Rotary District 6630 Newsletter

A Monthly Publication for Rotary Leaders in Northeastern Ohio

March-April 2008 Edition
Bob Prevette, District Governor

A PDF version of this newsletter and attendance figures may also be downloaded below.

2007-08 District 6630: “Returning to Basics and Broadening our Rotary Horizons”

Our journey with you through this Rotary Shares year continues to be rewarding and extremely busy for us all. So much has been accomplished, yet there is so much more to complete from our Rotary Year goals and expectations. This is compounded by many unexpected priorities of various activities taking the time to assure that they are not passed over and acted upon as best as possible.

We have completed a second year of an outstanding assembly training program on April 5 at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center, in Aurora. Our presidents elect and their key club team members were in attendance . DGE Fran Bayless and District Trainer PDG Tim Wright Sr., with their facilitators and conveners, provided exceptional training programs that were well received by our attendees.

The District Grants Committee, chaired by Rick Pollak of the Cleveland Club, completed the approval process of 2007-2008 Rotary Shares year International District Designated Fund Grant Projects. These are:

Burton Middlefield – Patagonia	$7,100.
Kent – Zacamil Water Project	$6,360.
Barberton – Micro Loan Project Togo West Africa	$14,290.
Westlake – Bingerville Clinic	$3,500.
District 6630 Nigerian Medical Mission	$3,333.
Strongsville - Philippines School Computer Lab	$2,000.
Lakewood Rock River Cangucu	$2,137.
Polio Plus	$7,000.
World Peace Scholarship	$4,000.

There will be about $9,000 to be carried over for Rotary year 2008-2009. This will be added to the DDF available for allocation in 2008-2009.

The District Simplified Grants DSG (Local Community Projects) beyond covering 2006-07 Local Grants Provided Chesterland’s Women’s Safe House $1,500, Mentor Bone Marrow Project $1,500, and Hillcrest’s Special Olympics Bowling Project $1,250. There are open requests from Medina, Aurora, and Berea clubs being considered.

The total 2007-2008 DDF budget is based on the allocated return of our District’s RI Annual Fund contribution three years ago. It was $97,689, which also covered our $23,000 Ambassadorial Scholarship.

The Garfield Heights Club president reported on January 14, “It is with deep regret that I must inform you that our club has voted not to continue our existence. With the lack of community involvement and district support, we believe we have exhausted all avenues. Therefore, no SAR report will be processed for our club.”

On February 26, the Garfield Heights Club paid its January 2008 SAR for its eight members and has changed its meeting place to Independence, at McDonalds on Tuesdays at 7:15 a.m. They are also formally seeking a club name change.

A new club proposed for Independence has been on hold but will continue at a future time.

The Legislation & Bylaws Committee chaired by PDG Tim Wright Sr. has completed the district bylaws revisions. These bylaw revisions will be voted on by the clubs’ appointed representatives during our business meeting at the district conference on Friday, May 16, at 2:30 p.m. at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center.

Our Group Study Exchange team leader Dianne Dillion, of the Mentor Club, and John Ehrbar, Rhonda Crowder and Leah Konopka are now fully prepared and ready for their trip to Germany’s District 1800. The six member German GSE Team will arrive in our district on May 3 at 6:19 p.m. at Cleveland Airport.They return home Saturday, May 31, at 2:26 P.M.

A celebration of Bedford’s Garth MacAadoo’s 50 years of Rotary service was held April 8 during Bedford’s club meeting. Garth received a proclamation from the city of Bedford and tributes from his club and his family. He was presented a plaque from District 6630 and a Certificate of Service from Rotary International President Wilf Wilkinson.

On Saturday, April 13^,the Youth Four-Way Speech Contest finals chaired by Dan Davis and his committee were held at the Beachwood High School. About 30 Rotary clubs were represented. The Rotary clubs of Chagrin Highlands and Hillcrest provided support with registration, refreshments and lunch. There was a good representation of Rotarians, family and teachers.

The Toastmasters served with Rotarians as judges. The presentations were of the highest degree. Annick Dahl, of Aurora, was awarded first place for her presentation titled “Neverland.”

