Rotareminder for the Rotary Club of Kent
January 7, 2025
Vice President Amanda Senn, standing in for an ailing President Rachel, called the meeting to order and thanked audio booth volunteers Mark Pennell and Alan Alderson. We sang “God Bless America,” played by David Dix. After reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, Denise Baba offered the invocation. Our second song was “If I Had a Hammer” in honor of the passing of Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary, with David Dix on piano.
There were two visiting Rotarians at today’s meeting: Debbie Clark from Stow and Ciarra Brunn from Ravenna. Ciarra and Nathan Thomas, husband of today’s speaker, were guests of Paul Organ. Pete Kenworthy was the guest of Dave Myers.
Announcements
Steve Dennis encouraged everyone who has not yet donated to Evert Rotarian Every Year (EREY) to bring a check to next week’s meeting.
Bill Childers thanked all those who rang bells for the Salvation Army this past holiday season.
Larry Lohman noted that the next water project in El Salvador will begin soon under the auspices of CoCoDa. There will be a delegation trip to the site in June. He also asked for volunteers to sign up for a District Grants Management Zoom Seminar.
Dominique Bollenbacher encouraged everyone to sign up to receive alerts from the City of Kent. She noted that Main Street Kent is sponsoring a Snow Day event on June 25 and an upcoming Chocolate Walk. More information is available at their website. Dom has tickets for the Feb 25 Jaycees Reverse Raffle. She also reminded members that the Rotary Auction Committee will meet next week.
Student of the Month
Veronica Rivers, an eighth grade student at Stanton Middle School, was honored. Among many other activities, Veronica plays the violin and participates in Drama and Art clubs. Her parents were in attendance to see her receive the award.
Happy Bucks
Will Underwood, Paul Organ, Steve Dennis, and Amanda Senn touted the achievements of their children and grandchildren. Kathy Myers and Justin Gates congratulated Veronica Rivers and her family on a job well done. Pete Kenworthy commiserated with John Flynn about Mt. Union’s recent loss in football.
Today’s Program: Katy Thomas and her podcast, Kent In Good Company
Doug Fuller introduced Katy Thomas who created the podcast “Kent In Good Company” to celebrate the many entrepreneurial efforts in Kent. Originally from Windham, Katy is now a Kent resident. She graduated from Kent State with undergraduate and graduate degrees in Teaching English as a Second Language and is an adjunct professor at Tri-C. She also works managing digital marketing projects for In Transit Studios. According to Katy, “Kent In Good Company is a passion project,” and a non-profit one at that. It was all her idea.
Katy teamed up with Main Street Kent to connect with local businesses to tell their stories. So far, she’s produced 39 episodes of her podcast each 15 to 20 minutes long. Among those businesses already highlighted are Over Easy at the Depot, Kent Stage, Popped, Hippie Fox Rocks, Woodsy’s, Ray’s, and the River Merchant. She interviews each business owner in person and edits the audio in her home studio. The podcasts are available at Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
Her third season begins this week with a story about 101 Bottles. Katy likes to ask each interviewee, “What’s a hidden gem in Kent?” In this way she finds connections to new businesses to include in her podcast plans. She is especially interested in interviewing someone at Kent Historical Society and several people in the audience agreed to help her make the right connections.
Katy’s impressive success is reflected in the fact that her podcast has achieved over 5000 “listens” so far. She’s getting at least 100 each week.
Dennis Campbell provided the response and the meeting ended with the Four Way Test.
Respectfully submitted,
Thomas Hatch
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