Photo: Tracey Lohman with her father DG Larry Lohman
Spring is just around the corner. The snow is melting, the days are getting longer, and we are starting to warm up. The next thing we will see are spring flowers popping up and trees starting to green.
As we are enjoying the changes in the seasons and making our plans for spring and summer, let us do the same for our clubs. This is the time to look around your communities and plan service projects. This could be as simple as helping seniors and those with special needs with yard cleanups after this long winter. Maybe you could plan a trash cleanup day which could take place at a local park, community center, roadside, etc. Just maybe you want to do something to impact a segment of your community that is in need. Reach out to your local school system, family and community service organization, groups that work with individuals with disabilities, and other non-profit organizations for Ideas. If you have an Interact or Rotaract club close to you, reach out to them as well. They will most likely wish to participate, and maybe have some ideas for future service projects. This is also great way to involve our youth and young professionals.
Spring is a very exciting time for Rotary. Not only are we continuing to serve, we are also preparing our leaders and clubs for the new year as we come together at our District Conference of Clubs and our Rotary International Convention.
The most comprehensive training that goes on throughout the year is that of the Presidents Elect (PE). The responsibility of training the PEs is that of the District Governor Elect, who this year is David Jones. David works with our LEAD (Leadership Education & Development) Committee, led by Ryan Knotts, to develop the educational format and construct the training sessions. Our education and leadership initiatives do not stop with the PEs. Ryan and the LEAD Committee also help in the development of sessions for the District Leadership Assembly, held at the District Conference of Clubs, and special trainings such as the Youth Protection Training. Another very important training that is developed and hosted by the District Grants Committee is the Grants Management Seminars (GMS). At least two members of your club need to attend the GMS to be eligible for a District Grant in the coming Rotary year. There also are a couple other eligibility requirements for grants that will be discussed at these sessions.
This year we will be back in-person for our District’s Conference of Clubs. The District 6630 Conference of Clubs will be April 22-23 at the Sheraton Suites Akron-Cuyahoga Falls. Our conference will start with the honoring of those Rotarians that we have lost through the past year. The Annual Meeting of clubs will follow, and is very important to have at least one representative form your club in attendance as we will have several Items to vote on. If you have not thought of where your club meeting will be held the week of the Conference, why not have it at the Conference on Friday, April 22? Following the lunch, we will offer our first two sessions of our District Leadership Assembly – something you will not want to miss. We will wrap up the first day with dinner that will feature keynote speaker Jim Mulholland from Companion Community Development Alternatives (CoCoDA). Wait until you see how much outreach this organization has in Central America, Simply AMAZING. Now that I have you on the edge of your seat, I am going to do like any great TV show and leave you with a cliff hanger. Until next month!
Have you heard that the Rotary International Convention is here in the States this year? This year the Convention is being held in Houston, Texas June 4-8. It is not too late to get registered. Matter of fact, Rotary International has a special rate for registration going on right now, but you need to act fast as it will expire on February 28. See all the details below in this newsletter.
As you can see Spring is almost here and it is bringing with it opportunities for service, leadership, education, fellowship, travel, and CLIFF HANGERS. Tune in next month at the Same Rotary Time, Same Rotary Station.
Yours in Rotary Service,
Larry Lohman
2021-2022 Rotary International District 6630 Governor Home Club: Rotary Club of Kent, OH USA
If your Club subscribes to ClubRunner create an event within ClubRunner and mark the event to be shown on the District website. Your events will then appear within the Club Calendar on both, the District Bulletin and District home page.
I am pleased to share the recent announcement by RI of a special registration rate of $495.00 running through February 28 for Houston 2022.
For those that have already registered, Thank You! For those that may have missed the December deadline, now is a great opportunity to save.
Please allow me to remind you why Houston 2022 must be strongly considered:
PROXIMITY— The best, cheapest, closest convention to attend. The next RI Convention to be hosted in the United States will be Honolulu in 2027. Cheap because of proximity. Basically, Houston is in our back yard.
