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Newsletter - Current Jun 1, 2021
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Rotary

 

Club of the
Virginia Peninsula

Wednesday June 2, 2021


Club Leaders

Mike S Nelson
President
Adam Duncan
President-Elect
Jeff Brittain
iPast President
Youth Services Chair
George W. Blanchard
Treasurer
Diane K. Hagemann
Club Director
John F. Frantz
Projects Chair
Kevin B. Yeargin
Rotary Foundation Chair
Edward G S Spencer
Community Service Chair
Charles D. Edmonson
Club Programs Chair
Raymond F. Spencer
International Service Chair
Danny L. Carroll
Club Communications Officer
William T. Ziglar
Assistant Governor


Birthdays

Raymond F. Spencer
June 8th
Adam Klutts
June 15th
Robert W. Carmines
June 22nd
 
 

Speakers

June 16th
Richard Salon - District 7600 Membership
Rotary Membership
June 23rd
Kati McCarter
Chesapeake Bay Foundation Hampton Roads Office Restoration Specialist and Program Assistant
June 30th
Adam Duncan
Rotary Change of Leadership

Rotary Club of the Virginia Peninsula -Endowed Scholarship

By John F. Frantz on Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Habitat House Ribbon Cutting

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

District News

New District Administrative Assistant
Submitted by IPDG Clenise Platt

Rotary District 7600 has a new Administrative Assistant . . . Phyllis Mayfield. Phyllis, a native of Newport News, VA served as the Rotary District 7600 Secretary from 2010-2012. She left the role in 2012 to move to Florida to be near her grandkids. She recently relocated back to Virginia (the place she considers home) and began another chapter with Rotary District 7600 in May. Phyllis enjoys gardening, baking, painting (landscapes and wine glasses), reading, spending time with her friends and family and just enjoying life in her spare time.
Phyllis says she considers herself blessed to have the opportunity to work with the District and all of it’s wonderful members again.
Welcome Back, Phyllis!



 
District Conference News: submitted by Pat Edwards & Colleen Bonadonna, District Conference Chairs

SAVE THE DATE: One of the exciting and most rewarding events during any Rotary year is the District Conference which will be held this year on October 15-17th at the Richmond Downtown Marriott. Early bird registration will begin on July 10th. Several great speakers are lined up to address all the areas of focus, and there will be service projects, a sock hop, an international evening with Rotary Family Feud and much, much more.
Here’s how clubs can be involved:
  1. Provide an item for the silent auction (greater than $50 value)
  2. Provide item for door prize ($10-20 value)
  3. Place an ad in the conference program (often done to congratulate DG/AG/President..)
There will be an Interact and Rotaract events also ongoing, so if your club sponsors an Interact or Rotaract club make sure they are aware of the events.
This is a family friendly conference and we want to meet the family members, so bring them along. More information will be coming over the next couple of months.
So mark your calendar and join us at the Marriott, Downtown Richmond for a great time to gather for fellowship, service and education!
Feed 10 Million Initiative: Submitted by Dianne Gordonn
Earlier this year, I sent out an email about Zone 33's desire to really take a bite out of the Feed 10 Million initiative. I thought I'd resend the email should you and your Team of Leaders in your Club maybe have food serving opportunities you have not logged yet for this Rotary year.
"So many of you and your Clubs have been assisting, serving, packing food and food supplies, becuase it's what we do. But the District and the Zone want to 'count' this and celebrate it with you.
From July 1 2020 through June 30, 2021, any and all opportunities to serve others, in the form of feeding, food, serving, packing, delivering counts. So, yes, a bit of 'back work' may be required, but it will all be worth it, I promise. Here's the 'how to' for reporting:

https://www.rizones33-34.org/feed10million/ then “CLICK HERE TO LOG YOUR MEALS.”

