President Kathy called the meeting to order at approximately 12:10. Club members sang, “The Star Spangled Banner”. Mark Pennell provided the invocation. Club members then sang two songs from the World War I era because of Veterans Day, previously known as Armistice Day, being Thursday, two days after our meeting. The songs were: “Over There” by George M. Cohan and “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” by Jack Judge and Harry Williams.
Guests: Carol Keller.
Resolution Honoring Gordon Keller: Dave Myers read a club resolution memorializing the life of the late Gordon Keller who served as our club president 1992-93 and went on to serve as Rotary District Governor for Northeast Ohio. The resolution, presented to Carol Keller, recalled Gordon’s great sense of humor and his commitment to international study and its ability through soft diplomacy to promote peace, a prime focus of Rotary International. Gordon was vice president for Regional Campuses at Kent State and a great reader, the resolution said. Doug Fuller assisted Carol Keller who uses a wheelchair.
Announcements:
Rotarian of the Year: President Kathy appealed to Rotarians to nominate the persons they think should be candidates for Rotarian of the Year. She said the cutoff for nominations is Thursday.
Christmas Party: President Kathy said the club would host a Christmas Party December 3rd from 5 until 7 at the Overlook. Rebekah Wright Kulis is chairing the event, which will be scaled back since we just had our big Centennial Celebration, which Rebekah also helped host. It will be hors d’oeuvres, she said. The program will be at 6 pm.
Service Above Self: David McKeen’s appeal for Rotarians to help rake leaves last Saturday, November 6th, brought out several club members who worked from 8:30 in the morning until 1 in the afternoon. David said the following people helped: Dr. Lauren Martin Miller and her husband and daughter, David Myers, Tom Hatch, Mark Pennel, Dr. Randy Smith, Will Underwood, Asad Khan with his wife and a son, and, of course, David McKeen. Curtis Stumpf said: “Kent Rotary participated in the Main Street Kent Family Friendly Halloween event this year in downtown Kent on October 29th. We had an amazing show of support from Rotarians who supplied a large amount of candy previous to the event and this candy was handed out during the event with help from Matt Carter, Sue Whiting, David Myers, Bill Myers, and myself. We had many trick or treaters come by the Gazebo and it was a real pleasure to be part of the event. In addition, Kent Rotarians donated $80 for additional candy purchases, which was not needed. The extra $80 dollars was instead donated to Kent Social Services. Thanks to all who donated money, candy, and time to make this fun event possible. Rotarians came through big-time in donating Halloween candy and cookies for Kent Social Services to provide needy youngsters.”
Habitat for Humanity: Rachel Kerns, executive director of Habitat for Humanity for Portage County, appealed to Rotarians to support its fundraising event scheduled for Saturday, November 15th. The money goes for a house raising effort currently underway that she said needs better funding. Rotarian Todd Kamenash is serving as master of ceremonies so it was sure to be a fun event.
Birthdays: In the absence of Jeff Roeger, former President Randy Smith read the list of Rotarians celebrating in November.
Today’s Program: Senior Reliability Engineer, Robert Miller
Recently retired Merck Senior Reliability Engineer Merck Bob Miller told us his life story of growing up in Brooklyn and eventually rising to the level of a vice president for Merck, the giant biopharmaceutical company, which uses liquid crystals in flexible displays. The title of his talk, “From Brooklyn to Kent,” reflects the career that eventually brought him to call on Kent Display where Asad Khan is CEO. Miller said he came to the USA with his parents from Eastern Europe at the end of World War II and early on as an adult took whatever work he could find including being an ice cream man who sold ice cream in neighborhoods and then worked on the ground crew at John F. Kennedy Airport. He studied chemistry at City University of New York where tuition remains minimal and then polymer science at the University of Connecticut. He holds an MBA from Fordham. Besides Merck, he worked for other multinational companies including IBM and DuPont. Having spent his 40 plus years career in the New York metropolitan area working for multinationals, he eventually connected with Kent Displays because Merck produces a product that Kent Displays uses. Bob recently retired and with his lovely wife now resides in the Savannah, Georgia area. They have two daughters. As a first generation American who has done well, he is representative of the Immigrants in Leadership theme of our creative program chair, Asad Khan.
Respectfully submitted: Dave Dix