Sixty years. That’s how long John Kappas has been a Rotarian.
“I joined the Covington Rotary in 1964,” he proudly said at a recent lunch meeting at the Radisson Hotel. “I felt it was my part as a businessman to contribute to the community.”
And contribute he has for those 60 years.
He was one of the youngest members of the Covington Rotary Club to be elected president. He was 27 years old when he served.
For many years he was a member of the Board of Directors and raised thousands of dollars to aid the club in its many outreach endeavors.
Tuesday, November 14 John Kappas, along with Dr. Leon Booth, former president of Northern Kentucky University and businessman Ken Harper – all Rotarians for 50-plus years – will be honored for for a Lifetime of Service.
Tickets are $100 per person and a table of eight is $800; the dinner commences at 6 p.m. at the Covington Radisson.
As for Kappas, he and his family owned and operated Madison Office Supply for 60 years, a successful business in Covington and Greater Cincinnati.
“My dad started the business in 1950,” John said, “And I started working with him while I was in high school.”
Madison Office Supply had three locations, Kappas said – Covington, Florence and Cincinnati.
“We closed the Cincinnati location around seven-years-ago,” he said. “The other two closed soon after.”
Change isn’t something John Kappas is familiar with.
He stayed loyal as a 60-year Rotarian. The man who was born in the old Spears Hospital in Dayton, Kentucky moved to Park Hills after third grade, he recalled. He got married at 21, purchased a home in 1964 – and considers himself a Kentuckian through-and-through.
“We’ve been in that same house since ’64,” he says.
And he’s been married to Vivian 62 years.
“Rotary,” he says, “gives me a way to not only meet new people in the community, but to help as well. I like doing good things for the community.”
On November 14 the community and friends – will say thank-you to John Kappas and the two-other 50-year-plus Rotarians at the Lifetime of Service award dinner.
“I’ve been told I served 60-years as a Rotarian; but how can that be if I’m only 29,” he joked.
The Covington Rotary Club, the oldest civic organization in Northern Kentucky, has been operating in Covington since 1920. Covington Rotary is part of Rotary International, with clubs throughout the world. The Covington Rotary Foundation, a 501c3 organization, carries out much of the Club’s charitable mission.
The Covington Rotary has helped with solar lighting projects in India and continental Africa. They have provided Shelter Boxes after the massive earthquake in Haiti, established computer labs in Guatemala, and provided books for a Native American Library in America’s west.
Tickets for the November 14 event may be purchased by contacting www.covingtonrotary.com.
Covington Rotary