President Adam Manning welcomed everyone to the Centerville Rotary Club and led reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Brian Hayes provided the prayer.
Today’s quote provided by Don Overly: "Keep your face to the sunshine and you can never see the shadow." Helen Keller
Today’s Announcements:
- Thanks to today’s greeter, Dale Berry.
- Welcome today’s guests: Pat Beckel’s sons, Duncan & Conner Beckel; Sivaji Subramaniam’s guest Gary Hayes (Board recently approved his membership); Lee Hieronymus’s guest, Tom Achor, who has submitted a membership application; Brad Huffman’s kids, Bella & Braden; Patricia Campbell (future member) with son Colin, daughter, Lauren and Short-term exchange student, Severin Städele.
Severin shared information about himself, his family, and his country.
He is from Landsberg am Lech, Bavaria, Germany, has one sister and a cat.
His hobbies include filming, basketball, snowboarding, hiking. He even won a Bavarian film contest! Rotary District 1841 Bad Wöhrishofen is his sponsoring club.
More announcements:
- Thanks to everyone who helped with the highway cleanup last weekend.
- Monday, 5-7:30 pm is the next social at the Fairy Godmother’s Cottage. Please let Sofie know if you can attend.
- Americana Festival is on July 4th and we still need one more person to help with our booth.
- Lee Hieronymus said we only have one rider so far for the Americana fire truck. He can take 6-7 people - meet 9:15 am at the City Building lower parking lot. He will leave from there at 9:30 am and bring you back after the parade. We’re the second to last of the parade.
Happy Bucks this quarter will be donated to Operation Warm, providing winter coats to children in need in partnership with Hannah’s Treasure Chest.
Pat Beckel was our Sergeant at Arms with assistance by Brian Hayes.
Happy Bucks were generously given for:
- Pat B was happy to have his two goofballs sons here today. They are a pure joy to be around.
- Brad T was thankful that Adam chose to be president again this year. He demonstrates remarkable service!
- Don O commented that last week’s meeting was very professionally conducted with Adam sharing information about Rotary, Brad introducing the scholarship winners, and Bill doing adequate research for choosing challenging novels for each student.
- Arnie B was glad to see the exchange student here, and announced his daughter, Emily is now President of the Dublin-Worthington Rotary Club.
- Gina S was happy to see everyone, and that her husband got to see both kids in person on Father’s Day.
- Raj G had trouble finding a parking spot today, and welcomed the exchange student.
- Chuck K gave thanks to Adam for all he’s done for the club, and was celebrating his 38th wedding anniversary.
- Adam M for all of the guests today.
- Lisa GM was happy to be here.
- Sofie A congratulated Adam for 2.5 years as president, welcomed the exchange student, and shared her daughter, Marie-Thérèse defended her thesis.
- Patricia C said it is wonderful to be part of this group, and nice to see young people getting involved.
- Ron H gave thanks to Adam and welcomed the exchange student.
- Wyatt T for Mr Pancake King (AKA Adam), his son will be 3 years old tomorrow, and daughter Sally will be arriving on Labor Day.
- Gary H gave thanks for welcoming him and becoming a member.
- Sivaji S for Gary, the students, and gave thoughts/prayers for those affected by the Venezuela earthquake.
- Mark K for all new members, young individuals visiting today, and shared his son is in from Kazakhstan so he will be spending time with 24 family members at Lake Erie, and good luck to the USA soccer team today.
- Tom A was happy to be here.
- Lee H’s Farm Report: Fertilizer is imported and costs have risen, so the U.S. Dept of Agriculture has developed a program to accelerate producing more in the US. The Fertilizer Production Expansion program’s goal is to produce 4.5 million tons per year, and is helping 400,000 producers, treat 290 million acres of farmland. 2:41 new record for Farm Report length :-)
- Uriah A gave thanks to Adam for his leadership and assistance helping get him ready for his year as president. He is heading to Minnesota to see his parents and other family members.
- Brad H for today’s guests, the exchange student, and is leaving for Hawaii.
- Carol K gave thanks to Adam for his leadership, thanks to Gina, Ron, Sofie & Adam for help with Bulletin last week.Kaycee’s dance nationals went well, with two of her routines called back to perform in the showcase, and thanks to Ron and Boyd for taking notes the next two weeks while she recovers from hand surgery.
- Bob D was happy to be a member of the Centerville Rotary Club and having lunch with friends.
- Bill M for today’s guests, the U.S. Men’s national soccer team, who is doing well in the World Cup so far.
- Harvey S for Adam and his leadership.
- Bob F gave $250 in honor of America’s 250th birthday.
- Jeff S just got his car back from Washington, D.C. and included a trip to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. He and Sharon went to a Dragon’s game and were happy to see Brian H and Gina S both there!
- Wayne D was happy to have the young guests, thanked Adam for everything, and mentioned Connor said his table was the GOAT table, but the jury is still out…
Our program today was the changeover of the President and his Board.
President Manning presented the following Service Above Self Awards for the 2025-2026 Rotary year.
“This gentleman goes above and beyond in everything he does. He has served as our grant writer for several years. He works with the district securing funds and getting these grants closed out by obtaining receipts and pictures and submits them for district approval. He does the induction for new members and serves on both fundraiser committees. He has served our district as an assistant governor and has always been there for me when I call on him for advice and guidance. Our first service award goes to Chuck King.
