Jeff Dafler earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in International Studies and French. For 8.5 years, Jeff served as a Foreign Service Officer for the US Dept of State. He served in Melbourne, Australia, Warsaw, Poland and Milan, Italy.
For five years, Jeff worked as a manager in corporate relations for NCR Corporation in Dayton, OH. During this time, he earned a Master of Arts in Communication from the University of Dayton.
Jeff worked for the Timken Company for 12.5 years. He served as Vice President for Government Affairs, and Director of International Government Relations.
For 11 months, Jeff has served as a Vice President for the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce with the primary responsibility of Economic Development & Public Policy. For 9 months, Jeff has served as the President of the Downtown Canton Land Bank. Within the past week, Jeff has been selected to provide oversight of activities related to the downtown Canton innovation and redevelopment districts.
The Innovation District was established by Canton City Council in 2017 and encompasses 12 blocks from Second to Sixth streets and Cleveland Avenue NW to Piedmont Avenue NE. Its headquarters and technology-focused business incubator opened in February 2019 at 309 Court Ave. NW.
The Downtown Redevelopment District was created simultaneously and with the same boundaries. It encourages revitalization of historic buildings by providing a 10 year tax exemption for up to 70% of the increased property value.
For nearly 3 years, Jeff has served as an adjunct faculty member in the Communications Department for Walsh University.
REMINDER! We have a NEW permanent location for our Friday luncheon meetings!
We're be back in Beautiful Downtown Canton, at the historic Christ Presbyterian Church at 530 Tuscarawas Street West. Parking lot and entrance are on the west side of the building. Meeting room at the top of the stairs and an elevator is available Meals are provided by our old friend Terry from Mr. Mike's Catering.
WE ASK YOU TO PLEASE GO TO THIS LINK TO MAKE A RESERVATION FOR THE MEETING!https://www.eventbrite.com/o/the-rotary-club-of-canton-ohio-18781258928 (No payment is necessary when reserving). Payment options will be available at the meeting. If you need help using the Eventbrite site, please contact Rotarian Sue Marzano.
Meeting ID: 848 0812 0831 Passcode: 657908 One tap mobile +16465588656,,84808120831#,,,,*657908# US (New York) +13017158592,,84808120831#,,,,*657908# US (Washington DC)
Dial by your location +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 720 707 2699 US (Denver) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) Meeting ID: 848 0812 0831 Passcode: 657908 Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kleduAVUs
September is nearly half over. I'm just amazed how much quicker life passes each year. For the second week in a row we eclipsed the 40 lunch meeting attendee mark. This past week there were about 35 on hand and the remainder on zoom. I look forward to seeing all of you in person, but If it is just one of those weeks that you just can't, we are happy to have you join us on Zoom. I think we have fixed the issues that we have been having, but please remember to log into Zoom before 11:50 just in case I need to admit you. Once our meeting starts, and I am running the meeting, I don't check the computer. Thanks to those of you that reached out to members we haven’t seen in a while. It was a treat to see them at our lunch. Keep up the good work!
I hope those of you that were there last week got something out of my State of the Rotary presentation. If you weren't there, or want to review the information, I have provided the Zoom recording and the slides to Roto-Rick and he will be sending them out to you. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas for our club.
We continue the artful balancing of having too much or not enough food, so I continue to ask each of you to register early for your attendance using Eventbrite. If you have problems with it, or just can’t figure it out, don’t worry. Just reach out to Rotarian Sue Marzano or myself by phone, email, or text and we will see to it that you are signed up for the lunch meeting.
Please remember that we are actively seeking contributions from members for Hurricane Ida Relief, The Kenya Mask Project. Also, don't forget to support our McKinley Interact students in their fundraiser at Texas Roadhouse on September 20th from 3PM-10PM. When you present the document we will email to you shortly, 10% of all sales will benefit their club. Let's help our young Rotarians develop their passion.
As I have said before, Canton Rotary is where we give our passions a home!
As we hope you know, the Rotary Club of Canton provided a $100,000 donation to the City of Canton to provide the original planning of the new Centennial Plaza. We were one of the first organizations to support this project. This was pledged in 2015 from income accumulated in our Endowment Fund during Tom Clevenger's presidency, and paid during Paul White's presidency 2015-16. Amongst other members, Past President Mark Rojek was also highly involved in establishing this partnership with the city.
THIS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2021, AT 7:15 PM, THE CITY OF CANTON WILL HAVE THEIR OFFICIAL DEDICATION OF CENTENNIAL PLAZA.
We'd like to invite ALL CANTON ROTARIANS to join us at 6:45 PM at 4th and Market, to join in this celebration. We also encourage anyone attending to wear some Rotary stuff, so that those in attendance can see who it is that provided this support for this jewel in our city!
