi.

 

Program-22 for 2022:  Mary Beth Harper, reaching into her creative tool bag, had club members try to each list 22 things they would like to do in the new year, 2022.  Our “to-dos” she said could be easy or ambitious, one-tie undertakings of habits that stretch for years.  She told us to include plenty of fun activities that increase one’s happiness and to post our list on the refrigerator and cross things off as they are completed.  Rotarians then shared items on their list.   Here’s a sampler of what was shared:  ride a bike 4,000 miles;  walk the tails in all the parks of the Portage Park District park system; smoke a ham in one Rotarian’s new smoker; try a new recipe; learn to surf; attend a relative’s wedding this summer in England; take a cooking class; stay healthy;  go outside every day; make four new friends of people not like the person listing the thing; surprise my wife and surprise my employees, etc., etc.

 

Visitors & Guests:  We had no Rotary visitors.  President Kathy introduced Bill Russell of Coleman Services as her guest. Alicia and Lenczewski were guests to see their daughter feted as Stanton Middle School Student of the Month for January.

 

Anniversaries:    It was posted that David Hansford is marking 40 years as a Kent Rotarian and Chas Madonio, 20 years.