Virginia Peninsula Rotary - Club History

Below is the year of President Jeff Brittain, 2019-2020. If you would like to go in chronological order, start at the bottom and scroll your way up.

To round out the 2019-2020 Rotary year, Anne-Lise Gere talked about HR, Amy Jordan discussed the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance, Paula Bazemore introduced us to the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities, and Alex Ritchie spoke about Rotary membership.

It was a masked happening. On June 18th, with the sun coming out and the Pandemic rules gradually lifting, we participated with four other Rotary Clubs in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Habitat for Humanity house that Rotary was sponsoring. The Kameera James family, the beneficiaries of the project, were present.

On May 20th we had a virtual presenttion by Dr. Mike Dacey, COO of the Riverside Health System, giving us a thorough look--an inside view, so to speak--at the ongoing pandemic. The photo above, taken during the presentation, seems a fitting symbol of the current world situation. It shows a cell being attacked by coronavirus: the amorphous dark shape you see is the living cell, and the light-colored specks covering the cell are the coronavirus.

Starting in March, we acknowledged the coronavirus pandemic and shifted to "zoom" virtual meetings. This includes meetings of the Board of Directors. Our virtual meetings have brought us a presentation by Asa Jackson, artist and entrepreneur, about his various projects; a tour of the Norfolk Botanical Gardens; an update from Keith Roots of CNU about our scholarship fund; and a presentation by Stephen Beer, PDG and District Foundation Chair, about his visit to a Rotary Foundation Global Grant site in Africa.

On March 11th the club met at the facilities of "Gather," an alternative office facility in the Newport News "Tech Center" area, and got a tour.

Some things that happened in February that are not shown below: Rear Admiral (retired) William Vincent discussed diversity in the ranks of the US Navy, Joe Williams told us about Hope to Walk and the providing of prosthetic legs, and both Sandra Chong and Anita Williams spoke about the Hampton Mayor's Book Club.

The month of February saw two working days for our project, undertaken jointly with the Warwick at City Center Club, to renovate one of the centers of the Boys and Girls Club.

February 15th saw our annual Charter Night festivities at the Hampton Yacht Club.

After a November and December of mostly special activities, we started the new calendar year getting back to our normal programs. During January we had Hal Brauer of the Peninsula Community Foundation, Brittany LaValeur of An Achievable Dream, Kevin Otey of the Hampton Roads Community Action Program, and Doreen Kopacz from the Seafood Industrial Park.

In keeping with our long-time tradition, on December 18th the club took shifts to ring the bell for The Salvation Army all day long. Shown here is Jeff Brittain and Justin Wynings.

Held at the Riverwalk Restaurant, our annual holiday party December 4th was merry, happy, and well-attended.

November 16th brought us the 27th annual Tennis Ball for An Achievable Dream. The most important event in the Virginia Peninsula Rotary Club's year, it is a premier occasion for the benefit of the nationally-lauded Achievable Dream educational program. To see many more photographs of the night, click here.

At the District 7600 Foundation Awards dinner the Peninsula Club's support of the Rotary Foundation during the year of Immediate Past President Bill Ziglar garnered more awards. As Club Foundation Chair Kevin Yeargin put it, "We got every award that we could have gotten!"

Some October activities not described below included President Jeff and other members conducting a Club Assembly, Chief Terry Sult talking about the state of the police force in Hampton, Polly and Doug White talking about alternative office space possibilities, and historian Kurt Reisweber discussing ocean liners of the 19th and 20th Centuries and showing us examples from his collection of thousands of ocean liner post cards.

With his age still measured only in weeks, the young son of Adam and Jennifer Duncan toured the Saint George's Brewery facility, and in so doing attended his first Rotary Club meeting. Imitating some very elderly Rotarians, he slept through most of the tour.

September events not discussed below included Brittany Lavaleur and Julie Cruit Angilly giving us a Tennis Ball update from the point of view of An Achievable Dream, Doug Wilson telling us about the Elizabeth River transportation infrastructure, Caroline Taylor relating how a successful business was started, and Coliseum Central's Eboni Council inaugurating our new meeting venue.

On September 18th Linda Ellis, the now-retired teacher/advisor to our Peninsula Catholic High School Interact Club, swears in the new year's Interact officers.

We began September with a Club Assembly, where we got down to the serious business of the final stretch of planning for the Tennis Ball.

August 28th saw us in a social event once again at the "town square" of Port Warwick, and this time it was not just our club, but four Rotary Clubs were represented.

August 21st saw PDG and District Foundation Chair Stephen Beer twice--once at the breakfast meeting of the Warwick at City Center Club giving a check for the grant helping the Boys and Girls Club, and once at the lunch meeting of the Peninsula Club with a check for playground equipment for the children of San Bosco in central Costa Rica. Both District Grant projects were joint projects by the two clubs in cooperation.

On August 14th Adam Klutts, the new CEO of the Peninsula Metropolitan YMCA, was inducted into the Club by PDG Diane Hagemann.

July events not mentioned below included a Club Assembly where Tennis Ball co-chairs Jeff Stodghill and Patrick Tompkins got us geared up for the largest Club event of the year, Greg Siegel talked about the history and the reconditioning of the City of Hampton's old streetcar, and fellow Rotarian (and Past District Governor) Bill Pollard talked about his recent day-long visit on board the aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush.

Each year starting in July, the incoming District Governor begins the Rotary Year by visiting every Rotary Club in the District--all 63 of them. July 24th saw the annual visit by District 7600 Clenise Platt.

July 12th was the first meeting under new President Jeff. It was a Club Assembly, an introduction to the new year, and included talks by Jeff Stodghill and Patrick Tompkins, the co-chairs for the 2019 Tennis Ball.

July 12th saw the first meeting of the Board of Directors, under President Jeff, for the 2019-2020 Rotary year.

On a beautiful and pleasantly cool June day (the 14th), we had our changing-of-the-guard ceremonies and party at the home of outgoing President Bill Ziglar. Above, PDG Diane Hagemann swears in the new President Jeff Brittain.