Jim Briggs is one of the first arrivals and Ram is there to greet him.
Our greeter John Callander is not left-handed, but his left hand got a chance to greet this day.
Boyd Preston enters the picture here and the crowd starts gathering at the door.
Here Jim Briggs is getting a look at the arm in sling and learning the story of the fall that dislocated John's arm...Setting up a garage sale....
Don always sits at the table where John sits and so the two have a lot to chat about.
But it looks like Boyd's smile has outdone Don's this day...despite the heavy rain that came right before the meeting. Finally temperatures in the 60s and 70s, with 80 degrees the day before.
Tom Broadwell gets a left-handed greeting from John.
Our greeters chat while our past president Ron Hollenbeck and Phil Raynes talk a bit outside the Academy room at Yankee Trace.
First you saw the fruit bowls, and now the sandwich wraps and chips.
And here comes our guest speaker Linda Stagles, with Chuck Smith close behind.
Lee Hieronymus, who is growing a beard for the Miamisburg Centennial celebration this summer, is about to make one of his signature greetings.
He catches Jen off guard with a big hug, and then smile for the camera.
And guess who are still chatting in the hall...Phil and Ron.
Here's a guest of Pat Beckel: Amy Pratt of the Horse and Hare Boutique in Centerville.
Pat Beckel stops for a picture with his guest.
Phil Raynes and Carol Kennard exchange the latest news...or whatever....
Here, back in the room, more mingling takes place.
Our favorite God Bless America singer arrives, and true to form, we sing it great once again with his leadership.
Brian Hayes arrives with Ann Blackburn hiding behind him to avoid the camera...
She tries her best to run past, but this time the camera allows no escapees.
And Bob Fry gets a left-handed greet from John.
The Centerville Rotary Club met at The Golf Club at Yankee Trace at noon. Club President Peachy Metzner led the Pledge of Allegiance; Ray Merz gave the prayer; and Brad Thorp led the singing of God Bless America.
The guests at this week's meeting included:
Our speaker Linda Stagles; Amy Pratt, guest of Pat Beckel; and Lauren Herman, wife of member Dr. David Herman, both seen here below. The others are seen in other pictures in this bulletin.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
President Peachy Metzner presided over today's meeting.
President Peachy thanked our greeters for their extra efforts in being here today.
Boyd Preston was called up to light three small candles in remembrance of our three members we have lost: Jack Workman, Rick Terhune, and John Laufersweiler. They remained lit for the whole meeting.
Boyd also talked about the health kits put together at the District Conference from donations made by each of the clubs in the district. There were male and female kits with such things as tooth brushes, shampoo (our club provided 325 large bottles of shampoo), shaving cream, soap, etc, put together in Rotary backpacks, and each club got 25 of them. Boyd said Hannah's Treasure Chest was not in need of them at this time, but Homeful, a charity that helps homeless people move from the streets to permanent housing, said they would gladly take the items to use when a person moves into a house.
Ron Hollenbeck said he had invited Greg Bixler from Design Outreach to come to the District Conference and inform the other clubs about sponsoring water pumps as we have done in Africa, in hopes of developing a global grant. Ron said we would need to have $50,000 in district money to get a matching $50,000 grant, and that with $30,000 we can apply for a global grant, and that we are about one half the way through collecting the needed money. He said we are now looking at the island of Haiti, but there are three tiers of approval needed. A Rotary Club there must be willing to work with Design Outreach, and 70 percent need to agree they need it there. They also have to go to the District Governor and an Oversight committee has to make sure the grant will be used appropriately. Ron said he plans to go with Greg to Haiti to establish a relationship with a Rotary Club there.
Peachy said he learned through some e-mails that Bill Shula is going to continue to be our district governor for another year, as the man selected to be the new district governor is moving to Texas.
Peachy said that May 10 at 5:30 p.m. the District Assembly will take place at Normandy Church in Centerville. There is a dinner, and it is free. You can learn about membership, the Rotary Foundation, and other issues, besides networking with other Rotary Club members in our district.
