Rotaryminder for July 22, 2025
Posted by Mary Beth Harper
IMPORTANT CHANGE OF LOCATION FOR TUESDAY’S MEETING:
On Tuesday, July 29, our club is meeting at the Ambassador Crawford School of Business at Kent State University. We will hear a presentation from Dean Deborah Spake followed by an optional tour of the new building. Park behind the building off Route 59—lot is labeled R-16. (We have been assured that there will not be any parking tickets!)
GUESTS:
Jack Alpern of the Aurora Rotary Club; Charlie Kamenash, son of Todd Kamenash; Greg Dostal of Portage Community Bank.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Bill Childers says the Cruise-In Ravenna will be held on Wednesday, August 6, from 2 to 9 p.m.
Volunteers are needed for the Salvation Army food drive on Wednesday, August 6. See Bill Childers for details.
Save the Date: Thursday, September 11, is Pints and Pours for Polio at the Battleground with Tallmadge Rotary.
Nithya Venkataraman also announced that the End Polio Now campaign at the Cleveland Indians game will be held on Friday, August 15. Order your tickets for the game via the Rotary district website. Nithya is arranging for a party bus to take Kent Rotarians to the game. Once you have purchased tickets, let Nithya know. President Amanda Senn sent an email last week with details.
HAPPY BUCKS: Many Rotarians were happy this week, and a few interesting announcements were made. Our Global Rotarian Student is coming from Japan this week. She will be studying at Kent State University. Our Rotary Exchange Student from Germany is arriving August 13 and will be staying with Stacey Richardson and her family for the first few months. Rotarian Debbie Krutz is retiring as the Treasurer/CEO of the Kent City Schools after serving for 45 years.
GUEST SPEAKER: Bob Oborn, our District Governor, outlined his plans for the year.
Bob, a Cuyahoga Falls native, retired in January 2024 after working at Kent Elastomer Products for 42 years. He is a member of the Stow Rotary Club and has held a number of club and district offices. He and his wife Annette, who was also a guest, live in Munroe Falls. He holds degrees from Malone College and Kent State University.
Bob says the sole purpose of the District Governor is to support the clubs. District 6630 has 51 clubs and 1,562 members. Eight of these clubs are celebrating 100-year anniversaries this year.
Bob is committed to developing future leaders in the district. Six members from district clubs will be selected to attend the Zone Institute of Training this year. In addition, the district will support president-elect training by supplementing $400 of the cost.
He hopes to increase memberships and start Companion Clubs, as well as publicize the Youth Exchange program. Bob explained that he has a personal interest in supporting addiction recovery and that he hopes to create a clearing house of resources for families. Watch for an announcement in September about a project to help elderly folks in our communities in case of an extended power outage. Finally, Bob is a big supporter of the Rotary Foundation.
RESPONDER: Larry Lohman
