Please mark your calendar for these upcoming events:

 

 

 During the Fellowship outing on February 24, 2016, PDG/PP Dave Ewing presented Maria Matthews, daughter of Rotarians  Dan and Suzette Matthews, with a Paul Harris Fellow.

 

 Maria is a graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas High School. She also attended Kent State and Walsh University.  She is co-  owner of "A Child's Anchor" Day Care Center in Uniontown.

 

 Maria and her husband, Zach Kauffman, along with their two children, Owen Daniel (4) and Emmett Joseph (2) reside in Canton and are members of St. Paul Parish in North Canton.

 

Maria's first encounter with Rotary was at the age of five months, when her father, Dan, changed her diaper on the Rotary board room table at the Canton Club back in 1984.

 

Maria's two older brothers, Ted and Jeff, her grandparents, Robert J. and Kathryn Matthews, as well as Dan and Suzette Matthews are all Paul Harris Fellows as well.

 

At the February 26, 2016, meeting Canton Rotarian Dean Gogolewski presented the "Character Champion" Award to Sheyenne Brewer and Tyler Brezina from McKinley Senior High School.

 

SHEYENNE BREWER: Sheyenne has pursued her dreams this school year and learned how faith and hard work produce results. She did not wait until senior year to develop a strong work ethic, but instead has worked hard since the beginning. All of her life she has wanted to attend Penn State University, and, through her hard work and dedication, was accepted into Penn State to begin the new year. Sheyenne is a leader in the McKinley band and a proud member of the National Honor Society.

 

 

TYLER BREZINA: As an Eagle Scout, Tyler's standard for life is built upon the Scout pledge: trustworthiness, loyalty, helpfulness, friendliness, courteousness, kindness, obedience, thriftiness, bravery, cleanliness, and reverence. These life values have shaped him. By achieving his Eagle Scout, he learned to stand strong through thick and thin.  Scouting has also taught him how to be an effective problem solver and leader, and those qualities shine through everywhere he goes.  Tyler is an amazing young man: not only is he an Eagle Scout, but he is also a competitive diver and a pilot!

 

    

 

   Okay, Canton Rotarians! It's once again time for our annual Pancake Breakfast and Pick Your Prize Raffle on Saturday March 19th. As you should know, this popular event raises substantial dollars for our Canton Rotary Charitable Fund and the many civic groups and activities that this fund supports.

 

The Pancake Breakfast includes pancakes, sausage, orange juice, coffee and milk. In addtion to the food, the Cleveland Indian’s mascot, Slider, will be there for a meet and greet, the McKinley Jazz Band will play, and “Star Wars” characters from the Ohio Garrison of the 501^st Legion and the Rebel Legion will be available for photo opportunities throughout the day.

 

 

Here's how you can help:

 

1) Buy your Pancake Breakfast tickets! This year we are asking you to pay for ONLY $50 worth of tickets, as opposed to twice that amount in previous years (the Canton Rotary Oktoberfest has picked up a lot of the slack in our fundraising!) If you did not get your tickets at the meeting last week, please call Lauri or Barb at the Rotary office at 330-452-2882 to make arrangements to pick yours up or have them brought to a meeting.

 

2) Volunteer to help on March 19th! You might not think flipping pancakes, or serving breakfast, or pouring juice, or cleaning and bussing tables would be fun.....but it IS! Especially when you are hangin' with your fellow Rotarians! Sign up sheets will be available at our regular meetings. Please note that we will also need help with set-up on Friday 3/18/16 after 3 PM. We'd love to have ALL Canton Rotarians join us on March 19th!

 

3) Donate a prize or two for the Pick-Your-Prize Raffle! This raffle has been very successful, but, of course, we need prizes donated to keep it that way. Items you might consider include sports tickets, vacation rentals, gift baskets, wine baskets, restaurant gift cards or other gift cards, or new, unused merchandise you might have at work or at home (hey, it's not re-gifting if you donate it to a good cause, right?) You can bring your donations to our weekly meetings.

 

 

 

 

 

GREGOREK, MICHAEL J.               Mar 08
ONG, MARINO G.                         Mar 09
FURBAY, TIMOTHY A.                  Mar 14
GOODENBERGER, KURT               Mar 15
WEBER, KENNETH L.                   Mar 15
BARKAN, JOHN M.                       Mar 16
NICELY, RICHARD A.                   Mar 17
BISHOP, DOUGLAS L.                  Mar 18
MADDOX, WILLIAM A.                 Mar 19
SCHOTT, ERNEST O.                   Mar 19
PELANDA, RAYMOND P.               Mar 20
DOUGHERTY, SHAWN                 Mar 21
DIXON, TERESA                          Mar 22
PARIS, MICHAEL                         Mar 22
FEASER, PAUL                            Mar 25
YOUNG, DAVID L.                       Mar 25
WERREN, JOHN R.                      Mar 26
CARROLL, DENNY                       Mar 28
FETTMAN, STEVEN L.                  Mar 28
LORIGAN, JUDITH                      Mar 30

 

VAN NOSTRAN, WILLIAM D.                  16 years
ONG, MARINO G.                                  32 years
CLARK, REBECCA                                   5 years
SCOTT, WARD A.                                 24 years
CIRESE, LUCIA                                      2 years
LUNTZ, GREGORY W.                           15 years

 

 

 

 

   At our weekly meeting on February 26, 2016, President Paul welcomed our members and guests to the meeting.  Rotarian Bill Liber gave the Invocation.

