Please mark your calendar for these upcoming events:

Janet Weir Creighton enjoys sharing stories from her 25 years of elected experience where she has cultivated a diverse background in government and public affairs.

Creighton’s journey began in Canton/Stark County Ohio where she served in the capacity of County Recorder, County Auditor and City Mayor.  Her path of service took her to Washington DC where she served as Deputy Assistant to the President of the United States and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, and then returned to Stark County, where she currently serves as a Stark County Commissioner.

As an elected official, Janet strongly believes in collaboration, cooperation and communication, which she emulates through her leadership roles.  She has become a positive presence throughout the community by always working diligently on behalf of those she serves.  Janet strives to lead by example.

Born and raised in Canton, Ohio Janet graduated from Lincoln High School in Canton and attended Ohio University.  She is married to Mr. Bill Turnbow and has two adult children, Jennifer and John.  She is the proud grandmother of Benjamin and Chloe.

 

SPEAKER CHAIR - ERNIE SCHOTT

INVOCATOR - JON ADLAND

SONG LEADER - MIKE GREGOREK

During the January 23, 2015 meeting, Club Secretary Amanda Tietze was presented with a Paul Harris Fellow from PDG Dave Ewing and District Governor Phil Mariola.  Dave had this to say about Amanda:

 

"Amanda Tietze has been employed with the Better Business Bureau since 1999. She was recently appointed the Vice President of Operations in June 2014, overseeing all aspects of operations for the Canton chapter.  Prior to her current position she was the Vice President of the West Virginia Division & Public Relations.

 

Amanda is a graduate of the University of Akron with an Associate's Degree in Commercial Photography.  She also obtained her Bachelor's Degree in Business Management from Malone University in 2010 and was awarded the Outstanding Senior Award for Graduate & Professional Studies. 

 

She is an active participant in the community as a volunteer for the Refuge of Hope, member of Safe Community Committee of Stark County, and a member of YStark.  She has served as a judge for the Louisville High School's Outstanding Senior Awards for the past 10 years.

 

Amanda joined Canton Rotary in 2006 and has served as Club Secretary for the past five years.  She also served as District 6650 Youth Services Chair in 2012.  Amanda has served on the following committees since joining Rotary: New Generations, IT, Literacy, JA Done in a Day, PR, Pancake, Rotary Scouts and Golf).

 

Amanda is also an active member and volunteer at First Christian Church in Canton, Ohio and assists with her son's Boy Scout Troop and her husband's pressure washing business.  In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, reading, spending time with her family & friends and helping her husband renovate their home.  She resides in Perry Township with her husband, Matthew and two children, Christian and Victoria."

During the January 23, 2015 meeting, Bruce Schorsten, was presented with a Paul Harris Fellow.  PDG Dave Ewing and District Governor Phil Mariola presented Bruce with the PHF and Dave had this to say about Bruce:

 

"Bruce Schorsten has been an active Canton Rotarian for 25 years.  He served as the Music Chairman for several years for the Rotary Club of Canton.  Bruce is known for starting the "Schorsten Singers", which is a group of Canton Rotarians who sing as they help out with the annual collection for the Salvation Army kettles.

 

Bruce's profession is Realtor and he was recently awarded the "Realtor Emeritus Award".  In 2005, Bruce served as president for the Stark County Realtor Association.  He is a longtime volunteer for the Hall of Fame Festival and has served on the Hall of Fame Luncheon Club Board.

 

Bruce has been married to his wife, Marcia, for 17 years.  They share 5 children and 10 grandchildren.

The Rotary office received a flyer from Barbara Loudon, District 6650 RYLA Conference Coordinator, asking for our Club's assistance with donating items to be used in "Goody Bags", which are provided to students who attend the conference.  At the RYLA conference, which stands for 'ROTARY YOUTH LEADERSHIP AWARDS', High School students from all over District 6650 come together for a weekend of leadership development activities.

 

At RYLA, these students really enjoy receiving goody bags with giveaways provided by District 6650 Rotary Clubs.  The 100 bags are for 16-17 year old students.  The kids enjoy pencils (especially mechanical ones), highlighters, post-it notes, key chains, note pads, playing cards, Frisbees, fast food coupons, gum, candy bars, etc.  If you have any promotional items from your business, please contribute 100 of any item.  Please do not provide any political giveaways, as they will not be used. Please NO caffeine snacks or drinks. They cannot distribute them for safety reasons.

