Thursday, Jan. 26 2012 6:58PM
Character lauded during mayor’s breakfast
By Rob Roberts, rroberts@lsjournal.com
Rob Roberts/The Journal
Bob Glaser, among a crowd of 600 during the Jan. 26 Mayor's Character Breakfast, received the event's top honor: a Lifetime Achievement award.
Print
E-Mail
AIM
Reprinttool name
closeBob Glaser, vice president of business development for Summit Bank of Kansas City, was awarded the top Reflections of Character award during the Ninth Annual Mayor’s Character Breakfast Jan. 26 at The Pavilion at John Knox Village. This year’s event, sponsored by Lee’s Summit CARES, attracted a record crowd of 600 and honored 14 local individuals for various positive character traits.
Glaser was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Lee’s Summit Mayor Randy Rhoads.
The founding president and CEO of the Truman Heartland Community Foundation, Glaser has put his fundraising expertise to use for area United Way chapters, the Lee’s Summit Symphony, Hope House, Truman Medical Center-Lakewood, the Lee’s Summit Arts Council and other groups.
In addition, he has served in key positions with the Lee’s Summit Chamber of Commerce, Lee’s Summit 360, the Rotary Club of Lee’s Summit, Eastland Community Foundation, Children’s Mercy Hospital, the Langsford Boys Home and American Red Cross, among other organizations.
“When it comes to community support, Bob is often like a little boy who finds a homeless puppy,” said Rick Viar, president of Summit Bank of Kansas City. “When he hears about an organization in need, his natural reaction is to propose full adoption and 100 percent commitment.”
According to Roby Little, director of Lee’s Summit CARES, Glaser fully embraces the character traits promoted by Lee’s Summit CARES and expects the same of others where he works. He conducts a monthly contest to identify the bank associate who best exhibits the character trait of the month.
He also volunteers as a partner with Meadow Lane Elementary and Bernard Campbell Middle School, displaying student art at his bank and helping the schools find needed resources. Besides Glaser, 13 other individuals were honored with character trait awards at the event. These ranged from the Perseverance award for Judy Green, who helps fellow residents with developmental disabilities, to the Self-Control award for Hazel Grove fourth-grader Lauren Wiley, who on the occasion of her 10th birthday asked that gifts be purchased for dogs and cats at Wayside Waifs. Karen Kornacki, KMBC-TV 9 sports anchor, was the keynote speaker for the event. She challenged audience members to make the decision to embrace positive character traits, including “saying what you mean and meaning what you say.” Kornacki, who began her career on Jan. 15, 1979, in Columbus, Ohio, said she didn’t know whether longtime Ohio State University football coach Woody Hayes fit that mold after seeing him punch a Clemson defender who had intercepted his quarterback during the 1978 Gator Bowl.
Hayes was subsequently fired, she related, and her very first assignment for the Columbus television station that had hired her was to interview Hays at his home about the termination. Hayes, who declined her interview request, eventually let Kornacki in after she told him her father, also a football coach, would be proud of her for getting to talk to the legendary coach. But after a 45-minute discussion about Kornacki’s father, Hayes again declined an interview, and Kornacki returned to her station, half-expecting to be fired. Instead, her general manager, who was waiting for her in the parking lot, told the perplexed young sports reporter, “Great job.”
Following her visit, she explained, Hayes had called the GM, told him Kornacki was a person of character who had provided him a 45-minute vacation from his post-firing disgrace, and promised to give her the first interview when he was ready to talk.
And he did.
Kornacki also related a story about former Kansas City Royals outfielder Emil Brown accidentally shooting her in the eye with a pellet gun while she was conducting a locker-room interview. The incident, captured on video, quickly went viral, and people around the world called to ask her about it.
But they didn’t want to know if she was OK, Kornacki said. Rather, the No. 1 question was why she yelled “ow” instead of a curse word, she said. The answer, she said, is that refusing to use foul language was one of the character traits she had engrained in herself.
Respecting others is another, Kornacki said, which is why she never had any other locker-room problems, though she was one of the first female sports reporters assigned to conduct post-game interviews in professional locker rooms. But according to Kornacki, Royals Hall of Famer George Brett had a different way of explaining it.
Brett said, “You never peeked,” she explained.
Reflections of Character recipients
Perseverance, Judy Green
Responsibility, Linda Hubbuch
Family, John and Sally Graham
Compassion, Donna Staggs
Citizenship, Lt. Col. Lee Lacy
Appreciation, Karen Gallick
Kindness, Sue McCambridge
Cooperation, Officer Mark Wiesemann
Respect, Officer Jeremy Brownlee
Courage, Shawn Pierce
Self-Control, Lauren Wiley
Generosity, Tammy Smith
Lifetime Achievement, Bob Glaser
