Jeff O’Brien is the Executive Director at First Tee – Greater Akron and has been in the role since 2018. Established in 1998, First Tee – Greater Akron is a chapter of First Tee, an international youth development organization that shapes the lives of young people ages 5 through 18. The mission of First Tee – Greater Akron is to impact the lives of young people by providing educational programs that build character, instill life-enhancing values and promote healthy habits through the game of golf.
Before joining the team at First Tee, Jeff served as the Director of Membership & Clubhouse Services at Shaker Heights Country Club. Prior to that, he worked for the Cleveland Monsters/Cleveland Cavaliers in corporate sales and in television production at ESPN in Connecticut.
Jeff holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Minor in Marketing from Loyola University Maryland. While at Loyola, Jeff was a member of the golf team and was the 2003 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Men’s Golfer of the Year. Jeff has been the President of the Loyola University Cleveland Alumni Chapter, the President of his Homeowner’s Association, served on the national Chapter Advisory Committee for First Tee, and is currently a Board Member for BFG Federal Credit Union.
Jeff and his wife, Alisa, reside in Akron, Ohio, with their goldendoodle, Hank.
Thursday, May 22nd, the Rotary International Fellowship of Recreational Vehicles was hosted as guests at the Akron Rotary Camp by Mella Castner and Amanda Warner.
Rotary Fellowships are international groups that share a common passion. Being part of a fellowship is a fun way to make friends around the world, explore a hobby or profession, and enhance your Rotary experience.
The 25 guest were mostly from the Eastern United States and Canada.
The group spent an hour and a half learning the history of the Rotary Camp, its history, growth, and changes that occurred over the past 100 years.
RVF, as they are referred to, was officially started in 2002 but began gathering together before being recognized by Rotary International as a fellowship.
They wrapped up the day with lunch at the Honeymoon Grill on Manchester rd. After lunch they set off to explore the area including the Cuyahoga Valley National park before returning to the campground.
Rotary Fellowships are international groups that share a common passion. They are a fun way to make friends around the world, explore a hobby or profession . They can be vocational or special interested groups.
Each fellowship functions independently of Rotary International, establishing its own rules, dues and requirements, as well as administrative structure.
If you have an interest in a particular fellowshipclick here to check out ROTARY FELLOWSHIPSon the RI website you can copy and paste this link: web site https://www.rotary.org/en/our-programs/more-fellowships.
Fellow member, Gerry Kiefer will have her artwork featured in June-July at Akron Women's City Club (AWCC).
The show will be "'Curious and Curiouser'": Cabinets of Curiosity and Magical Islands."
It will comprise primarily shadow box-framed, hand altered prints of her magical island, Iceland, from the 16th through the 19th century.
A number of them will contain actual objects, Icelandic spar and Icelandic lava specimens. She will be taking her lead from the AWCC library's design, with multiple shelves in glass-lined cabinets, to show how the shape and feel of Iceland took off from the exotic object cabinets assembled first, by Dutch wealthy merchant families of the 17th century, and later, by explorers and writers primarily in northern Europe.
Each segment of the show will be introduced by a hand-written explanatory note (from Gerry, of course!).
All will be for sale, listed as $200-$300 each. Individual works will be titled with numbers only, keyed to a price list which will be available in the gallery.
President-Elect Katy Miller held a board planning retreat May 23rd to discuss plans and goals for her 2025-2026 year as President. Each person who wished to do so ordered and paid for their own breakfast so there was not any cost to the club for this meeting.
President-Elect Katy ran an energetic, effective and informative meeting for 90 minutes with a lot of great ideas exchanged!
All members are encouraged to join us at the July 8th regularly scheduled luncheon when Katy will be inducted along with her board and she will discuss her goals and objectives for the new Rotary year.
I hope this message finds you well. It is time again for our semi monthly service project. We're teaming up to support the Akron Canton Regional Food Bank (ACRFB). Together we'll help ensure that families in our community have access to the food and resources they need.
Details of Event:
When: Wednesday May 28
Time: 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Where: Akron Canton Regional Food Bank, 350 Opportunity Parkway, Akron, OH 44307
This is a great opportunity to bond with fellow Rotarians while making an impact in our community.
