Getting started. Cassie Weber gave the Invocation and President Jerry Balint led the Pledge of Allegiance to start the August 27 meeting.

Guests. We had prospective member Carlos Cruz on hand, introduced by Dr. Art Basa. Also joining us were Councilman Ray Haseley, Ben Stankewicz, assistant to Mayor Tom Perciak, and Brent Painter (in photo), Strongsville's manager of economic development, who also was our speaker. Past District Gov. Jack Young, of the Brunswick Rotary Club, was in attendance, and briefed the club about the Rotary's Shelter Box project.

Thank you. Jerry shared a "thank you" from the Strongsville Food Bank for our latest food donation. Don't forget that next Friday is our monthly Food Friday. Bring food for the Food Bank.

Shelter Box. Jack said Rotary shelter boxes have been distributed to 14 disaster locations this year, with 22,000 boxes going to Haiti. Our Rotary District 6603 is presently beginning a program through which each club will donate a shelter box through its foreign exchange student. Shelter boxes include a variety of supplies, including a disaster relief tent for a family of up to 10 people. For more information about Shelter Boxes, visit www.shelterbox.org.

Retention, retention, retention
. During the weekly Rotary Moment, Dr. Jeff Peacock emphasized that retention of membership is important for the club. The best way for members to get the most out of Rotary is to get involved in club events and activities.

Savor the Flavor. The Taste of Strongsville event now has drawn almost 30 restaurants, reported Bart James, who is coordinating the new fundraiser. The event will feature food sampling from some of the best restaurants from Strongsville and surrounding areas. Tickets for the event, which will be held on Sunday, October 10, 2010, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., at the Strongsville Holiday Inn, will go on sale next Friday, August 20. Individual tickets cost $35 each, or buy a table of 10 for $300. That's $30 each for the divisionally impared. The goal is to sell 500 tickets, said Rochelle Thuener, ticket chairwoman. You can order tickets online at www.tasteofstrongsville.com. Rochelle noted that this event is not the same as the Cabaret Night wine and food tasting event held by the Arts in Strongsville. Arts in Strongsville will hold its event in January.

Club member Darlene Figlioli, of the Holiday Inn, said donations of a grand prize and other prizes are needed. Email or call her at 216-789-3033 if you have a prize or if you would like to be on the Prize Committee.

Chili Open posters. The new Chili Open posters are here, said Tom Oriti. Folks are needed to distribute the club's 20th annual Chili Open Golf Classic to golf courses and other places. The posters have those little tear-off tabs with the Chili Open hotline number or something on them. Tom suggests when you hang one up somewhere that you tear the first one off so people get the idea. Know what he means? Contact Tom for more information.

Golf outing. Bill Schraffran said the annual Strongsville Rotary Golf Outing, held Thursday at Shale Creek, raised more than $10,000 for the Strongsville Rotary Foundation. The event was chaired by Bill, Dave Kolick and Rick Voigt.

Bea done. Since 1995, Bea Hovanec has done a great job arranging groups of Strongsville High School students to join us for breakfast every week. Now it's somebody else's turn. If you want to take over this job, give Bea a call, at 440-243-2784. And tell her you've been trying to email her.

Club service. Bob Cummins, co-director for Club Service, which he described as a glorifed entertainment committee, announced some upcoming social gatherings for you all yo attend. Among the dates to remember:

September 22 - Family Night at Mapleside, in Brunswick, co-chaired by Ashley Gay and Brian Allen.

October 24 - Calm Bake at Camp Cheerful, co-chaired by Ken Dooner and Tom Gigliotti.

November 18 - Wine Tasting at Royal Park Wine, ch-chaired by Dave Kolick and Jeanine Hammack.

December 9 - Christmas Party at J. Bella's, co-chaired by Bob Cummins and Alice Frawley.

You want a printout of these events, along with costs and other information? Click here and get one.

Clothing drive. Dr. Art Basa will leave for his annual medical mission to the Philippines on January 15 and hopes to take some gently worn clothes with him. Last year Art too some of the clothing we collected in the annual clothing drive for the homeless. This year's drive is underway. Bring clothes to the Friday meetings, or if you have a large load, you can deliver them to Strongsville Mimi Storage. Say hey to Sandy Croft and her son Matt when you go there. This year, Dennis Drellishak is the co-chair of the drive along with Snow White. The annual folding will take place on October 16.

Sad news. Past President Jim Karecki's brother Rick passed away on August 24. The wake will be Monday, August 30, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Humeink Funeral Home, 14200 Snow Road, Brook Park, Additional information will be in the Plain Dealer on Sunday.

Manny Garcia's mother passed away August 26. Visitation hours are on Sunday, August 29, from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. This will be at Jardine Funeral Home, 15822 Pearl Road, in Strongsville. The funeral service will be private.

Economic development. Brent Painter, Strongsville's manager of economic development, talked to the club about the city's efforts to attract and retain job-creating businesses. The Economic Development Department has been doing community surveys in partnership with The Ohio State University, focusing on Industrial/commericial, retail/professional and residential sectors. The surveys are used to determine the views and needs of those community sectors.

The department has focused much of its attention on creating an interactive website that features available commercial land and properties while touting Strongsville as a prime place to locate a business.

The department hosts three annual free Business Networking Breakfasts to meet fellow business people and to get an update on Strongsville economic development. The next breakfast will be held Thursday, September 23, from 7:00 to about 8:30 a.m. at the Ehrnfeld Recreation Complex Event Center. That's the room we meet in on Fridays. The event, sponsored by our own Paul Psota and Altenheim and Shurmer Place, will feature guest speaker Len Komoroski, president of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Quicken Loans Arena. For more information, contact Brent.

The department also hosts Strongsville Business Workshops on a variety of topics. The workshops are free to members of the Strongsville Chamber of Commerce.

Queen of Hearts. The table ticket was worth $343 and the Queen was worth more than $3,000. The winner drew a loser and the Queen lives.

Words of Wisdom

Having lost most of his hearing a number of years ago, an elderly man goes to the doctor to be fitted with hearing aids which promise to allow him to hear 100 percent. A month later, he returns to the doctor for a check up on his progress. The doctor tells him that his hearing is perfect and asks if his family is pleased.

The man says, "Oh, I haven't told them about the hearing aids yet. I just sit around and listen to them talk. I've changed my will three times."

Quotable.

"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much." - Mother Teresa

"Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt." - Abraham Lincoln