Bob is a graduate of Lehigh University with a degree in Civil Engineering. He began his career as a civil engineer; later becoming a small business owner, a professional consultant, and eventually the Stark County Administrator. In 1994, he took the position as acting director of Stark Parks, transitioning to full-time Director and Projects Manager in 1995. Bob has been active in the development of Stark County’s infrastructure with implementation of a comprehensive park plan that emphasizes pedestrian/bicyclist accessibility. Throughout his time at Stark Parks, his professional roles have included being a lifetime member of the Stark Development Board, a charter board member of the Ohio & Erie Canalway Association, a member of the board of directors for Ohio Parks & Recreation Association (currently acting as the chair for the Advocate Committee), a board member for the Natural Resource Assistance Council, as well as a board member for the Stark County Area Transportation Study (currently serving on the Policy Committee). Bob was also responsible for co-founding the Stark County Drainage Task Force and was a member of the master plan committee for the Canton Special Improvement District. He is a member of all Stark County chambers, a North Canton Library board member, is active in the Canton Regional Society of Professional Engineers, and has served on Leadership Stark County’s board, as well as being a graduate of the 11th class.
During Bob’s tenure, the park district revenue has increased from $750,000 annually to $7 million annually, including an average of $2 million annually from grants. Property has grown from 400 acres to 7,200+ acres; trail miles have increased from one mile to approximately 100 miles, including twenty-five 25 miles of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. Significant projects include a marina & boat launch developed at Walborn Reservoir; the opening of the 12-acre Fichtner Park in Hartville; the extension of the Hoover and Middle Branch trails in North Canton and Plain Township; the purchase of the Magnolia Flouring Mills; and most recently, the acquisition of the 350-acre Fry Family Park in East Sparta. Educational programming has expanded, and community partnerships are growing - including the Stark County District Library’s shared opening of the 50,000- square-foot Exploration Gateway. Bob has seen four successful levy campaigns in 1997, 2001, and 2007, and 2012 and continues to add checkmarks to Stark Parks’ master plan.
A "Thank You" note was received in the Rotary office from Michael D. Pirovolos, a Four-Way speech contestant. Michael writes:
"Dear Members of the Rotary, I would like to not only thank you for the opportunity to speak at your meeting, but also for you choosing me to be in first place, it was greatly appreciated. It was nice seeing all of you again and I wish all of you the best."
Nominations for Rotarian of the Year Award are now being accepted. Nominations require submission of the completed form outlining the candidate's fulfillment of the award criteria. Deadline date to submit your nomination is Friday, March 18, 2016.
Please keep in mind the current Officers of the Club are not eligible. ALL nominations are being kept confidential and we ask that you do your part to keep it that way. The results and award winner will be announced at the April 1st meeting.
You may either download the Nomination Form from here and return it to the Rotary office located at 203 Cleveland Ave. N.W., Canton, 44702, email it back to the office at info@cantonrotary.org or bring to Friday's meeting and give to Vice President Amanda Tietze.
If you'd like to help the 2nd graders at Dueber Elementary better understand our community, and how jobs, businesses, voting, and even TAXES fit into that community, we have room for one or two more volunteers for our Canton Rotary 'Junior Achievement-In-A-Day' project on April 6th. Time commitment is from 8:15 to 11:00 AM.
You will join Amanda Tietze, Bruce Hale, Shawn Dougherty, Craig Young, and Larry Pitts to mentor that day! All are experienced JA volunteers and we thank them.
If you are interested, please give me a shout. Or, you can see me this Friday, as I will be bringing the JA materials to hand over to our fine corps of volunteers!
Thanks……………………..Rick Taylor, Chair, Canton Rotary JA Done-In-A-Day Project, 330-575-2870, rtaylor@jaonline.org
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 501st Legion and the Rebel Legion will be available for photo opportunities throughout the day.
We are encouraging all members to help make this event a ROUSING SUCCESS again this year.
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.
So, Canton Rotarians, step up and help us with this fund- and friend-raiser. Thanks!
There will be a District Leadership Assembly/One Rotary Summit on Saturday, April 9, 2016 at the Foltz Community Center in East Canton. The assembly will begin at 7:45 a.m. until 12:00 noon. The cost for this event is $8.00.
You may go online to register or you may contact the Rotary office for assistance. Thank you.
Please mark your calendar for the upcoming District Conference which will take place on April 29-30, 2016 in Tuscarawas County. The event begins on Friday, April 29th, at the Warther Museum in Dover. Registration is from 5:00 to 6:00 PM, followed by a 'Walk Through History of Tuscarawas County' event, with music and samplings of local Tuscarawas foods, craft beers, and wines. Strolling storytellers will also provide local history lessons.
