Rotareminder: Jennifer Lennox

 

 

Called to order by Rachel Kerns, President. Patriotic song was God Bless America, and Rachel led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Dennis Campbell did the Invocation, and then we sang “Let There Be Peace on Earth,” led by Dominique Bollenbacher. There were no visiting Rotarians, but a few guests:

Mary Beth Harper introduced Jean Druesedow, former Kent State Fashion Museum director. Dave Myers introduced Lisa Soeder and Tyette Jones. Bill Childers introduced Abhilekh Paudel, who is a Kent State student from Nepal. Abhilekh’s father was a Rotarian in Nepal, and his sister was a Youth Exchange student, and is now a Rotarian in Michigan.

 

Tom Myers was happy to hopefully be done blowing leaves. Chris Martin announced that Laura Martin Miller has passed the Fellowship Exam to become a Fellow in the Academy of General Dentistry (FAGD). Only about 6-7% of dentists have earned this. She will travel to Montreal, Quebec, in July for the convocation. Anne Moneypenny celebrated this time of year. Tom Hatch thanked Dominique for explaining the gas smell. Carol Crimi gave thanks that she lives in a condo and doesn’t need to blow leaves. Dave Myers was happy that Julien Mackerty and Lisa Soeder would be joining the club. Randy Smith said the Book Club had a great time at the author Abraham Verghese’s talk. Jen Lennox celebrated her anniversary, new members joining, and also the fantastic Tree City Awards last week. Roberta O’Keefe appreciated Mrs. Roeger’s piano performance, and Brian Bialik. Asad Khan just wanted to make Todd Kamenash (who was passing around the Happy Bucks basket) get more steps. Amanda Senn celebrated her son Davey’s 6^th birthday, and thanked Asad for leading the program last week. Kathy Myers said she appreciated neighbor Jean Druesedow coming to the program, Tom Myers blowing leaves, Mrs. Roeger’s piano talents, and Doctor Laura’s accomplishments. Paul Organ also paid just to make Todd Kamenash walk across the room. Todd Kamenash celebrated that he has a trip to San Diego coming up, for his friend Jameson in student advocacy center at Kent State, and for Paul Organ, Jeff Roeger and Shannon Zemba receiving Tree City Awards.

 

Student of the Month: There was no student of the month, as school was evacuated due to the gas smell.

 

Julien Mackerty and Lisa Soeder were inducted into the Rotary family. Jen Lennox introduced Julien and said he works as a bookkeeping and payroll associate at Bennett Accounting and Tax LLC in Tallmadge. He has worked there for two years, and before that job he worked for Hiram College in their business office. Julien grew up in Macedonia and graduated from Kent State in 2021. He is a homeowner in Kent, and has a very sweet tuxedo cat named Theophania or Thea for short. In his spare time, he loves playing Dungeons and Dragons, writing music, writing in general, experiencing the outdoors, thrifting and trying new recipes in the kitchen. At Kent State, he was an alumnus of the Beta Psi chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, a service organization that served the bands at Kent State. That organization inspired him to serve and be a leader, and he said that the service that Rotary does is what drew him to our organization.

Dave Myers introduced Lisa Soeder and said she and her husband Mark live in Garrettsville with their two dogs, Cali and Gracie. Lisa has worked at Kent State University for the past 8 years and currently serves as the Coordinator of Operations and Special Projects in the Office of Corporate Engagement. Lisa has 4 grown children, Ally, Danny, Emily and Julien, and one granddaughter, Piper (Danny) in Savannah, GA. A lifelong learner, Lisa is currently pursuing her Master's degree in criminology at KSU. Lisa is an engaging and thoughtful person who enjoys helping others and is inspired by and excited to be a part of the community of Rotary. Welcome Lisa and Julien!

 

Mary Beth Harper introduced Sarah Spinner Liska, the current director of the Kent State Museum. Mary Beth pointed out that Sarah was smart (she has multiple degrees, including a law degree from Yale), has lived in NE Ohio for 11 years and is an arts leader who has worked to develop partnership with the arts in NE Ohio.

Sarah said the museum is one of a handful in a country to have a collection this large (30,000 objects!), with pieces that go back to the Byzantine age. She showed a few pictures of items, including Elizabethan gloves, Queen Victoria’s linens and a contemporary evening dress.

Currently the museum has the following collections on display:

When asked by the hiring committee what she envisioned for the museum, Sarah said she thought it should be student-led. One of the first things Sarah did when she took up the position was to survey the students. Students said they wanted the museum to be inclusive and sustainable, so she has built on those ideas.

The museum’s inclusivity work has included community engagements, student outreach, student-led programming (including the first entirely student-led fashion show), professional development (including visiting lectures). For community engagement, she has worked on public programs and openings, started a Main Street Kent partnership and worked on community partnerships with the First Ladies museum and Cleveland Cinematheque.

She has also worked to make the space more welcoming, and showed examples of how the lobby space has been updated. Additionally, she is working to convert a storage room to a learning for future workshop spaces, public programs and classes. Finally, she listed the museum’s hours and cost, and pointed out that the museum is free on Sunday.

Kathy Myers, in her response, thanked Sarah for her informative presentation and said she was impressed with her accomplishments, and loved her student focus. Kathy also praised Sarah for her focus on sustainability and inclusivity and her attempts to reduce clothing/fabric excess.

 

Submitted by: Jennifer Lennox