2. OPPORTUNITY— Learn the magnitude of Rotary’s reach throughout the 220 countries and territories Rotary touches. Learn what Rotary is doing around the world as you visit booths in the House of Friendship, attend daily presentations and develop new friendships with those in attendance.
3. ADVANTAGES—Staying at Rotary suggested hotels allows for the Rotary Free Shuttle and convenience. Posted in the lobby of these hotels is the schedule of the pick-up and return times to the convention center or convention events. You never have to get into a car.
4. ADDED BONUSES— The daily presentations are only one part of the convention. There is a wide variety of Rotary sponsored events happening all around the city. Visit and have dinner at NASA, attend a professional soccer or rugby game, visit museums, enjoy an evening of dining and magic with friends, the list goes on.
5. INSPIRATION— The Convention will expand your Rotary knowledge, but even better, it will inspire you. You will no doubt return to your club with a renewed enthusiasm and great ideas for fellowship and projects.
Lastly please take note of the following important deadlines:
28 February 2022 Last day for Special offer.
31 March 2022: Last day for preregistration discount
As you know, the best way to learn the process and take advantage of Rotary Matching Grants, is to attend in person, one of the three Grant Management Seminars (GMS) shown below.
We understand that some people will find themselves out of town or otherwise unable to attend a GMS in person.
Some are still uncomfortable of in person meetings due to the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic.
If this is you but you still want to attend, register for the Saturday, March 5th 9:30am GMS. A Zoom link will be sent out the day before the event.
CLICK ON THE DATE YOU WANT TO ATTEND AND REGISTER NOW!
Take action to create positive change locally and globally
Using data to increase our impact
Samson Tesfaye Woldetensaie and his fellow members of the Rotary Club of Addis Ababa Central-Mella, Ethiopia, used data that they gathered through a community assessment to help identify local water needs, determine the best way to address them, and make a bigger impact. “To collect data, first we observe,” he notes. After that, he says, “we do selective interviews from different perspectives.” Another important step is assessing the project after it is complete by observing and talking to people again. Learn more about how he and other members were able to use data to increase their impact.
GIVING UPDATES
Leaders in giving: The Paul Harris Society
Donations from Paul Harris Society members made up nearly 18% of all contributions to the Annual Fund last year. The society is a network of dedicated Rotary supporters who have expressed their intent to give at least $1,000 each year to the Annual Fund, PolioPlus, or approved Rotary Foundation grants. Subscribe to the quarterly Paul Harris Society Resource to learn more about these leaders in giving.
Celebrating Paul Harris
Rotary founder Paul Harris was born in Racine, Wisconsin, USA, on 19 April 1868. His legacy of creating opportunities for fellowship and for community connections endures to this day. Join us in celebrating the anniversary of his birth by learning about his legacy or by making a special gift to The Rotary Foundation.
The Red Cross is experiencing a national blood crisis and is in desperate need of blood and platelet donors. In recent weeks, American Red Cross has had less than a 1-day supply of critical blood types. So far in 2022, more than 20K blood & platelet donations were forced to cancel due to weather and/or covid complications. Please join the effort to rebuild the blood supply, which sits at a 10-year low.
The annual 4-Way Test Speech Contest is a wonderful opportunity to engage with our young people around Rotary’s core values of the 4-Way Test. The speeches are always interesting and thought provoking.
This year’s District Speech contest will be held at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Kent on Saturday, April 9. The planning committee is hard at work, but they need your help.
Judges and timers are needed to make the contest a success. If you can help on contest day and can spare about an hour for online training a few days before the contest, please reach out to Head Judge Rachel Kerns at rkerns@habitatofportage.org.
All information is posted on our District website page - CLICK HERE for all the details and forms!
As your Youth Protection Committee works to implement the District’s Youth Protection Policy(click here to view) with you, a few items have come to our attention. We thought we might forward suggestions on some of these points.
Second, your Youth Protection Committee has found that many Interact Advisors in the various schools where the clubs are located are an excellent resource and are very well versed in various safety protocols. To the extent you are not already doing so, we recommend that you closely coordinate with these school advisors.