Saturday, April 30th, begins bright and early at Tusky Valley Middle School, with registration 7:30 - 8:30 AM. Besides some District business, other events planned are a cultural art fair, Four Way Test Speech participants, the Youth Exchange Program talent show, and featured speakers Hart Main, a 13 year old entrepreneur who makes Man-Cans, candles designed for men (Bacon Scent, anyone?) and Mark Murphy, Superintendent of Tusky Valley Schools. The conference concludes at 3:00 pm with closing remarks by RI Representative PDG Peter Simonsen and DG Joe Belinsky.
At our weekly meeting on March 11, 2016, President Paul welcomed our members and guests to the meeting. Rotarian Kim Kroh gave the Invocation.
Club Secretary Michelle Mullaly welcomed the following guests to the meeting: Joe Dillon (guest of Ray V. Pelanda), Barbara Bennett (guest of speaker), Joe Sommer (guest of Bill Cumler) and Richard Regula (Massillon Rotarian).
The "Happy Bucks" news was then provided by the following Rotarians: Denny Fulmer was pleased to announce Rotarian Nick Perini coached Walsh University students in a competition and they are headed to Chicago for the National competition; Richard Regula was happy to see friends at Muskingum Watershed.
President Paul then took to the podium and gave an update on the upcoming Pancake Breakfast. We are still in need of volunteers and raffle prizes. Any Rotarian willing to help is asked to contact the Rotary office (330) 452-2882.
President Paul then announced there were "Rotarian of the Year" nomination forms on each table.
The following Rotarians will receive a makeup for attending the "Oktoberfest" committee meeting on March 11, 2016: Michelle Mullaly, Craig Young, Bruce Hale, Paul White and Dave Beule.
The following Rotarian turned in a makeup: Chuck Smith
The Rotary Club of Canton will once again hold its annual Health Screen & Wellness Fair on Saturday, April 30, 2016. This event will be held at Mercy Medical Center, Mercy Hall Auditorium, 1320 Mercy Drive N.W., Canton 44708.
A 12-hour fast is recommended for more accurate results. In addition to the blood screenings, Mercy Medical Center service lines will be offering additional free health screenings and educational materials.
Please follow this LINK to review the list of testings available.
In 1932, Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor created The Four-Way Test. The test, which has been translated into more than 100 languages, asks the following questions:
Bob is a graduate of Lehigh University with a degree in Civil Engineering. He began his career as a civil engineer; later becoming a small business owner, a professional consultant, and eventually the Stark County Administrator. In 1994, he took the position as acting director of Stark Parks, transitioning to full-time Director and Projects Manager in 1995. Bob has been active in the development of Stark County’s infrastructure with implementation of a comprehensive park plan that emphasizes pedestrian/bicyclist accessibility. Throughout his time at Stark Parks, his professional roles have included being a lifetime member of the Stark Development Board, a charter board member of the Ohio & Erie Canalway Association, a member of the board of directors for Ohio Parks & Recreation Association (currently acting as the chair for the Advocate Committee), a board member for the Natural Resource Assistance Council, as well as a board member for the Stark County Area Transportation Study (currently serving on the Policy Committee). Bob was also responsible for co-founding the Stark County Drainage Task Force and was a member of the master plan committee for the Canton Special Improvement District. He is a member of all Stark County chambers, a North Canton Library board member, is active in the Canton Regional Society of Professional Engineers, and has served on Leadership Stark County’s board, as well as being a graduate of the 11th class..jpg)
A "Thank You" note was received in the Rotary office from Michael D. Pirovolos, a Four-Way speech contestant. Michael writes:
Nominations for Rotarian of the Year Award are now being accepted. Nominations require submission of the completed form outlining the candidate's fulfillment of the award criteria. Deadline date to submit your nomination is Friday, March 18, 2016..jpg){kind=small}
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..png)
There will be a District Leadership Assembly/One Rotary Summit on Saturday, April 9, 2016 at the Foltz Community Center in East Canton. The assembly will begin at 7:45 a.m. until 12:00 noon. The cost for this event is $8.00.
Please mark your calendar for the upcoming District Conference which will take place on April 29-30, 2016 in Tuscarawas County. The event begins on Friday, April 29th, at the Warther Museum in Dover. Registration is from 5:00 to 6:00 PM, followed by a 'Walk Through History of Tuscarawas County' event, with music and samplings of local Tuscarawas foods, craft beers, and wines. Strolling storytellers will also provide local history lessons..jpg)
At our weekly meeting on March 11, 2016, President Paul welcomed our members and guests to the meeting. Rotarian Kim Kroh gave the Invocation.
The Rotary Club of Canton will once again hold its annual Health Screen & Wellness Fair on Saturday, April 30, 2016. This event will be held at Mercy Medical Center, Mercy Hall Auditorium, 1320 Mercy Drive N.W., Canton 44708.
Rotary International