THIS WEEK THURSDAY – to be held at Fox Meadow Barn. An International Affair of Food and Wine is a cocktail fundraising event held annually in our community. Our Rotary Club created this event to raise money to support community non-profit organizations. This fun-filled evening is in its 9th year and includes international and U.S. wines poured by winery representatives, internationally-inspired hors d’oeuvres prepared by local, independent restaurants, plus a silent auction and a wine pull. Make plans to join your fellow Rotarians for a wonderful evening!

Tickets will be on sale at our meetings, and the committee is asking members to contribute a bottle of wine, a value of $25. Or more, for the wine pull.

ROTARY MEANS BUSINESS FELLOWSHIP

The Membership Committee wants to help Rotarians learn about their fellow members on a personal and professional level. A new subcommittee has been formed to determine ways we can better learn about what each of us does professionally. Doing so may allow us to find

business opportunities or providers of services we were unaware were in our Club. To kick start this process Co- Chairs Justin Rowling and Don Louque are asking any Club members who would like to promote their business to reach out to them with their interest. They are working on ways we can help members promote their business to other members. There are several plans in the works, but they need to understand who might be interested.

If you would like an opportunity to promote your business at a Rotary event in the future, please send an email to Justin (justin@dirtydogcleaning.com) or Don (don_louque@hotmail.com) and let them know. More information to follow.

OUR PROGRAM LAST WEEK

Winchester mayor – and fellow club member – Les Veach shared the latest goings-on from the mayor’s office. He said the difference between being the mayor and being a city counselor is that the mayor also gets to make proclamations and help promote tourism.

He also said he is the ex officio leader of the Complaints Department and fields calls and emails on a regular basis ranging from noisy neighbors and local prisoners asking to be let out of jail. He recognized Winchester Police Chief Ronnie Lewis, who was our speaker last week and is attending now as a prospective member, for the police department’s great work reducing the city’s overall crime rate by 47%.

The council does the city’s Strategic Plan and works with the city staff to implement it. Although the city and the county try to collaborate and have several memorandums of understanding (MOUs), past attempts to more formally connect have been less fruitful.

Les went through some of the key goals of the upcoming strategic plan, which include working on behalf of half of the citizenry, building housing and other infrastructure, strengthening the government, and supporting services for residents. He said the secret to success is open communication between the various parts of government and the public.

Les mentioned that Winchester is the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the state, and we need to balance the need for growth (to sustain our thriving economy) with the importance of maintaining our small-town feel. He cited improvements to the area like on-demand WinTransit and wider sidewalks and upcoming growth, including the redevelopment of Ward Plaza.

Calling all Rotarians to help with the

annual Healing Field of Honor Flag Inspection/Repair Day

Dan Abel reported that March 29th is FIR Day – our flag inspection and repair day for the Healing Fields of Honor. Join

Dan and his cohort at the Wilkins Field House at SU as they inspect and fix 700 Flags to be used at our annual May Memorial Day Weekend event.

Any questions contact : Dan Able   dbabel83@gmail.com

RUMMAGE SALE – APRIL 26TH! SPRING CLEANING WITH A PURPOSE!
The treasure hunt of the year is happening at the Ruritan Club in Stephenson—right next to the fairgrounds! This is a ONE-DAY-ONLY sale!

SET-UP DAYS: April 23-25th, noon – 8pm. DONATIONS: Start gathering your “must-go” items now! Drop them off at the Ruritan Club when you come to h e l p s e t  u p  o n  A p r i l  2 3 r d  –  2 5 T H . CONTACT: Got questions? Want to coordinate a drop-off? Call Wilson Gilbert (540-247-2770) or Jean Barch (540-247-8402).

Mark your calendars now to volunteer at this fun event. Stay tuned for more details coming soon!

ST. PATRICK’S DAY CELEBRATION!

If you weren’t there, you missed a great time at Vibrissa last Monday. Although no green beer was available, more than one glass of Irish Red Ale was lifted in toast to fellowship and the wearin’ of the green. Good food, adult libations, and great stories were shared by all.

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS GRANT PROJECT

We heard an update from Dave Sweeny on our latest district grant. The grant supports the Knights of Columbus kitchen, which many of our club members volunteer for. It will also help build a storage shed behind the KOC to house supplies.

Watch for a 2026 project announcement coming soon.

We are providing volunteers every Tuesday morning from 9:30-2pm to help Chef Maggie Peterson prepare the frozen meals that are delivered later in the week to over 100 families in our community who need food assistance. To volunteer, click on the following link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B45A8AF22A4FBCE9

-54305202-knights#/

OR contact Tootie Rinker (tootie1222@gmail.com).

BOARD MEETING NOTES from John

The Board approved three Standard Operating Procures which is a Goal of Strategic Direction # 2 of the Board’s strategic plan.

The goal is: Establish standard operating procedures which define responsibilities and maintain efficiency. The 3 SOPs were sent to all members by email. The committee will be looking at the several procedures that occur throughout the year from fund raising to the functions of officers.

To refresh your memory:

Goal of Strategic Direction # 1 is: The Rotary Club of Winchester will have a dynamic, fully engaged membership which reflects the demographics of the community.

The committee is working to ensure fidelity in our mentor program and initiating a red ribbon program to assist in engaging new members.

Goal Strategic Direction #3: The Rotary Club of Winchester will operate in a fiscally sound manner, demonstrating good stewardship of funds.

Much work by the committee is being done to ensure accurate re-porting and accurate prediction of financial activity as we begin planning for next year’s budget

CIVIC CLUB APPRECIATION RECEPTION

Thursday, April 10 from 6-8pm Chapel at the Village at Orchard Ridge The RSVP is below:

https://www.thevillageatorchardridge.org/civic/

MENTORS MEETING

Our Mentor’s Meeting has been rescheduled for April 3rd at 11am before our regular lunch meeting. All mentors are strongly encouraged to attend to review new guidelines for mentoring. Please let Libba know if you will be there.

HEALTH REPORT

Jean Barch had a knee replacement last week and it went well. She’s on track to be back at Rotary this week, if only to keep up with Les and his rapid recovery from the same procedure. Gary Chrisman is doing well at home and Donna Parish now has the same flu that Libba recently got over.

HEALTH TIP

Last Thursday was Be a Good Neighbor Day and we were encouraged to smile more and be friendly to our neighbors, like Mr. Rogers taught us, even the unpleasant ones. It was also International Day of Happiness, so Libba

HAVE YOU REGISTERED

F O R      D I S T R I C T      C O N F E R E N C E      Y E T ?

Picture this: A weekend of inspiration, fellowship and fun, plus dueling pianos, a Beatles night, and a little AI talk to keep things interesting.   Other

Tootie and John gave yet another plug for the district conference, thanking those registrants who are bringing cookies for the cookie table and soliciting more. We still have a free night’s stay and conference registration available for first-time attendees—that’s a major value.

The District Conference is April 3-6, 2025, at the Inn at Virginia Tech, and if you haven’t registered yet, what are you waiting for? Rotarians, family and friends are all welcome!

Don’t miss out on the most exciting event of the Rotary year—plus, let’s be honest, where else can you mix a scotch tasting with a service project? First-time at- tenders may have their registration paid.  Please see

President John if interested.