 

Since the bags are assembled before the students arrive, items must arrive before Tuesday, February 17, 2015. With this being said, please have any items you wish to donate delivered or mailed directly to Salem Rotarian Kimberly Bland, Brookdale Senior Living, 1916 South Lincoln Avenue, Salem, OH 44460.  Kim's business phone is 330-337-9096, cell phone number is 330-651-3571, and her email is kbland@brookdaleliving.com. 

 

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact Kim Bland directly. The Canton Rotary office will not be accepting the donated items. They must be delivered or mailed directly to Kimberly.

 

Thank you for your consideration.

The Rotary Club of Canton received a "Thank You" card from Joyce Triner.  Joyce wanted to thank the members for the Christmas "tip" she received in December.  The card reads:

 

"Rotary Club, Warmest thanks to you. People like you make the whole year brighter.  Thank you very much for the Christmas gift of money."

Youth Exchange Chairperson, Amy Mustafaga, is asking Rotarians to consider opening their home to our current Youth Exchange Student, Gui Guilherme Morgado.  Gui is attending North Canton Hoover High School.  Amy states we would need a Host family for just a couple months to get Gui through this school year.

 

If are interested in helping this young man or if you know of someone who would be interested in becoming a Host family, please contact Amy Mustafaga at (330) 837-9255 or the Rotary office at (330) 452-2882.

To those Rotarians who are on the "Health Screening" Committee please mark your calendar for the following meeting date:

The meetings will take place immediately following our regular Friday Rotary meeting.

Please mark your calendar for Saturday, March 14, 2015, for the Rotary Club of Canton's Annual Pancake Breakfast, Pick Your Prize Raffle AND Health Screening Events! This year's event will once again be held at McKinley High School.  The Pancake Breakfast will include: Pancakes, Sausage, Orange Juice, Coffee and Milk.

 

 

A Pick Your prize Raffle will be displayed with many wonderful items to choose from!  You can purchase tickets the day of the event and then decide what prizes you want to win by placing your ticket(s) into the corresponding bag in front of the item you are interested in. You will not need to be present to win.

 

The breakfast and raffle combine to make the Rotary's largest fundraiser and help fund our many local charitable efforts through the year, including:

 

More information will be forthcoming at a later date, but make sure to mark your calendar for Saturday, March 14, 2015, at McKinley High School!

 

 

Our club membership numbered about 260 with 11 honorary members. Interesting programs and meaningful service projects that members and prospects enjoyed helped encourage new membership and attendance at weekly meetings. We averaged about 60% attendance at Friday luncheons which were held at the McKinley Grand Hotel in downtown Canton.

 

A number of excellent programs were presented including: U.S. Congressman Ralph Regula (twice); Abraham Lincoln impersonator, Pete Raymond; Carly Zalenski (“Kids Building Hope”); the Cleveland Indians Roadshow; William Flinn, COO, Tournament of Roses Parade; Canton Mayor Janet Creighton; Steve Perry, President, Pro Football Hall of Fame; and Bob Belden, President, Belden Brick Company, to name a few.

 

Three significant service projects were “Kids Building Hope” (Vietnam School Project), “We Care for Kids” for 6^th & 7^th grade students, and the Senior Olympics.

 

Our largest fundraisers were for Carly Zalenski’s “Kids Building Hope” project, which actually built a school for children in Vietnam; “Putt for Dough” which raised $5,250 for the Charitable Fund; and of course, our annual Pancake Day Festival.

 

Our main social event was the “Kids Building Hope” dinner featuring hostage Terry Anderson as special guest speaker. While we did not sponsor any new clubs this year, we did hold several joint meetings with other Stark County clubs to foster fellowship between clubs and to increase interest in District 6650 project participation.

 

We were proud to award eight Paul Harris Fellows in 2006-2007 including Bob Wade, Ray Lutz, Rick Lutz, Janet Creighton, David Baker, David Roberts, George Davidson and Gloria Farson.

 

I was honored to attend the RI Convention in Copenhagen with over 25,000 Rotarians from around the world. During the five day event, I was impressed and inspired by the speakers, entertainment and side trips as I learned about Denmark’s history and lifestyle. This convention experience certainly made me realize that there are so many more people involved in Rotary service projects around the world than I ever imagined. We met many interesting Rotarians and we talked about all our different club projects. What a great way to begin my year as club president!