Our next service award goes to a lady that never stops. She serves our club taking notes for our weekly meetings and never misses a beat. Even when we talk fast or mumble. She updates our website, keeps it current and appealing. Our district leaders have always told me how much they enjoy reading our website and bulletin because of how well done it is. She has served on both Golf and Pancake Committees and takes care of our media and press content. She serves the community in several ways being on the Centerville Washington Foundation, The Diversity Council and is an Honorary Optimist. Our next award goes to our resident den mother Carol Kennard.
Our next award goes to a lady who has been designated the heart of this club. She works tirelessly for our club promoting our fundraisers, promoting scholarships and youth exchange. She established a much-needed refresh with our relationship with the Centerville School District working with school officials on projects and being there as an advocate for the Interact Club. During her presidency she helped establish The Centerville Rotary Foundation and has been our social organizer for all of our get togethers outside of our Thursday meetings. Our next service award goes to the heart of our club Sofie Ameloot.
Our next service award goes to a gentleman who stepped up in a big way this year. As many of you remember we had to shuffle and find a new president elect and vice president for 2025-2026. He stepped into the president elect role and never looked back. He represented our club at PETs training in March and the RLI training throughout the year. He has served on both Pancake and Golf committees, and he has served on our board as the Foundation chair. He also helped launch club funding for high efficient stoves with Aid Africa. Our next service award goes to Uriah Anderson.
Our next service award goes to a gentleman who stepped up when the club needed him. He has served as our Sergeant at Arms and always keeps us laughing. He was responsible for having a fantastic lineup of speakers this year that not only were interesting and informative but got us out of our comfort zone. He filled in as our New Generations Advisor and worked with the Interact Club, getting them excited about volunteering. He has brought numerous visitors to our club and has brought in new members. He even has served as my personal therapist when it looks like I am feeling gloomy he says, “Hey, talk to me, what’s going on?” Our next service award goes to our incoming President Elect Pat Beckel.
Our last service award goes to a new member who jumped right in. He has served on both Golf and Pancake Committees, taking on the role of ticket sales. He was the maître de of our pancake breakfast talking with every guest and making them feel welcome. He served as our indoor captain for our golf outing and has been part of many socials. Our last service member award goes to Mark Kottman.”
President Adam then announced the 2025-2026 Rotarian of the Year:
“And now for the main event. Rotarian of the Year. On our Rotarian of the Year form, it says in case of a tie the President will decide the recipient. It brings me great anxiety thinking that if we had members that had the same number votes, I would have to decide our Rotarian of the Year……This year, that was not the case. This gentleman went above and beyond the call of duty not only for our club but for our district. He served our district as the Strategic Planning advisor helping clubs develop long-term achievable and sustainable goals. He was a visionary in establishing our Coffee Club, opening the door for other folks to be involved with Centerville Rotary that maybe are unable to attend our Thursday meetings. He stepped up and took over as chair of our Golf Outing. He formed a great committee, helped land a presenting and diamond level sponsors. He helped streamline efforts, increased the number of golfers and helped develop an event that people will look forward to for many years to come. Our 2025-2026 Rotarian of the Year is Frank Perez.”
President Manning provided an overview of the Club’s accomplishments this year, including:
- We raised funds to purchase 720 winter coats for Operation Warm, and served many other organizations during the year.
- We had two great fundraisers, which allowed us to raise nearly $40,000 this year.
- We completed 14 Service projects, with over 700 volunteer hours, including cleaning the highway multiple times and working with the Interact students on several projects.
President Manning continued, “I want to share a final slide with you that I got from a designer that I have worked with. Sometimes I feel like I live under a rock, but I sense a lot of pressure and hate going on in our society. Perhaps it has always been this way but as I get older, I see what I consider true hate over beliefs or differences. That being said I feel so blessed that I was born and raised in this country. We were born free. We are free to love whoever we want, choose what we want to do, worship any way we want. I shared this slide at a board meeting earlier this year and I want to leave you with this.
My hope is that rather than sitting across the table from one another and try and convince why one side is right and the other is wrong, let’s move the chairs next to each other and get to work. I think we would be surprised to find we really have the same goals in mind; we just have different ways of getting there.
Team, I can’t thank everyone enough for having the opportunity to lead such a great club. I want everyone to know how much you inspire me by your commitment to service above self.
Please know that I consider you all an extension of my family. I have developed such lasting friendships, and I look to many of you as role models. My hope is that one day I can pay forward to someone all the love and support you have shown me. Thank you and God Bless!”
Chuck King then inducted the 2026-2027 President of the Centerville Rotary Club, Uriah Anderson.
President Uriah Anderson thanked Adam for his great leadership and presented him with a gift and a Paul Harris Fellow.
Chuck King inducted the 2026-2027 Centerville Rotary Club Board members:
President Elect - Pat Beckel
Vice President - Gina Smith
Past President - Adam Manning
Secretary - Brian Hayes
Treasurer - Don Stewart
Club Affairs Director - Lisa Goris May
New Generations Director - Sofie Ameloot
Community Service Director - Adam Manning
Rotary Foundation - Ron Hollenbeck
Education Foundation - Brad Thorp
Membership Director - Kristin Hutton
Uriah noted we still have a few open positions so please reach out if you are interested in serving. He will share his vision for the new Rotary year next week.
