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Kansas City, Kansas Rotary Club Honors Sheriff Donald Ash

On September 14, 2021, the Kansas City, Kansas Rotary Club honored Wyandotte County Sheriff Donald “Don” Ash, who spoke to the Club that day.

Prior to the Club meeting, Todd Jordan, KCK Rotary Board Member, presented a Paul Harris Fellow and a plaque to Sheriff Ash, who is not running for re-election as Wyandotte County Sheriff this fall. Sheriff Ash was especially honored with being named a Paul Harris Fellow.

The inscription on the plaque states:

The Rotary Club of Kansas City, Kansas

recognizes

Sheriff Donald “Don” Ash

on the occasion of his retirement,

with appreciation and thanks

from a grateful community for

many years of dedicated service

September 14, 2021

Todd Jordan, KCK Rotary Board member, and Wyandotte County Sheriff Don Ash

A lifelong Wyandotte County resident and Washington High School Class of 1971 alum, Sheriff Ash began his career in law enforcement as a Police Cadet for the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department in February 1972, serving in many different roles until his retirement from the KCKPD in December 2006.

In 2009, Sheriff Ash was elected for his first term as Sheriff of Wyandotte County, Kansas. He was re-elected in 2013 and again in 2017, making him the first person to be elected to three terms as Wyandotte County Sheriff. With his decision not to seek re-election in 2020, Sheriff Ash will be leaving the office after more than 12 years of service as Sheriff and more than 47 years of service in law enforcement.

With this conclusion of his many years of dedicated public service, the KCK Rotary Club wishes Sheriff Ash all the best in his retirement!

Helping Friends of Kaw Point Park

The rain and storm on Friday made weeding at Kaw Point Park a lot easier on Saturday morning, August 21, 2021. We picked up trash and removed as much crabgrass as we could from the native gardens with volunteers from Friends of Kaw Point Park. It was the first time Fernanda, Matt and Melody had been to the park. For our long time members, who knew KCK Rotary member Mike Calwell, you know how tirelessly he and Laura worked to transform and maintain this park. This year Rotary International officially added Protecting the Environment as one of their areas of focus. Helping to maintain this special piece of land in our community is a great way to contribute to protecting the environment and honoring the legacy of Mike. Thanks to Ken Davis for continuing to encourage all of us to be a part of this magical place in our community. We hope to see you on Saturday, Sept 25th for the next clean up.

Returning to Zoom Meetings

Over the past few months, members of our Rotary Club have worked very hard to find a new location and arrange logistics to be able to return to in-person meetings. We did so this week in the lobby of Memorial Hall, with 15 of us in person and about ten joining on Zoom. Although it was great to see everyone, we are once again facing the decision about the format for our meetings as a result of the COVID pandemic.

During yesterday’s board meeting, we discussed concerns about in-person meetings at this time due to the high transmissibility of the COVID-19 Delta variant, rising positivity rates (average hovering around 30% in WYCO), and the low completed vaccination rates for Wyandotte County (35%).

Based on the data above and guidance from the UG Health Department, the board voted unanimously to return to virtual Zoom meetings for the foreseeable future.

Your board doesn’t take these matters lightly, and our goal was to make our decision based on the Four Way Test by discerning the truth as we know it at this time and making a decision that is fair and beneficial to all concerned. We hope our decision, rooted in concern for the health and safety of each member, will build goodwill and better friendships.

Many of us are frustrated and disappointed that we are in this unfortunate situation. However, we believe our decision to return to virtual meetings at this time is the best way forward for our club.

Visit with new District Governor, Vern Henricks

New District Governor, Vern Henricks, was the speaker for our first in-person meeting on Tuesday, August 3, 2021. Vern shared about his experience in Rotary over the years and the goals he has for District 5710 this year. It was nice to be able to host our event in the lobby of Memorial Hall. After the meeting, we gave Vern a short tour of this historic building.

Cross Lines Service Project

In lieu of a regular meeting on July 27th, Club members gathered at Cross-Lines Community Outreach for a volunteer opportunity. Beginning at Noon, while the food pantry is closed, Club members packed commodities boxes for 27 families and seniors, packaged baked goods for the pantry market, restocked the pantry market shelves, helped reorganize food for the pantry, assisted shoppers, and sorted and restacked cases of food in the warehouse area. Lots of great work accomplished in just a couple of hours!

Kansas City, Kansas Rotary Club Educators of the Year for 2021

During the month of May, the Kansas City, Kansas Rotary Club continued its focus on education by honoring some very deserving local educators.