Also, of course, you can feel free to contact me with any questions you may have, as well as the other members on the Youth Protection Committee. The Committee members are all listed on the District website and in the District Directory. If you wish to have a presentation made for your Club, please contact me.
As always, we thank you for your help and your attention. The Committee needs your continuing assistance to implement this program.
Sincerely yours,
Yours in Rotary Service -
John L. Reyes Chair RI District 6630 Youth Protection (2020-2022) Past RI District 6630 Governor (2019-2020) Past Chair RI District 6630 Nominating Committee (2020-2021) Past President, Rotary Club of Akron, OH USA Phone: (330) 258-6497 Email: johnreyes131@icloud.com
We’re introducing new templates to make it easier for you to create official club logos and to customize ads, social media graphics, and brochures. You’ll find these templates in the Brand Center after 15 February 2022.
With these updated templates, you can:
Select Rotary images to use — or upload your own
Easily crop photos and images
Quickly add text and headlines
Choose options for printing on your own or by a professional
Important notes
When you use the new templates to create logos and promotional materials, you’ll be prompted to download your finished product. The materials you create won’t be saved in the Brand Center.
And if you’ve recently created materials using current templates and saved them in the Brand Center, be sure to download your work before 15 February 2022. The current templates will no longer be available after that date.
Help strengthen Rotary’s brand
Update your websites and social media accounts using the Brand Center’s promotional resources — photos, videos, templates, and more — to show your community that Rotary members are people of action.
Go to the new Our brand tab to learn how to use Rotary’s logos, colors, and fonts to create flyers, brochures, presentations, and other materials that look and sound unmistakably like Rotary. In the Help section, you’ll find answers to frequently asked questions about the elements of our brand, as well as ways to contact us.
By using a consistent look and tone when you promote your club’s good work, you will increase people’s recognition of Rotary. Our Brand Center gives you the tools to do this.
Did you know that Rotary Club Officers can be synced to RI in your ClubRunner platform? How about our new member transfer feature? Below, we'll summarize just a few updates you may have missed!
Rotary Club Officers Supported with RI Integration We're happy to share further improvements to the RI sync feature with the support for integrating two more executive positions with Rotary International:
Club Service Projects Chair
Club Public Image Chair
When managing your club executives, you can simply select these two positions from the Club Executive and Leaders list and assign members to the position. Based on your RI Integration settings, these details will automatically sync with RI. If you do not see these positions in the Club and Executive Leader list, contact your district administrator, Cheryl Warren. Once members have been assigned, you can track the sync using the RI Compare and Sync feature. Learn More
Member Transfer Feature For Rotary clubs that have the RI Integration service enabled, did you know that you can search to find and or confirm a member's Rotary details before adding them into ClubRunner, making it easier to add members that were part of other clubs. Learn More
New Member and Admin Dashboards for Districts and Zones We started with the dashboards for clubs and are happy to share that we’ve now updated the dashboards for Districts and Zones! A fresh new approach to your admin page based on access roles, you now will be able to quickly navigate and view the features relevant to your permission settings. Not only is it easier to navigate but accessing help resources is also just a click away! Have you checked out the new dashboards yet? Learn More
Missed our updates or looking for more information on how to navigate through these new features? Don’t forget about our training webinars! We host live training webinars on a weekly basis covering everything there is to know. Check out our schedule!
CHAGRIN VALLEY HIGHLANDS ROTARY CLUB SPORTS CHALLENGE
The Chagrin Highlands Rotary Club Sports Challenge was able to resume in October 2021. Many students as well as Rotarians had not seen each other since the pandemic began. This was a great way to reunite and regenerate after this long time of separation. The Sports Challenge consisted of Rotarians having a day of fun indoor sports games with developmentally disabled adults at the New Avenues to Independence home in East Cleveland.
They played basketball, ping pong, corn hole and many more activities. After a playing games, doing arts, crafts and puzzles they were given a lunch also provided by the Chagrin Highlands Rotary. This annual event has been championed by Rotarian Greg West for many years. This year it especially brought joy to all involved. This was a great project that took one Saturday afternoon.
