We were excited to welcome one of our newest members into our club today. Get to know him better by reading over the kind introduction, as read by member Cyndi Astley:
“So, who is Jon Reeves? If you really knew Jon, you would know that he is not too excited about being in the spotlight. So you might wonder how he is even standing up here right now. —-In his word—–He can do this, because he has the power of telepathy and he is channeling his thoughts through me. He is able to benefit from having me as my stand-in, his stunt double, and a human buffer from all that is public speaking. I am acting as Jon and am highly capable of conveying his message charismatically, with enthusiasm, and conviction. Jon likes this way of communication and may adopt puppetry or ventriloquism for all future public speaking engagements.
Just a side note, I’m adding stunt double to my resume!!
Jon is actually quite outgoing, on his own terms. He enjoys a well-timed comedic interruption, and appreciates the qualities of respectful, yet ongoing sarcasm. He grew up in Silverton, Oregon as a transplant from California in the 5th Grade. He graduated from Western Oregon University when it was a college, and started working at the Community Action Agency when he had brown hair. He grew up in the organization and arguably still have some development to do. (his words not mine) He went back to school for a Graduate Certificate in Infant Toddler Mental Health and spent the majority of my career advocating for children and their families and increasing quality in early learning environments. During Jon’s 17 years with the Community Action Agency he started a family with my wife Amber and have three boys ages 15, 12, and 4. They are thriving in West Salem.
Everything that Jon has learned about life, he learned from music. Here are a few snippets of knowledge Jon has learned, feel free to sing along as he knows singing is a requirement here:
Cyndi Lauper stated that “Money Changes Everything,” and arguably it does, one way or another. Chumbawamba “Tubthumping” taught Jon resilience and tenacity through a repetitive rhythm… “when I get knocked down, I get up again, you’re never going to keep me down!” Kenny Rogers taught Jon that, “You got to know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away, and know when to run.” Think deep, this isn’t about a card game. Lynyrd Skynyrd sat next to Jon and told him to, “be a simple kind of man,… be something you love and understand.” But Jon’s personal favorite is a little known song by Shawn Mullins, called “Shimmer”. Mullins restores faith and reminds us that “We’re born to shimmer, we’re born to shine, we’re born to radiate, we’re born to live, we’re born to love, we’re born to never hate.”
Over getting to know the club, Jon believes learned what Rotary members really have in common and what makes him want to walk alongside us. He believes that this community has great advocates in all Rotarians, and the people Rotary serves through our passion, our resources, our human capital, and our shared commitment are in good hands with Rotary.
As you can see Jon is quite a guy. I have enjoyed working with him for more than 15 years and you are going to love getting to know him. I subscribe to a listserve that sends me a quote of the day, today this was the quote and I think it sums up my colleague, friend, boss, newest Rotarian perfectly:
The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly. by Jim Rohn
I present Jon Reeves, Executive Director of Community Action Agency.”
