Josh Hess, Media Relations Assistant for the Dragons, and Sam Schneider, senior corporate marketing manager and account representative, in charge of ticketing, are seen here with member Jim Briggs.
You'll notice the table is missing the usual salad and rolls, etc. You'll see why later.
Our greeter Wayne Davis chats with Pat Beckel and his guest Lindsay Helton.
And we get two big smiles from Mark and Sofie Ameloot as she comes in.
Wayne is checking the time to see when the meeting starts, it appears.
Matt Kuhn has just arrived between our two greeters.
Raj Grandhi gets a happy handshake from Mark, who is still sporting his yellow ribbon, though not for long.
And here comes Mike Wier, our grand tuba player.
And this is why the tables were not set with food. For the first time, the group ate from a buffet set up in the entryway. Many in the club liked this idea, and voted to try it again, occasionally.
And here is another guest, Geraldine Wauters, a math teacher, also looking for new job opportunities.
The Centerville Rotary Club met at The Golf Club at Yankee Trace at noon. Club President Peachy Metzner led the Pledge of Allegiance; PDG Harvey Smith gave the prayer; and President Peachy led the singing of God Bless America.
The guests at this week's meeting included:
From the Dayton Dragons: Tom Nichols, Sam Schneider, and Josh Hess; Lindsay Helton, guest of Pat Beckel; Geraldine Wauters, guest of Sofie Ameloot; Dottie Overly, wife of member Don Overly.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Our president Peachy Metzner is seen below. A switch to the Sport mode on the camera catches movement with the hands.
President-Elect Boyd Preston reminded members of the upcoming
March Mixer on March 29th from 5-7. We will meet at the Franciscan Center (building with a clock on the top)
8100 Clyo Road, Centerville. Jennifer Gibbs has agreed to host this mixer at St. Leonard Senior Community.
Frank Perez noted that volunteers are needed to help put up shelves for Project Read from 5 to 8 p.m. March 28. Check with him on this. It is located in the Antiques Mall behind Sam's Club.
Peachy had Patrick Beckel come to the podium and remove Mark Gerken's yellow new member ribbon, noting he has completed all activities required to learn about the club and its activities.
Peachy said three memorial bricks are being purchased for placement in the Memorial grove at Grant Park by the Kennard Nature Nook: one for Jack Workman, one for Rick Terhune, and one for John Laufersweiler. The brick laying will occur at the May 17th meeting at the Kennard Nature Nook, he said.
Peachy said the club has agreed to be a host for a global grant for a student, donating $500 from our club. Frank Scott of the Dayton Rotary is handling the grant and other clubs will also be donating, he said.
Peachy noted that Registration forms to go to the Rotary Day at Keeneland needed to be in by Friday. He mentioned it would cost $105 to go by bus...
Peachy reminded everyone that the next board meeting will be held Monday, April 16, at Park District Headquarters, 221 N. Main Street, across from Benham's Grove from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. All are welcome, especially new members.
The Rotary Leadership training is coming up for parts one and three on April 14. It will be held at the Greene County Career Center. The club will pay for a member's training. Peachy said Boyd, Chuck King, Brian Hayes, and Frank Perez will be attending.
The District Conference April 27/28 will be held in Springfield and the shampoo donations are for the hygiene kits, some of which will be brought back to the club for distribution to charity.
The conference will be held at the Hollenbeck Baylay Center. Instead of last year's basket presentations from each club, they want to do a district project and put together hygiene kits. Each club can then choose a charity to distribute the kits to. Peachy said he thought Hannah's Treasure Chest might be an apt choice for our club, and/or Artemis.
Peachy said you can register on-line via e-mail. The event will be a fun-casual event with food trucks and tours of the Heritage Museum, etc. and a kids camp on Saturday.
The District Conference Golf Outing at Reid Park Golf Club begins at 8:30 a.m. April 27. Other scheduled items were handed out at today's meeting.
HAPPY BUCKS: The Happy Bucks go to help Brigid's Path this quarter. The organization works with babies born addicted, and their mothers. They took in their first baby not long ago and now have three, we've been told.
Pat Beckel stood in for Erich Eggers, our Sgt.-at-Arms, to call for the Happy Bucks, collected by our Club President Peachy Metzner.
Patrick led off the Happy Bucks by noting that his boys did well on the state gymnastics team Saturday.
Wayne Davis said he was just Happy.
Dan Johnson noted that he is on baby watch for their third girl, due in the next two weeks.
Ann Blackburn stated they have an open position for part-time work at NCLB National Bank, where she is a manager.
Rebecca Quinones said she is Happy.
Doc Dave gave for Brigid's Path.
Sofie Ameloot gave, noting there is still a need of $60 for shampoo for the District Conference.
Lee Hieronymus gave, noting he doesn't get dressed up that often for Rotary, so everyone should take note.