BW Rotaractors threw a Snow Ball for about 50 seniors at Generations Senior Living Berea on Saturday, Jan. 29. They decorated the dining room with paper snowflakes and set up a photo booth. The music play lists included tunes from the 1950s and ‘60s. The students danced with the seniors – wheelchairs being no obstacle. Look for a detailed story on Cleveland.com.
Rotaractor Grant Cordle, club service chair,
visits with his "bingo buddy" Rhonda Hovanek.
Rotaractor Alaina Hayes photographs Jim Neuzil and a Generations aide.
Jake Dunstan gets a dance lesson from Flo Ebel.
Rotaractors were helped out by members of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity. Great job, guys!
Jadyn Mobley, left, and Lizzie Bryson, right, get residents in the dancing mood.
Rotaractors prepare to serve refreshments, provided by Generations Senior Living.
Hundreds of Interact clubs around the world shared their service-learning journey through videos, photos, and essays in the 2021 Interact Awards.
Congratulations to the following clubs on their awards. "Best Video" - Interact Club of Valmiki Shiksha Sadan, Nepal "Best Photo" - Interact Club of Santa Rosa Science and Technology High School, Philippines "Best Essay" - Interact Club of North Balwyn High School, Australia
This 7-13 March the Rotary community join together to celebrate the accomplishments of our Rotaract clubs and Rotaractors. Join the Facebook Event for ideas on how to celebrate!
Join Rotaract leaders from around the world, increase your Rotaract knowledge, and gain valuable professional skills at the 2022 Rotaract Preconvention, 3-4 June in Houston, TX, USA.
Rotary Peace Fellowship application open now
Rotary’s fully-funded Peace Fellowships provides peace and development leaders with the knowledge, skills, and global networks needed to be more effective peacebuilders. Application deadline 15 May.
Program and Online Offerings Survey comingin March
Asmembers, Rotarians andRotaractorscan engage in avariety of programsthatenhance themembership experience. To learn what you like — and don’t like — anddiscover how our programs can be improved, Rotary will send a survey to a sample of our members in March.If you receive a link to thesurvey, please take a few minutes toshare your thoughts with us.
Test your Rotary logo knowledge
Find out how your club logo should look, how to use it properly, and why it matters in our new video, “One Voice, Every Club.”
44th Annual Thesmacher High School Recognition Day
and New Generations Conference
March 3, 2022
at Windows on the River.
This event honors the top 5 seniors from each of the 32 High Schools within the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (160 students).
The event includes a Career Fair, a motivational speaker, and the New Generations Conference. During the conference, the students and Rotarians are broken into small groups. Students share with the facilitating adults all of the important issues and complications affecting teens today. They brainstorm ideas of how they might be addressed.
The students’ ideas are inspiring, thoughtful, creative and cover a broad spectrum which goes beyond their academic experience.
Topics for discussion include but not be limited to:
Education
Family
Health
Peer pressure
Empowerment of young people
Self esteem
Employment
Future Trends
Please help us honor these young students and help them gain an appreciation of good citizenship and responsibility for the future. If you are interested in attending, please contact: rotarycle@gmail.com.
The event schedule is:
7:30 am – 9:00 am – Career Fair and Continental Breakfast
9:00 am – 9:50 am – Welcome remarks & Motivational Speaker
10:00 am – 11:45 am – New Generations Conference – Student/Community and Business Leader/Rotarian breakout sessions
The Mentor Club does woodworking with the Broadmoor School (developmentally disabled students) each month. We paused during the depths of COVID and in January this year.
Our facebook post text: "We were back to woodworking at the Broadmoor School today.
Good turnout of helpers - as always our fearless leader Bill Pickett, stalwart woodworker Fred Lariccia, the always creative artist Karen Wells Bowersox, Don Branford, Dale Smith and Deepwood volunteer Tom Hunter.
Fun was had by all! Bill shared that the club has been doing this since the early 1980's!"
