CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF SERVICE – CANTON ROTARY – THE FIRST PANCAKE DAY AND MORE: MEMORIES OF PAST PRESIDENT, E. JASON MCCOY 1973-1974

 

Greetings to the Canton Rotary 100^th Anniversary Party. I wish I could be with you. My age, 91, and my physical condition do not permit the travel. I’m sure you will enjoy a wonderful evening, one that you will not soon forget. Canton Rotary’s 50^th Anniversary was also held at the Onesto. I was a member of the Steering Committee and John Hawkins was Chairman.

 

Early in my year as president, several senior Rotarians approached me and said we had a major problem. The Charitable Fund was going broke. We were spending more money on service projects than we were taking in. At that time our only money making project was a once-a-year contribution by our club’s members.

 

I decided to appoint a SUPER COMMITTEE, one that was more important than any other Rotary committee. Ten of our most active members were appointed, including several past presidents. Vice President, Joe Niamtu was appointed chairman. The SUPER COMMITTEE was approved by the board, then by the club membership. Myron Koyle, with the assistance of the Timken Company, showed the club the need and perhaps purpose of the SUPER COMMITTEE with a slide presentation. This was important as there were a few who did not want to expand beyond the individual member contributions.

The committee met regularly. Jack Maxwell, a former Marion, Ohio, Rotary Club President, told the committee of a successful Pancake day fund raising project. The SUPER COMMITTEE got board approval, then, because of the significance of the project, asked for and received the membership’s approval. We were on our way!

 

Harry Myers was named chairman of the Pancake Day Committee and held meetings Sunday afternoons at his office. Harry became known as “The Pancake King”. Harry arranged transportation for our committee to go to Marion and observe their Pancake Day and talk with their committee chairman.

 

Glenwood High School was selected as the venue and a large sign was placed facing both ways on 44^th Street. A full page advertisement appeared in the Repository, at a reduced cost, thanks to Jack Maxwell, then Editor of the Repository. WHBC Radio came and interviewed me. I stayed the entire day. The hours were much longer then than now. As a publicity stunt, Canton Mayor, and Canton Rotary member, Stan Cmich, served pancakes. Bob Netro (Charlie Brown’s catering and club member) served as Kitchen chairman. Don Bair held a Bloody Mary party and also won the prize as the “largest ticket seller” in the club. We had four local high school bands alternating times and they were noisy! They drew the parents to the event. We learned the manpower requirements of the kitchen and dining room by the hour and the amount of supplies needed. We had to purchase additional supplies three times for that first event. We also learned how to manage the traffic congestion on 44^th Street during busy hours.

 

At the end of the day, everyone was tired but happy. Our club members had given the project 100% support. I do not remember our first year’s net profit. Over the years it increased as we became more experienced and more efficient. This was the first Pancake Day held in our area.

 

In other activities, Canton Rotary took in 24 new members and passed the 200 member mark and passed Youngstown as the largest club in the District. Canton and Youngstown were rivals as they were the only clubs with paid secretaries. Up to now, Canton had always been second.

 

The District Conference was held at Atwood Lodge and Canton Rotary won all four Avenue of Service Awards. In those days, each Avenue of Service Chairman was required to create a Scrap Book of the activities and achievements of that Avenue of Service (Club, Community, Vocational and International). We also won the Club Bulletin Award with Jack Maxwell as our editor.

 

It was a good year for Canton Rotary!

 

Respectfully submitted,

E. Jason McCoy, President, 1973-1974