Meeting Recap

Jay Dzurilla gave the invocation and led the pledge.

Students

The Strongsville High School Theatre Department visited us.  Their Fall play is The Crubible by Arthur Miller and plays this weekend.  Click here to order tickets.

Blue Badge

Dan Meaney presented Chief Tom O'Deens with his blue badge, having completed all items on our new member activities list.  If you still have a red badge check the bottom of this email for the remaining items.  If the information needs updating please contact Dan Meaney

New Member Bio

This week we got to learn more about Shauna Sanzo, whose journey has taken her from a one-page phone book town in rural Nevada to the cockpit of an Embraer 175.

Shauna grew up in Paradise Valley, Nevada, a true Old West community complete with a single school, a saloon, and a graduating class of six. Her family runs a cattle ranch there, producing hay and raising livestock on wide-open land hours from the nearest city.

She headed next to Twin Falls, Idaho, where she earned her degree in natural resource management and agriculture from the College of Southern Idaho. After college, she followed in her parents’ footsteps as a wildland firefighter, spending seasons on the ground battling fires while watching the air-tanker operations that would later inspire her aviation path.

Shauna’s first travel job came in 2019 as a flight attendant for United Airlines, which took her all over the world—right up until COVID slowed the industry. She used that moment to pivot, moved to Colorado Springs, and completed flight school. She became a Certified Flight Instructor, later adding instrument and multi-engine instructor ratings before heading to Jacksonville, Florida, to build hours in warmer weather.

Today, Shauna flies the Embraer 175, a job she loves—and one that recently allowed her to take her mother along for a memorable (and slightly embarrassing) ride in the cockpit jumpseat.

She also shared about her family: she’s close with her older sister, an Air Force spouse whose postings gave Shauna opportunities to visit Europe, including frequent trips to Ramstein, Germany. And many members met her husband, Max, when he visited the club. The two were married last October in Littleton, Colorado.

Speaker

Vice Commander Thaddeus (Tad) M. Brown, Strongsville VFW Post 3345

We were joined last week by Tad Brown, Vice Commander of VFW Post 3345, who spoke about the deep connection between military service and community service—and why organizations like the VFW and Rotary naturally complement one another.

Tad opened by thanking Rotary for consistently recognizing veterans and for the long-standing partnership between our organizations. He emphasized that while Veterans Day and Memorial Day are important observances, the spirit of service doesn’t end when active duty ends. Under longtime Commander Tim Zvonchek, Post 3345 adopted a guiding motto: “Empowering veterans while strengthening the community.”

Tad highlighted how the post lives that motto every day: coordinating Strongsville’s Memorial Day Parade and ceremony, supporting the Food Bank and community band, assisting with city events, and providing military honors for veterans and their families. The post also hosts free summer concerts and maintains a beautiful memorial space behind the building, complete with service-branch benches, a fountain, and a dedicated first-responders area.

He noted with appreciation that Rotary donated and dedicated the only non-military bench in the memorial, a visible sign of the deep connection between our organizations and our shared commitment to service.

Tad also shared some sobering numbers: only 0.4% of Americans currently serve on active duty, and only 6% of Americans today are veterans, down from 18% in the 1980s. With fewer people serving, it becomes even more important for communities to support those considering military service and to welcome veterans as vital contributors when they return home.

Tad closed with a quote from Abraham Lincoln:

“I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.”

Veterans and Rotarians, he reminded us, make great neighbors, and service remains one of the best gifts we can offer the world.