West Geauga Kiwanis Welcomes New
Members
Pictured from left to right:
Bill Callam, Mike Wissinger
KIWANIS
INDUCTS NEW MEMBERS
Our two newest members inducted at the May 4th
Spouse's Dinner at Dino's:
Mike Wissinger,
I have lived in
Chesterland for the past fourteen years with
my parents and younger brother. I’ve been dating my girlfriend Rachel
for the
past five and a half years and we’re practically married.
My schooling in
Chesterland started in second grade at
Lindsey Elementary and continued through the middle school and the high
school.
After my graduation in 2007 I rested my brain for a year and then
studied
Criminal Justice at ITT Technical Institute. In March I received my
Associates
Degree in Criminal Justice and have been looking for a job in the field
since
then.
My hobbies
include playing video games, listening to music, walking
in parks, drinking(what 22 year old doesn’t?), playing guitar, and
shooting.
Five years ago I used to be a drug addict. Since I quit I’ve been
actually
enjoying life and trying my best to keep my friends and others away
from drugs.
Bill Callam has only been in the
area for 9 months. He moved here as chef and owner of Callam's
Grill & Pub on the corner of Mayfield Rd. and Rte. 306 in the
heart of Chesterland. He has always been around the food
business from short order cook to 5-star restaurants, and his BBQ
ribs and sauce won awards at Cleveland's Rib Burn-off and Best Ribs in
America. His familial linkages include uncles that were founding
fathers of Time-Out Taverns and Pacers, and uncles still running Trader
Jacks and Winking Lizard (all 14). He knew in kindergarten that
he wanted to be a chef, but owning his own restaurant wasn't a serious
decision until about 4-5 years ago. Besides cooking, he enjoys
spending time with family and volunteering. He joined Kiwanis to
get to know the people in the community and give back by helping
anywhere he's needed. He wants to focus on our children's futures
to ensure that each child has every advantage and opportunity to
move on to success. However, not wanting to pass up the
opportunity of this spotlight, he wanted to say that he runs
daily specials Monday through Saturday! Welcome Bill!
Pictured, left to
right: Rock Pistillo, Ed Kudasick and Dennis Rupp
Rock Pistillo has
lived in the community for the past 6.5 years. He
works for American Friction Technology which manufactures brake pads –
and he tells me they had nothing to do with Toyota’s brakes. He
is the R&D manager at that firm. He has
attended USMA, CWRU and JCU earning a MS in Chemistry.
He has two grown
children Lauren 26 and Valerie 25. He is very
active in several business and professional organizations including
AMVETS, the Harley Owners Group, Society of Automotive Engineers, and
the American Chemical Society.
His hobbies include sailing, but any
boating will do, motorcycles, weightlifting, hunting, fishing and
volunteering – which is what brought him to Kiwanis.
His vision in working
with Kiwanis is to end the political bickering and get residents to
work harmoniously to improve the township’s image and needs.
-------------------------------
Ed Kudasick and his wife Mary have
two wonderful grown daughters who are both products of the West G
school system. They built their house in Russell and moved there,
from North Royalton,
in 1986.
He has worked for a number of local companies including Norton, Carlisle Engineered Products, and PolyOne,
in Engineering, Operations, and general
management positions. He currently works for Barnes Distribution
as a Business Development Specialist and Mary is President and CEO of
the Northeast Ohio chapter of the
Arthritis Foundation.
His hobbies are fishing, hunting, and traveling with Mary although
he spends much more of his spare time helping his daughters take care
of old houses or working around their house.
----------------------------------
Dennis Rupp is a
retired Cardiologist, having graduated from the Univ. of Cincinnati and the Univ. of Kansas. He
and his wife Martha have been married 33 years and have two grown
children Jonathan 28 a Mechanical Engineer & business consultant
and Cynthia 26, a 4th year medical student.
His brother-in-law is a Kiwanis member in Indianapolis.
He is a member of the Geauga Habitat for
Humanities Wednesday work crew, and also volunteers for the Cleveland Orchestra and construction with Cornell University.
Besides
building homes and doing construction projects, his hobbies include
Sailing, running and woodworking – making furniture and wooden boats.
He also enjoys playing the piano, but strictly
only in private as he says he is only good enough to play for himself.
His reading
interests are history books.
He sees the most important needs of
the community is in our children’s education and that is one of the
reasons he joined Kiwanis.
