North Ridgeville Rotary - Newsletter - Archive (Oct 15, 2009)

During the first quarter of my term I have had the privilege to meet many new faces in the Rotary World. Something I have noticed is that everyone’s name badge has their first name in bold along with their surname and vocation below it. I have met John, Marsha, Ed, Mike, Stew, Bonnie, Roger, and the list goes on and on. I find it interesting that everyone is introduced by their first name and NO title! Why is that? I think it stems from the fact that vocational service is much more important in our Rotary mission than a vocational title.
Vocational Service Month is observed annually in October to emphasize the involvement of each Rotarian, and not just clubs, in the everyday practice of the ideals of vocational service.

Vocational service is both the responsibility of a club and of its members. The role of the club is to implement and encourage the objective by frequent demonstration, by application to its own actions, by example and by development of projects that help members contribute their vocational talents.

The role of the members is to conduct themselves, their businesses, and their professions in accordance with Rotary principles and to respond to projects which the club has developed.

Rotary’s emphasis on vocational service has its roots in the founding of the organization. The original intent of Paul Harris was to bring together a circle of business and professional acquaintances. And the use of the classification principle — the guideline by which nearly all Rotary membership is determined — assures that each club has among its members a cross-section of a community’s business and professional population. Since the founding of Rotary in 1905, Rotarians have always stressed high business ethics.

I proudly believe that each and every Rotarian displays a continuing practice of the Four Way Test both in and out of their vocations. This ethical foundation is what has kept our club’s top billing in the “Service above Self” category for nearly 30 years!

I encourage you to take a moment this month to open your directory to Page 4 and review the Four Way Test. You may not know it word for word but you do know it by heart!
Yours in Rotary Service,
Shawn

Four Quick Questions With . . .

John Musson

1. What important lesson did your parents/family teach you that you still learn from today?
My dad often told to "take time to smell the roses" when he thought I was spending too much time at work. Now I realize it was pretty good advice.

2. What era would you like to travel to and why?
The Civil War – from a safe distance, of course.

3. Finish this sentence: I wish I . . .
I wish I had taken more time to "smell the roses" like my dad told me. I really can't complain, though. Life has been pretty good!

4. What is the last good movie you saw?

Good movie? Probably "Crash." It was heavy and a little depressing at times but it had a good message: Be careful before you judge people, because you never know what's going on in their lives.

Adam Sonnhalter

1. What important lesson did your parents/family teach you that you still learn from today?

To not judge people based on face value. Everybody is human and deserves our respect until they do something to lose that respect. I think it’s one of the reasons I have been able to meet and befriend people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. It’s one of the things that drew me to Rotary. The diversity, of not only our club, but of Rotary International.

2. What era would you like to travel to and why?

WWII: I feel like a lot of us had lost touch with just how difficult it is to earn and keep our freedom. For many of my generation, 9/11 was the first time we had experienced “war” firsthand. Enlisting in the military or trying to get into one of the Academies was never on my radar coming out of high school. Since we are not required as citizens to serve in the military, I think we lose an opportunity at an early age to reinforce the importance of contributing to the greater good and sacrificing. That’s why we have such a great opportunity as Rotarians. We offer those opportunities and we should continue to invite younger prospective members to help them fill that void in their lives. A little giving of oneself goes a long way to making us all better citizens.

3. Finish this sentence: I wish I . . .

Could have about 4 or 5 more hours in the day. I’m usually awake and active for about 18 hours a day, but some nights I wish I could have a few more hours of sleep. But that’s what makes the weekends so nice! Also, there are times when I am really involved in something, but then I go to bed because I know I need a few hours of sleep before tomorrow. It would also allow me to get more into a day.

4. What is the last good movie you saw?
Boy, you’re asking the wrong person. Shannon and I don’t go to too many movies any more. We’re more home bodies I guess! Perhaps I can answer it this way. One of my favorite movies is "Forrest Gump." That’s the first movie Shannon and I saw together when we first started dating. Also, I've always been a fan of Tom Hanks (ever since his Bosom Buddies days) and Robin Wright (going all the way back to her Kelly Capwell days in Santa Barbara). I really enjoyed the story because it shows how we all have such greatness within us and something to contribute to this world. What Forrest lacked in book smarts, he made up for in effort, courage, loyalty, and genuineness. Whenever it’s on TV, I’ll always watch it for a little bit because I like how it makes me feel!

