Newsletter - Archive  Mar 25, 2010

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North Ridgeville Rotary Newsletter

In This Issue

• President's Message: Literacy Month

• Spring Fling: Rotarians Caught By The Camera

• Chapter News: Exchange Program in Danger

• What's On The YouTube?

• Quotable Paul Harris

President's Message

In Rotary, we recognize March as Literacy Month. This is when we focus on the importance of literacy and education in our humanitarian service. In our club we celebrate Literacy Month by holding our annual 4 Way Speech Contest. The purpose of the speech is to solve an ethical problem using the principles of the Four Way Test. The ethical problem to be solved should be something from the speaker's personal experience or general knowledge.

Having our students engage in this type of competition is a great way to celebrate literacy. Please join us Friday March 26th and witness this great project for yourself.

A few notes about Literacy:

• Being literate does not just mean having the ability to read a book or a newspaper.
• Being literate means being able to comprehend the instructions on a medicine bottle, a set of directions, or a job posting.
• It means understanding the note written by a child’s teacher.
• It means being able to use a computer, follow a recipe, or apply for a mortgage.
• Literacy means being part of the larger society.
• It means inclusion, and it means empowerment.

Those who cannot read or write, whether they are children or adults, are cut off from important information in ways too numerous to count. I am challenging everyone in our club to pick up a book and read it to a child sometime in the next 30 days. Feel proud knowing that you will be making a difference in that child’s life.

Yours in Rotary Service,
Shawn Mueller

Spring Fling 2010 -- Fun, Fellowship & Big Money

This year's Spring Fling was a huge success. New Rotarian Bob Knopf was the night's big winner -- he won a flat-screen TV, a $500 wet/dry vac and he split the top prize -- $3,500 -- with four other attendees. Ironically, had the final five not gone for the split, Bob would have walked away with the whole pot of gold.

While Bob walked away with prizes and cash, everyone who attended were big winners, too. What better way to spend a Saturday night than with friends and family -- all for a good cause!

See for yourself the fun that was had:

Adam and Shannon Sonnhalter enjoyed the evening. Thanks to Adam for all his hard work making Spring Fling a success!	Want to know why Bob Bunsey is smiling? Money, Money and more Money.
Want to know why Bob Knopf is smiling? Prizes and money. Hmm. . . two Bobs and both are bankers.	Stephanie and Brian Ramser pose for the camera.
Carl Commons deep in thought on how he is going to run Spring Fling next year. . .	Casey smiles. . . shouldn't a dentist have a toothy grin?
Nancy and Chuck Bowman are caught in action. Wonder if Chuck got a round of golf in before the event?	Chuck Sword mans the board hoping to sell a big winner.
Craig Phillips and Rita Price stop their conversation to mug for the photographer.	Dennis Boose is putting Miklos to work.
Dotty cheers for the ladies as she sells her $3 numbers. . . Traci Purdum won the $150 prize.	Doug Maurer is relaxing before landscaping season begins. It's truly a Spring Fling for him.
Glenn Zimbelman tells his wife, Jan, all the good causes that Rotary supports.	Greg Willey toasts his first major Rotary event. Welcome aboard Greg!
New Rotarian Jennifer Toth seems to be enjoying the evening as well. She needs to teach Casey how to showcase the pearly whites.	Ralph and Kathy LeRoy are all smiles. And it is on good authority that Ralph is no longer full of hot air after helping Kathy create the terrific balloonscape.
Kerry Mueller puts his money where his mouth is and plays bingo while his wife Mary Ann looks on.	Miklos Kis never left his post as the keeper of the $5 numbers. I should know. . . I spent a lot of money at that board.
Pat Blakely hopes her royal purple coat brings her royal luck in bingo. . .	Meanwhile, Warren is walking around ensuring everyone is having a good time.
Pete and Dana Trunzo are looking forward to the live auction and hoping the items they donated bring big money.	The President and First Lady -- aka Shawn and Rebecca Mueller -- stop running long enough to pose for this picture. Thanks Shawn! You make Rotary fun and meaningful.

What's On The YouTube?

Don't forget to visit The Rotary Club of North Ridgeville's YouTube channel >> http://www.youtube.com/ridgevillerotary. Since the last time you tuned in, several videos have been added, including:

March Students of the Month

Social Media with John Sonnhalter

Steve Ali Induction

IHappy Birthday Bob Kirkpatrick

You Deserve A Break Today

Chapter News. . . .

Fellow Rotarian and charter member of the North Ridgeville Club Dick Noll is under hospice care.

Please keep Dick, Janyce and the rest of his family in your thoughts and prayers.

4 Way Speech Contest

March 26 is the date for the long-awaited speech contest. Arrive early -- you don't want to miss a single word!

Peter Cottontail Would Be Jealous
March 27 is the Easter Egg Hunt at Ranger Field. We are looking for all Rotarians to come and volunteer. We need you help!

Bring In The Canned Goods
This Friday (March 26) is also the last day of our Community Care food drive. Please bring a canned good to share with the less fortunate at Community Care.

Exchange Program In Danger

Warren Blakely notes that unless we get another host family to agree to the program we will have to decline this opportunity. According to Warren, one family has already agreed to host a student. We need a second family for the remainder of the school year.

The Westlake - Bay club has agreed to provide part of the funding needed to do this and the North Ridgeville school system is also agreeable to host the student.

Warren says: "This is a tremendous experience for both the student and the host families. Families and students develop strong bonds. They become part of the family and are not "guests". My children (now grown) and I still correspond with a student that we hosted over thirty years ago. She recently sent her daughter here to visit with us for a month before entering the University in Paris. The mother, Valorie, was a French girl who later married and has been raising her children on a research station in the rain forest of French Giana for more than twenty years. You can also ask Kerry about his experience a few years ago with hosting Namsai Wongsaree ("Oom"). She is a girl from Thailand who is now studying at the University of Bangkok to enter her county's diplomatic corps. And there is Beate Blumenrother who came back to visit the club last October from Germany. She was the club's exchange student ten years ago and is the only foreign exchange student to be inducted into our National Honor Society. She carried a 4.2 GPA while studying here in what was, to her, a foreign language. The Chuck Sword and Al Retay families have also been hosts that you might want to talk to.

Please discuss this with your family and see if you might want to be one of the hosts. One thing -- The students, who are between the ages of 15 and 19, must attend school. Host families must live within the North Ridgeville School District or have a family member who works here and who will be able to transport the student to and from school on time each day.

Please give this serious thought and respond as soon as possible. Time is critical.

Speaker Announced

April 16th – Sergeant. Kilbane of the Lorain Correctional Institution. Be sure to attend this meeting. Sergeant Kilbane is said to offer great insight into what is happening around us in the community.

Quotable Paul Harris

"Ideas have unhinged the gates of empires."

Roto News is published on or around the last 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 3rd Friday of the month.