Erin Dickerson’s Prayer
Dear God,
As we begin to reemerge into a sense of our pre-pandemic normal, I cannot help but relate it to the emergence of the Brood X Cicadas. We too have felt as if it has been a long 17 years. We look forward to shedding our masks much like the cicadas shed their exoskeletons. We want to make as much noise shouting in rejoice! While we are busy making our racket of joy, help us not to drown out the voices of those who have yet to have the opportunity or the option of making a choice to be fully vaccinated. Those children and youth are the very reason we are here and who we are working so hard to support.
Amen.
Special Announcement
There is no lunch meeting on 5/24/2021 for Memorial Day Break. The next meeting will be on 6/1/2021 and will be held at Yankee Trace Golf Club.
CNO 2.0 Meeting
The next Optimist 2.0 will be on June 17, 2021, in the VIP room at Poelking Lanes. Remember that CNO 2.0 meetings are always the evening of the 3rd Thursday of the month.
Announcements
Debe Dockins announced that CHS teacher and CNO member Mike Cordonnier was just inducted into the Centerville Educators Hall of Fame.
Debe Dockins said to let her know if you would like to help decorate the 2021 CNO Americana float and/or if you would like to ride on the float with her and wave to the community.
Mike Bevis, golf outing chair, said that 100 golfers have signed up so far. They need “day of event” volunteers for lots of tasks on Monday, July 12, 2021. There are jobs for all times of the day including early morning, mid-day and at the end of the day. They are also looking for donors and silent auction items like bottles of wine and gift cards.
Tom Novak, Avenue of Flags co-chair, announced that Avenue of Flags needs a lot of volunteers on Wednesday 5/26/2021 at Flag headquarters at Sinclair on Clyo Rd. The CHS wresting team cannot help because they are still in school.
Bob Lawson announced that there were 120 kids at the Family Adventure Day held at the RecPlex last weekend and was a great success. Half of the kids had never caught a fish before.
Committee Meetings
- 6/16/2021, 6 PM, Tom Frazier Tee Off for Youth Golf 2021, Zoom hosted by Mike Bevis. Meetings in 2021 will be on Wednesdays on 1/13, 2/17, 3/24, 4/14, 5/12, 6/16, 7/7. Additional volunteers are always welcome. The golf outing will be held on 7/12/2021.
- 6/15/2021, 6 PM, Monthly Board of Directors Meeting, Zoom hosted by President Debe Dockins.
Kate Bostdorff and Michael Norton-Smith, Uptown Centerville Plans
Mike Bevis introduced two speakers from the City of Centerville. Kate Bostdorff is the Communications Director and Michael Norton-Smith is the Development Director. They were at our meeting to talk about the Uptown Action Plan started 2 years ago for Uptown Centerville.
Webpage for Uptown Centerville: Unique – Vibrant – Historic
You can view the slide deck they presented here.
Conceptual pictures are in the slide deck. There are slides at the end of the deck that explain the design of the new logo and some examples where it could be used.
Vision Statement
“Uptown Centerville is a vibrant district at the heart of our community. Uptown is a welcoming, walkable destination that is home to our history and a friendly gathering place where local businesses thrive.”
The area being re-imagined and rebranded has been known as the Architectural Preservation District (APD). The term APD is part of the issue they want to solve. There are parking spots labeled APD and people think it is just for police parking. One of the first goals is to make it clear it is free parking for anyone.
Overall, the City of Centerville wants to make the area a safer, easier place to park, stay and play in Uptown Centerville.
The hope is that there will be 3 construction phases, 1 each year, starting in 2022.
Visioning Process
- Unofficial Start: 2018 Business Walk
- APD Visioning Committee (15 members)
- Process identified 6 strategies for enhancements
- Walkability, Parking, Events, Business Development, Branding, Greenspace
- Uptown Action Plan released in June 2019
- Approved as an amendment to the City’s Comprehensive plan in August 2019
Working the Plan
- Strategic Acquisition
- Laundromat, 39 N. Main, 32 W Ridgeway, 54 W. Franklin
- Uptown Concept Mater Plan
- Preliminary planning and engineering (MKSK/LJB) engineering firms
- Create a communication plan to keep community informed
- Release of the Uptown logo and brand
- Launch of Uptown Upgrades façade improvement grant program
- “Centerpieces” mural program
- Meeting with property owners about shared parking
- Redesigned parking signage
- New business investment
The city started putting together a vision for an uptown project. The business community has already started working on helping with the plan.
Master Plan
- Released in September 2020 to begin conversations with the community
- Depicts a vision for enhancements to Uptown consistent with the six (6) focus areas of the Uptown Action Plan
- City then hired LJB/MKSK to begin preliminary planning and engineering work in February 2021
- Anticipate construction in Spring 2022 (Phase 1)
- The plans are fluid and will be adjusted as it progresses
Key Enhancements
- Redesigns existing parking areas to improve flow and connectivity
- Increases parking capacity
- Reduces the number of access drives and creates common drives
- Envisions opportunities for targeted infill development (commercial and residential)
- Creates activated outdoor greenspaces, vias, and alleys
- Focuses on four-sided architecture for existing buildings
Vias and Alleys
- To improve the walkability of Uptown, the concept master plan proposes creation of activated outdoor spaces
- These include closing and repurposing existing access drives
- Examples include outdoor patios, decks, alleys, seating areas, etc.
Thank you, Kate Bostdorff and Michael Norton-Smith, for joining us to educate CNO about the City of Centerville’s plans for Uptown Centerville.
New Member Readings and Inductions
None this week.
Welcome Guests!
| Guest Name | Guest of |
| Kate Bostdorff | Today’s co-speaker from the City of Centerville |
| Michael Norton-Smith | Today’s co-speaker from the City of Centerville |
Happy Bucks
| Member | Reason |
| Tom Novak | For the City of Centerville purchasing 15 Avenue of Flag subscriptions each year. |
| Bill Williams | First grandson is expected this fall. |
| Joe Madden | Paid a happy buck so he could make another wisecrack that is not appropriate to list here. Nothing new about that. |
| Paul Stull | First official day as a Sergeant. He strongly recommends that for future meetings you wear your Optimist pin. |
| Charlie Goodwin | Paul Stull will be the recipient of the Centerville Washington Foundation’s Founders award on 10/7/2021. |
Sergeants at Arms
| Member | Infraction |
| Anyone with facial hair | Having facial hair |
| David Ladd | Wearing a “loud” shirt |
| Charla Rheaume | Creative parking at Yankee Trace |
| Anyone who is from Northern Ohio | Being from Northern Ohio |
| Gary Anderson, Bob Foster, Larry England, Bill Stone, John Horner | Wearing shorts today |
| Joe Madden | Borrowed a dollar to pay a debt |
Membership Anniversaries
| Member | Month | Day | Joined | # Years |
| Bill DeShurko | May | 18 | 5/18/2011 | 10 |
| Jim Marker | May | 18 | 5/18/2011 | 10 |
| Rafael Santillan | May | 18 | 5/18/2016 | 5 |
| Jeff Rolf | May | 20 | 5/20/2015 | 6 |
| Kelly George | May | 20 | 5/20/2015 | 6 |
| Pete Rife | May | 22 | 5/22/2013 | 8 |
Birthdays
| Member | Birthday |
| Jack Anderson | May 18 |
| Amy Barker | May 19 |
| Mike Brubaker | May 19 |
| Jim Marker | May 23 |
CNO Donations – 2013 through May 2021
Click here to see a summary of donations the club has made since 2013
Thank You Notes Received
Click Here to Red the Thank You Notes we received this week