The IFSR, International Fellowship of Scouting Rotarians, is a Rotary Fellowship promoting service to Youth through Scouting and Guiding. As IFSR webmaster, I search for reports of Rotary-Scout interaction and send an email of commendation to the Rotary Club involved. Your publicizing your club’s relationship with Scouting has served as an example for other Rotary clubs looking for ways to promote the Scouting movement.
We know about you, you should know about us. IFSR is composed of over a thousand Rotarians in 45 countries that work to promote Scouting and Guiding through their membership in Rotary. We have a website: ScoutingRotarians.org and a Facebook page.
IFSR Certificates and Awards for your club to present
On our website, we have certificates the Rotary Clubs can award Scouts and Guides and an award that Rotary Clubs can award a Scout or Guide unit that has performed community service. The IFSR Community Service Award may be awarded by any Rotary Club to a Scout or Guide unit of their choice they wish to recognize for performing community service. The award may be given annually to any Scout or Guide unit by any Rotary Club. Recipients are selected by the Rotary Club.
This is not a Scouting award nor a Rotary award, but an IFSR award and is intended to permit Rotary Clubs to recognize Community Service performed by local Scout and/or Guide units.
To help Rotary Clubs create and print the award locally, this website has a fillable PDF version of the certificate which is easy to fill out:
2) Enter the name of the Scout or Guide unit (such as, Troop 101, Metropolis)
3) Enter the name of the Rotary Club (such as Metropolis Rotary Club)
4) Enter the date of the Award presentation
5) Then print the award or save and print at a print center.
Please notify the IFSR webmaster [webmaster@scoutingrotarians.org] of the Scout or Guide Unit Name, Rotary Club Name and Date and a record of the award will be posted on the IFSR Awards webpage.
Steve Henning
IFSR Webmaster
"Committed to making a difference in the lives of children in our community and beyond
DUSTIN HAFFNER OF MEDINA HIGH SCHOOL RECEIVES ROTARY YOUTH EXCHANGE SCHOLARSHIP
Medina Sunrise Rotary gave its heartfelt congratulations to Dustin Haffner, a Senior at Medina High School, our new Rotary Youth Exchange Student, as he received a scholarship certificate for his study year abroad -- 2022 to 2023.
Dustin was presented his certificate from Jim Lechko, Rotary District Foundation Chair, who proudly stated that the Rotary Youth Exchange Scholarship Program has been a major benefactor of the Rotary Foundation's $4 Billion Dollar donations to sustainable individuals and organizations who do good in the world.
Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) is a premier international student exchange scholarship program for students in secondary school. This scholarship value currently exceeds $35,000 per student.
Since 1929, Rotary International has sent highly qualified young people around the globe to experience new cultures, instill service above self, develop leadership, promote international understanding and world peace, and become youth ambassadors of their local communities. Currently, about 9,000 students are sponsored by Rotary clubs every year. Rotary is a fully accredited member of CSIET - Council of Standards for International Student Exchange: http://www.csiet.org.
YOUTH SERVICE AWARD PRESENTED TO MEDINA SUNRISE ROTARY
Medina Sunrise Rotary Club has been granted the IFSR (International Fellowship of Scouting Rotarians) Youth Service Award for service exemplary of Rotary International's commitment in youth throughout the world through cooperation between Rotary International and Scouting.
In this prestigious award, the IFSR recognized the close community partnership between Jacob Seabaugh, a Scout Leader of Troop #507 and Medina Sunrise Rotary in the planning, engineering and completion of a wheelchair accessible ramp and deck for a Medina County resident with ALS. Jacob's successful Eagle Scout project added a second escape route if some house emergency were to happen and allowed the resident to spend the remaining few years with family outside, enjoying life.
The IFSR, International Fellowship of Scouting Rotarians, is a Rotary Fellowship promoting service to Youth through Scouting and Guiding and IFSR is composed of over a thousand Rotarians in 45 countries that work to promote building stronger and more unified communities through Scouting and Guiding through their membership in Rotary.
FEEDING MEDINA COUNTY'S FEBRUARY FREE FOOD DISTRIBUTION
Katy Fuerst warmly welcomed volunteers to a rainy winter morning at the Medina County Fairgrounds for Feeding Medina County's February Free Food Distribution.
