Rotary International asks us to Imagine Rotary through our Focus Areas
This month Rotary International asks us to Imagine Rotary by supporting literacy in our community. Explore the possibilities with us at our meeting Wednesday at noon at Wick Park or virtually via Zoom.
We will meet at noon Wednesday, Sept. 28, at the YSU Williamson College of Business Administration, 224 N. Phelps St. Youngstown 44555. We will not be meeting at Wick Park on this date. Parking will be available in the Diocese of Youngstown Parking lot at the corner of Wick and Elm Streets. Handicap parking will be available at the Diocese of Youngstown parking lot entering from Wood Street
The new dean, Dr. Kelly Wilkinson, will be our speaker and lead a tour of the building.
Lunch cost will be the same as our weekly fee payable at the door. However, a reservation is required for the university caterer. Please RSVP as soon as possible if you will attend. Please click on this link: Register/Modify Registration
Last Week's Meeting
A strong sense of community service reverberated through the Sept. 21 meeting, beginning with the induction of three new RCY members.
Business owner Ra’Cole Taltoan was introduced by her sponsor, Dionne Dowdy, who noted that Ra’Cole had been her collaborator and supporter since the launch of United Returning Citizens, which offers education and employment support to formerly-incarcerated persons. Ra’Cole has volunteered with voter registration and financial literacy programs, she added.
In her introduction of Solomon “Jack” Kravitz, Aundrea Cike Heschmeyer observed that Jack already is assisting with upcoming Ukraine fundraising efforts. Kravitz is now retired from the delicatessen and catering service he operated for decades.
Dominic Brown and Samantha Turner have known each other since grade school. It was Dominick who reached out to Samantha about joining Rotary and attended some social events to get a feel for the organization. “Let’s continue to be champions for change,” said Dominick, a shift leader at Ultium Cells LLC in Lordstown.
“Community coming together – that is Rotary and the symphony,” said speaker Raffaele Ponti, guest conductor of the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra’s classical music performance Sept. 25 at Stambaugh Auditorium.
Ponti was conducting in Youngstown for the second time. He led a Pops concert during his previous visit. He described YSO musicians as “technically talented” and said he chose music to reflect their strengths. The Naples (FL) Philharmonic Orchestra can sell out shows with guest artists, but “when they don’t have Tony Bennett, they only sell one-third of the house. They don’t put the focus on the community orchestra,” he said.
Ponti also discussed the symphony as a business model, in which the conductor is the CEO, the music score is the business plan, and the varied instruments, personalities and talents of the musicians are important. “They don’t realize their contributions until we come together,” he said. “It’s what Rotary does, too.”
In other news, The Rotary Club of Boardman has reserved a table at its annual Oktoberfest event to enable local Rotary clubs to raise funds for our district-wide Ukrainian relief effort. Volunteers will staff the booth and collect donations from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2 in Boardman Park.
Shifts will be in 2-hour increments. Two volunteers will be needed during each shift.
Please email Scott Schulick at ssdg1819@gmail.com or call 330-727-8507 if you can volunteer.
The Roseland and Lake St. Clair Rotary Clubs of Windsor, Ontario (District 6400) gathered at the launch of the "Save the Monarch Butterfly 60,000 Tree Challenge" boxcar train tour to sign an Operation Pollination Pollinator Resolution. This was the first-ever BINATIONAL signing!
The train is traveling from Windsor, Ontario to Morelia, Mexico, which is near the famous Monarch Biosphere Reserve. Stops along the 3,000-plus mile journey – inspired by the monarchs’ annual migration – become educational and fundraising events. The goal is to raise $100,000 toward planting 60,000 oyamel trees to repopulate monarchs at El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in Michoacan, Mexico.
Three Rotary District Governors – Diana Savage from Ohio District 6600, Bala Murphy from Michigan District 6380, and Kathy Gallagher from Michigan District 6360 – signed the binational pledge along with Shawn Pomaville-Size, Executive Director of MotorCities National Heritage Area in Detroit.
Onlooking supporters include fellow Operation Pollination Ambassadors Debra Harshaw, Mary Lou Amlin, Therese Maggioncalda, Scott Nelson, and "George" Gormley; Sam Salmon, the mayor of Windsor; and railroad managers including David Eaton, who was the Rotarian visionary of the boxcar tour. Eaton is a member of the Rotary Club of Metropolitano in Monterrey, Mexico.
The train includes Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern locomotives and a commemorative GATX boxcar wrapped in a monarch motif.
When the train stopped Saturday, Sept. 24, in Kansas City, MO, 15 exhibitors provided advocacy through activities, games and performances. Exhibitors included the Kansas City Zoo, St. Louis Zoo, and Missouri Department for Conservation.
The train will stop in Laredo, TX before crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
Beerfest News
Mark your calendars now! RCY’s 5th annual Groundhog Craft Beerfest will be Saturday, Feb, 4, at Stambaugh Auditorium.
Beerfest is the club’s major annual fundraiser, and there will be many ways for members to make this the best event yet, by selling tickets, securing sponsors and volunteering to set up, pour beer, or tear down on event day.
Contact co-chairs Samantha Turner and Kevin Chiu if you have questions.
We Need Your Plastic Film
We're off and running! So far, nearly 200 pounds of plastic has been collected for the Trex project. Keep up the good work!
Don’t forget - the Operation Pollination committee is encouraging all Rotarians to save their plastic film and bring it to Rotary on Wednesdays. Once we collect 500 pounds of plastic, we turn it into Trex, the company that manufactures composite decking. Trex, in turn, will donate a bench made of the recycled plastic that we will place in a pollinator garden or near a Little Free Library.
We have until the end of February 2023 to collect the plastic. You can turn in your recyclables to Elsa Higby, Ra’Cole Taltoan, or LInda Kostka, who will weigh, track, and turn it in. Review the list of items below to see what’s acceptable.
Call to Action -- Helping City Students
Mentors are needed for our Put Kids First initiative with Youngstown City Schools. We are looking at an October or November start, so contact Samantha Turner ASAP if you want to take part in this great program.
Rotarian Recieves Honor
Let’s give three cheers for another RCY member who will be recognized for outstanding contributions to our community.
Barbara Brothers will receive the Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals Mahoning-Shenango Chapter at the National Philanthropy Day on Nov. 4 at Eastwood Event Center, Niles.
Barbara has shared her time and talent in numerous ways. She has been a member and leader of League of Women Voters of Greater Youngstown, YWCA Capital Campaign, Youngstown Symphony Board, Park Vista Board, Youngstown Academic Distress Commission, Citizens League of Greater Youngstown, WYSU-FM and the Stambaugh Auditorium Development Committee, among others.
Congratulations, Barbara!
THIS WEEK IN ROTARY HISTORY
May 21, 1996: Upon the recommendation of a special committee chaired by Fred Owens, the Rotary Club of Youngstown launched the “Put Kids First” initiative.
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