Club History - 15-16 Pat Resto

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Below is the year of President Pat Resto, 2015-2016.  If you would like to go in chronological order, start at the bottom and scroll your way up.

June 11th was a "work day" at the YMCA's Camp Kekoka, in Lancaster County.  Shown here are two of Kevin Yeargin's family, Kevin, Joel Bundy, Ned Spencer, Ray Spencer, Bill Blanchard, and two of Ned's family.  The inset at upper left is Ned, fastening metal hurricane straps.  The task was to build a shelter for the archery stand.  Also participating were members of theWest Point Rotary Club and the Kilmarnock Rotary Club.

Jeff Scott, General Manager of the Peninsula Pilots, talks to us June 8th about his team.  The Pilots is in a non-professional league of college students, playing on their summer vacation.  Three of the team members were present.

As the final event in an event-packed June first meeting, Virginia Rotary Day was celebrated by the cutting and serving of a cake.  The day commemorates the anniversary of the 1913 founding of the Richmond Rotary Club, the first Rotary Club in Virginia.  In the above photo Diana, assisted by Jim Probsdorfer, cuts the cake and serves it to the gathered Rotarians.

Also on the first of June, Past District Governor and current District Foundation Chair Jim Probsdorfer spoke to the club about The Rotary Foundation, what it does, and how it works.

In recognition of her skill in interviewing Rotary International President-Elect John Germ, the District awarded additional points to designate Diana Gulotta a Paul Harris Fellow Plus One.  She was pinned on June first by Julie Franklin of the Huguenot Trail Club, as Jim Probsdorfer looks on.

May 25th found us at the Newport News Police Museum on Warwick Boulevard.  Master Officer D. J. Pointer and the resident historian Mike Motley gave us information and yarns about our police department.

Mike Watkins and Heather McKeating of the Norfolk Tides did a tag-team presentation on May 18th about the Norfolk Tides baseball team, their goals, and their efforts of outreach to the community.

As part of the Career Day meeting, the Peninsula Catholic High School Interact Club was given a certificate of appreciation for their outstanding and consistent contributions to our club's international projects, and specifically for their support of the playground equipment project in Heredia, Costa Rica.  Above, District 7600 Governor Gary Chenault presents the certificate to Interact Club faculty advisor Linda Ellis and three of the Interact Club officers.

April 27th was our annual Career Day.  With Joe Johnson leading a room half filled with students from Peninsula Catholic High School, we Rotarians shared our experience with teen-agers to give advice on careers and career paths.

April 23rd saw the District 7600 Training Assembly, which orients and trains next year's club officers.  In attendance were John Frantz, Diana Gulotta, Diane Hagemann, Bill Ziglar, Suki Pierce, and Kevin Yeargin.

On April 20th John Frantz welcomes Debi Waldeck into the club as the newest member.

On April 13th Diane inducted Kim Luckes into the club as a new member of the Virginia Peninsula Rotary Club.

Abby Yoder, shown here with John Frantz, is the latest recipient of a scholarship from the Peninsula Rotary Club Endowed Scholarship Fund at Christopher Newport University.  Abby is a junior, majoring in social work.

More inductions of new members!  On April 6th we inducted Patrick Tompkins and Karanita Fuller.

On March 30th the club welcomed Bill Blanchard and Greg Milstead into the club as new members, and also welcomed Linda Neilson as an Honorary Member.

Pat Resto represented the Peninsula Club at a "Stop Hunger Now" event held at Menchville High School on March 22nd.  More than 10,000 nutritious and shelf-stable meals were packaged for shipment to hungry people around the world.?

Pat and Diane are shown here on March 16th, welcoming our newest member into the club, Jordan Vallerga.

This year Charter Night was February 19th at the Hampton Yacht Club.  This is the night we have a good time and celebrate our club's founding in 1976.  Many members were honored this year, including Abe Firestone as Rotarian of the Year, and many first-time and multiple-time Paul Harris Fellows.  All Charter Night photos here were taken by Nhu Quach.

