Chartered 1921                       Distinct 7570, Area 1, Club                                 March 06, 2025

OUR PROGRAM THIS WEEK

Lauren Clouse will speak about the Winchester Rescue Mission

WHAT’S COMING UP. . . .

Mar 13th  –     Chief Ronnie Lewis – Winc. Police Dept.

Mar 13th  –     In-House March Service Project

Apr 3-6th  –  District Conference

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.

AWARDS BANQUET

Our Annual Awards Banquet last Thursday was well received by those attending. The Awards Banquet committee of Ed White, Gary Chrisman, Tricia Simpson, and Chair Dave Kelly deserve credit and appreciation for a perfect venue, great food, and a well-presented program.

The event recognized those Rotarians who have received Paul Harris Fellow and Paul Harris Fellow Plus pins. Also recognized were those who had perfect attendance this year and those who have accumulated years of perfect attendance. (Please note, as decided by the Board, the Covid years were not included. We did not track or maintain attendance records during those years.)

Also awarded were two Distinguished Service awards: the first to Rick Mabe, presented by Tootie Rinker, and the second to Dave Miles, presented by Don Louque.

Paul Frank presented the Distinguished Service Award Plus 1 to Nick Nerangis.

Finally, and most prestigious, Tricia Simpson presented the Phil Sprenkle Vocational Award to member Dave Kelly.

Tricia Simpson also spoke of Bernie Schwartzman and Tom Glass in memoriam reflecting on their many years of service to our club and our community.

To close the evening, a final toast was offered—honoring those recognized that evening, celebrating our club’s distinguished past, its present efforts to bring hope and goodwill to the community, and its ongoing commitment to service. And lastly, a toast to what we feel within us—

the MAGIC OF ROTARY.

FEBRUARY SERVICE PROJECT

Winchester Rescue Mission

This is the final week to bring in your donations of paper products and cleaning supplies for the Rescue Mission.

MARCH SERVICE PROJECT

This month’s service project will be a one-time event to benefit children at the Winchester Medical Center’s Pediatric Ward. We will be doing a very simple project before our meeting begins on March 13th. It is a project that any and everyone can do while you socialize and eat your lunch. Be sure to plan on coming to our noon meeting to help out with this month’s service project. The end products will be delivered to the hospital on St. Patrick’s Day, Monday, March 17th, in time for the kids to have something special on such a fun holiday.

SAD TO REPORT

>>Bob DeMott passed last Sunday night. The memorial service will be Friday, March 14, with visitation at 10:00 am, service at 11:00 am, and luncheon following. Bethel Lutheran Church, Winchester.

ENJOY ST. PATRICK’S DAY

WITH A SPIRITED CELEBRATION!

Join us for a lively  St.  Patrick’s Day  Social at Vibrissa on Monday, March 17th, from 5:30-7:30 PM! Who says Mondays have to be dull? Let’s shake off the start-of-the-week blues with good friends, great conversation, and a little Irish cheer.

Wear your green, grab a pint, and enjoy an evening of fun and fellowship. Whether you’re sipping a stout or just soaking up the camaraderie, this is the perfect way to celebrate! See you there!

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS GRANT PROJECT

To follow up on our District Grant for the KofC soup kitchen, 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).

HAVE YOU REGISTERED FOR DISTRICT CONFERENCE YET?

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

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?

Register by March 4 to take advantage of the early bird rate AND receive the official Rotary District Conference polo!

TREX BENCH – WE DID IT!

We reached our goal of 1,000 pounds of stretchable plastic collected – enough to earn a Trex

Bench for the Winchester Day School!  Congratulations to all in our Rota-

ry Club and to our partners: Winchester Day School. John Kerr Elementary School Early Act Club and Signet Marketing for making this happen. Please continue to bring used stretchable plastic to our weekly meetings. Our Club will continue working with Trex to convert the plastic into Benches for placement throughout our community.

Our next beneficiary is the Winchester Rescue Mission. Trex recycles this non-biodegradable plastic into useful products and helps us all contribute toward the Rotary Peace Building Goal of enhancing our environment.

CIVIC CLUB APPRECIATION RECEPTION

Thursday, March 13 from 6-8pm Chapel at the Village at Orchard Ridge The RSVP is below:

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