Tom Tunison was born with a rare hip disease, undetected till age six, and thus was forced to face years of bed rest wheelchairs and crutches. The once active boy began watching New York Yankees' telecasts, forming an unlikely bond with Yankees rookie catcher, Canton's own Thurman Munson. Tom began a life-long commitment and study of Munson's career, which was sidelined upon Thurman's untimely death. This tragedy propelled Tom onto a course of action full of heart-breaking tragedy, heart-warming triumph, and personal discovery. Tom and author, Gary Karschak, then wrote a book about Tom's journey, "Go the Distance".
Tom Tunison:
Tom Tunison is a baseball historian/statistician and member of the Thurman Munson Hall Of Fame Committee where he served in both capacities. As a first year member of the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame Board of Directors, his research and subsequent nominations of John Morris, Billy Blitzer and Mickey Watts Stapleton led to their inductions, with Watts Stapleton becoming the first woman inductee into its Hall of Fame. He’s coached youth baseball for a quarter century and co-authored (with Christopher Hahn) Thurman Munson’s Decade of Unmatched Excellence.
Gary Kaschak:
Gary Kaschak has served as sports writer and/or columnist for The Vestal News (upper New York State), The Green Bay Press Gazette (Wisconsin) and The Burlington County Times (New Jersey). He served the Montrose Independent (Pennsylvania) as its Sports Editor. He was Statistician for the 1981 Washington Federals (a team in the now-defunct United States Football League); and he’s served as sports reporter for WKOP radio, out of Binghamton, New York. He’s covered Major League Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies for the Cooperstown Crier and the Oneonta Daily Star. He’s served as head-writer for two baseball committees; The Dummy Hoy Hall of Fame Committee and The Thurman Munson Hall of Fame Committee and is Editor for The New York State Baseball Hall of Fame’s, Extra Innings. He’s written five books: Hands That Break... Hands That Heal, and, The Hole To China, both well-received teen sports/inspirational novels, and, Lifestone, a murder mystery set during America’s Civil War. My Name Was Mickey Mantle, and, Coming Home. My Amazin’ life as a New York Met (The Cleon Jones story).
For those of us who are joining our Friday meetings via Zoom, a new link has been created to use starting with this Friday's meeting. The old link will no longer be active so please save this new link for future reference. Thank you and we'll "see" you Friday!
Last Wednesday, we received an email, forwarded from District Governor Michelle Charles, from the RI Directory for Zones 30 & 31, which includes Eastern Kentucky, asking for any cash donations that could be sent to help victims of the recent flooding in that area. The text of that email is shown below.
Your Board of Trustees voted at the end of last week to send a $1,000 donation from our Charitable Fund to the Rotary Eastern Kentucky Relief Fund, which is being administered by District Governor of District 6740, Seema Sachdeva, through the Rotary Club of Pikeville, Kentucky, and the Pikeville Community Foundation.
Doing the math, this represents a roughly $10 per person donation from our Club. If you happen to be inspired to donate more to this cause, the information on where to send donations is in the email text below.
Dear Rotary Members in Zones 30 and 31,
Once again, #RotaryResponds where human needs are great.
Last Thursday, flooding devastated three counties in eastern Kentucky in economically challenged communities. Twenty-six people have lost their lives and fatalities may rise as rescue efforts continue. People who had very little before the flooding are now left with nothing. Flooding in small communities in hollows in our own District 6740 has destroyed homes and livelihoods. Many people are without power or running water. This article from the New York Times only begins to describe the devastation and loss of life. Additional rains today, July 31, are adding to the suffering and complicating rescues efforts.
Rotary District Governor in 6740, Seema Sachdeva, the district leadership and Rotary clubs in the devastated communities are organized to accept donations to help these communities survive, recover and rebuild. At this time, cash donations are needed and are the preferred way for each of us to make a difference.
Please help the people of eastern Kentucky. The Pikeville, KY Rotary club will serve as the district’s point of contact for cash contributions to a 501(c) (3) fund, through an account with the Pikeville Community Foundation.
Cash contributions can be sent to the following address:
Pikeville Rotary Club Eastern Kentucky Disaster Relief Fund PO Box 988 Pikeville, KY 41502
Funds will be used for immediate disaster relief for the affected families. More information about relief efforts and needs will be communicated as it becomes available.
