Rotareminder for the Rotary Club of Kent

August 25, 2026

Meeting opening:

Past District Governor Larry Lohman called the meeting to order and welcomed Rotarians and guests to the meeting that was held in the Kent City Council Chambers. Sound technicians were Bill Nome, Roger Kramer and Mark Pennell.  Photos were handled by Nithya Venkataraman.  Our patriotic song was the National Anthem, played by David Dix.  We recited the Pledge of Allegiance.  Rachel Kerns offered our invocation.

Visitors/Guests:

There were several representatives from the city of Kent, since we were meeting in City Hall, including Jack Arnhein, mayor; Dave Ruller, city manager; Gary Stone, police chief; and James Samels, fire chief.

Asad Khan introduced his guest, Lisa Weldon, a co-worker.

Announcements:

David McKeen told us that Shannon at Over Easy needs volunteers every other Monday to help package meals for delivery by Mobile Meals.  Please see the announcement in the eBulletin weekly update.

Kathy Myers called our attention to the Changing Destinies event benefiting Coleman Health Services, which will be held on September 17^th.

Dom Bollenbacher first talked about Main Street Kent’s DORA path.  See the Main Street Kent website for details on how you might win a prize.  In addition, she told us that Celebrate Portage is an organization created by Leadership Portage County.  This year David and Janet Dix will be receiving the organization’s highest award.  The award will be presented in the evening of September 24^th at the NEW Center.

Larry Lohman circulated a sign-up sheet for the “Rotary Speakeasy” to be held on September 29^th at 6 pm.  This event will be held instead of the usual noon meeting.

Larry announced that CoCo Da is hosting a Sun and Water conference in El Salvador.  See Larry for details. Larry also noted that Rotary is publicizing acts of kindness.  Larry will send out information on how to register for this initiative.

Jen Lennox informed us that 45 to 50 trees will be planted in Towner’s Woods this year.  District 6630 is urging tree planting.

Birthdays:

Jeff Roeger introduced Rotarians with August birthdays.  The question to be answered is why you joined Rotary.

David McKeen said he joined to give back to others and likes that Rotary is a worldwide organization.

Brian Bialik said he joined first as a part of his career path.  Now he stays for the service projects around the world.

Chas Madonio joined for the fellowship and interaction with everyone.

Anita Herington was asked by her boss to join Rotary to be one of the first women Rotarians in Kent.  Now she stays for the service projects locally and worldwide.

Brad Ehrhart joined for the fellowship, including the Rotary book club.

Other Rotarians with August birthdays not in attendance included Tom Tadsen, Pete Kenworthy, Dennis Campbell, John Ryan, and Rebekah Wright Kulis.

Progam:

Will Underwood told us about upcoming programs for September as follows:

                  Sept 01 – Mark West talking about Camp RYLA

                  Sept 08 – Kevin Wermir regarding Rotary Youth Exchange

                  Sept 15 – Doug Hausknecht about ShelterBox USA

                  Sept 22 – PDG Dale Smith to induct the new Companion Club

Will then introduced our speaker for today, David Hassler, the director of the Wick Poetry Center.  Tom Hatch arranged to have David  talk with us about the Poets for Science Gathering to be held at Kent State University on November 12th to 14^th, 2026.

David told us that Poets for Science began in Washington, DC. In 2017. Jane Hirshfield, a poet and environmental spokesperson joined marchers at a teach-in on the National Mall.  Wick Poetry Center joined with the marchers at that event. David noted that poems from that day went viral.  In 2018, Chicago  hosted a Poets for Science event.  A global gallery was developed.  Eighty countries from around the world participated in this event.

Today Poets for Science is both an exhibit and a movement exploring the connections between poetry and science. David showed us a video entitled Dear Human at the Edge of Time. Many voices shared in this community poem.  We each received a card containing a nature scene and a poem by Gary Snyder entitled “For All”.  David read the poem, in which Gary pledges his allegiance to the soil of Turtle Island.  Next David read a poem named Humpback.  The poem expresses our awe and connection to nature.  We were then asked to create our own pledge statements.  Several Rotarians offered words of inspiration, including Nancy Whitehead, Carol Crimi, Asad Khan and Tom Hatch.  

David closed with an invitation for all of us to come to the Poets for Science gathering in November. The event will explore the intersection of poetry and science through readings, panels, participatory sessions and a book fair. 

Response:

Asad Khan thanked David for his presentation and said he is proud of David’s work.

The meeting was closed by the reciting of the Four Way Test.

Respectfully submitted,

Sue Hetrick

• Youth Protection training is mandatory per the District and must be done annually
• All current members have been sent an email to the address they have in ClubRunner to complete YP training
• The email comes from NAYEN Training Administrator with a subject of Rotary District 6630 Training Course: Youth Protection Awareness
• If you have not received an email, please look in your junk / spam folder. If you still cannot find it, please email Todd Kamenash at tkamenas@kent.edu