Peachy reminded everyone that the memorial service regarding our past three members, Rick Terhune, Jack Workman, and John Laufersweiler will occur at the May 17th meeting at the Kennard Nature Nook. Sign-up sheets to let Chuck know the number of
box lunches to order were put on the tables. You may want to carpool from Normandy Church as there is not a great deal of parking at Grant Park where the Nature Nook is.
Pat Beckel reminded everyone of the Heart of Centerville charity night coming up. He said there are only 25 tickets left for the fun night, which is $25.
Peachy said that the next board meeting is May 21st. It will be held at the Kennard Nature Nook.
HAPPY BUCKS: The Happy Bucks this quarter go to help the Brunner Literacy Center, which tutors adults 19 and older in reading, writing, and math skills, etc.
Below you see our Sgt.-at-Arms Erich Eggers and our Club Treasurer Gerry Eastabrooks
Erich started the Happy Bucks by fining Pat Beckel $10 for making fun of Brian Hayes last week who arrived in a dark green suit, that Pat said made him look like a pickle. Pat tried to weazel out of the fine by saying he loves pickles, but that didn't work. A so-called "pickle weasel" was part of a 70's TV show, I'm told.
During the announcements today, Pat again urged members to buy a ticket to the annual Heart of Centerville's Spring event and Fund-raiser, Trace of Hearts, scheduled for May 10 at the Yankee Trace Clubhouse. Tickets are $25, which includes a dinner buffet, basket raffle and cash bar.
It's called Boutiques & Brews, and is a date night out with music, games and fun. It's a time to mix and mingle, he said. You can visit the vendors' booths and find out if you and your spouse are compatible or not, and how you might off one another if desired, without getting caught. There's a dating game and a dig for diamonds, and a bachelor and bachelorette auction. There are 18 booths to visit, he said. All proceeds go to charity.
Dr. Dave Herman, our Doc Dave, brought his wife Lauren along so they could thank club members who responded with cards and meals to help him and his wife through the grieving period of losing their baby boy at birth. He said he immediately felt like the club was family when he joined and found out how much like family it really is. Our hearts are with them and their baby, laid to rest at David's Cemetery.
At the last meeting Don Stewart said he only had a dollar to give, but as a Cleveland Browns fan he planned to watch the NFL draft on TV that night and pledged $20 "if it goes to my liking," and that he would pony up. The Browns picked Baker Mayfield as their quarterback.Don said he's okay with the pick but wants to wait and see how he really does in the next two years, so he only put up $5 now. In any case, he qualified for a Browns orange boa. Our club president Peachy also found Baker Mayfield, a Heisman Trophy winner, to his liking, and he too received a complimentary Browns boa.
Here's Don laughing about his boa.
And here's Peachy with his.
Rebecca Quinones gave her Happy Bucks for just being happy to be here. They have found a home in D.C., where her husband Carlos, now a colonel in the U.S. Air Force, will be stationed for at least a year, but she said they are keeping their home here in hopes of returning.
Which reminds me. I touched base with our former exchange student Martin Palovic, and he said he would be coming to the U.S. to work as a beach lifeguard this summer and hopes to visit Centerville in June some time. He has finished a year at the University of Glasgow and is Vice President of the Rotaract Club there. Great going!
Pat Beckel gave for Dr. Dave and his wife being at the club and said his visit with Dr. Dave for some treatment with needles and electricity, and a general beating up, didn't deter him from being grateful.
Ray Merz...ever generous Ray....gave $12 for the 12 students who have applied for our Rotary Club scholarships. They have interviewed seven and planned to interview five more this day.
Jeff Senney gave his Happy Bucks for heading to D.C. and then going down the coast to South Carolina and Georgia, as part of a High Toppers Camp his son is involved with, traveling to some of the highest peaks around.
Lee Hieronymus gave a dollar for the group to sing Happy Birthday to him, as last week the sub for Erich did not have the group sing, though he gave his $5 for having a birthday in April.
