As was announced last week, our lunches are going back to $13 beginning this Tuesday, November 2^nd.  If you have questions, please feel free to ask me or one of our board members. 

 

Details will be forthcoming on our Rotary Holiday Cocktail Party.  It will be on Friday, December 3^rd and include appetizers and a cash bar.  Many thanks to Rebekah Kulis for stepping up (once again) to chair the event. 

 

Please send me nominations for the Kent Rotarian of the Year.  We will present this award at the Holiday Party.  We have lots of “Service Above Self” folks in our club… send the names and the reason why your nominee is a good choice.  The Board will discuss at our November meeting.

 

Speaking of upcoming events… we are the VERY early stages of planning our spring auction.  We need to assemble a committee of dedicated folks to help.  Stacey Richardson is considering chairing the event, but she has some big events happening in her life at about that same time next spring. There is much to be done and we need lots of members to get involved.  Please let me or Dave Myers know if you will be part of this wonderful and important event.  It is because of the money that our auction raises that we are able to financially support various worthy causes in our community.

 

We need more members to help with the audio/visual aspect of our meetings.  The committee of about six has dwindled to two or three.  If we are going to be able to have hybrid meetings, which have been wonderful, we need more assistance.  The more people we have helping, the less the burden is on any one member.  Thank you!

 

I enjoyed watching our meeting last week via Zoom.  It’s definitely not as fun as being there in person, but it’s a great avenue for us when we are not able to attend in person.  Please remember to sign on wherever you are when/if you’re out of town. 

 

Let’s Serve to Change Lives!

 

With gratitude,

 

Kathy

Rotary History:  Tom Hatch held up the Centennial Rotary History for all to see and said the volume is available to members free of charge thanks to the financial support past presidents provided.  Tom edited the volume which is hardbound and contains copies of the three earlier club histories:  the one published in 1945 at the quarter century mark of the club, the “Pleasure of Their Company”, the volume that Paul Davey edited that took the club history from 1945 through 1984 with each decade compiled by Rotarians Bob Dix, Carl Pierson, Lu Lyman and Oliver Wolcott, and “The Rotary Club of Kent 1984 – 2010” that Paul Wallace compiled and edited, and finally, “The Rotary Club of Kent 2010-2021 compiled by David Dix with a history of the Kent Rotary Foundation written by Carol Crimi.  See Tom for details about acquiring your volume if you have note obtained one yet.

 

Club Photo:  President-elect David Myers announced that the club photo taken a few months ago will be distributed to all members via the Internet.  Those who wish can make their own prints.

 

Seniors Helping:  Dave McKeen said volunteers are needed to help rake leaves at the homes of seniors unable to handle the tasks.  The work will be done November 13th.   See Dave if you are available to volunteer.

 

Guests:   Asad Khan, our program chairman, introduced his guests:  his wife, Beth, Clilnton Braganza, and Nithya Venkataraman.   Bill Childers introduced Tammy Hunter, the new CEO of Townhall II. 

 

Speaker:  Asad Khan, continuing his theme of “Immigrants in Leadership,” introduced Sheila Garg, PhD, emeritus professor of Physics at the College of Wooster, who told us her life’s story of growing up in South India where she obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree and then went to England where her father had ties, completing her doctorate in studying the composition of Plastic Crystals at the University.  She settled in Wooster, Ohio with her husband and was a stay at home mom for 10 years raising her two children.  Opportunities to audit courses at Wooster College perked her interest and after auditing as many as 15 courses, she became enthralled with the idea of a broad liberal arts education.  She took a job as an assistant in the physics laboratory and in 1987 was hired on a part-time basis to teach physics to undergraduates.  Eventually she was hired full-time.   A good networker, she formed a relationship with the Liquid Crystals Institute at Kent State University, where she was able to renew her studies and also provide summer research opportunities for her students at Wooster College. Her program became widely recognized and she was asked to give presentations to intercollegiate faculty and administrators who wanted similar opportunities for their own students.  Her administrative talents and initiatives led to her becoming Chair of the Department and then Dean of the Faculty, a position that spread her so broadly she convinced the president of Wooster College to divide up the job and name her Provost.   As Dean and then Provost, she worked to get all Wooster departments to use the same software to end silo type planning.  She became active in globalizing education at Wooster College and was active in intercollegiate academic associations.  She also set up short term programs for students in the sciences in Europe and Asia.  Science students, she explained, are too busy to experience many of the liberal arts opportunities like this that students in the Humanities enjoy.  She also led faculty short term seminars in India to benefit the Wooster College faculty.  Professor Garg said that the Wooster Rotary Club became involved in efforts to restore one of the villages that was wiped out when the 2004 tsunami destroyed so much of the coastline along the Bay of Bengal.  The word for village is Nagar and the village has been renamed Wooster Nagar. Professor Garg retired from administrative duties and returned to teaching before finally retiring. She continues to serve in an emeritus position that enables her to remain active in the study of Physics.  As a resident of Wooster, she also volunteers with AARP to help the elderly fill out their tax returns.  She mentioned that her older brother, who became an engineer, emigrated to the USA and currently resides in Brunswick, not far from Wooster.  In his introduction, Asad said that Professor Garg had been his advisor when he was a student majoring in physics at Wooster College and credited her for his success in academia prior to going into business at Kent Displays.  Professor Garg said that teaching students and experiencing their enthusiasm as they mastered their studies was the most rewarding part of her career, but she added that she enjoys organizing and liked being an administrator also.

 

Response:  Carol Crimi provided the response.

Ben Wolford, Editor of The Portager joined Kent Rotary recently.  Upon hearing about plans to celebrate the Club’s 100th anniversary, Ben graciously stepped forward and offered to produce a video highlighting the Club’s history of fellowship and service.  Jim Myers helped Ben with the research. 

 

Since 2008, Kent Rotary has partnered with the organization Companion Community Development Alternatives (CoCoDa) to bring fresh water to villages in Central America.  Past Club President and current District Governor Larry Lohman explained this Power Point presentation furnished by Jim Mulholland, Executive Director of CoCoDa.  The presentation explains projects that have been accomplished as well as two others currently in the planning.  Larry has made a number of trips to Central America to visit the project sites and attend related conferences.

 

Upon spending the evening celebrating accomplishments of the past, the program ended with a note of focus on the future.  Mary Beth Growney Selene, who has served on both the Rotary International Board of Directors and The Rotary International Foundation, provided this video.  Mary Beth, resides in North Dakota and is the founder and owner of Ryan Signs, Inc.  Mary Beth has brought her dynamic message about Rotary to many districts throughout the U.S.