Gary Sommers is a member of the 4th generation ownership group of HRM Enterprises, Inc. in Hartville, Ohio.
He is currently serving as CEO of the organization and enjoys working collaboratively with the team to give leadership to the organization. HRM Enterprises is the parent company of several well-established brands including, Hartville Hardware, Hartville Kitchen, Hartville Marketplace & Flea Market, Lehman’s, and a few other companies.
Gary resides in North Canton with his wife Charla and 4 children.
REMINDER! We have a NEW permanent location for our Friday luncheon meetings!
Hey, we're be back in Beautiful Downtown Canton, at the historic Christ Presbyterian Church at 530 Tuscarawas Street West. Their mobility-friendly parking lot is on the west side of the building and the entrance is the middle door on the parking lot side. Meeting room is at the top of the stairs and, there is an elevator. (Contact President Mark if you need help navigating to the meeting.) 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.
(Editor's note: In my humble opinion, the food the first couple of weeks has been delicious. If you haven't joined us yet, I encourage you to do so. And come hungry!)
President Mark has set up Zoom access for EVERY week through next June. The link stays the same, and for us to join the Zoom meeting, we will enter the passcode 6650.
Meeting ID: 836 4900 5179 Passcode: 6650 One tap mobile +16465588656,,83649005179#,,,,*6650# US (New York) +13017158592,,83649005179#,,,,*6650# 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: 836 4900 5179 Passcode: 6650 Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kgeHaSYrs
Two lunch meetings in the books and we had a nice showing for both, but we sure would like to see some of our Canton Rotary friends that we have lost touch with this past year. Pre-Covid we were averaging 55-60 members in attendance regularly. Currently we are hovering around 35. As we approach the end of August lets each reach out to those we haven’t seen and ask them to join us.
We are carefully balancing 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 by phone, email, or text and she will see to it that you are signed up for the lunch meeting.
I’m happy to say that we have forwarded to the board 2 new member requests for the month of August. Membership continues to be a priority this year. I am not only committed to keeping existing members by continuing the efforts of a great club, but I’m also committed to the idea that each one of us knows someone that we would love to work along side whether for a great cause or during a necessary fundraiser. Please put submitting one great member on your to-do list for this year.
As I have said before The Canton Rotary is where we give our passions a home!
At our meeting last week, President Mark welcomed 31 Canton Rotarians, all LIVE, as well as the following guests:
- Jennifer Anderson, District Executive Director of the Stark YMCA, guest of Jennie George
- Rev. Dave DeVries, Pastor of our host church, Christ Presbyterian Church, and guest of Jennie George
- Rich Micelli, pending new member
- Brent Watts, pending new member
Immediate Past President Drew Pelger filled in for Secretary Paula Mastroianni, and provided the following:
This day in history:
1866 – President Andrew Johnson formally declares US Civil War over
1896 – The dial telephone was patented.
1920 – The American Professional Football Association was formed with Jim Thorpe installed as president. Of course it later became the NFL.
1960 – USSR recovered 2 dogs, the first living organisms to return from space.
1965 – The Rolling Stones released their single "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". It was their first US number one hit. (Editor's note: RIP, Stones' drummer Charlie Watts, who passed this week).
1977 – NASA launched Voyager 2 Spacecraft toward Jupiter, Saturn Uranus and Neptune.
2018 – Pope Francis released a letter to all Catholics condemning the sexual abuse atrocities and clerical cover-ups.
2020 Kamala Harris accepted the nomination for the vice presidency
Fun Fact:
In 2015 thirty students at West Point Military Academy were injured in a massive pillow fight. Really???
Happy Bucks:
Happy Bucks were received from
President Mark:
happy to have Virginia Neutzling and Bill Maddux off of Zoom and back to LIVE meetings
happy to have taken his daughter down to University of Cincinnati (Editor's note: Go Bearcats!)
Brent Watts: took his son to the Pro Football HOF for the first time! '
Dave Beule: happy to be back at a LIVE meeting
Rick Taylor: asked Brent which Texas football team he rooted for (neither, Atlanta Falcons!)
Lynn Hamilton: presented a bad joke, which solicited 1uite a few moans (Editor's note: it was bad enough that, as a public service, we will not present it here!)
Tom Clevenger: asked that Lynn be barred from joke telling
Chuck Smith: grandson awarded a Scholar-Athlete Award from Hoover HS
Dan Matthews: reminisced about his family's connection to Christ Presbyterian Church and long time CPC pastor, George Parkinson
Lynn Hamilton: obviously trying to atone for his terrible joke, also indicated his family's long connection to Christ Presbyterian Church
Prior to the presentation of our speaker, Austin Miller from Kahiniwalla, President Mark introduced Rev. Dave DeVries, who welcomed the club to our new weekly home.