Someone shouted we would not sing just for a dollar, but later, at Erich's urging, the club did a fine round of Happy Birthday to Lee...and not any other Rotarians. Lee said he is 72, and then added, "John (Callander) is much older than I am."
Jim Harris gave $10 for everyone who has helped set up the banners, flags, tickets, badges, etc. before the meetings in the last few months.
John Callander gave for his wing being bad and being happy to be here.
Carol Kennard gave for just being happy.
Doug Bockrath said he was just happy and then gave $20 for his youngest daughter who was headed to OSU, has been offered a track scholarship and has now signed a letter of intent with Loyola Marymount University in L.A. California.
Frank Perez gave for his middle son graduating from UD law school and his youngest son from Ohio State.
Ron Hollenbeck gave for Jack Workman, one of our recently deceased members, as the two had a bet as to which one would go first.
Don Stewart gave his $5 for the Browns' NFL Draft pick, stating that he hopes in two years he will be happy about it.
Raj Grandhi gave for missing the last meeting, saying something about, "I'm glad I missed that too."
Peachy then gave mentioning the Browns' pick, and received his boa, along with Don Stewart, as in the above pictures.
Chuck King gave mentioning something that sounded like he got his lawnmower fixed.
Arnie Biondo gave and then Erich Eggers gave $5 for him being late and another $5 for his son-in-law Mark Balsan being late.
And here are a few more pictures of those coming in just before the meeting.
This Week's Speaker: Linda Stagles, executive director of NAMI Montgomery County, Ohio
NAMI stands for National Alliance on Mental Illness
Chuck King introduced our speaker. Below you see Linda and Chuck enjoying lunch before her presentation.
He said Linda is a veteran educator with more than 25 years of experience.
Her career began in Guam in 1974 teaching middle school English Language Arts and Reading. She has held a variety of teaching and administrative positions at the middle school and high school levels, including the English Language Arts and self-contained Special Education.
Chuck said that for more than a decade Linda has worked in urban school districts as Executive Director of Grants and Compliance. She serves as an adjunct professor and guest lecturer at various local colleges and as a peer grant reviewer for the U.S. Department of Education.
Since 2009, Linda has worked as a state-trained volunteer instructor and support group facilitator for the NAMI, in both upstate New York and Southwest Ohio. She was appointed executive director of our local group in June, 2017.
Linda said NAMI was started by two moms in Madison, Wisconsin, who had two children with some mental issues and wondered what they could do, so they partnered with a psychiatrist.
Since then their program has bloomed into a program that is in all 50 states with county affiliates across the country numbering 2,100.
Trained volunteers have to have had some work experience dealing with mental issues.
NAMI 's role is to educate, advocate, listen and lead. They offer courses, help shape national public policy for people with mental illness and their families, and have a toll-free NAMI HelpLine to respond to requests, providing free referral, information and support.
NAMI sponsors Mental Illness Awareness Week and NAMIWalks to fight stigma and encourage understanding.
Linda said one in four adults will experience a mental health disorder in any given year. They can be a variety of things, from depression to anxiety and bi-polar disorders, schizophrenia, etc.
She said that in 2013 the Mental Health Charity Act was approved that helped those with a mental illness receive the same kind of care as those with a physical medical concern. This helped improve the quality of life.
NAMI tries to ensure the dignity and respect for persons with a mental disorder. There are support groups and presentations to help. She discussed PTSD and panic attacks and phobia disorders and said that the Dayton Children's Hospital has been adding beds to deal with children with mental disorders.
The annual Walk for Mental Health Awareness is scheduled for Saturday May 12 at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 4100 W. Third St., Dayton.
NAMI Montgomery County is a nonprofit, grassroots organization that addresses the mental health needs of the community, replaces stigma with understanding and helps thousands of families and individuals each year. You can contact Linda Stagles at linda@nami-mc.org or call 937-299-3667 for more information.
Here's a slide from Linda's presentation explaining the difference between mental illness and the intellence factor. Having a mental illness does not mean you are not intelligent, Linda said.
And here's Linda during the presentation.
The meeting was closed with the reciting of the Rotary Four-Way Test.
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