Austintown Rotary hosts August meeting

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Neighbors | Submitted.Rotary President Mal Culp (left) stood with Bob Wirtz from Gateways to Better Living. Gateways to Better Living seeks to provide an appropriate environment of living for those who are developmentally disabled.

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Neighbors | Submitted.From left, Mark Cole (Rotary Flag Chairman), John Prest (Youngstown F.O.P.), Rick Alli (Youngstown F.O.P.) and Mal Culp (Rotary President) stood with the flag that the Rotary donated.

The Rotary Club of Austintown hosted a meeting on Aug. 24, where they had guests talk about their organizations’ work.

Representing the Fraternal Order of Police from Youngstown were John Prest and Rick Alli, who spoke about the Police Officers Memorial at the end of the South Avenue bridge. The most recent name added was Michael Hartzell, a Fitch graduate who died in the line of duty. Prest is in charge of the memorial, and needed a new flag for the site, as the winds wear the flags out often. Alli thanked Austintown Rotary for their donation of a flag, which will be returning to Austintown next week as part of the Rotary Flag Lease program. Flags are still available at www.austintownflags.com.

Representing Gateways for Better Living was Bob Wirtz, who mentioned that the agency has 16 group homes for the developmentally disabled in Mahoning County, seven of which are in Austintown. This non profit organization seeks to provide the least restrictive and appropriate environment for those who need this type of care and structured life.