The 2007-2008 Nominating Committee Chair PDG Jay Dzurilla, of the Strongsville Club, following the selection meeting of April 3, immediately notified the district governor of the committee’s results as to the selection of Stew Buchanan, of the Rotary Club of Akron, to be the district governor nominee for 2010-2011. The district governor then informed the club presidents and AGs of the committee’s selection on April 3.

The selection also was announced by the district governor at the April 5 district assembly.

To date, I have received no challenge resolutions to the selection of Stew Buchanan as 2010-2011 governor of District 6630 by the nominating committee. Any club that desires to put forward a challenging candidate must do so via written resolution to me as District 6630 Governor no later than April 30, 2008. Please bear in mind that any challenging candidate must have been duly suggested to the nominating committee.

Our district conference, "Sharing Rotary Is Fun," is in its final planning stages. Registration is now in progress. You can register online through the district Web site and or by contacting District Secretary Stew Buchanan. Conference registration made before April 28 is at a 5 percent discount and deadline for registration is May 9. Golf registration must be made by April 25.

Our Rotary International convention, "See the Stars in LA," will be held June 15-18, in Las Angeles. It is expected that we will have about 10 clubs represented, with about 30 Rotarians, family and friends joining Caroline and I for an exceptional Rotary experience and fun.

Our District Awards Picnic for Rotarians and families is Saturday, June 21, at Hiram College. This is being co-chaired by Larry Corbus, of the Chesterland Club and AG Steve Zabor, of the Mantua Club. It will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Please save the date and plan to be with us. There will be various district and club awards given at that time.

We all wish to convey our best wishes to our districts Interact chair Dick Pitcher, of the Chagrin Valley Club, and his wife Sharon as they move forward from their recent middle-of-the-night complete loss of their home and belongings to fire. Fortunately they were both able to escape in the middle of the night without injury. The family of Rotary, with close coordination of Chagrin Valley President Bob Lee, supported by many of our Rotarians and clubs provided assistance and comfort for them, as they would have done for us.

We thank you all for your friendship and your support as we wind down our Rotary Shares year. We look forward to seeing you at the conference and awards picnic.

Sincerely,

Bob

World Community Service

By 2008-09 Chair Bob Johnson
Burton – Middlefield Club.

Just a reminder for all: Now is the time to start thinking and planning for your club’s international service project for next year. DGE Fran Bayless has made one of her goals of the Rotary year 2008-2009, the participation of all District 6630 clubs in some international project.

Please start thinking now about good international projects and/or strong partner relationships between clubs.

These partner relationships can make a large project much easier to do with a lot less financial strain on everyone who gets involved. Cluster club partnerships make a natural fit that AGs can coordinate into larger projects.

Contact me, Bob Johnson, at 440-834-8447, or goracerbob@aol.com, Grants Committee Chair Rick Pollak, at 330-650-9005, or grantmakingservices@gmail.com, Jim Eldridge, grants coordinator, at 440-564-9281, or jeldril786@aol.com and/or PDG Al Conners, foundation chair, at 330-995-6142, or alconners@altel.net for any assistance we can offer to meet this worthwhile goal for next Rotary year.

Let’s hit the ground running in 2008-2009.

District 6630 Use of District Designated Funds

By PDG Al Conners
Foundation Chair

During Rotary’s centennial year, 2004-2005, the clubs in District 6630 contributed $151,000 to the Rotary International Foundation’s Annual Fund. One half of those contributions flowed back to the District in 2007-2008 as DDF, District Designated Funds. These funds were enhanced by a rollover from 2006-2007 unexpended DDF. Expenditures are as follows:

Funding one Ambassadorial Scholarship	$26,000.
Funding for District Simplified Grants	$15,125.
Funds for Matching Grants	$28,223.
Contributions for Peace /Conflict Resolution Centers	$4,000.
Contributions for Polio Eradication	$12,000.
Joint DDF with Two other Ohio Districts & District in India to Equip hospital in Nigeria	$3,000.
Total	$88,348

The Polio eradication donation is intended to help Rotary “match” the $100 million contribution from the Gates Foundation.