Pat Beckel gave for Lee not appearing in his Sunday flannels. (He does farm, afterall).
Dick Hoback gave, noting he is "happy for Spring, I think."
Carol Kennard gave for Spring Break, saying she will be visiting her daughter and son-in-law and get to see family with grandchildren.
Mark Gerken noted he is happy to get rid of his yellow ribbon and join the group.
Phil Raynes gave for Brigid's Path.
Mike Wier noted an upcoming concert with nine bands playing and that it includes a contest and awards...Get more info from him.
Bob Fry gave and Ron Hollenbeck gave, mentioning Rebecca's Carlos and something about being a bad influence on him. People's laughter drowned out the gist of some people's remarks.
Frank Perez gave $5 for his birthday and Raj Grandhi gave for being a new grandpa for the first time. His big smile shows his happiness.
Chuck King gave for our guests from the Dayton Dragons.
Boyd gave for all the club members and friends who helped on our service days. The help was all well-received, he said.
This Week's Speaker: Tom Nichols, talking about the Dayton Dragons.
Club Vice President Chuck King introduced our guests and guest speaker.
He said Josh Hess has just been with the Dragons for two weeks, and that Sam Schneider is in charge of ticket sales.
Chuck said Tom Nichols is the voice of the Dayton Dragons on radio and television, and the Dragons Director of Media Relations. He is in his 11th year with the Dragons and his 31st year as Minor League Baseball broadcaster, and has called nearly 4,000 games since his first game in 1988. He is a native of Muncie, Indiana, and a graduate of Ball State University.
Tom said this is the Dragons 19th season, beginning April 7th, hopefully with cooler weather out of the way.
He brought along some Dragons items to give as gifts for a short quiz he gave about the Dragons. John Beals had the first answer about a guy named Joe Frazier, and then there was a question about the name of one of the 6 mascots for the Dragons, besides that of Heater.
Then there was the question about the three legendary Reds players, Hall of Famers, who acted as coaches for the Dragons. Wayne Davis won a Dragons lunch box, which he turned over to "new dad" Don Johnson. Ken Griffey Sr. was his correct answer to the question.
Tom said this is the Dragons nineteenth season and for 18 seasons they have had 1,246 consecutive sellouts. They are the top sellout, with the Chicago Bulls being the fifth (with Michael Jordan), the Boston Celtics being the fourth (when they had Larry Bird), the Portland Trailblazers being the third, and the Boston Red Sox being the second.
The Cincinnati Reds have had 91 Dragons become Reds over the years, he said. Reaching the major leagues only happens to about 10 percent of those who progress through the minor leagues, Tom said. Jay Bruce went to the Mets, Homer Bailey and Joey Votto to the Reds, he said.
The minor leagues are used as a major league rehab assignment at times. Before coming back after an injury, a player may work with the minor league team to get back in shape.
Tom told of Brandon Phillips and Aroldis Chapman, well-known Reds players. Brandon Phillips had a record pitch of 101 mph.
He told of Hunter Green, a top amateur the Reds drafted out of high school. He is a generational talent, he said. He has registered a 102 mph pitch. He is with the Dragons and looks to be a future Reds star. He registered a 101 mph pitch in his first training session this year, Tom said.
But the Dragons are more than just baseball, Tom said. "Our signature is family entertainment." Even if you don't care much about the game itself, you can come to the ballpark with your family and be entertained, he said. Their target audience is the family, he said. It is a community event. The mascots, Heater, Wink, GEM, Robot Atmo, Princess Sunny who rides on a chariot, are all meant to entertain. They shoot T-shirts to the crowd and have lots of antics to laugh at and about. There are races for toddlers on field, and fun times during inning breaks, he said.
The Dragons are under contract with the Cincinnati Reds who have 30 full-time baseball scouts in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.
Forty picks get a chance to move through the ranks, starting with rookie ball in Goodyear, Arizona, then rookie ball in Billings, Montana, then moving to the single A level in Daytona Beach, Florida, ...the Tortugas....turtles.,..then to Pensacola, Florida, and the double A Blue Wahoos, and then to Louisville, Kentucky, where if you do well, you can play for the Dragons. Again, only 10 percent of those signed by the Reds make it to the major leagues, Tom said.
The Mid-West has 16 teams. The Dragons travel by bus and the longest trip is 9 hours. That's to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
They play 140 games in 152 days. From April 5 to Labor Day there are only 12 days they do not have a game, he said.
Mike Wier asked, What constitutes a sell-out...? That every seat in the ballpark is sold, Tom said. Most tickets are sold on a season plan, he said, though there are a few single game tickets sold, as well as group tickets and tickets for suites. The bus holds 55 people but most of the players like to have an empty seat beside them. They travel 33 and if they only had 27 going that would work out with an empty seat for all, but it doesn't quite work that way, he said.
The meeting was closed with the reciting of the Rotary Four-Way Test.