The February 10, 2020 meeting of the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary Club took place in Cal’s II, Sky Plaza, Garrettsville at high noon; Brittany’s quick draw shot up any hunger pangs and the group covered the following topics :
The local date for the 4-Way Speech competition will be March 2, with districts to be on April 11. There will be prizes and the Portage Cluster joins with ToastMasters International to offer assistance. Next week exchange student Molly will be on tap to speak about the Rotary International Student Exchange program–year-long and one-month options. InterAct students will be invited to a pizza lunch to hear her speak. The next Monday will feature Judy Thornton from the Freedom Historical Society to speak about the amazing work of documentation and restoration that group is doing.
Focus of the meeting was the distinguished guests–Mayor Rick Patrick and SummerFest entrepreneur Aaron King–who gave a glimpse of both the history and the future of the event. Aaron, whose family background in food and amusements described the beginnings sixteen years ago and the ongoing activities, supported by various fund-raising efforts ($60K per year) which have been seen over the years. This year there will be no car raffle but folks may buy tickets to win a Kawasaki Mule; ticket sales will begin soon, @ $5 per ticket, 6/$50. Get out them wallets. There will be more emphasis on kids’ activities, starting with the popular Jungle Terry. There will be a casino trip fund-raiser on April 17. Everyone over 18 is invited to participate.Garrettsville Idol returns and there is serious talk about having an Idol All-Star Review. Stay tuned for further details. Friends of Melana will sponsor its run for the cure on Saturday morning this year (Volunteers are invited to assist). There will be bands-several of them, fireworks, the Tractor Parade, the Car Show; all kinds of volunteers are being sought–this stuff doesn’t happen on its own. The G-H Rotary is looking for new ways to contribute, with a new situation with a movie, a series of historical selfie spots, a scavenger hunt to explore the community and give families “together” activities. Santa will make an appearance on the Rotary sleigh in the Grand Parade.
Mayor Patrick reported that there will be more paving and sidewalk work going on (Not during SummerFest!) as well as general maintenance and development. He’s urging local businesses to clean-up, fix-up, paint-up all over town.
Debra Blake reported that she is co-ordinating the operations of the Census Bureau for Portage County and recruiting census takers. These vital parts of the effort must be 18 years of age, can work largely on their own schedules and earn $16 per hour. Watch for flyers for more information
James A. Garfield Local School District is on a roll. Athletic teams–girls’ & boys’ basketball seeded in top or near-top spots, girls’ bowling moving on to the next level (boys just missed), wrestling more competitive–are in a good place. The Spring musical– “The Sound of Music” –is in rehearsal for an April production. The Quiz Bowl (Academic Challenge) team hit the four-spot( out of sixteen) in league competition. The stadium improvement group is holding its Night at the Races soon. It’s all good.
Happy Bucks came in for a dad’s health improving, a diploma, an outstanding village council, the latest iteration of the Queen of Hearts, the Restaurant Impossible TV show, the Garrettsville community in general , happiness in general and an inaugural pie.