The half of the $151,000 annual fund contributions for 2004-2005 retained at RI supports the Group Study Exchange Program, the Peace and Conflict Resolution Scholarships and other Foundation activities. In 2008-2009 Rotary Year the district will receive half of the funds contributed in 2005-06. This amount will be $80,000. This sum will be enhanced by some rollover from this year’s DDF.

It is obvious that the size of the DDF returned to the district is primarily determined by club/member contributions to the annual fund. It goes without saying that we need to meet this year’s annual fund goals established by the club presidents at $214,395. It is also apparent that we can support more matching grants submission requests from the clubs.

District Conference

Friday, May 16 to Sunday, May 18, 2008

Bertram Inn & Conference Center, Aurora

Final planning is underway for our district conference, “Sharing Rotary is Fun.”

One the planning committee are Conference Chair David Hansford of the Kent Club; Treasurer Bob Reschke of the Chagrin Valley Club; Advertising Chair Jim Sutphin of the Hudson Club and Corporate Sponsor Tom Brandt of the Port Summit Club.

Registration is by District Secretary Stew Buchanan of The Akron Club. Other committee members are John Zakariah of the Chesterland Club and Ing Kiland of the Hudson Club. The Golf Committee co-chairs are Jim Gorian and Joe Rusnak of the Hudson Club. PDG Al Conners is the tennis chair.

Just a reminder: Registration is now in process on the district Web site. Conference registration made before April 28 is at a 5 percent discount. Deadline for registration is May 9. Golf registration must be made by April 25. Anybody who wishes to play tennis should contact Al Conners.

Aurora Rotary President Betsy Tomasko has our community service project in place. We will be providing transportation to Aurora’s Sunny Lake Park Saturday afternoon for tree planting and cleanup activities. Please wear work clothes.

Our speakers are in place as follows:

PRESENTERS:	SUBJECT:
Gordon Geiger	Song Master
Dennis Boose	Mark Twain
PDG Dr. Phillip Ramsey And wife Ramsey of Huntsville, Ala.	RI Presidents Representative “Being A Rotarian” “Sharing Rotary” “The Rotary Foundation”
PDG Jim Frame	Gift of Life
PDG Joe Skoda	District Business Meeting
PDG Tim Wright Sr.	District Business Meeting
Caroline Prevette, Sandy Wright & Rebekah Wright-Kulis	Spouses Program
US Coast Guard Captain Al Folsom, Alexandria, Va.	Home Land Security
Dan Davis	Four Way Test Youth Speakers
DG 6380 Audrey Chevalier, Chatham, Ontario Canada	Jaipur Limb Camp & Barreilly, India Work in Leper Colony
Group Study Exchange Team (Six member team)	District 1800 Germany
Roger Cram	Peaceful Solutions to World Conflicts
Jerod Cherry	3 Super Bowl Rings
Emily J. Peters Galway, Ireland	Ambassadorial Scholar To
Emily Smith Senegal, Africa	Ambassadorial Scholar To
Aurora Rotary President Betsy Tomasko	Community Service Project
District 6630 Incoming Exchange Students	Youth Exchange Displays
PDG Dave Groner, Dowagic, MI	Rotary Experiences
Ann Lee Hussey, Berwick, ME	Chair RI Polio Survivors
Father Ralph Wiatrowski	Memorial Service
Rabbi Lloyd Goldman	Memorial Service

The full schedule of events is posted here.

Close coordination is required with the Clubs, re the Club Banner availability, Club Displays, and Coordination for the Sunday Morning Memorial service.

Traditional Cluster Foundation Raffle Baskets: Co Chairs AG Bill Gaydos & AG Stan Socha, with AG Bill Campbell & AG Dave Harper

$250 value from each cluster ($50.00 Per Club). These will be raffled off at the meal functions for The Annual Fund. WE all look forward to these unique valued items.

Club Banners Availability for Display & Club Displays: Co Chairs AG Jim Hackney & AG Steve Zabor with & AG John Reyes,& AG Art Bassa

Club Banners must be at The Bertram Tuesday May 13 For The Bertram hanging of such so the coordination to obtain such from the Clubs and delivery to the Bertram will be through the above committee. The Cub Banners will be hung and maintained in the Conference Dinning Area (#4 AB McKinley Ball Room ). They will be available for take away Sunday AM 5-18-08 after Brunch.