The OSU/Tulsa football game will be broadcast at 3:30 PM on the BIG screen, and Jimmy & the Soulblazers will perform following the dedication and ribbon-cutting!
So COME ON DOWN TO 4TH & MARKET AT 6:45 this Saturday to celebrate Rotary's impact on our city and have some fun with your fellow members!
(Here's the full article from the Repository re: this event:
PARTY SET for SEPT 18 to DEDICATE CANTON CENTENNIAL PLAZA
By Kelly Byer, Canton Repository 9-13-2021
The city has planned a party to officially celebrate the opening of Centennial Plaza.
Although the plaza opened to the public last year, its dedication was postponed because of the pandemic. It’s since hosted movies, live music, and community events.
The dedication events will begin at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 18 with a showing of the Ohio State University v. the University of Tulsa, according to a city news release. A ceremony and ribbon-cutting will occur at 7:15 p.m. by the donor wall at Fourth Street and Court Avenue NW.
'This is an opportunity to thank all of Canton, our citizens, our donors, our elected and other officials who were so instrumental in making Centennial Plaza a reality,' Mayor Thomas Bernabei said in the news release.
Jimmy & The Soul Blazers will play after the football game until 10:30 p.m., and fireworks will occur at 9 p.m. There will be food trucks, face painting, balloon artists, and crafts for children or 'kids at heart' during the afternoon and evening, according to the release.
'After talking to health officials, this being a fully outdoor event with more relaxed health protocols in place, we are comfortable moving forward this year,' Bernabei stated. 'We encourage anyone with health concerns to wear a mask.'
In the event of rain, the dedication will be postponed to Oct. 2.
Our Canton Rotary Club has supported Junior Achievement locally for at least 20 years, both financially and through volunteering. JA is a non-profit that brings business and professional people into classrooms to help teach young people about personal finances, entrepreneurship, and job readiness. This support falls squarely into Rotary's mission of sharing one's vocation, as well as support for young people.
We currently have a great volunteer opportunity with Ms. Dana Reinhard for her 9th grade students at McKinley High School: she is looking for a volunteer to present just one session of JA's "Be Entrepreneurial".
She is primarily interested in having this entrepreneur provide their personal experience as a business person: how did the idea for the business develop, what did it take to open the business, what has the business person learned, etc.
Class time is 11:15 to 12:45. You would work out the date for your mentorship with Dana, and JA will train you on whichever module you choose (see below). We think Dana is looking to do this in the next few weeks.
If you are interested, please reach out to me, Rick Taylor, at 330-575-2870 or rickt@kozmosgrille.com.
Here's the info from JA:
School- McKinley High School/ Fall 2021
Teacher- Dana Reinhard
Volunteer- 1 session requirement
Program-Be Entrepreneurial- Module: Think Like an Entrepreneur
Module: JA Think Like an Entrepreneur™
Students develop a mindset that enables opportunity identification, innovation, value creation,
and problem solving. They learn the entrepreneurial principles, strategies, and skills through the
experiences of others and apply them to their own lives.
At our meeting on Friday September 10, 2021, President mark welcomed 38 Canton Rotarians and two guests: soon-to-be-new member, Rich Micelli; and transferring Rotarian. Brent Watts.
From Secretary Paula:
This day in history:
1894 – London cab driver, George Smith, was the first person ever to be fined for drunk driving.
1913 – The Lincoln Highway opens as the first paved coast-to-coast highway.
1984 – The first episode of the daily syndicated TV show, Jeopardy, aired with Alex Trebek as the host.
2008 - The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, described as the biggest scientific experiment in the history of mankind, is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland
Fun Fact:
- In 1945 Colorado farmer, Lloyd Olsen decapitated a chicken with the intent to have it for dinner, but “Miracle Mike” wasn’t having it! The chicken didn’t die but actually lived for 18 months with no head!
- In 1992 Lucy in Peanuts comics raises her Psychiatric Help from 5 cents to 47 cents.
Happy Bucks:
Lynn Hamilton - for levelheaded reporters in the WSJ.
Dave Ewing - for his wedding anniversary, married to Penni for 55 years (God bless you, Penni)!
Mark Rojek - for asking President Mark not to wear shorts to any meeting again.
Becky Clark - $20 in honor of the 20 year anniversary of 911 and to pray for our country.
Jennie George – a shout out to support the Canton Interact Club’s upcoming dine-out event.
Drew Pelger - happy that his membership in the D & D Golf league led to joining the Canton Rotary
Mark Clendenin - for those attending their first in-person meeting.
President Mark then provided a review of our Club's status (including a PowerPoint slide presentation, which will be sent to our current members via email at a later date.)