On February 19th we celebrated the completion in Costa Rica of a project of the Peninsula Club-sponsored Interact Club of Peninsula Catholic High School.  A complex play structure was installed at el Centro de Ensenanza Especial de Heredia, a school in Heredia, Costa Rica.  The school specializes in the education of children with disabilities--the physically disabled, the mentally disabled, and those with multiple disabilities.  Here, equipment that helps develop coordination and motor skills is more than just something fun to do at recess, it is part of the core mission of the school.  A $4,200.00 donation, raised by the PCHS Interact Club, made the installation of this equipment possible.  In this photograph standing on the left is Ray Spencer, representing the Virginia Peninsula Rotary Club, and indirectly representing the Interact Club. Others shown are the school principal, a member of the Heredia School Board, and members of the Rotary Club of Heredia, Costa Rica. 

The club sponsored three students to RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) this year.  The three-day function is held at a camp outside Wakefield, Virginia.  Shown here are our delegates, Devon Trepp, Bryen Quachyeargin, and Julia MacMasters.  Bryen goes to Tabb High School, and Devon and Julia go to Peninsula Catholic High School.

Shown here are some Rotarians at the blood drive on February 11th.  The drive was jointly sponsored by the Virginia Peninsula Rotary Club, Sentara, and The Links, Incorporated.

Recently there have been a lot of new faces at our meetings.  For three of our February meetings, members are bringing guests who are, or might be, interested in joining our club.

Diane Hagemann, Peninsula Club Rotarian and District Governor-Elect, is in San Diego at the Rotary International Assembly.  The R.I. Assembly gathers the incoming District Governors from around the world for orientation, training, and advice.  The photo on the left shows Diane on the first day of the Assembly.  On the right we see Diane, with her husband Drew, with John Germ, incoming Rotary International President, and his wife Judy.

On Saturday, January 16th, we paid our last respects to Cap Neilson at a memorial service in Williamsburg.  Walter "Cap" Nielson, 1944-2016.  Rotarian, Past President, Past District Governor, and friend.  He will be sorely missed.

Amy Ritchie of An Achievable Dream presented Diana Gulotta a check for more than $14,000 on January 13th.  The club is co-sponsor of the Tennis Ball, and this check was the club's portion of the proceeds of that event.  Diana was this year's Tennis Ball Chair.

December 16th was our day of ringing the bell for the Salvation Army.  We rang at two locations, in one-hour shifts from morning until evening.  31 of our members, plus some family members, participated in this annual event.

Our holiday celebration was held December 5th at the Williamsburg Golf Club.  We had fine food, fine fellowship, fine weather, and a good festive spirit.

As they have done for the last several years at the Tennis Ball, the CNU Rotaract Club provided roving "BidPal" experts to help guests with the computerized bidding technology.  Shown here is part of this year's Rotaract team.

November 21st was the night of the Tennis Ball, a benefit for An Achievable Dream.  For more about this, the premier event in our calendar, go to our Photo Albums page.

On November 12th the District 7600 Rotary Foundation Awards Banquet was held.  Here, Paul Szabo receives a collection of awards for his year as President.  With him are Past District Foundation Chair Jim Probsdorfer, District Governor Gary Chenault, and Zone 33 Director-Elect Joe Mulkerrin.  The awards we received are for giving more than $200 per member to the Rotary Foundation, for being an "EREY" club (Every Rotarian, Every Year), and having 100 percent of our members being Paul Harris Sustaining Members.

A more elaborate Military Appreciation Day is in the planning stages, but on this Veterans' Day we simply took a moment to recognize all the veterans who were present at the meeting.  Shown here are Ray Spencer, Mike Kuhns (our speker, and a member of the Newport News Rotary), Joel Bundy, Debra Flores, Dick Summerville, Roger Wolfe, Rick Machamer, and Tom Morris.

On November 11th Mike Kuhns of the Peninsula Chamber of Commerce gave us his take on the economic state of the Peninsula.