On May 4^th, National Teacher Appreciation Day, we recognized outstanding educators from eight Wyandotte County high schools. This annual program of the Kansas City, Kansas Rotary Club honors teachers in the county who represent the best of our community. The teachers were introduced by each respective school’s administrator, and the Club learned of each teacher’s unique contributions to the individual schools. Each educator received a certificate and a gift card to show our appreciation for their work during this particularly difficult year. We are grateful to these teachers who give so much of themselves to educate and prepare our youth for the future.

Top Row: Bret Klankey, Turner High School; Shawna Stevenson, Bonner Springs High School; Carol Grubbs, Piper High School; and Jasmine Lowe, Wyandotte High School

Bottom Row: Katie Johnson, Sumner Academy; Hillary Klein, J.C. Harmon High School; Michael Boyda, F.L. Schlagle High School; and Maria Belaustegui, Bishop Ward High School

KCK Rotary Student Scholarship Competition

During the month of April, the Kansas City, Kansas Rotary Club, as part of its annual Student Scholarship Competition, recognized outstanding high school students from Wyandotte County schools. One female and one male student from each school are nominated by their respective school’s staffs to compete for $1,500 college scholarships. All the students exemplify the highest academic, service and character standards in our community. We can all be proud of these Wyandotte County students, and we are excited about their bright futures.

Due to the pandemic, the KCK Rotary Club continues to meet via Zoom. The female students, accompanied by school representatives, made short presentations at the Club’s Zoom meeting on April 13^th, and the male students presented to the Club on April 20^th.

The Club will choose one female and one male from these outstanding high school students to receive a $1,500.00 scholarship to be used at the college or university of the student’s choice. The scholarship announcements will be made in early May.

Female Speakers – April 13, 2021:

Clockwise from upper left: Jennifer Obiesie, Piper High School; Lizbeth Martinez, Bishop Ward High School; Jazmin Graham, Bonner Springs High School; Jaleon Brown, Sumner Academy; Katerin Molina Peraza, Wyandotte High School; Kenia Ramirez, F.L. Schlagle High School; Leslie Chavez Hinojos, J.C. Harmon High School; and Elizabeth Thang, Turner High School.

Male Speakers – April 20, 2021:

Clockwise from upper left: Christian Renteria, Sumner Academy; Aaron Johnson, F.L. Schlagle High School; Blake Beashore, Piper High School; Roberto Ramirez, Turner High School; Reynaldo Lopez, Bishop Ward High School; Ian Tomasic, Bonner Springs High School; Miguel Flores, J.C. Harmon High School; Saul Franco Morales, Wyandotte High School

KCK Rotary Celebrates Women's History Month

To celebrate Women’s History Month, the Kansas City, Kansas Rotary Club welcomed several accomplished women as speakers at its weekly meetings.

On March 2, 2021, the Club was joined by Dia Wall, Edward R. Murrow and Mid-America Emmy award winning anchor at KSHB Channel 41 Action News in Kansas City. Ms. Wall began her remarks by sharing that she is passionate about equity. She cautioned that we must be careful about how we report or chronicle history and explained how she exercises that care in her role as a news anchor. Ms. Wall emphasized that you should listen to everyone and should not require that someone look or act a certain way before valuing that person’s words or actions.

On March 9, 2021, Sharla Smith, Ph.D., MPH, an assistant professor at The University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City and founder of Kansas Birth Equity Network (K-BEN), presented to the Club. Dr. Smith’s current research focuses on maternal and infant health disparities. She explained to members that societal factors such as poverty and residential segregation, together with unconscious biases, lead to race-based disparities in both infant mortality and maternal health. The mission of K-BEN is to eliminate health disparities by increasing awareness of the high rate of African American maternal and infant mortality and connecting individuals with local resources.

On March 16, 2021, our speaker was Teneca Clark, General Manager of Production for Heartland Coca-Cola Bottling Company and Regional Vice President. Heartland Coca-Cola Bottling Company is the local Coca-Cola bottler for Kansas and Missouri as well as for parts of Nebraska, Illinois, and Oklahoma. Mentioning that she works in a male-dominated field, Ms. Clark acknowledged the many role models whom she credits with leading her toward a career in science. Her stated goal is to “change the default” in the workplace. For young people to pursue careers in STEM related fields, they need to see people who look like them in those roles.

On March 23, 2021, the Club heard from Robin C. Henry, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of History at Wichita State University, who has written numerous articles and a couple of books focusing on her primary area of study, gender and sexuality and legal and constitutional rights. Dr. Henry’s presentation focused on women’s suffrage and the passage of the 19th Amendment, in honor of the 100^th Anniversary of its passage which occurred just last year.

Closing out the month, Club member Ashley Adorante led Club members in a fun evening of Virtual Bingo!