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Speakers
Oct. 17, 2025 7:25 a.m.
Bryan Bogre
Strongsville Recreation Department
Oct. 24, 2025 7:25 a.m.
John Litten
Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity
Oct. 31, 2025 7:25 a.m.
Scott Maloney
Strongsville Historical Society
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Queen of Hearts
Scott Maloney's table won the drawing and are responsible for setting up this week.  There are 37 cards in the deck and the Queen is worth $455.
Harry Fuehrer Community Service Award

The Strongsville Rotary Foundation is collecting nominations for the Harry Fuehrer Community Service Award.  Recipients must live or volunteer in Strongsville.  Most recipients are non-Rotarians, and for Rotarians they are evaluated on contributions outside of Rotary.  The nomination form is online.

Senior Christmas Luncheon

The Senior Christams Luncheon will be on December 5th.  Tom Drost is looking for volunteers to serve from 10:30 to 12:30.  There is a signup sheet on ClubRunner, and we will have a signup list at the meeting closer to the date.

Club Elections

Club elections will be in December for the Rotary year starting July 1st, 2026.  If you are interested in running for a board position please let Tom Gigliotti, or any current board member know.  We are also looking to fill one open seat on the board immediately.

Around Town

The Strongsville Community Theater is having their annual scholarship benefit “A Tribute to the 70s” October 24th and 25th.  Jim Kaminski is organizing a table for the 24th, and if someone wants to organize a group for the 25th let us know.

Meeting Recap

Scott Maloney gave the invocation and led the pledge.

Chili Open - Club Social

Chili Open committee meeting 6pm Friday at Bennett's Bar and Grill, followed by a club social.

Walk to End Alzheimers

The Alzheimer's Association Walk to End Alzheimer's®, the world’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s takes place Saturday Oct 18th at the Zoo.  You can visit our club's team page at https://act.alz.org/site/TR?fr_id=18810&pg=team&team_id=950023 to either join the team and walk, or to donate to the team.

Speaker: From Soviet Ukraine to Restaurateur: Olesia Pochynok’s Journey of Grit and Gratitude

Last Friday, we had the pleasure of hearing the remarkable life story of Olesia Pochynok, owner of Olesia’s Taverne in Richfield. Born in Soviet Ukraine in 1980, Olesia grew up in a small village with no running water or phones—but a strong sense of community and resilience shaped by generations who had survived wars, famine, and hardship.

Even as a child, Olesia dreamed of coming to the United States. Against the odds, she won a green card lottery and immigrated with the help of her great-uncle in Yonkers. She arrived with little money, worked as many as four jobs at once, and gradually found her footing in the restaurant industry.

Through perseverance and an openness to opportunity—from bussing tables to bartending—she built her skills and eventually opened her first restaurant at age 24 in downtown Cleveland. That journey led to what is now Olesia’s Taverne of Richfield, a thriving restaurant in a historic 1860s building that features live music, holiday events, a speakeasy, banquet space, and classic Eastern European comfort food.
 

“I didn’t know what I was going to do with it… but I figured it out.”
— Olesia Pochynok, on opening her first restaurant

Olesia’s story was both heartfelt and humorous, filled with moments of struggle, faith, and serendipity—including a broken foot that turned out to be the nudge she needed to open her own place. She reminded us that success often comes not just from hard work, but from the people we meet along the way and the courage to say “yes” even when we’re unsure how it will all work out.