Rich Desrosiers graduated from Lorain High School, then earned a degree in Mass Media and Communications from the University of Akron.
He started his journalism career at the Canton Repository as a sportswriter and page designer. After nine years at the Rep, he moved on to the Akron Beacon Journal, where he served 21 years, responsible for Metro and Business news.
Returning to the Repository, Rich served as the Executive Editor for almost five years. During his tenure there, the Rep was selected for the General Excellence Award for outstanding journalism each of those years.
For the past 20 months, Rich has served as the Vice President of Communications & Public Relations for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Rich is also a graduate of the 30th Class of the Signature Program of Leadership Stark County in 2017.
REMINDER! We have a NEW permanent location for our Friday luncheon meetings!
We're be back in Beautiful Downtown Canton, at the historic Christ Presbyterian Church at 530 Tuscarawas Street West. Parking lot and entrance are on the west side of the building. Meeting room at the top of the stairs and an elevator is available Meals are provided by our old friend Terry from Mr. Mike's Catering.
WE ASK YOU TO PLEASE GO TO THIS LINK TO MAKE A RESERVATION FOR THE MEETING!https://www.eventbrite.com/o/the-rotary-club-of-canton-ohio-18781258928 (No payment is necessary when reserving). Payment options will be available at the meeting. If you need help using the Eventbrite site, please contact Rotarian Sue Marzano.
A Canton/Plain Twp. Rotary Inter-Club Fellowship Happy Hour is next Wednesday September 29, 2021 4pm-6pm at Tug-Boats Pub at Meadowlake Golf Club, 1211 39th Street NE, Canton OH 44714
All Canton Rotary members are encouraged to mix and mingle with our fellow Plain Twp. Rotarians. The Rotary Club of Canton helped establish the Rotary Club of Plain Twp. in 1985, over 36 years ago.
This is a great time to renew old friendships and establish new ones within our Rotary Clubs.
An interesting note is that two of our Canton members, Roy Barr and Jack Mansfield, were two of the Founding Members of Plain Rotary. Meadowlake Golf Club was developed by Roy Barr and his father who had the Barr Dairy Farm on this property.
We will have a great time, rain or shine, this coming Wednesday.
This is just a casual, drop-in type of social event, so feel free to brings friends or family, maybe even a prospective new member!
And, if you might be interested in playing 9 holes prior (to work up a thirst?), contact Fellowship Chairperson, Shawn Daugherty, at 330-704-7483.
There is a gentle rain as I write this update this morning. For some reason I find the rain to provide a certain calmness during what is otherwise a chaotic time. Take a moment to enjoy the relaxation this weather provides.
This past weekend kicked off with our terrific speaker Jeff Daffler at last Friday’s Rotary lunch and it has been daily Rotary events since then. Jeff is the Vice President of Economic Development at the Canton Chamber, and he provided some great insights as to what may lie ahead. On Friday night I had the honor of representing the Canton Rotary with Past Presidents Mark Rojek and Paul White at the Centennial Plaza Ribbon Cutting. It was terrific seeing so many Rotarians during this fantastic fun filled event. Sunday, I started communications with my fellow District 6650 Presidents stumping for at least $165 from each of the 46 Rotary clubs for the Kenya facemask project, and then Monday night my wife and I along with Becky Clarke and PPE Lynn Hamilton attended the Texas Roadhouse fundraiser for our McKinley Interact Club. Yeehaa! We had a good time catching up and helping them raise money.
Things won’t be slowing down much this week and I’ll look forward to keeping you updated in my next report. There is one thing I’ve noticed recently and it’s that we are not doing a good enough job staying updated on each other. In the last month I found out by coincidence that someone was sick, someone had heart surgery, someone was battling cancer, and someone had a child that passed away. I feel awful finding out about these occurrences after the fact. Let’s keep reaching out to fellow members we haven’t spoken with, see how they are doing, and help them to get to some lunches so we can stay connected. When you hear something important like this, please let me know ASAP so we can communicate our best wishes.
We continue the artful balancing of having too much or not enough food, so I continue to ask each of you to register early for your attendance using Eventbrite. If you have problems with it, or just can’t’ figure it out, don’t worry. Just reach out to me or Sue Marzano by phone, email, or text and we will see to it that you are signed up for the lunch meeting.
Please remember that we are actively seeking contributions from members for Hurricane Ida Relief, The Kenya Mask Project.
As I have said before The Canton Rotary is where we give our passions a home!
At our meeting on Friday 9/17/21, President Mark welcomed 34 Canton Rotarians and five guests: Rich Micelli, prospective new member; Brent Watts, transferring Rotarian; Leigh Page & Bill Green, LinkedIn guests of President Mark; and Mike Slaski, guest of Jim Thomas.
Happy Bucks:
- Paul Hervey, $3
- Tim Franta, $1
- Virginai Neutzling, $1
- Fritz Spring, $1
- Lynn Hamilton, $1
- Mark Clendenin, $1
- Rick Taylor, $10 (editor's note: please let my wife know that our anniversary was worth a $10 Happy Buck donation, okay?)
Our Canton Rotary Club has supported Junior Achievement locally for at least 20 years, both financially and through volunteering. JA is a non-profit that brings business and professional people into classrooms to help teach young people about personal finances, entrepreneurship, and job readiness. This support falls squarely into Rotary's mission of sharing one's vocation, as well as support for young people.
We currently have a great volunteer opportunity with Ms. Dana Reinhard for her 9th grade students at McKinley High School: she is looking for a volunteer to present just one session of JA's "Be Entrepreneurial".
She is primarily interested in having this entrepreneur provide their personal experience as a business person: how did the idea for the business develop, what did it take to open the business, what has the business person learned, etc.
Class time is 11:15 to 12:45. You would work out the date for your mentorship with Dana, and JA will train you on whichever module you choose (see below). We think Dana is looking to do this in the next few weeks.
If you are interested, please reach out to me, Rick Taylor, at 330-575-2870 or rickt@kozmosgrille.com.
Here's the info from JA:
School- McKinley High School/ Fall 2021
Teacher- Dana Reinhard
Volunteer- 1 session requirement
Program-Be Entrepreneurial- Module: Think Like an Entrepreneur
Module: JA Think Like an Entrepreneur™
Students develop a mindset that enables opportunity identification, innovation, value creation,
and problem solving. They learn the entrepreneurial principles, strategies, and skills through the
experiences of others and apply them to their own lives.