Students Of The Month:

Emily Wey (left) and Justine Keenan

Emily Wey
Emily plans to pursue a career in medicine. She's already well on her way, volunteering over 100 hours at Elyria Memorial Hospital. She also donates time to EMH Avon Emergency Care Center. Additionally, she fulfilled a summer internship at the Cleveland Clinic.
During her junior year, Emily was the winner of the Rotary Four-Way Speech Contest.

Her extracurricular activities include:
• French Club -- all four years
• Rotary Interact – sophomore through senior year
• Drama Club -- sophomore through senior year
• Marching Band – all four years

Justine Keenan
Justine, who is the President of the High School Rotary Club (Interact), was featured on Channel 3 News in the Ramona's Kids section. Click here to view the 90-second video:

Her extracurricular activities include:
• Marching Band – junior and senior years
• Rotary Interact – sophomore through senior year
• Drama Club -- sophomore through senior year
• Dance – all four years
• Junior State of America -- sophomore through senior year

Chapter News:

Newest Member:

Bob Knopf

Bob was inducted Oct. 9, 2009. This was Shawn's first induction ceremony as president. To welcome Bob, fellow banker and club treasurer Bob Bunsey placed the Rotary pin on Knopf's collar. The "new" Bob is vice president and branch manager of First Merit Bank.

Special Guests:

Paul Graupmann invited Sherriff Phil R. Stammitti (left) and Lorain County Prosecutor Dennis Will to speak about Issue 4.

To maintain Lorain County's ability to prosecute criminals and to keep them in jail, voters are being urged to approve Issue 4 on the Nov. 3 ballot.

+=+=+=++=+=+=++=+=+=++=+=+=++=+=+=+

Congratulations to the following members for achieving 100% attendance during the first quarter of the 09-10 Rotary year! If you are not on this list and feel you should be, please let Kathy LeRoy know.

Keep up the good work!

Dotty Alberto

Pat Blakely

Warren Blakely

Bob Bunsey

Doug Charboneau

Carl Commons

Chris Costin

Kathy LeRoy

Kerry Mueller

Shawn Mueller

Adam Sonnhalter

+=+=+=++=+=+=++=+=+=++=+=+=++=+=+=+
Don't let the flu bug bite you this year.
Click here for the Lorain County Health Department's schedule for administering the flu vaccine.

On The Outside:
Rotary Clubs Innovate With New Events
Tampa Bay, Fla. -- Area Rotary clubs are innovating with new events to help raise money for charities during the downturn in the economy.

Three Rotary clubs will team up for RIP - Rotary in Partnership - for a Halloween costume party Saturday, Oct. 24. Children in the Guardian ad Litem program will benefit with Christmas presents bought from proceeds.

Next month will bring the first Run for Rotary organized by Holiday Rotary Club. The Nov. 14 race will raise money for Rotary International Foundation Polio Plus Project while the other half of proceeds will go to local charities. To read the rest of this story, click here.

Rotary Look To Young
Auckland, New Zealand -- Steele Gibson is out to prove that Rotary clubs are not just for old people.

The 30-year-old is the youngest member of the the Rotary Club of St Johns and is trying to encourage more young people to join.

"What people think of Rotary is not actually what it is.

"I always thought it was old men and women sitting around. I couldn’t have been more wrong."

The Glendowie businessman was first involved in Rotary 10 years ago when he was nominated to go on a Rotary Youth Leadership Awards course, a week-long leadership camp for 20 to 24 year olds.
To read the rest of this story, click here.

Quotable Paul Harris
"Personality has power to uplift, power to depress, power to curse, and power to bless."

Speaker Assignments

October 16: Pete Trunzo

October 23: Jason Doerschuk

October 30: Shawn Mueller
November 6: Business Meeting
November 13: Kim Cromwell
November 20: George Stokes
November 27: No Meeting

Roto News is published on or around the 3rd Friday of the month. To contribute news, photos or articles, please send submissions to me, Traci Purdum >> tracipurdum@yahoo.com. All submissions must be in by the 2nd Friday of the month.