Thanks once again to our program chair for the month of July, Lange Kennedy. This week we travelled with KSU Women’s basketball head coach Todd Starkey to the MAC tournament and the disappointment of the cancelled NCAA tournament as well how the program is dealing with the pandemic. Next week we hear from KSU Women’s golf head coach Lisa Strom.
Please register on the Kent Rotary website (rotarykentohio.org) for our upcoming online extravaganza CHRISTMAS IN JULY! This is going to be a very entertaining event to raise funds for the Kent Rotary Foundation which funds programs in our community assisting with literacy and education, health and wellness, alleviation of poverty and COVID19 relief. This program was kicked off by a letter requesting members to consider giving an equivalent amount to what they would have contributed to the annual auction event that was cancelled this spring because of the pandemic. Typically, we raise in excess of $30,000. We are grateful to all our pacesetter givers, ticket purchasers and community sponsors for contributing almost $20,000 to this effort so far. LET’S SURPASS THAT $30,000 GOAL!
Our club and individual members were recently honored with several Rotary District 6630 awards ;
A Z Baker Award
Training and Education Award
Shawn Gordon – Individual Training and Education Award
Will Underwood – Recognized as Chair of District 4-Way Speech Contest
David Hansford – Recognized for 3 year service on District Board of Director
Congratulations to all!
Finally, I’d like to relate a personal story. We had a 60 foot oak tree come down on our property at Lake Milton this past weekend. It landed on our garage, which has a second floor apartment, taking off the outdoor staircase and punching 2 holes in the roof. It could have been worse as our son’s family including their non-ambulatory daughter and all her support equipment including ventilator, oxygen, feeding pump, etc. would have been trapped during their visit the previous weekend. No one was injured and the damage was not devastating in large part due to the quick response of 2 individuals. I want to recommend these persons and their companies for incredible service. Dave Swain of Barbor Tree Service safely removed the tree and his crew left the area spotless. Jerry Ford of Tarheel Construction had his crew repair the holes in the roof within hours of discovery after the tree was removed. During this challenging time while we hear of con artists ripping people off during personal tragedies here are 2 local companies that came through with spectacular service.
Because our founder Tubby, William Walls, started his presidency in mid year he served as the only president through two terms. By then, the Constitution was adopted for meeting regularly at noon on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at the Franklin Hotel. Ultimately Rotary International requested that we start meeting weekly and have so ever since. When the constitution was changed to weekly meetings, a lively discussion followed. Several members felt it would interfere with their business to attend meetings each week and resigned! Many of these men were back on the roster within two years.
During that period of time the club lost its first charter member by death, William S. Kent, for whom Kent State University is named.
A list of some of the 25 charter members contains several names a few members might recognize: Dr. William Andrews, Arthur Babbitt, Forest Bryant, Martin L. Davey, Dr. George Dumm, Frank Elgin, Griffith Evans, Byron Fessenden, John Getz, David Green, Fred Gressard, William Kent, Harry Longcoy, Dudley Mason, John McGilvrey, John Paxton, William W. Reed, Roy Smith, Hale Thompson, Dr. Nicholas Ulrich, Duncan Wolcott and of course, William Walls.
Early in its history, the club established an enviable singing reputation. That this reputation has spread throughout the district is shown by a little conversation overheard at a district conference in Cleveland on March 21-22, 1921. As customary at these gatherings each meeting has a song leader. At one of the large meetings our song leader, Frank Elgin, was invited to lead. Frank adopted the same tactics that he practiced in his own club. Not satisfied on the platform he was soon down in the center aisle exhorting everyone to sing. Finally he divided the audience into two groups and instructed one side of the center aisle to sing “Keep the Home Fires Burning”, and told the other section to sing simultaneously, ”A Long, Long Trail Awinding”. There was an instantaneous and hearty response. Everyone who could sing did so, and those who could not sing could make a joyful noise. When the competition was over someone was heard to ask who is this song leader, and another replied he comes from the Kent club that’s the singingest club in the district. Credit should be given to Frank Elgin for the excellent reputation established in those early years which continues to today.
The event will be a variety show hosted by Todd Kamenash and Alyssa Mazey. There will be a combination of live and pre-recorded elements including musical entertainment. There will be a live auction and a chance to give to a specific local organization. The concept is to have a fun experience, be entertained, and raise money for our foundation to give directly back to our community.
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Kent Rotary e-Club meeting minutes of July 14, 2020
President Randy Smith opened the meeting and welcomed the group.
The patriotic song, God Bless America, was led by David Dix.
Rick Bissler led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance.
The invocation was offered by Al Barber.
Sue Hetrick is handling Rotareminder duties.
Announcements:
Todd Kamenash is asking for Rotarians to complete the registration form for the July 25th Christmas in July Event. Fun activities are planned for the event and all funds raised will go back to the community.
Rachel Kerns said that a new family will move into a recently completed Habitat home at 1436 Hillcrest in Atwater. A traditional open house will not be held, but a drive-by welcome will be held instead.
Carol Crimi needs 5 to 6 volunteers to work from 10 until noon on July 25th to prepare a lunch that will be distributed as carry-out to participants.
President Randy reported on the recent District ceremony. Our club received the AZ Baker award. In addition, Shawn Gordon, Will Underwood, and David Hansford all received awards and recognition for their work with the district.
A Moment in Kent Rotary History by Jim Myers:
Jim talked about the initial organization of the Kent Rotary Club. He noted that William Walls served as the first president. The club initially met twice and month and then moved to weekly meetings. He told us that William S. Kent, an early charter member, died during the first year. He also read a list of early members, who were well-known community leaders.
Jim suggested we all read the information contained in the last Club Bulletin about club history.
Program:
Laing Kennedy introduced Todd Starkey, the KSU Women’s Head Basketball Coach, as our speaker. Todd is in his fourth season and was the MAC Coach of the Year in 2017. This past year KSU won the MAC East and was poised for an exciting finish to the season until the pandemic interrupted tournament play.
Todd told us that Zoom calls are the new normal these days. He recapped the last season for KSU women especially nearing the season finale and the hopes for a great tournament finish. Initially Todd thought that the tournament would proceed as planned, but the virus spread caused abrupt changes. KSU reported to Cleveland to play Buffalo. KSU was down at first, but rallied after Coach Todd got a technical foul. KSU went on to win the game and was the highest seed remaining in the tournament. The team was hopeful about going on to the NCAA to continue the season. Then came the devastating news that the tournament would be cancelled. It was hard to tell the team that the season was over. The women concentrated on academics after the basketball season ended. The team had a record-high academic record of 3.68.
Going forward, Todd said that recruiting is still happening but not in person He talked about several of the new recruits coming to Kent to play. Kent also signed a contract to play Florida State and DePaul. Todd’s goal is to continue to have Kent play nationally recognized teams to prepared them for tournament action in the future. KSU is also going to Ohio State to play if the season can proceed as planned.
Coaches are meeting with players via Zoom. They are stressing effective conversations and bolstering the mental health of players. Todd is trying to get some voluntary workouts on campus. There are still many unanswered questions about moving forward. But the goal is to get to the NCAA Tournament.
Response:
Anita Herington thanked Todd for his presentation and talked about how excited she has been to see what he has been able to do with the team since his arrival here. She is also excited about the talented new recruits coming aboard. She is expecting lots of NCAA tournament action.
Information in this eBulletin comes primarily from the Rotareminder, board meeting minutes, and stories submitted by members.
If you have any Rotary stories, events or speaker information to benefit the Club, please submit it to info.rotarykentohio.org@gmail.com. We will add it to the next appropriate eBulletin.