The club displays portraying club activity can be club formal displays or informal signs and pictures, handouts, etc. to be displayed on tables in the Garfield Meeting Room ( #9 A-B-C Garfield Meeting Room.). The displays need to be in place Thursday evening May 15 at 7:00 PM but no later than 10:00 AM Friday May 16.

Memorial Service: Co-chairs AG Julie West and AG Bob Reschke with AG Pat Armstrong

This will take place Sunday, May 18, at 8:30 to 9:30 AM (Garfield Meeting Room No. 8D) conducted by district co-chaplains Father Ralph Wiatrowski of the Cleveland Club and Rabbi Ralph Goldman of the Shaker Heights Club. Please provide Memorial Program information to AGs Julie West and Bob Reschke

Your support in and making these items happen will add so much favorable impact to the conference. Any concerns or questions please contact Conference Chair David Hanford and/or DG Bob.

Click to See Around the District in Pictures

Parma celebrates 50^th anniversary

Ron Bryski
President, Parma Rotary Club

On Saturday, February 23, the Rotary Club of Parma held its 50th anniversary celebration and reunion. It was a milestone year in our club's history. One hundred thirty people, including DG Bob Prevette and his wife Caroline, as well as other district representatives, joined us for a fun night of celebration, fellowship, great food and live music at St. Michael's Woodside Party Center.

Highlights of the evening included:

* The introduction of Christina Paschyn as our district's Ambassadorial Scholarship recipient, starting in September 2008. She will be sponsored by the Parma Club. This was the club's first ever Ambassadorial Scholar.

* The induction of the mayors of Parma, Parma Hts. and Seven Hills into the club as honorary Parma Rotarians.

* The recognition of Parma Rotarian Don Voigt for ongoing donations to the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. Donations total $11,500 to date and Don received Parma Rotary's first ever "Service Above Self" Award.

* Our Club awarded a Paul Harris Fellow in memory of Walter Kanieski, recently deceased 49-year perfect attendance, Parma Rotarian and Parma Rotary founding father. This was given to the Kanieski family members, some who came in from Virginia, Texas and Washington. Walter's son, John, and grandson Chris/Sonny, are members of the Medina Rotary Club and are also Paul Harris Fellows.

* Lastly, a major Parma Rotary Club announcement was made. A first-time ever endowment fund for our club was created when six members of the Kanieski family donated $25,000 to establish the Kanieski Family Endowment Fund. The fund will be used to establish the annual Parma Rotary's "Walter & Mildred Kanieski Memorial" Scholarship for $1,200 to be given to a graduating senior from one of the five Parma area high schools. The scholarship will be based primarily on financial need and community service activities.

Governor Bob presented Rotary International President Wilf Wilkinson’s Certificate of the Clubs 50 years of operation.

Parma Rotarians, former Parma Rotarians, wives of deceased Parma Rotarians, district representatives and community dignitaries and leaders all combined to make this a truly memorable evening.

Our club traditions of service, charitable donations and countless goodwill projects were furthered acknowledged in January 2008 when the Parma Rotary Club was recognized as the Parma, Parma Hts. and Seven Hills communities' "Outstanding Organization" and became the 2008 PRIDE Award recipient for an ongoing active role in the civic affairs of the Parma Area Chamber of Commerce serving area.

West Geauga Interact Club

Chesterland’s Past President Jim Bohinc

The West Geauga Interact club, working with the Geauga Park district installed 38 new nesting boxes at Orchard Hills Park on Saturday, April 5. The "Bluebird recovery trail" a community service project, is both an environmental and educational opportunity for WG students.

The project is part of a continued effort to help restore the Eastern Bluebird populations in Ohio. This recovery trail is a way for the West G students to give back to the community and create a learning opportunity for future students who have a interest in zoology or environmental careers to work with the park naturalist each year to monitor and band the bluebirds as part of a official scientific study. Tammy Gingrich, a naturalist and expert from the Geauga County Park Board guided the students.

Six teams of volunteers installed the nesting boxes in strategic locations among the 120-acre park. There are two types of nesting boxes paired at each location - a standard style and a "Peterson style."

