Erin Dickerson’s Prayer
Michell C. Clark wrote, “Negativity is contagious. Unhappiness is contagious. Fear is contagious. But so is happiness. So is optimism. So is love. Surround yourself with people who bring out the best in you. And strive to be a reflection of what you want to receive.”
Lord,
We give thanks to you for the people in this room who help to bring out the best not only in one another, but also in those whom we work to serve and support. Help us to never underestimate the impact we can have on others, to strive for those impacts to be positive, and to forgive ourselves for the times we fail to be a reflection of what we wish to receive.
Amen.
Tom Beery Sings the National Anthem at the Bengals Game
Tom Beery sang the National Anthem at the Bengals football game on October 15, 2023. Tom is an amazing singer and as a cancer survivor, was specially selected to sing for this game. Tom has been cancer free for seven years. Use this Google search to find a video of his performance.
Since 2009, the NFL and the American Cancer Society (ACS) have teamed up to fight cancer and save lives. Crucial Catch helps more people catch cancer early and addresses the unequal burden of cancer in under-resourced communities. Crucial Catch promotes prevention and early detection of cancer, which can impact anyone at any age, and increases access to lifesaving cancer screenings. Since 2009, Crucial Catch has raised more than $27 million and impacted over one million people in communities that need it most.
Announcements
- Joan Cordonnier explained the giant thank you card at the front of the room. It was signed by all the students in the Communications Arts/Broadcast Management programs at CHS. The card thanked CNO for its recent donation that will be used to rebuild a studio for the program. On the radio station WCWT 107.3 FM the students run they will be making public service announcements about CNO events and fundraisers like the Christmas Tree Lot.
- Nancy Lehren, chair of Childhood Health and Wellness, announced there will be a Build-a-Bear for Oncology patients on November 8, 2023, and for Sickle Cell patients on November 14, 2023, both at Dayton Children’s Hospital. There will be a committee meeting to plan these events on 10/26/2023 at Woodbourne Library at 6:15 PM. Signup online to help using the Member Calendar.
- Christy Gariety announced that for Adopt-a-Family this year there will be 50 kids instead of 25 kids. The budget per kid is $75 and you can buy gifts or give money. Gifts need to be dropped off by November 30, 2023. Register to participate using the Member Calendar.
Haunted Trail Recap
Gail Aiken, the chair of the Haunted Trail, gave a wrap of the Haunted Trail 2023. She said, “I can wrap it up in a word – WOW!”
Haunted Trail Thank Yous
- Special thank yous to co-chairs, Larry Lynde, Larry England and Denise O’Neill for all of their hard work.
- Special thank you to Mike Cordonnier and his theater students for all their work.
- Greg and Evelyn Griffin for taking photos ahead of time while it was still light outside. View the photos here.
- Larry England for being the official counter. Night one there were 948 guests and night two there were 849 guests.
- Tim Clemmer and Scott Langer for the hilarious entertainment as guests gathered in groups to receive instructions before their tour.
- Valorie Huff for organizing all the refreshments for guests after their walk. They gave away 2400 donut holes over the two nights.
- All the CNO members that helped in any way.
Haunted Trail by the Numbers
- 1,800 guests over 2 nights
- 5,000 pounds of food was collected for First Dawn Food Pantry at Restoration Church
- 1 college club helped, The University of Dayton – several UD students were trail guides
- 1 TOP Optimist club manned the “Creepy Campground” fright station
- 3 Octagon clubs that worked fright stations
- 2 beautiful nights
CHS Theatre Program by the Numbers
- 10 Days for Theatre Program to build sets
- 24 students in the Theatre program at CHS built the sets, set them up and took them down
- 1,152 hours, the time 24 students spent over 12 days to build, setup and take down props
Happy Birthday Renee Glenn
Today was Renee Glenn’s birthday. She got the “treatment” from Tom Beery who sang a special song for her birthday. The end of the song is, “The one thing we all agree on is you’ve gone over the hill.”
Have a great year Renee!
Robert J. O’Toole EMT/Firefighter of the Year Award
Gary Anderson and Bob Burkman have jointly chaired the EMT/Firefighter of the Award for several years.
The EMT/Firefighter Award honors the memory of Ruth and John’s son Robert J. O’Toole. Robert lost his life on January 12, 1998, while responding to an accident. The Award aims to honor those in our community who unselfishly give of themselves in service to others.
CNO gives this award in October since it is Fire Safety Month. Optimist International has long had a Respect for Law Award. CNO added the Firefigher/EMT of the Year Award after the 1998 tragedy.
This is the 26th time CNO has presented this award.
Gary Anderson offered a 25-year apology for just this year inviting Chuck Arnold to this award ceremony. During the tragic accident, Chuck Arnold was severely injured. It took Chuck two and a half years to recover. He had to relearn how to walk and talk after the injury.