 

One of the really big things going on in the world this year was the increasing popularity and use of cell phones.

 

After being a member of the Rotary Club of Canton for a number of years, being President was a natural way for me to give something back to our club. I also thought it would be an interesting experience and would give me a better understanding of how Rotary works in the world. It accomplished both.

 

I truly enjoyed presiding at our weekly meetings and I very much appreciated the positive response of our members whenever I asked for help.

Virginia Neutzling served as our President’s Administrator and our offices were in the Bliss Tower in downtown Canton.

 

My sponsor into Rotary was my friend, Don Ellenger, (now deceased) who really modeled for me what it meant to be a Rotarian. Don was a very active member, a regular attendee and extremely involved in the International Youth Exchange Program for many, many years. Don made numerous trips to Brazil, coordinating and promoting this major Rotary goodwill and youth leadership development program.

 

Changes that I’ve seen are the lower number of members and the move to Meyers lake Ballroom from downtown. I really enjoy the social aspect of our weekly meetings the most, as well as the many opportunities to be involved in such a wide variety of service projects both locally and internationally.

 

I believe more people should know of the large worldwide presence of Rotary and about our commitment, as Rotarians, to bring about healthy living and better understanding between people around the world.

 

Over the next 100 years I hope Rotary will be much the same as it is today. Perhaps members will attend meetings as holograms! I am sure I will still enjoy being at most of the meetings when I am 170 years old.

 

I could not have been more pleased to be President in 2006-2007. Anyone who gets the chance to be president should jump at the opportunity. You will be glad you served as leader of our club, “The Finest Rotary Club in the World”. Happy Anniversary, Rotary Club of Canton!

 

John M. (Jack) Barkan

Past President, 2006-2007

At our weekly meeting on January 23, 2015, President Tom Clevenger asked members to keep Rotarian Pete Taflan in their prayers. Pete was at the hospital having tests run for lower back pain.  President Tom reminded the "Health Screen" committee about the 15 minute "planning" session which would take place immediately following the Rotary meeting.

 

PDG Dave Ewing and DG Phil Mariola presented Rotarians Amanda Tietze and Bruce Schorsten with their Paul Harris Fellow (please see story).

 

Club Secretary Amanda Tietze welcomed the following guests to our meeting: Darlene Leghart; District Governor Phil Mariola; Brian Barbour (Rotary Club of Linden, VA); Marsha Schorsten; Matt Tietze; Gary Dressler; Justin Wallace (Rotary Club Bolivar/Zoar); and Mark Saunders.

 

President Tom and guest Brian Barbour exchanged flags from their respective Clubs.

 

The "Happy Bucks" news was then provided by the following Rotarians: Rick Taylor was happy that Marsha Schorsten was a guest, because Bruce Schorsten is never in a suit jacket and tie and he was that day; Tena Wilson was happy her guest Mark Saunders, Executive Director of Smart Store, was in attendance; Steve Fettman was very happy that his son, Zach, was accepted into the University of Cincinnati School of Pharmacy; Drew Pelger was hoping to make the Kayak trip work this year since the Canton Park Department received a grant for 20 kayaks and two trailers.

 

The following Rotarians will receive a makeup for attending the Executive Board meeting on January 20, 2015: President Tom Clevenger, President Elect Paul White and Secretary Amanda Tietze.

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The following Rotarians received a makeup for attending the Board meeting on January 20, 2015: President Tom Clevenger, President Elect Paul White, Secretary Amanda Tietze, Sergeant at Arms Bob Matthews, Assistant Parliamentarian Dave Ewing, Trustees - Tim Furbay, Sharon Sirpilla, Jim Blake, Paul Feaser, Michelle Mullaly, Mark Rojek, Nick Perini, Suzette Matthews, Dean Wallace and Ryan Parkinson.

 

The following Rotarians will receive a makeup for attending the "Health Screen" committee meeting: Bob Matthews, Shawn Dougherty, Seth Swallen, Jack Barkan, Mike Gregorek, Dale Holwick, Tim Furbay, Paul White, Nick Perini, Tena Wilson and Tom Clevenger.

 

The following Rotarian turned in a makeup at Friday's meeting: Bob Matthews (Venice Nokomis Rotary).