The boxes were custom built by "For The Birds in Chardon" to specifications requested by Tammy. A long-term multi-year research project to study bluebird habitats is planned as part of the monitoring of the nesting boxes. Each box will be monitored by a team of volunteers weekly for about 10 months per year.

The West Geauga Interact club sold sponsorships for each nesting box. Each nesting box sponsor will be notified with a congratulatory birth announcement when the bluebirds have their first successful hatches. Each brood of hatchlings will be banded and reported to the national Audubon society. Tammy is one of a few nationally recognized banding experts The banding and monitoring effort will allow interested West Geauga students to do real field work in ornithology and research.

The West Geauga Interact club is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Chesterland. Jim Bohinc is the Rotary advisor and Jason Witherite, a teacher at West Geauga High School, is the teacher advisor. West Geauga Interact club is three years old and is the largest Interact club in Ohio.

The WG Interact Club has done amazing projects in their short existence. The club sponsored a "teen room" at Womensafe's new Green House women’s shelter. With the help of four Geauga Interact clubs they committed to donate $10,000 to WomenSafe Geauga for sponsorship of the room permanently named the "Interact" room.

They host a fashion show each year, raising thousands of dollars in donations for WomenSafe, Muscular Dystrophy and this year, for the American Cancer Society.

Last year the West Geauga Interact students donated more than 500 service hours to community projects and events. They sponsored, or were involved, in more than 35 events during the school year.

Forty-four days and counting

By Rhonda Crowder
RI District 6630 GSE Team Member

Guten Tag Bob,

Since I am the journalist on the 2008 GSE team that will be representing RI District 6630 in Germany, it’s only natural that I report on our preparation status.

First of all, we are extremely excited about this trip.

As our team leader, Dianne Dillon, of the Rotary Club of Mentor, often says, “We are four strong,” while team members John Ehrbar, Leah Konopka and I agree.

On March 15, at 9 a.m., 44 days before we are set to depart, we met at Arabica’s Coffeehouse in downtown Willoughby to discuss the presentations we’ll be giving to German Rotary clubs during our tour through RI District 1800.

At that point, we had met about seven times with the sessions typically lasting about two hours each. And, because the presentations are a large part of the exchange, it was important that we had the opportunity to ensure all bases were covered.

For portions of our presentations, we had to research and provide information about various aspects of Northeast Ohio, such as education, arts and culture, sports and recreation, business and media. Additionally, we are learning about the same characteristics in RI District 1800 and Germany as a whole.

Now, although we are very close to leaving, preparation for the GSE trip began almost immediately after the team members were notified that they had been selected with the first couple of meetings consisting of receiving and completing paperwork and documentation including medical clearances and employer approval.

District Gov. Bob Prevette and his wife Caroline met with us early on to provide some history and understanding of Rotary, what it means to be a Rotarian and useful information about Germany as well as RI District 1800.

During the earlier meetings, we accepted our roles and responsibilities by dividing the tasks that need to be complete prior to our departure.

Such tasks include securing gifts for host families and people we’ll meet on the exchange, researching flights and other miscellaneous, yet necessary duties. So far, a variety of local organizations have been gracious enough to provide signature items such as pens and t-shirts.

Additionally, we’ve collectively decided upon team jackets and other articles of clothing to maintain a consistent appearance while on the exchange, in addition to taking team photos for business cards. We’ve also attempted to learn as many German words as we could since we’ve first assembled.

As we move closer to April 25 we still have more work to do.

On March 21, we’ll meet with past GSE teams for the opportunity to hear about experiences and ask questions. At our March 27 meeting, a language coach assisted us with pronunciations of words and key phrases. And, on April 3, we gave our presentations at the Mentor Club. We also made an appearance at the district conference on April 5.

Individually, team members are visiting their respective sponsoring clubs to introduce themselves and collect flags for exchange, in addition to strongly focusing on the language during these final days. But, I think we all have at least one mastered … Danke!

Coming Up...

Activity	Location	Date
District Conference “Sharing Rotary is Fun”	The Bertram Inn & Conference Center, Aurora	May 16-18, 2008
Our District Awards Picnic for Rotarians and families	Hiram College	June 21, 2008 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Rotary International Convention “See the Stars”	Los Angeles, CA	June 15-18, 2008