Getting started. Carol Dombrose gave the Invocation, and President Jerry Balint led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, to begin the August 13 meeting.

Thank you Walmart. Jennifer McCoy, manager of the Strongsville Walmart, presented the club with a check for $1,000 to sponsor the 20th annual Chili Open Golf Classic, the club's signature fundraising event. Once again, B'laster Chemical will be the title sponsor of the event, with a contribution of $16,000.

(Photo: Liver recipient Bob Trask. By John Turnbull)
Guests. Guests included Rev. James Hudson, a Philadelphia Rotarian who was in town to visit his 91-year-old mother in law. Don Voigt and Don Fernald also were in attendance.

Savor the Flavor. The Taste of Strongsville event has drawn 20 restaurants, reported Bart James, who is coordinating the new fundraiser. The event will feature food sampling from some of the best restaurants from Strongsville and surrounding areas. Tickets for the event, which will be held on Sunday, October 10, 2010, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., at the Strongsville Holiday Inn, will go on sale next Friday, August 20. Individual tickets cost $35 each, or buy a table of 10 for $300. That's $30 each for the divisionally impared. The goal is to sell 500 tickets.

Membership. Ken Taylor has organized a committee to provide better mentoring services to new members. Contact the committee for guidance on which members you should avoid.

Clothing drive. Tom Snow says to start bringing in clothes next week for the club's annual clothing drive for the needy. If you have a large load, you can deliver them to Strongsville Mimi Storage. Say hey to Sandy Croft and her son Matt when you go there. This year, Dennis Drellishak is the co-chair of the drive. The annual folding will take place on October 16.

School supplies. Brenda Jumpa says we need volunteers to deliver school supplies to schools in the city on August 23. A sign-up sheet will go around at next week's meeting, and it might make it to your table, so if you can help, sign up. Each year our club donates school supplies that each school building can distribute at their discretion to kids that need them. You can either buy supplies for the drive, or you can donate money, which will be used to buy supplies. Supplies can be brought to next week's meeting, or take them to Best Buy, which is partnering with us on this effort.

Here are some ideas of what is needed: #2 pencils /  / Blue ink pens /  / Colored folders with pockets (no prongs inside) /  / Colored markers /  / Colored pencils /  / Crayola crayons, 64 count or smaller /  / Dry erase markers /  / Elmer's glue /  / Erasers (pencil-top or square) /  / Glue sticks /  / Hand sanitizers /  / Highlighters /  / Index cards /  / Large boxes of tissues /  / Notebook paper (both regular and college lines) /  / Regular size spiral notebooks (various colors) /  / Scissors (regular and blunt) /  / Sharpie markers /  / Thick and thin colored markers

Bienvenido a Strongsville. Brenda Amores Daiana Castelan, our exchange student from Mexico, will arrive next week. Lena Knight is heading up a collection of welcome gifts, like t-shirts, movie tickets, time shares and Chevy Suburbans. Bring your donations next week or they can be delivered to Lena Knight at the Mid-Point campus on Pearl Road, just south of Boston Road, in Brunswick.

Golf outing. Bill "Route 66" Schaffran announced that there are only 11 tickets left for the 33rd annual Strongsville Rotary Golf Outing, which will be held Thursday, August 26, at Shale Creek Golf Club, in Medina. Golfers, sponsors and door prizes are needed. The proceeds from the event benefit the Strongsville Rotary Foundation.

For $85, you get 18 holes of golf (four-person scramble - skins game), cart, lunch, deluxe steak dinner, cash skill prizes and beverages. Hole sponsorships cost $100. So far, 50 sponsors have committee. The goal is 100. Sponsors get their name on a sign on one of the holes.

Contact the following for more information:
Bill Schaffran, 440.666.0216 or Dave Kolick, 440.238.3991 for general information.
Rick Voigt for door prize information.

Make checks payable to Strongsville Rotary Foundation and send them to
Tony Vehar
c/o Strongsville Rotary Foundation
PO Box 360401
Strongsville, OH 44136

Shale Creek is located at 5420 Wolfe Road, Medina, OH 44256. Phone: 330.723.8774.
Registration started at 11:00 a.m. and the shotgun start is at 12:30 p.m.

For more information, view the poster.

Run 4 Fun. If you are interested in joining the committee to organize the 2011 Fun Run, join Ann Marie LaPorta for a one-hour meeting at J. Bella's on Monday, August 16, at 6:00 p.m. 

Lakewood golf outing. Jack Miaskowski said the Rotary Club of Lakewood/Rocky River and the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce will host a golf outing on Monday, August 16, at Sweetbriar Golf Course. Visit www.lakewoodrockyriverrotary.org for more information. But hurry up. It's tomorrow.

Happy Bucks. Angela Giarikos' daughter is getting married and her father is coming home after an illness. Julie Ann Sweet is celebrating her 40th birthday. Bill Schaffran biked the old Route 66 down to Amarillo, Texas. Ron and Charlie Zivcsak celebrated their 46th wedding anniversary. Paul and Amy Richards celebrated their 24th anniversary. Ted Sawiecki said he is in training to become a professional wrestler.

Organ donation. Chris Crepage (right photo), volunteer services coordinator at LifeBanc, spoke to the club about becoming an organ donor. He was joined by Bob Trask (top photo), a liver recipient from Strongsville. LifeBanc LifeBanc is the nonprofit organ and tissue recovery organization for Northeast Ohio, and also provides bereavement services. Presently, 105,000 people in the U.S. are awaiting organ transplants, including 3,000 in Ohio. Bob was two or three days away from death while awaiting a liver. He received his transplant in August 2006, in a 12-hour surgery two days before his 60th birthday. You can get more information about LifeBanc and organ donation at www.lifebanc.org and www.donatelifeohio.org.


Queen drawing. The table ticket was worth $326; the Queen was worth $2,835. The winner drew a loser and the Queen lives. There are now eight cards left.

Words of Wisdom.

A doctor vacationing on the Riviera met an old lawyer friend and asked him what he was doing there.

The lawyer replied, "Remember that lousy real estate I bought? Well, it caught fire, so here I am with the fire insurance proceeds. What are you doing here?"

The doctor replied, "Remember that lousy real estate I had in Mississippi? Well, the river overflowed, and here I am with the flood insurance proceeds."

The lawyer looked puzzled. "Gee," he said. "How did you start the flood?"

Quotable.

"My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met." - Henny Youngman

"A good wife always forgives her husband when she's wrong." - Rodney Dangerfield