Rotary International asks us to Serve to Change Lives through its Focus Areas
This month Rotary International asks us to Serve to Change Lives by promoting peace in our community. Explore the possibilities with us at our meeting Wednesday at noon at Wick Park or virtually via Zoom.
Tuesday is the early deadline to register for RCY’s 109th Anniversary Party, which will be Feb. 21 at the downtown Doubletree Hotel. After Tuesday, the per-person cost will increase. See below for a registration link.
Vicki Vicars will be our guest speaker Wednesday when we meet at the Wick Park Pavilion. (Our previously-scheduled trip to Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport has been postponed.) Vickers is the Mission, Equity and Resilience Director for the Ursuline Sisters Mission as well as Director of Advancement for Thrive Mahoning Valley.
Rotary After Hours will return Wednesday at Bistro 1907 in the Doubletree. Attend in addition to or in place of the weekly lunch meeting. Prospective members also are encouraged to attend. Meet and greet will begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by the program, introductions, and social time.
John Fahnert could use a few more volunteers during the Youth Exchange Overnighter this Saturday/Sunday at the Downtown YMCA.
Rotary Last Week
The Wick Park Pavilion was packed on Jan. 31 with members, prospective members and past District 6650 governors. They gathered to celebrate the 119th anniversary of Rotary International (Feb. 23, 1905) and the 109th anniversary of the Rotary Club of Youngstown (Feb. 1, 1915).
Presently, the club has 100 active and honorary members, President Deanna Rossi said. With seven pending members, it is on the verge of having 100 active members – a number that hasn’t been achieved in many years.
In reviewing club history, resident historian Bill Lawson observed that RCY began with 63 charter members and once maxed out at 300 members, per club bylaws. He also noted that one club member, Robert Manchester, served as Rotary International president from 1976 to 1977. Eight club members have served as district governors, with Elayne Bozick as the ninth when her term begins in July, he added.
And then, an historic announcement was made.
David Stillwagon will be the 10th RCY member to lead District 6650. His term will be during the 2026-27 year, a century after his great-grandfather, Fred James, joined RCY. His grandfather, Franklin Stillwagon, and father, Fred Stillwagon, also were club members. All four men were RCY presidents. Congratulations, Dave!
The week ended with the Sixth Annual Groundhog Craft Beerfest at Stambaugh, and all of its good vibes.
RCY ANNIVERSARY PARTY
You are invited to Rotary Club of Youngstown's 109th Anniversary Party!
This is a special evening in which every Youngstown Rotarian should attend.
We will be honoring our Paul Harris Fellow Inductees and Celebrating the great work we are doing in the community.
Love of butterflies galvanizing people across the globe
By Ariel Miller
ESRAG Newsletter Editor
Rotarians all over the world are inspiring their communities to embrace Operation Pollination. It starts with signing a non-binding Operation Pollination Partnership (resolution) to work together on two goals: to educate the community about the vital importance of pollinators to human well-being, and to restore pollinator habitats.
Led by Rotarian and naturalist Christopher Stein, this ESRAG initiative has expanded to 70 Rotary Districts on six continents in just three years. Clubs and District Governors are uniting local and regional governments, schools, parks, nature reserves, businesses, and civic groups to sign pledges. Then, the fun begins: a feast of education, discovery, and cultivating flowering plants so pollinators can flourish again. People of all walks of life, from toddlers to titans of business, are pitching in. As one Rotary Director told ESRAG co-founder Karen Kendrick-Hands in 2020, “well, Karen, I don’t know anybody who doesn’t love butterflies.”
“With 7 of 10 people thinking of any environmental concern as a future problem, Operation Pollination has helped many Rotarians and community partners in my ten-county District embrace the plight of our essential pollinators,” says DGE Elayne Bozick of District 6650 in Ohio. “Talking about THE food web and how all life on earth is connected, makes it easier to engage others as an important player in a much larger global effort. And, with every educational activity, with every pollinator project, we have the opportunity to capitalize on promotion and messaging. We’ve actually had people join Rotary because of Operation Pollination.”
She persuaded her entire class of Ohio DGEs to sign a pollinator resolution. “I had been witnessing - with concern - changes to my immediate environment for many years,” she explains. “When Rotary declared Protecting Our Environment as a global concern, I knew the power of Rotary had my back. With that framework, after describing the what and why of Operation Pollination – magically - every one of the Rotary and community partners I asked agreed to help. On top of all that, thanks to the Operation Pollination international network, I now know Rotarians in England, Costa Rica, Australia and other members of our global community.”
In March, Rotarians have two opportunities to discover how to put that love into action. The Pollinator Partnership (https://pollinator.org) will provide free pollinator project idea training through Pollinator Conservation 101 on March 6 and 13, by Zoom. “Everyone is invited to attend this training opportunity, but you must register,” Stein writes.
February 6, 1947: Arch C. Klumph, one of organizers of the Rotary Club of Youngstown, returned to speak to the Club about its early days in Rotary.
CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION
Birthdays:
Y.T. Chiu 2/7
Anniversaries:
Susan Edwards 2/12
10 years
Y.T. Chiu 2/6
50 years
NEW MEMBERS
Elisha Samra
Senior Technical Product Manager
Smarter Move Talent
Classification: Media
Sponsor: Jack Kravitz
Leash, an Aussie, moved to Canfield four years ago from Los Angeles after working on NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage. While in Australia, she participated in Youth Rotary programs. She looks forward to membership: “It seems like a wonderful way to get involved in the community and meet some cool people,” she said. Her hobbies include wood burning, 3D printing, computer repair, cooking, and making jam. She has entered culinary competitions at the Canfield Fair.
Dawn Montella
Nursing Home Administrator
Windsor House
Classification: Health Care
Dawn, a licensed nursing home administrator, oversees a 58-bed facility operated by Windsor House Inc. of eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Applied Science degree at YSU and lives in Youngstown.
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