Award Recipient Nick Bergman
This year’s recipient is Deputy Fire Chief Nick Bergman. CNO presented Nick Bergman with a plaque and his name will be added to the plaque at the Washington Township Fire Department headquarters.
Joining Nick Bergman at lunch today were Ruth O’Toole and Robert O’Toole’s sister Ruthie DeVan; Fire Chief Scott Kujawa; Washington Township Administrator Mike Thonnerieux; Washington Township Fiscal Officer Gary Smiga; John and Paula Kalaman.
Click to view the Tri-Fold Brochure of the 2023 Robert O’Toole EMT/Firefighter of the Year Award.
About Nick Bergman from Fire Chief Scott Kujawa
Gary Anderson introduced Fire Chief Scott Kujawa, who presented the award to Nick Bergman.
The following is from Fire Chief Scott Kujawa:
Good afternoon. My name is Scott Kujawa, and I am the Fire Chief for the Washington Township Fire Department. It is my honor to be before you today to present this award.
On January 12, 1998, Firefighter Robert O’Toole, and Officer John Kalaman paid the ultimate sacrifice while serving our community. These two men will never be forgotten by the Washington Township Fire Department, Centerville Police Department, or our community. I want to thank the Noon Optimist Club of Centerville and the O’Toole family for their continued support and remembrance of Firefighter O’Toole through the Robert J. O’Toole EMT/Firefighter of the Year Award.
Now, to recognize this year’s recipient:
Deputy Chief Nick Bergman is an outstanding member of our fire department and community. He brings an upbeat attitude to work every day and is always looking for ways that we can improve upon policies, procedures, and processes within our organization. Nick has been a member of our organization since May of 2008 and served in the roles of firefighter, lieutenant, battalion chief and most recently deputy chief.
Our department is one of 310 internationally accredited agencies, through the Commission on Fire Accreditation International. Deputy Chief Bergman plays an integral part in this process as our accreditation manager. As the manager, he has improved processes and procedures through the use of data. Some of these include dashboards for tracking incident response data, fire safety inspection data, and hydrant inspection data. This data is provided to our members so that we can all review overall performance and adjust when necessary.
Nick was the project manager for our beautiful new fire station 41 at 716 E. Franklin Street. If you haven’t had an opportunity to stop by and see it, please let us know and we would be happy to give you a tour. This project required many hours of work each week to ensure the project stayed on track and that the quality of work was to our expectations.
Deputy Chief Bergman is currently working on his master’s program at Penn State, and he is a credentialed Chief Fire Officer. These are both in line with department expectations for professional development and continuing education.
Nick’s work ethic and job performance are exemplary, and he defines what it means to unselfishly give of himself in service to others. Deputy Chief Nick Bergman is truly deserving of the Robert J. O’Toole EMT/Firefighter of the Year Award. I’d like to congratulate and invite Deputy Chief Bergman to the front.
Nick Bergman Thanked CNO
Nick said, “I want to thank everyone for this award. I never met Robert O’Toole, but everything I have ever heard about Robert was that he was a great person.”
Fire Chief Scott Kujawa is Retiring
President Joan Cordonnier gave special recognition to Fire Chief Scott Kujawa, who will retire on January 2, 2024. This will be the last time he presents the CNO EMT/Firefighter of the Year Award. He has been with the township since 1992 and became Fire Chief in 2019.
In 2022, under Scott’s leadership, the Washington Township Fire Department received state recognition with one of the Ohio Fire Service’s highest honors: Ohio Fire Department of the Year. The award honors an Ohio fire department that has demonstrated outstanding teaching characteristics and has made a major impact in fire education in its community and department.
Scott oversaw the design and building of the new fire station 41 that was completed in 2023.
Joan ended with, “Scott, thank you so much for having an amazing impact on our community!”
Gary Anderson Remembers Robert J. O’Toole
The following is from Gary Anderson:
- Bobby was a special little boy who I and others couldn’t help but love. I had the good fortune of being Bobby’s principal K-4; and again 9-12
- Bobby was born March 2, 1972, in Teaneck, New Jersey to parents John and Ruth
- Bobby has 2 brothers and 2 sisters
- Started Kindergarten at Village South on August 30, 1977
- K-4 at VS; 5th grade at Stingley August 31, 1982
- Tower Heights Middle School
- CHS West Unit Freshman in August 1986; graduated June 2, 1990
- Bob was identified with a learning disability after being referred by his first-grade teacher
- Like so many students identified with a learning disability, Bobby had above average intelligence on School Ability Tests given in 2nd and 5th grades
- His first-grade teacher once commented “Bob is very shy around strangers, is anxious to read, and reads a lot at home. Because of his short attention span he does not complete most assignments.”
- His 4th grade teacher once wrote on his report card “Robert needs to pay more attention in class and keep up with his daily assignments. I feel he is much more capable than his work indicates. Bob does not do daily assignments and does not know his multiplication tables. Needs to use class time wisely.”
