Rotary Award Recipients 

THREE MEMBERS RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE 

Three club members were honored for their contributions to the club at the annual Installation and Awards Program on June 23. (See related Installation story in June 28 Issue.) 

Steve Payerle was named Rotarian of the Year, and Paul Cynkar received the Rookie of the Year award. John Butterfield was honored for club and community service, two of Rotary’s five Avenues of Service. 

Rotarian of Year 

Steve, who joined the club in October 2017 and was selected co-Rookie the following year, served as president-elect this year. The owner of Next Level Technologies, an IT services company offering information technology support to businesses, Steve used his expertise to guide the club in using video teleconferencing platforms, as well as other online resources, when in-person meetings and activities were suspended during the pandemic. He combined his technical know-how with strong interpersonal and management skills to move the forward throughout the year. 

“There was no person better to help us meet these challenges than Steve Payerle,” Jim Miller, one of several members who nominated him for the award, said in making the award presentation. 

Although he had aspired to earn the award someday, Steve indicated he was surprised to be this year’s recipient. He joined Rotary because he believes in "doing good" and “giving back,” not as a way to develop his business. 

“Rotary allows me to satisfy that inherent desire to be a positive influence and this award is certainly fuel for that fire,” he said. He views the award as a vote of confidence for his role as club president for the coming year, which he greatly appreciates. 

Rookie of the Year 

In introducing Paul as Rookie, Christie Bruffy, last year’s recipient, noted the unique way Paul found to become engaged in the club during the pandemic through written profiles of members. What started as a Red-Badge task to get to know 10 members through written profiles has grown into the development of profiles of all members. 

John Butterfield, who nominated Paul for Rookie, believes his project is a major contribution to the club.  “The interview stories have the potential to foster relationship-building among all members and to identify strengths and interests of members which can be tapped to strengthen our club,”?he wrote in his nomination. “What a great way to help members understand the characteristics of servant leadership and then apply them to the interviews of club members.” 

Christie also recognized Paul’s attendance at club meetings. Even though he joined other “snow-bird” members in Florida during the winter months, Paul made it a priority to attend club meetings through Zoom and stay engaged while outside of central Ohio, she pointed out.  

Paul joined the club in December 2019. He lives in Worthington and was an administrator for the Worthington School District for 25 years, having served as principal of Worthingway Middle School and an assistant superintendent.  He also was chief operating officer for Battelle for Kids, a nonprofit organization that works with Ohio school districts to improve student achievement. He currently serves as a grant evaluator for the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation. 

Paul said he was honored to be recognized as Rookie, but questioned how a 69-year-old qualifies as a rookie. “It doesn’t make sense, but I really appreciate it,” he commented. “It got me thinking about my youth.” 

He gave an entertaining presentation entitled “My Path Around the Bases,” in which he described his passion for baseball, which started as a Little League player and continued into adulthood as a player/coach, finally ending at age 65. (Ask Paul about scoring the fifth run on a grand-slam homerun.) His heroes were baseball players.  

“Today my heroes are members of this club,” he said, noting that he has known about the contributions of members and the club to the community for many years. “Thank you for inviting to join your team,” he concluded. “I feel like I’ve finally made it home.” 

Avenues of Service 

President Jim said the Avenues of Service Award is the highest recognition by the club. Awarded by District 6690 based on the nomination of the club president, club members who receive a citation in each of the five service avenues –club, community, international, vocational and youth – are then eligible for Rotary’s overall Avenues of Service Award.  

Jim nominated John Butterfield, whom he said has been a core part of the club for many years, for the club service and community service awards. John served as president last year, chaired the membership and social committee for many years and developed the club’s updated website two years ago.  

“John puts his heart into everything he does,” Jim said, noting John’s energy and knowledge of the club’s history, members and culture. “He’s a great adviser.” 

A 24-year club member, John said he chose to apply his career skills and experiences to foster relationships among members, strengthen communications with members and the community and increase membership.  

In 2000 he initiated Rotary After Hours (RAH RAHs) first at area restaurants and pubs and then at member-hosted events at their homes or businesses. Since then, the club has held 55 RAH RAHs with 34 members serving as hosts. In May 2020 in response to Covid restrictions, five consecutive nights of RAH RAHs were scheduled through Zoom, one even connecting members with fellow Rotarians in the Dominican Republic. “If you have hosted an event, you have made our club stronger,” he said in thanking hosts. 

John said that many years ago he became concerned about the decline in the club’s membership and the demographic aging of the club. The club’s membership peaked at 123 in 2002 and began its decline to 80 in 2017, with a loss of 28 the previous four years. This year the average age of members is 66 with 72 percent of members 60 or older and about half, 70 or older. 

Six years ago he got involved in the membership committee and began tracking age, gender, ethnicity and work status of members, leading to the development of a plan to grow the club’s membership. As a result, the club’s website was revamped to appeal to target markets, and the board adjusted club meeting times, changed meeting locations while improving the food and lowering the cost and expanded our membership categories. “Most importantly, we made members aware of the issue and sought your help,” he said. “Because of these initiatives and your support, we grew our membership to 90 by the end of the 2018-19 year.”   

But membership growth is an on-going challenge, he stressed. Although the club gained 10 new members last year, 15 members dropped out. With Covid hampering recruitment efforts this year, the decline has continued with membership likely to be at 79 by the end of June.   

John believes the club is again at crossroads and described two different paths: a vibrant club with new and experienced members and a diverse membership or a club with aging members and the further loss of members and resources.  

“Let club leaders know your preferred vision,” he urged, pointing out that new members bring fresh ideas, enthusiasm and commitment to service and are the future leaders of our club. Five of the current board members, including the president and president-elect, joined since 2017-18.  

“Tapping members’ expertise and interests into meaningful engagement and fostering strong relationships are also key to the club’s growth and health,” he added. 

Regarding community service, John considers it as the heart of the organization and has looked forward to joining fellow members on improving the quality of life in our?community in a variety of projects over the years. One of his most memorable is the September 2019 landscaping/beautification project on the grounds of the Mirolo Community Pavilion, which he co-chaired with Mike Moulton.  

He thinks the project had all of the right elements – partnerships, community and member engagement, multiple funders, adult and children volunteers and tangible results. “We created a place of beautify and enhanced the natural environment,” he said. “It reinforced that when everyone works together in the service of others, amazing things happen.” 

“I can’t think of a better place to serve others and make a difference than alongside not only 80 amazing people in the Dublin-Worthington Rotary Club, but also the thousands and thousands of Rotarians worldwide,” he concluded.?“We may recite the Four Way Test in different languages across the world, but we have the same motto: Service Above Self. We are here to serve.”

Photo 1: Rookie of the Year Paul Cynkar. 

Photo 2: Rotarian of the Year Steve Payerle. 

Photo 3: John Butterfield, left, accepts Avenues of Service Citations for club service and community service from President Jim Miller, who nominated him for the awards. 

https://youtu.be/bJCw1DeDcqs