Tom Kramig, Lake Erie Crushers owner, generously hosted Rotarians at one of the loges at Sprenger Stadium for one of the Club’s weekly meetings.

Although the baseball season is over, Rotarians were able to see firsthand how the Stadium can be used for community endeavors.  Thank you Tom Kramig!

Jeff Ellis’ International Karate Centers and North Coast Rotary Club sponsored the 7th Annual Child Safe Community Day Fair at Troy School in Avon Lake.  Jeff Ellis, a Strongsville Rotarian, and local police and fire services provided mini clinics on safety topics and offered finger printing i.d. kits.  Teachers from the Karate Centers provided martial arts demonstrations.  Children also enjoyed an Easter Egg hunt, and North Coast Rotary’s Interact Club table where students provided games and facepainting.

Overe 160 Rotarians, and guests attended North Ridgeville’s major annual fundraiser, Spring Fling.  North Coast Rotary has collaborated with North Ridgeville at this event for many years and sponsors the balloon raffle.  All items for the Balloon Raffle are provided by North Coast Rotary with most from Rotarians and sponsoring businesses.   Over thirty beautiful and themed baskets were donated to North Coast Rotary by Bernadette McCrone, sister of Rotarian John Daly.

Is it the truth; is it fair; will it build goodwill and better friendships; will it be beneficial?  These are the goals of Rotary’s Four-Way Test and the challenge for the Avon, Avon Lake, and Brookside high school speech contestants who competed at the North Coast Rotary club meeting on February 7 in Avon Lake.  Speaking to a room filled with Rotarians and parents, Calli Krebs and Samuel Eddington from Avon, Grace Wennerberg and Marguerite Smith from Avon Lake, and Dale Wilson and Zackory Langin from Brookside spoke on topics as diverse as American foreign policy, social media and gender inequality, all in the context of the Four-Way Test, for the first round of the Rotary District 6600 annual Four-Way Test Speech Contest.  Dr. John Crooks, North Coast Rotary President-elect for 2017/2018, facilitated the event.  The students competed for cash prizes and were judged on the delivery, originality and content of their speeches by Ken Collins, Interim Manager of Security and Physical Plant in Sheffield Village; Janice Lapina, Program Manager of NEO LaunchNet at LCCC; and Dr. Robert Young, Professor of Business at Baldwin Wallace University.  First and second place winners, Samuel Eddington and Calli Krebs respectively, are both seniors at Avon High School.  The third place winner, Grace Wennerberg, is a freshman at Avon Lake High School.  First Place Winner Samuel Eddington will compete in the next round on Saturday, April 8 in Van Wert, Ohio.

Ted Esborn has experience working with local governments on the east side of Cleveland.  He has an MPA/JD from the Levin College at Cleveland State University; he passed the bar in 2015. He is currently the economic development director for the City of Avon Lake.  Ted used his job description to highlight the many facets of his job.  Avon Lake has 350 businesses located in commercial spaces.  One of his main directives is to fill up Pin Oak Parkway, which is what attracted him to the job.  Ted spoke to us about his directives and ideas for carrying them out.Thank you Ted for a very informative presentation.

North Coast Rotary is hosting our last Great Pizza Bake-Off of the current Rotary year at Avon High School on Thursday February 2, 2017 at Avon High School.  The bake-off will take place from 4:30-6:30, just prior to Avon High School’s Fusion Concert.  Funds raised from the Pizza Bake-Off help to underwrite Rotary’s scholarship fund, and support local non-profit organizations such as Community Resource Services and Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Ohio. Come enjoy, all you can eat, delicious pizza. Tickets are available at the door. $10.00 for Adults and $5 for Children 12 and under.

From the earliest days of the organization, Rotarians were concerned with promoting high ethical standards in their professional lives.  One of the world’s most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics is the 4-Way Test, which was created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor when he was asked to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy.

This 24-word test for employees to follow in their business and professional lives became the guide for sales, production, advertising, and all relations with dealers and customers; the survival of the company is credited to this simple philosophy.  Adopted by Rotary International in 1943, the 4-Way Test has been translated into more than 100 languages.

The Rotary Club of the North Coast (which serves Avon, Avon Lake, Sheffield and Sheffield Lake) will hold a 4-Way Test Speech Contest for area students at Avon, Avon Lake and Brookside high schools to compete for cash prizes.

Based on Rotary’s 4-Way Test, each student contestant must deliver a speech that is 5 – 7 minutes in length, and recounts what the test personally means to them.  A panel of judges (usually 3) will decide the winners.

The Rotarian’s 4-Way Test  –  Of the things we think, say or do:

1. Is it the truth?

2. Is it fair to all concerned?

3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?

4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

 This is a great opportunity for students to participate in an outstanding program that teaches the ethics of Rotary to future Rotarians and has an added value of winning valuable cash prizes. The winner of the contest will be able to continue on to Rotary Area and, possibly, District competitions.  

At our club meeting on Dec 6th, we helped make family baskets for the Avon/Avon Lake Community Resource Services’ Santa Workshop.  If you’d like to make a donation for a family basket, Monday Dec. 12th is the last day to drop off items. CRS is located at 33501-L Lake Road, Avon Lake, OH   Visit their website aalcrs.org for more information.

On November 15th, at our morning meeting, we had the pleasure of hosting the Mayor of the City of Avon, Honorable Bryan Jensen. The Mayor spoke to us about the companies coming to Avon in the near future, the growth strategy of the City of Avon and how the city works with businesses interested in coming there.  Mayor Jensen kept everyone interested and engaged. He entertained many follow up questions.  We hope he comes back to see us soon.  Thank you Mayor Jensen for your time! Pictured above with Mayor Jensen is North Coast Rotary President Jinnyn Tata.