- In November 1986 Bob took the Ohio Interest Survey Profile which showed his best liked career interest was humanitarian/caretaking; favorite subject was Social Studies.
- Bobby O’Toole gave his life in the line of duty doing what he loved and wanted to do on January 12, 1998.
Move Over Laws
On January 12, 1998, Robert J. O’Toole was dispatched to a minor one car incident. On the median of I-675 he was struck and killed by an approaching motorist even though the flashing lights of at least 4 emergency vehicles were flashing.
Inspired by this tragedy, Ohio in 1999 and now many other states have passed a “Move Over Law” for flashing lights of police and emergency responders. In 2013 it was expanded to include any stationary vehicle with flashing lights.
Nationwide, we need more education about the existence of these laws and why they are important. Here are some statistics about avoidable tragedies:
- 1 Tow Truck driver every 6 days
- 23 Highway Workers / month
- 1 Law Enforcement Officer / month
- 5 Fire Fighters / year
Welcome Guests
| Guest | Guest Of |
| Brian Lunne | Karl Frydryk |
| Chuck Arnold | Program |
| Jeff Mogg | MIke Bevis |
| Nancy Slezak | Mike Bevis |
| Nick Bergman | Program |
| Ruth O’Toole | Program |
| Ruthie DeVan | Program |
| Scott Kujawa | Program |
New Member Readings and Inductions
No readings nor inductions this week.
Happy Bucks
| Member | Reason |
| Gail Aiken | Happy the Haunted Trail is over. She is stepping down as the chair, let her know if you want the job. |
| Christy Gariety | Just got back from a four week stay in Seattle visiting her newborn grandson. |
| Sue Jessee | Really appreciated the food from the Haunted Trail that was donated to the First Dawn Food Pantry at Restoration Church where she volunteers. |
| Dave Kay | First met Joan Cordonnier years ago when their children were assigned together to the Bodies in Motion class at Kindergarten Village. They were both parent volunteers. |
| Sue Brubaker | Just received her copy of her son’s newest novel. |
Sergeants at Arms
| Member | Infraction |
| Fred Polizzi | Sergeant Karen Charnesky has been a member of CNO for nearly a year and has never met Fred. He needs to show up more at lunch. |
| Beth Duncan | $100 fine, (Yes she paid the fine and with a CNOte). Beth, as president, had schemes protecting the bell last year. On the same day that Fire Chief Kujawa was here last year he remembers that technically the contraption Beth built was blocking egress (safety first). The sergeants heard this and issued the largest fine ever. The point here is that our great previous CNO President took the fine and paid it. Way to go Beth! |
| Joan Cordonnier | Being too protective of the bell and gavel. |
| Jesse Gaither | Didn’t notice Chris McAlpine at the Art Institute’s October Fest, an obvious snub when they passed so close by each other at the event. |
| Joan Cordonnier | During the replay at lunch today of Tom Beery singing the National Anthem she forgot to tell us to stand up. |
| Tom Beery | Not wearing his Optimist pin when singing the National Anthem at the Bengals game. |
| Mike Thonnerieux | He brought firefighters dressed in their uniforms. Their shirt is white. The sergeants fine people for wearing white after Labor Day. |
| Roland Rapp | Wearing shorts to today’s meeting. The sergeant said it was too cold for that. |
| Gary Anderson | Chain of custody issues tracking down the Tri-Folds for the EMT/Firefighter of the Year on the tables today. About 6 people were asked and said I don’t have them. Finally they found them in a closet at Yankee Trace. |
Membership Anniversaries
| Member | Joined | Years |
| Jean Pummill | October 17, 2012 | 11 |
| Aaron Campbell | October 20, 2009 | 14 |
| Steve Campbell | October 20, 2009 | 14 |
| Tom Henderson | October 20, 2009 | 14 |
| Monty Zinck | October 20, 2009 | 14 |
| Evelyn Griffin | October 21, 2015 | 8 |
| Carrie Million | October 21, 2015 | 8 |
| Mike Fanelli | October 22, 2003 | 20 |
| Bob Foster | October 22, 2003 | 20 |
| Abby Branham | October 23, 2019 | 4 |
| Andy Higgins | October 23, 2019 | 4 |
| Lacy Owens | October 23, 2019 | 4 |
| Carol Smerz | October 23, 2019 | 4 |
Birthdays
| Steve Rudisill | October 17 |
| Renee Glenn | October 17 |
| Carol Mays | October 18 |
| Bernita Daley | October 18 |
| Greg Griffin | October 19 |
| Gary Anderson | October 20 |
| Jackie Powell | October 22 |
CNO Donations – 2013 through August 2023
Click here to see a summary of donations the club has made since 2013
Thank You Notes Received
CLICK HERE to see the Thank You Notes received this week.