Please help out our communities and families that are in such desperate need in eastern Kentucky. Thank you for being a Rotarian, and thank you for your compassion.
Sincerely, Elizabeth Usovicz Rotary International Director, Rotary Zones 30 and 31
Past President Craig Young has been working with Habitat for Humanity on two community "Pocket Parks", as part of their Neighborhood Renewal Projects, one in the Northeast section of Canton and one in the Southeast section of Canton. The Rotary Club of Canton has sponsored both of these parks.
The Northeast section park was completed in November of 2017, with about 10 Canton Rotarians and spouses showing up to assemble benches, move stuff, and shovel mulch and ground cover. That park is at 19th and Edwards in the Harrisburg-Royal Neighborhood, where Habitat had a Renewal Project taking place. (click here to see a photo gallery of Rotarians in action at that site:
HABITAT HAS OFFERED US TWO POTENTIAL DATES TO HAVE OUR VOLUNTEERS (UP TO 10) WORK ON THE PARK (INSTALLING PAVERS AND SPREADING GRAVEL): FRIDAY SEPTMEBER 23 OR SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 24. BOTH DAYS WOULD BE 8:30 AM TO 12:30 PM.
If you are willing and able to help either of those days, please contact Rick Taylor rickt@kozmosgrille.com or Craig Young cyoung@youngtrucks.com this week with which day you are available so we can let Habitat know which day works best for us!
We are thinking that, if we end up with Friday morning, we might make the whole thing part of our meeting that week, with lunch location being announced later (if different from the church).
The Rotary Club of Canton Board of Trustees approved the following programs for our weekly meetings for this month:
August 5th - Maquitta Stokes, Exec Director of Tiqvah hands of Hope
August 12th - Tom Tunison & Gary Kaschak, authors of "Go the Distance", the inspirational story of Tom Tunison, Thurman Munson, & a lifelong quest for baseball immortality.
August 19th - Donn Angus, Director of Planning for the City of Canton: "What's Next for Downtown Canton"
August 26th - Kristine Willhite, CEO of Siffrin Inc.
Please join us for these outstanding programs, and invite your friends and any prospective Rotarians to join us, as well!
August 22nd - Dine-to-Donate at Kozmo's Grille 5 to 9 PM. 20% of food purchases will be donated Kozmo's to the Canton Rotary/SARTA Bus shelter project, to provide weather protection to SARTA users (see separate article for more info)
September 2nd - Canton Rotary Social Hour +, Great Court/Canton Museum of Art, 5:30 to ?; cash bar at Great Court, gallery visits encouraged; dinner at Desert Inn after (optional). (see separate article)
September 9th - Stark Flavor Downtown Canton Cigar & Whiskey Festival, 5 to 9 PM. Sponsored by Canton Rotary. Limited to 100 tickets. Go here for tickets and info https://www.facebook.com/starkflavor
October 17th - Rotary Pints a & Pours for Polio Plus, 5 to 7 pm Kozmo's Grille. Celebrity "bartenders" will accept additional tips which will go to the District 6650 Polio Plus Fund. This will be a competition between the Canton and Massillon Clubs to kick of McKinley/Massillon Week! Most tips wins! All Rotarians in District invited to attend.
November 5th - A Night for Ukraine, St. Nicolas Orthodox Church, North Canton, 6 to 10 pm. Ukrainian food, music, and dancing, plus a live auction. special guest is Past RI President Barry Rassin. (see separate article for more info)
After members Dan and Suzette Matthews saw bus shelters adorned with the famous Rotary logo on a trip to Turks & Caicos, they brought the idea back to Sue Marzano, who, as one of 11 children, used SARTA's service extensively as a child. Having experienced waiting for a bus in the elements, including rain, sleet, and snow (and having to sometimes spend the day with wet socks), she got together with Rich and they hashed out a plan to see if we could partner with SARTA on some new shelters at their bus stops.
After considerable discussion and coordination, SARTA chose a site at 4th St. and Hartford Ave SE for the first new Rotary shelter, as it is one of the busiest stops in the city. Cost to build a new shelter is $8,000, and, thanks to the generosity of a couple of Rotarians (who wish to remain nameless), as well as a donation from our Rotary Club of Canton Charitable Fund, the new shelter is now scheduled to be built!