The service project typically involves breaking down large containers of food into smaller portions for redistribution to area food pantries.
RSVP by Friday May 23rd.
Please let me know if you're able to join us by replying to me at dhall@preferredlegacy.com or texting me at 330-714-1044. Family and friends are welcome so please bring a guest.
Let's come together to embody the Rotary spirit and make this event a success. I'm looking forward to seeing many of you there!
IF YOU HAVE NOT VOLUNTEERED BEFORE AT THE FOOD BANK THEN I NEED YOU TO REGISTER WITH ACRFB.
See volunteer application link below.
If you have any questions please call or text me.
Let's come together to embody the Rotary spirit and make this event a success. I'm looking forward to seeing many of you there!
When you arrive, please park in the front of the building or in the Dart Avenue parking lot. Use the front glass doors to enter the building.
If the parking lot is full, please park in the grass lot or proceed to the Shipping and Receiving parking lot on the other side of the building.
If entering through Shipping and Receiving, enter through the RED visitor door and proceed to the front desk.
We also recommend carpooling when possible.
What to wear:
Face Masks are optional.
Safety is our priority! Please note that open-toed shoes are not permitted in the warehouse.Jewelry is not permitted in the clean- room and we recommend wearing limited jewelry when volunteering.
Comfortable shoes are recommended as you may be on your feet the entire time.
It is best to dress in layers. The weather outside may affect the temperature inside the warehouse.
Happy New Year! I hope that each of you and your families had a wonderful Christmas and holiday season overall!
It's that time of year again where I send out everyone's favorite email - plus, you will get to hear my voice even more than usual at club meetings (cue the eyerolls and groans - I know you can't wait!) as I announce the need for volunteers to assist with the following roles at our club meetings for the 1st half of 2025: Greeter (& "Daily Lotto" sales), Invocation Speaker, & Meeting/Technology Set-Up.
My most sincere appreciation and gratitude goes out to the faithful “regulars” I have been able to consistently count on to help fill the respective roles or jump in last minute to cover an empty slot (you know who you are). I also appreciate the handful of "newcomers" (both established and newer members) who helped throughout the course of last year or expressed a willingness to do so moving forward.
I would like to encourage anyone that has either never served as Greeter or Invocator (or who has only done so sparingly) to consider volunteering for a few slots during this 1st half of 2025 - I'd be immensely thankful to see my list of "regulars" grow. Not only are these roles a much appreciated and valued service to the club, but they also present an excellent opportunity to immerse oneself in the weekly meetings.
If you need help signing up, please let me know and I can direct you to the appropriate location on the Rotary Club of Akron website, or I will gladly fill in your name for whatever date(s) you are able and willing to volunteer. For convenience, here is the public URL to the relevant volunteer sign-up page:
For Greeters, please plan to arrive by 11:40ish (if possible) and be prepared to help sell Daily Lotto raffle tickets and have the speaker pull the winning ticket at the end of the meeting.
For Invocation Speakers, I have provided some links with sample invocations below. You are quite welcome to create your own invocation, of course, but please know that custom content is not a requirement! I am happy to assist with this too. In fact, I'll even provide an invocation for you to read if that's what it will take for you to sign up. I assure you, this need not be an intimidating volunteer role for the meeting!
For Meeting/Technology Set-Up, the duties currently require:
Ensuring the computer, projector, and microphones are all up and running smoothly before the start of the meeting. NOTE: Brian Kosarko, Michael Gladysz, or I can/will help train new volunteers - we would certainly appreciate expanding the rotation for this role.
If necessary, correcting the flag positioning so that when viewed from the audience, the U.S./American Flag is to the left of the speaker/podium and the Ohio Flag is on the right.
Thank you in advance for volunteering!
Yours in service,
CJ
Connor G. Jarvis, CFP®
Sergeant of Arms
Rotary Club of Akron
Some links with sample invocations (if needed/desired):
Q
The show will be "'Curious and Curiouser'": Cabinets of Curiosity and Magical Islands." 
Yours in service,
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