Select the event type. A Zone event, a District event, or a Club event.
Select one of these 3 choices: Zone(s), District(s) or Club(s).
  • Zone(s): Use this for a Zone or a multiple Zone event.
    • Not typical for your use.
  • District(s): Use this for a district event or a multiple District event.
    • Not typical for your use.
  • Club(s): Use this for a single club event or a multiple club event.
    • Select your Zone- we are Zone 33
    • Select your District - we are District 7600
    • Select your club or clubs
    • Select start date of the event
    • Number of meals provided -
    • use this guide - A standard Chiquita banana box is 4 meals - if you are doing food pantry work. 12 pounds of food — the equivalent of 10 meals. An average meal is 1.2 lbs. of food. The average wholesale value of these groceries is $1.67 per pound.
    • Description of the event
    • Description of the event
    • Photos or files if available
    • Contact information
If the above is a bit 'too much' for your Team, give me your stats from your event(s) and I'll get it in. Especially the ones since last July - let my fingers do the walking for you (and the math if you just know $$ and poundage/hours)."
RLI Graduates:

District 7600 congratulates its newest class of Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) graduates: Jackie Chatmon (Cape Charles), Pat Edwards (Town Center Va Beach), Palmer Gross (James River), Jim Hatcher (Town Center Va Beach), Neva Lynde (James City Cty Satellite), Janet McCaskey (Chesapeake), Bill Payne (Cape Charles), and Carol Teachey (James River).
Thank you for showing your commitment to Rotary leadership and Service Above Self!


 
Read a Membership Message - Meet Them Where They Are - HERE.
Submitted by District Membership Chair Rich Salon and Alex Ritchie
Meet the next RI President, Shekhar Mehta
Rotary Club of Calcutta-MahanagarWest Bengal, India
Mehta, an accountant, is chair of the Skyline Group, a real estate development company he founded. He is also a director of Operation Eyesight Universal (India), a Canada-based organization. He has been actively involved in disaster response and is a trustee of ShelterBox, UK. After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, he helped build nearly 500 homes for families affected by the disaster. He pioneered a program that has performed more than 1,500 life-changing heart surgeries in South Asia. He is also the architect of the TEACH Program, which promotes literacy throughout India and has reached thousands of schools.
A Rotary member since 1984, Mehta has served Rotary as director, member or chair of several committees, zone coordinator, training leader, member of The Rotary Foundation Cadre of Technical Advisers, and district governor. He is also the chair of Rotary Foundation (India) and has received Rotary’s Service Above Self Award and The Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service and Distinguished Service Awards. He and his wife, Rashi, are Major Donors and members of the Bequest Society.
Presidential Initiatives from Shekhar Mehta
Equality is a fundamental human right, and it's necessary for a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world. Still, girls and women worldwide face inequities in areas including health and education and experience significant violence and disproportionate poverty. Rotary encourages clubs and districts to prioritize projects that improve the health, well-being, education, and economic security of girls in their communities and around the world. Take on a club-based initiative, a district grant, or a global grant that engages members of your community in a project that will protect and empower girls and increase equity by ensuring their access to resources that will improve their lives.
Host a Rotary Day of Service: a meaningful day of hands-on service activities where Rotary members and the community come together to improve their community. For details go HERE.
Plan to attend a Presidential Conference. The 2021-22 presidential conference series will highlight the humanitarian work that Rotary clubs and districts pioneer locally and support globally.

Club News

Hampton Roads Club:

The club is hosting a scavenger hunt! For more information go HERE.
Goochland Club:
Woodchucking update – the club had a banner year for the Woodchucking Project with about 100 free loads of wood delivered and over $13,000 in gross wood sales. In late February, because of extremely high demand for sale wood, the club realized that the efforts to rebuild stock for next season were seriously behind and they increased their efforts to get restocked for next season.
The picture shows the outcome of that effort. Not only do they have a really good supply of wood already split to start next season, they have successfully shifted the operating model to have commercial tree services and contractors bring wood directly to the wood yard to streamline the efforts making better use of manpower. This is a big change and it will hopefully allow the club to continue scaling up the operation to accommodate more free and sale wood offerings.
AND…

At a recent meeting, Club Foundation Chair Bonnie Field recognized new Paul Harris Fellow and multiple Paul Harris Fellow members. The Paul Harris Fellow recognition acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, of $1,000 or more to the Rotary International Foundation.
Prince George Club:



Prince George Rotarians recently spent time cleaning up the James River at the James River National Wildlife Refuge. Twelve large bags of trash, three car tires, two tractor tires, plastic water tank, and LOTS of other debris and trash were gathered.






 
Hanover County Club:
Hanover Rotary Club was pleased to honor the winners of the 2021 Essay Contest recently. The winners hailed from John Gandy Elementary, South Anna Elementary, and the Hanover Online School. The winners read their essays and were presented with certificates, a check, gift certificates from Roma Restaurant and Chick-fil-a, and a cookie (courtesy of Panera Bread).
The fifth grade students wrote essays about the Rotary 4-way Test and how they could apply it in their daily lives.
This is the seventh year the club has sponsored this Essay Contest for fifth grade students in Hanover County.