Early on the morning of the first Wednesday of every month, the Virginia Peninsula Rotary Club's Board of Directors meets for breakfast at the Lunch Bell in City Center.  This photograph is of the November 4th meeting.

On October 24th we had a visit from a club favorite, historian John Quarstein.  In detail, John told us about the final hours and minutes at the sinking of the USS Monitor during the Civil War, the heroic efforts to save most of the crew, and the ongoing work to preserve the ship's remains at the Mariner's Museum.

Our Rotary District 7600 is one of 29 Districts in Rotary International Zones 33-34.  The Peninsula Club's Diane Hagemann attended the Zone's Governor-Elect training session in Destin, Florida. Shown here on the left is the District 7600 delegation--Jim Bynum, Diane, Stephen Beer, Gary Chenault, and John Padgett.  On the right is Diane consulting with Rotary International President-Elect John Germ.

October 24th was World Polio Day.  To promote awareness, the Peninsula Rotary Club set up a table at the Christopher Newport University homecoming football game.  Shown here manning the table are Adam Duncan, Peter Johns, President Pat Resto, and Kevin Yeargin.

Our club's Roteract Club at Christopher Newport University had a conflict with World Polio Day (namely their homecoming festivities), and so had their own Purple Pinkie Day a few days earlier.

On October 7th, we not only heard from our scheduled speaker, entrepreneur Ed Mulbeck talking about bringing an Indian Motorcycle dealership to the Peninsula, but we met this year's recipient of our CNU scholarship, Emilee Burke, and we heard from Barbara Banks, an alumna of An Achievable Dream and current teacher there.

On September 23rd we had our first "Immunization Day."  With Pat in her lab coat presiding, two pharmacy students explained about the flu immunization.  And with two professional pharmacists in the club, anyone who wanted a flu shot could get one.  On the right, Cathy Miller gives a shot to Rick Machamer.

On September 2nd we had our visit from the District 7600 Governor, Gary Chenault.  He met early with the Board of Directors, and then was our program for the regular meeting.

On August 29th the club had an outing at the Langley Speedway.  In addition to good racing, there was good food and good fellowship.

Elizabeth McCoury, recent past president now living in Seattle, returned to talk to us about life in the northeast corner of the U.S.

President Pat gives 92-year-old Abe Firestone a hug after he announced at the August 5th meeting that for health reasons he would no longer be coming to meetings.  Long a favorite in the club, he will certainly be missed.

The Peninsula Club was well-represented at the District's Foundation and Grant Seminar on the first of August, with Kevin, Diane, Pat, and Joel attending.  Kevin won one of the prizes in the "wackiest outfit" contest.

On July 29th President Pat pinned two new members--Suki Pierce, who migrated from being an honorary member to being an active member, and Helene Lippe.

In the center of this "lineup," Pat, as club president, happily accepts the banner of the District 7600 Governor Nominee.  It comes to us, of course, because our Diane Hagemann is "on deck" to become next year's District Governor.

July 20th was Rotary Night at the Norfolk Tides game at Harbor Park.  For every ticket sold, $4.00 went to support the Rotary International Polio Plus effort.  This photo shows four of the 14 Peninsula Club Rotarians present.

Amy Ritchie of An Achievable Dream visited our July 8th meeting to kick off the 2015 Tennis Ball planning.  She is shown here with Debra Flores, last year's Tennis Ball Chair, and Diana Gulotta, this year's Tennis Ball Chair.

At the officers' induction party, Immediate Past President Paul announced that Diana Gulotta was named the Rotarian of the Year for the 2014-2015 Rotary Year.

Pat Resto, 41st President of the Virginia Peninsula Rotary Club, is sworn in by Gary Chenault, who in a few days will be our District Governor.

At each table at the new officers' induction party, there was a container of handmade flowers in the Rotary colors.  All these flowers were made by Suki Pierce.

The party for the induction of the 2015-2016 officers was held June 27th at the Williamsburg Golf Club.  In addition to our members, the event was attended by many Past District Governors.