Rotary Club of Lebanon OH

This is a summary of our regular Rotary meeting on February 4th over Zoom.

President Oda led the club in the 4-Way Test, and skipped the prayer and song.

Happy dollars – Maggie Hess, Amanda Miller, Steve Cramer, Marty Hubbell, Bob McGinty.

Adam Kwiecinski then introduced the speakers for today’s meeting:

Cliff Bailey, Director of the Hopewell district of the Boy Scouts of America

Matt Bruns, Countryside YMCA programming

Cliff Bailey

Showed a presentation with the BSA’s new message – Scouting Forward Together. Cliff talked about the Scouting At Home program to help develop activities during lockdown. Cliff then detailed some of the local programs the BSA was involved in, including Pack 618 providing meals for the needy. Cliff related that the BSA provided 4 weeks of summer camp with no Covid outbreaks. Cliff then closed by letting members know about the Good Scout Award event coming up in March.

Q: Adam asked: how is the Dan Beard Council broken up into districts?
A: 7 districts over Ohio and Kentucky

Q: Adam asked: how many packs in your district?
A: In Hopewell District, there are 30 packs and 20 troops (roughly 6,000 kids)

Q: Jack asked: how did you get interested in scouting and when did you start?
A: Recruited in 6th grade by friend, found structure and father figures in the Boy Scouts.

Q: Linda asked: how many kids are in scouts in Lebanon and how much does it cost each kid?
A: 4 troops and 3 packs, roughly 100-115 kids. Membership costs have gone up: $66 per year, $25 if the child is a new scout, and local council charges for insurance. It can cost close to $100 a year.

Q: Linda asked: what percentage need financial support?
A: Maybe about 10%

Gary says his troop has a uniform closet to help with that aspect, and they try to help in other ways financially.

Cliff talked about the fundraising the troops and packs have that helps as well.

Matt Bruns

Matt gave a quick bio: he moved here about 5 months ago; he was in the Air Force right from high school, then the Air National Guard, then Ohio State. After graduation, he went to work at the Crawford County Y, then the Bucyrus Y, then the Delaware County Y, then finally Countryside.

Matt said that the Gala has been moved to being a virtual event, on the Thursday before the Kentucky Derby. More details will follow.

Linda said she will ask the board about returning to in-person meetings at the Y, and what that might look like, with the thought to eventually move back to The Golden Lamb.

President Oda adjourned the meeting at 12:44 with the Rotary motto; our next regular meeting is Feb 18th, over Zoom.

The Lebanon Rotary club met over Zoom on 1/21/21: the meeting was called to order by President Oda at 12:00.

Linda led the club in the 4-way test, and then asked Chad share his screen to bring up our website. Linda wanted to show what Jeff Nelson has done to update; Jeff said he has added notes from meetings on the blog, added short videos, and added sponsors and links to organizations we have given to.

Matt Bruns updated the club in regards to the February 27 Y Gala – it has been cancelled, but they might do a virtual gala later. Linda reported that the Executive Board had decided to give a $1,500 contribution, separate from the gala, towards YMCA youth programs. Linda also said we will be giving out $6,000 in scholarships this year, and that we are able to give to Career Center students money they can use towards tools and equipment.

Linda asked if any members had Happy Dollars – Bill DeLord reported that he had contracted the virus, but he’s feeling okay despite having no sense of taste or smell. Linda talked about her 103-year old aunt.

Then President Oda introduced our guest speaker, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Pat DeWine

Justice DeWine said he was elected in 2016, and went through a PowerPoint presentation that addressed how people get to serve on the Ohio Supreme Court, what the Ohio Supreme Court means to the citizens, and how a typical case reaches the Ohio Supreme Court, using an actual case to illustrate.

There was a brief Q&A

Bill DeLord asked: What are the court costs once the case heads to Ohio Supreme Court?
Answer: Generally people pay their own costs.

Jack Hedges asked: Could you clarify staffing and duties?
Answer: The court handles a variety of different cases.

President Oda asked the club to repeat our Motto and adjourned the meeting at 1:00

Next meeting will be on Feb 4, 2021.

The Lebanon Rotary club met over Zoom on 1/7/21: the meeting was called to order by President Oda at 12:02.

We skipped the 4-Way Test, song, and Pledge of Allegiance, and went right to Happy Dollars.

Chris Hubbard, Mike Geygan, Rich Oeder, Rob Bedinghaus, Gary Kuntz, Linds McLaughlin, John Zimkus, and Maggie Hess all had things to contribute.

John Zimkus answered a question from Nelda Lane about the museum’s upcoming aviation exhibit, and then spoke briefly about the groundbreaking on Beedle’s Station.

Chad announced the results from the two recent electronic elections. The winners were: Vice-President – Dylan Posa, Treasurer – Jim Mulvaney, Secretary – Adam Kwiecinski

There were two at-large director positions open, with five candidates. Winners were: Stephen Johns and Rob Bedinghaus.

42 people voted in the election, and all candidates will assume their positions on July 1, 2021.

Chad then introduced today’s speaker, Ron Hollenbeck talking about the Malawi Life Pump Project.

Ron is a Rotarian living in Centerville, and has been in that club for about 10 years.

Ron spoke about the scope of a Global Grant to improve water quality in Malawi, using Life Pumps. There is a $310,000 budget, of which our club has already given $1,000. He described that the budget will be made up of Club Pledges, plus district 6670 and 6690 and RI Matches, led by Rotarian Dr. Beatrice Chisenga, a Malawi resident.

The project is anticipated to take 12 months; and Ron is waiting on Rotary International approval.

Ron talked more about Life Pumps; they bring water from depths of five hundred feet, and are hand-cranked; the Malawi Ministry of Water have now mandated the Life Pump must be used if appropriate. Ron talked more about the benefits and advantages of the Life Pump, and then showed a short video about Life Pumps; he noted that the one in the video has been working steadily for 8 years with no repairs.

Ron then showed photos of a trip to Haiti, describing the building of a Life Pump. He also showed a slide describing how a club can help with this project. He then finished his presentation and answered questions; Jim Perry asked how do they insure that the water is kept sanitary? Answer – this is just a reliable source of clean water, not a storage device.

Jim Perry asked how do they ensure pumps are operating? Answer – Rotarians are engaged, but the pump itself will send information through satellite and will trigger an alert to Design Outreach (the company that maintains the software).

With no more questions, President Oda reminded members that there is a Board meeting next Wednesday at 8AM, and January 21st is the next club meeting; today’s meeting was then adjourned at 12:46PM.