Sue and Rich are now working on raising funds for the second bus shelter, with a "Dine-to-Donate" event being held on Monday August 22, 2022 at Kozmo's Grille in Massillon from 5 to 8 PM. During that time, 20% of your food purchases will be donated to the Canton Rotary Bus Shelter Project. Just print the flyer above, or take a screenshot, and show it to your server at Kozmo's when you're there.
The flyer above also shows some other ways to donate if you wish to. Please reach out to Sue or Rich if you have any questions or comments.
Social committee chairs, Sue Marzano and Becky Clark, have announced a new Canton Rotary social event, a soiree at the Canton Museum of Art for First Friday September 2, 2022!
PLEASE RSVP TO SUE SO SHE CAN MAKE DINNER RESERVATIONS AT DESERT INN! ammarzano@aep.com or cell at 330-312-0486.
The plan is to meet in the Great Court at 5:30 for socialization and camaraderie (cash bar available, but no drinks in the galleries), then those that wish, can visit the exhibits in the museum galleries. Dinner to follow at Desert Inn for those interested.
- Unseen, The Process and Art of Printmaking
- Continued Continuing, Paintings by Amy Casey
- Lessons and Landscapes, Legacy of Gerry Bernhardt
- Illusions: Seeing is Deceiving, art from the CMA Private Collection
- Shadows, the Art of Marcus Schafer
(Here's a link to the Canton Museum of Art's website, if you'd like more info on the exhibits: http://www.cantonart.org/
Did you hear that there has been a new case of polio reported recently in New York State for the first time in almost a decade. And, polio is trying to spread once again in some countries overseas. It is extremely critical NOW that we continue our efforts to wipe out polio!
Our own District Governor, Michelle Charles, is asking each club in our district to contribute $1,000 or more to Polio Plus this year.
One of the ways the Canton Rotary Club will address this...........PINTS & POURS FOR POLIO! Michelle and her husband, JC, will be serving as CELEBRITY BARTENDERS at Kozmo's Grille on Monday October 17th from 6 to 9 PM. Any tips they receive for their, ahem, service, will go toward Polio Plus. It's very likely that there will be other 'celebrities' as well, including our current club president, yours truly.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! That day is the kickoff for Rivalry Week between the Canton McKinley Bulldogs and Massillon Washington Tigers, so we've decided to make this a COMPETITION! Which club will raise the most money that night, Canton or Massillon?
So mark your calendars! Come and join your fellow Canton Rotarians to not only support your club, but to help Rotary wipe out polio!
District Governor Michelle Charles has set a goal for District 6650 to raise $100,000 for the Rotary International Disaster Relief Fund, specifically to benefit the Ukraine.
Therefore, we are all invited to "A Night for Ukraine", a special event on Saturday November 5th at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, 5305 Massillon Rd, North Canton starting at 6 PM. Cost is $60 per person and includes an authentic Ukrainian ethnic menu, performances from local Ukrainian musicians and dancers, and a special appearance from Past RI President Barry Rassin.
At our regular meeting of Friday August 5, 2022, President Rick welcomed 29 members, live and on Zoom, plus two guests, our speakers, Maquitta Stokes and Amber from Tiqvah Hands of Hope.
President Elect Paul Hervey conducted a quick auction of two center section, row 7 seats for the Journey/Concert for Heroes, donated by Rotarian Don Peterson III from WDJQ & WDPN in Alliance. Tim Franta submitted the winning bid of $150, which will go into our Charitable Fund. THANK YOU DONNY AND TIM!
VP Jennie George stepped in for Secretary Paula, who was unable to attend Friday. Jennie announced that the Rotary Club of Canton will be a sponsor of Stark Flavor's Downtown Canton Cigar & Whiskey Festival 5 to 9 PM on September 9, 2022 at Centennial Plaza. (Note: we may need some volunteers to man a Canton Rotary booth there, see Jennie if you're interested. Also go to this link for info or to buy tickets, on sale TODAY, limited to 100: https://www.facebook.com/starkflavor). Jennie also solicited Happy Bucks.
VP Jennie introduced our speakers, Maquitta Stokes and Amber from Tiqvah Hands of Hope, an organization that provides off-school space and programming for school-aged children where they can be safe, have a healthy meal, learn life skills and study skills, be exposed to some religious influences, make friends and have fun. Tiqvah is housed in Christ Presbyterian Church.
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