"I thank Medina's Ohio Army National Guard and each and every one of you - our loyal Volunteers. With your help, we work with 24 local food pantries and 4 free food distribution centers across Medina County, delivering approximately half a million pounds of food every year that feeds 7% of Medina County's population."
You're Invited!
Feeding Medina County is thrilled to announce that we will hold a silver anniversary gala, Our Bountiful Table: Ten Years of Feeding Medina County Together, on Saturday, March 12, 2022, at the Buffalo Creek Retreat in Seville.
This event will celebrate the work that we have done together over the past decade to feed every child, senior, and family who needs us. We were able to raise $135,000 at our 2020 Gala, and our goal for 2022 is to reach $150,000 so we can continue to provide fresh, nutritious foods for the growing number of families and individuals that need our assistance.
On 2/22/22 the Rotary Club of Cuyahoga Falls was pleased to host Past District Governor John (Jack) Young as guest speaker. Jack spoke to the club about ShelterBox, where he serves on the Board of Directors. Club members got to learn about the amazing work Rotary and ShelterBox have done and continue to do sending shelter boxes and shelter kits to disaster areas providing immediate relief with supplies including: tented shelter, blankets and groundsheets, solar lights, cooking utensils, water purification equipment, a tool kit, mosquito nets, and children’s activity packs.
Jack also shared about the “Children of the Dump”, a community in Nicaragua where many families live off a garbage dump barely getting by. The club got to hear about the shoebox project, and the thousands of boxes of supplies given to needy children each year. District 6630 has sent over $500,000 of medical supplies, children’s shoe boxes, and emergency vehicles to Nicaragua.
The Rotary Club of Cuyahoga Falls meets each Tuesday at Noon at the Ohio Brewing Company on Front Street in Cuyahoga Falls.
Most of the people ask me what is the purpose of an ICC? I would answer that first is the friendship you are going to develop between the members of an ICC. When Rotarians work together on a project, they become very good friends. In our today world where it is so difficult and seems impossible to maintain peace, it is very important to learn from each other. Thanks to those friendships between our two different countries, we become “ambassadors for peace”. Learning another culture leads to better understanding, opens diplomacy and opens door for durable peace.
Intercountry Committees are created at Rotary district level to embrace more clubs and more Rotarians participation. ICCs are all about exchanges, new ideas, projects, expertise, youth exchange. Rotaract can play a big role in ICC, that’s why we want to encourage you to include the Rotaractors in your ICC.
The second point is the importance of ICC to facilitate international projects and Global Grants. ICC is a large network that you can use to get more money for Global Grants. The network can be use to find the right club partner for your project and it functions so well that it starts working even before the creation of a new Intercountry Committee (example between the country of Colombia and European ICCs from Spain and France).
Friends, I believe that ICC is becoming more and more important and indispensable in our world today. They multiply and keep alive the Rotary International relationships. Let’s continue creating and reviving the Intercountry Committees together.
2. Remember to include your name, the club name, and send pictures and flyers as attachments. Include the names of those in the photos too!
3. Be certain that you have permission to use the photos, and for anyone who is under the age of 18, please confirm that you have a parent/guardian release on file.
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will start with the honoring of those Rotarians that we have lost through the past year. The Annual Meeting of clubs will follow, and is very important to have at least one representative form your club in attendance as we will have several Items to vote on. If you have not thought of where your club meeting will be held the week of the Conference, why not have it at the Conference on Friday, April 22? Following the lunch, we will offer our first two sessions of our District Leadership Assembly – something you will not want to miss. We will wrap up the first day with dinner that will feature keynote speaker Jim Mulholland from Companion Community Development Alternatives (CoCoDA). Wait until you see how much outreach this organization has in Central America, Simply AMAZING. Now that I have you on the edge of your seat, I am going to do like any great TV show and leave you with a cliff hanger. Until next month!
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Jim Lechko
John L. Reyes
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Submitted by Claudine Schooley
