Guests included Irena Psota, daughter of Paul. Three generations of Voigts joined us as Rick’s father Don was in the house along with Rick Jr.

Bored meeting. The club’s Board of Directors met on Wednesday, August 15 and approved $970 worth of contributions. Arts in Strongsville was given $500 toward the group’s annual A Day at the Chalet free family arts festival, to be held September 16 at the Metroparks Chalet. The club also donated to the Richie White Pediatric Cancer Research Fund at the Cleveland Clinic; the Strongsville Chamber of Commerce for a Hole Sponsorship at the organization’s annual golf outing; and the Angel House Center. Angel House and Rotary collaborate once a month on a program to host kids from the Boys and Girls Club of Cleveland. Last Sunday Angel House hosted 11 girls aged 11 to 15. Angel House Director Carol Dombrose presented ribbons of appreciation to Linda Plain, who was instrumental in developing the program, and John Turnbull, who attended the event. The Boys and Girls Club provides children who are most in need a safe place to grow, learn and realize their full potential.

Savor the Flavor. The annual Savor the Flavor Taste of Strongsville dinner will be held Sunday, October 14. Tickets for club members cost $45 until September 15. After that, you can fork out the non-member ticket price of $50 per person. Tables of 10 will remain at last year’s price of $450.

Paul Harris. Charter club member Dick Kiplinger was honored with a Rotary Pin designating him as a Paul Harris Fellow Plus Six. The designation marks lifetime contributions of more than $7,000 to the Rotary Foundation. Dick was recognized by President Manjit Khuban and pinned by his son, President Elect Brian Kiplinger.

School supplies. We passed the hat and collected $317 toward the annual school supply drive. All Happy Bucks also were put into the school supply pot.

ASAP. Paul Psota said the club this year will work with Strongsville High School’s ASAP Program in which a group of 10 students hear a speaker each month on topics relating to life skills, overcoming adversity, positive thinking and how to succeed. Anybody who would like to present an hour-long talk can contact Paul for details.

Bridgestone Open. Dan Cricks said we topped last year’s sales for the annual Bridgestone Invitational. A charity promotion lets organizations like ours make money by selling discounted tickets to the popular event. This year we raked in $1,305, up from $515 last year. We had only $500 raised two weeks before the event, but rallied in the home stretch, Dan said.

Picnic. Cassie Weber said the club’s Pre Labor Day Picnic will be held on Friday, August 31 at Bonnie Park. Bring you own beer, but all the food is provided. Coolers are needed and so is a badminton net for some reason. Bring your family and friends. The picnic starts at 6:00 p.m.

New people. Val Tocci noted that a New Member Orientation is held on the fourth Wednesday of each month in the “room across the hall.” Contact Val if you are thinking of joining the club, or if you are a new member.

AZ Baker. Once again, our club achieved the District 6630 A.Z. Baker Award for achievement. Past District Gov. Jay Magilla Dzurilla said the award is based on a point system for achievements in each of Rotary’s Avenues of Service. On behalf of last year’s District Gov. Steven Zabor, Jay presented the award to last year’s club president Bruce Keenan.

New member bio. Monica Henkel grew up in Cleveland, Brook Park and Strongsville, and graduated from Strongsville High School and The Ohio State University with a major in economics. She and her husband have two daughters, aged 19 and 13. Her younger daughter has Type I diabetes and uses an insulin pump. Monica highly recommends the pump and is willing to talk about it with anybody who is interested. She assists her brother, club member Bob Pavlik, at his local hearing center.

Speaker. Ginny Csider, operations manager of the Berea Animal Rescue Fund (ARF), talked to the club about ARF’s mission and activities. The non-profit advocates for and provides shelter to animals of the community, including care of stray and abandoned dogs and cats, The organization handled adoptions of more than 1,000 animals a year out of a small, 1,500 square foot facility staffed by 10 employees and more than 400 volunteers. Their $500,000 annual budget is funded exclusively by grants and donations. Among the unique programs administered by the shelter are a prison foster care program for animals and a program that provides companion dogs to war veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. For more information, including an Amazon Wish List for donated items, visit http://bereaanimalrescue.com/.