 

President Paul asked the members to keep Honorary Rotarian Katherine "Kitty" Pelanda in their thoughts and prayers.  Kitty is recovering from knee surgery.

 

Club Secretary Michelle Mullaly welcomed the following guests to our meeting:  Joe Dillon (guest of Ray V. Pelanda); Michael D. Pirovolos, Kiara Rolland, Kaleb Brumbaugh, Kitty Burgett (Four Way Speech contestants and Assistant Speech Coach); Tyler Brezina, Sheyenne Brewer and Sherry Brezina (Character Champions and parent).

 

The "Happy Bucks" news was then provided by the following Rotarians:  Dan Matthews was very happy to announce the birth of his 6th grandchild who was born just that morning, and mentioned that she was named after his mother, Kathryn; Tena Wilson was pleased to invite the members to the upcoming Friends of the Stark County District Library special programs, flyers for which were on the tables; Mark Clendenin was very happy to have participated as a volunteer in Junior Achievements "Done-In-A-Day", and stated "he had a great time"; Rick Taylor thanked the volunteers for helping with the Junior Achievement project which took place the day before, stating that the volunteers, students, teachers, and administration enjoyed and appreciated it; Bruce Hale also thanked Rick Taylor for his efforts regarding the Junior Achievement project and seconded Rick's comments regarding this event.

 

Rotarian Dean Wallace took to the podium and informed the members about the upcoming Pancake Festival.  He asked the members to sign up on the sign-up sheets available during each Friday meeting, as it is going to take many Rotarians to make this event successful.  He also stated that during the last hour of the event, homelss and needy people will be given free breakfasts.

 

President Paul, who is chairman of the "Pick Your Prize Raffle" during the Pancake Festival, asked for members to consider providing donations of rounds of golf, restaurant certificates, gift baskets or any items they may have "around the house" they would like to donate. Donations are currently running behind previous years.

 

Rotarian Dean Gogolewski presented the February Character Champion Awards (please see story above)

 

The following Rotarians will receive a makeup for attending the Canton Charge/Desert Inn Fellowship outing on February 24, 2016:  PP Dave Ewing, PP Dan Matthews, Jim Blake, Mark Rojek, Doug Bishop, Judy Lorigan, President Paul White, Chris Burt, Bruce Schorsten, Dean Wallace, PP Tom Clevenger, Mike Paris, Amy Mustafaga, Jeff Scott and President Elect Amanda Tietze (anyone not listed who attended this event, please contact the Rotary office).

 

The following Rotarians will receive a makeup for attending the "New Member Committee" meeting on February 26, 2016: Tena Wilson, Bruce Hale, Dan Matthews, Tim Shetzer, Amanda Tietze, and Tony Pierce.

 

The following Rotarians turned in a makeup during Friday's meeting:  Mark Clendenin (Canton South); Robert Matthews (Venice Nokomis).

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Please mark your calendar for the upcoming District Conference which will take place on April 29-30 in Tuscarawas County.  More information will be provided at a later date.

K.R. RAVINDRAN
PRESIDENT 2015-16

MARCH 2016

Some years ago, I was asked to speak at an Interact club in my home city of Colombo, Sri Lanka. I have always taken my interactions with Rotary youth very seriously, so I prepared my remarks carefully and put the same effort into my presentation that I would for any other event. After the meeting, I stayed to chat with a few of the Interactors, answering their questions and wishing them well.

I came out of the classroom where we had met into the autumn afternoon. The bright sun was shining directly into my eyes, so I found a bit of shade behind a pillar where I could wait for my ride.

As I stood there, hidden from view, I overheard a group of the very Interactors who had just listened to my speech. Naturally I was curious: What would they be saying? What had they taken away from my presentation? I quickly realized that what they had taken away was not at all what I had intended.

They were not talking about what I had said, the stories I had told, or the lessons I had come to their school to impart. To my astonishment, the major topic of conversation was my tie! I listened with amusement as they chattered about my Western clothes, my background, my business; every aspect of my appearance and behavior was dissected and discussed. Just as they began to speculate about what car I drove, my ride arrived and I stepped out into view. They were perhaps a bit embarrassed, but I just smiled, got into the car, and drove off with a wave.

Whatever they learned from me that day, I learned far more. I learned that the lessons we teach with our examples are far more powerful than those we teach with words. I realized that as a Rotary leader, and a prominent person in the community, I had, for better or worse, become a role model for these young people. Their eyes were on me in a way that I had never before appreciated. If they chose to emulate me, they would model themselves on what they saw, not what I told them.

All of us in Rotary are leaders, in one way or another, in our communities. All of us bear the responsibility that comes with that. Our Rotary values, our Rotary ideals, cannot be left within the confines of our Rotary clubs. They must be carried with us every day. Wherever we are, whoever we are with, whether we are involved in Rotary work – we are always representing Rotary. We must conduct ourselves accordingly: in what we think, what we say, what we do, and how we do it. Our communities, and our children, deserve no less.