Rotareminder for the Rotary Club of Kent
August 12, 2025

Meeting opening:
President Amanda Senn called the meeting to order and welcomed Rotarians and guests.  Sound booth volunteers were Mark Pennell and Bill Nome.  Photos were taken by Dom Bollenbacher.  Our patriotic song was My Country Tis of Thee, played by David Dix.  We recited the Pledge of Allegiance followed by the invocation, offered by Nelson Burns.  We then sang You Were Always on My Mind, with David Dix playing the piano and Bill Childers leading the singing.

Visitors/Guests:
Amanda introduced Jason Bogovich from the Philippines and representing Asian Development Bank.  Maggie McHendry was a guest of Jim Myers.  John Flynn introduced his grandson Carter and his wife Connie.  Malory Carter was a guest of Matt Carter.

Announcements:
Jen Lennox reminded us that the Rotary meeting on August 19th will be held at Stanton Middle School.  We will meet the new teachers for Kent Schools.
Chas Madonio thanked the many sponsors of the Dog Days of Summer.
Doug Fuller announced the next speaker at Tap Talks.  Jennifer Mapes will talk about her new book next Tuesday evening at North Water Brewing.
Nithya V reminded us about the End Polio Now event to be held at the Friday Guardians Game in Cleveland.
Ben Tipton is collecting information about service work done by Rotarians.  He also passed around a sign-up sheet for people to volunteer at the Lord’s Lunch next Saturday.
Bill Childers thanked the volunteers who distributed food for the Salvation Army.
Dom Bollenbacher told us that construction work will begin in two weeks for a roundabout to be located near our meeting space at the Methodist church.  We should not have difficulty accessing the church parking lot.
Asad Khan told us that he is arranging the Rotary programs for all five Tuesdays in September.  And he promised jokes!
Anne Moneypenny told us about the Chamber Golf Outing that will be held on August 26th.  There are great prizes.
Amanda Senn will send out an email telling us about volunteer projects happening in Summit County, coordinated by Rotary clubs.

New Member Induction:
Bill Childers introduced Greg Dostal who is joining Rotary today.  Greg works at Portage Community Bank and has had a career in banking and finance.  Greg is also an active volunteer with youth, fostering literacy.  
President Amanda Senn conducted the membership induction of Greg.  He received a standing ovation as our newest Rotarian.

Happy Bucks:
Nelson Burns thanked the supporters who helped him raise funds for MS during the Pedal to the Point event.
Todd Kamenash was happy to see John Flynn at the meeting today.
John Flynn told us he is almost off oxygen and donated funds to honor his and Connie’s 51st wedding anniversary.
Steve Belli did 100 miles at the Pedal to the Point event.
Dennis Campbell helped with a benefit for a friend.
Nancy Whitehead welcomed Denise Baba and John Flynn to the Kent Rotary Foundation Board.
Denise Baba is happy about her garden’s bounty of cucumbers.
Anne Moneypenny is happy that the second speaker is here.
Carol Crimi gave kudos to Nelson and Steve for their biking efforts.

Program:
Anne Moneypenny introduced our speaker today, Michelle Sahr, owner of Off the Wagon and Red Letter Days.  Michelle has a degree in marketing and a career in retail work.  She has two shops in Kent and another one opening soon.  She also had a booming web presence.  In spite of a busy career, Michelle is also very active in the community.
Michelle showed off some of her best-selling items, many of which were good for big laughs.  Next year Michelle will celebrate a 100-year anniversary.  She told us that her grandmother started the family business selling perfumes and cosmetics.  In 1970 her grandmother opened a shop in Quaker Square selling perfumes.  At one time the family had seven stores in Quaker Square.  Later the businesses moved into Stow and Hudson.  In 2009 a store was opened in Kent at the urging of Ron Burbick.  This was the time of the Acorn Alley development.  The store has gone through several expansions and has been very successful.  Michelle has 27 employees and her adult children help with the business too.
The web site boasts over 8,000 items sold throughout the US and even internationally.  Business is especially busy around the holidays.
Michelle added a store in the downtown of Chagrin Falls and expects to open a store in Medina’s downtown.
There was time for questions.  And Michelle told us about the origin of the Harry Potter Festival.  She expected 1,000 persons to show up and instead 10,000 showed, creating a very crowded but fun event.  Criteria for product selections include fun and weird.  Examples were shown.

Response:
Will Underwood thanked Michelle and listed some of the items that are for sale at the store.  He emphasized laughter as being good for us.  He also congratulated her on the century mark.

Four Way Test:
The meeting closed with the reciting of the Four Way Test.

Respectfully submitted,
Sue Hetrick