 
Petersburg Club: submitted by PDG Bill Pollard
“Today I attended the Petersburg Rotary Club meeting where the club recognized Mom and Larry Tucker who both passed away this past January. The club awarded Larry and Mom with the club’s Virginia B. Cherry Service Above Self Award.
Mom joined the club in 1992 when I invited her to join the club. She was a proud Rotarian for 28 years. She served as club president at the age of 80 when the club celebrated its 100th anniversary. Her grandfather was a member of the Asheville, NC Rotary Club.
Larry was the chairman of Virginia Commonwealth Bank (now Blue Ridge Bank) when I joined the bank in 2015. Rotarian and dear friend Jimbo VanLandingham made a heart-felt presentation honoring Mom and Larry.”

AND… Submitted by Bill Benson, AG:

Recently the Petersburg Club honored Joanne Norman as the Rotarian of the Year for the Rotary Club Of Petersburg. JoAnne has been a Rotarian since 1994, is a Paul Harris Fellow, and currently serves the Club Treasurer, Foundation Chair, Scholarship Chair and Community Service Chair. The Petersburg Club has had an extremely successful year and as Club President Betty Hobbs stated "It would not have happened without JoAnne".








 
Ashland Club:





The Ashland Club welcomed their newest member - Jennifer Schloss - inducted by Membership Chair Mark Smith and Club Secretary Jan Clemens.









 
New Kent Club:

Club members gathered together in an effort to assemble a swing set, but there were no instructions included and the internet was no help. Initially they were only able to get the rubber mats down.
Then after three hot days and 68 pages of instructions they finished the play set for a local group.
Thanks to the members who came out to work on this project - especially Aaron & Dan, who are not club members and members Tony & Cabell who worked all 3 days.








AND


Congratulations to New Kent High School seniors who are recipients of the Rotary Club of New Kent Scholarships. President Brent Bohannon spoke to them on living by the 4-way test.









 
Newport News Club:




Recently the Rotary Club of Newport News members were honored to have the recipients of their club’s charitable donations attend and provide lightning-quick talks on their organizations including An Achievable Dream, Fear 2 Freedom, Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities, N.N. Public Art Foundation, Port Warwick Foundation, Startwheel, Faith Recovery, Soundscapes and Thrive!







 
South Hill Club:

The South Hill Rotary Club and The South Hill Lions Club teamed up this year for the Highway Cleanup Project on their adopted highway section from Farrar Funeral Home to the interstate near Loves. The Rotary Club does this during the year in an effort to keep the town looking its best for visitors. The Lions Club joined in to help to do their part for their environmental efforts. Photo by Lisa Clary

AND…

The South Hill Rotary Club presented $1000 scholarships to six Park View High School students this year as they pursue their college goals. Pictured: Rotary Members Lisa Clary, Randy Cash, students Mark Arrington II, Luke Richey, Kaitlyn Campbell, Mackenzie Bowen, Joshua Lipscomb, Ella Patton, Club Vice President Lynn Ellis and Club President Keith Ellis.

AND…

Kenston Forest School seniors, Austin Dornak and Ariana Mannino are the recipients of the South Hill Rotary Dr. Thomas and Ann Fitzgerald $1,000 Scholarship. Mr. Keith Ellis, South Hill Rotary President, presented the certificates to Miss Dornak and Miss Mannino, at Kenston Forest School. The Rotary Club will send the $1,000 scholarships to the University of Texas at Austin, where Miss Dornak plans to attend in the fall and Virginia Commonwealth University, where Miss Mannino will attend in the fall.
Picture 0574 Miss Dornak is the daughter of LJ and Kim Dornak of South Hill.
Picture 0581 Miss Mannino is the daughter of Cesare and Mary Ellen Mannino of South Hill. Pictured are the young ladies with Club President Keith Ellis and Vice President Lynn Ellis.

AND…

The South Hill Rotary Club made a donation of baby items from members of the club to The Selah Center in Clarksville last week. Ruth McDonald, Exec. Director of the Selah Center accepted the donations. The Selah Center’s purpose is “Helping Pregnant Women Make Choices That Will Save Lifetimes” for both the child and the parent(s). Through their Earn While You Learn curriculum, they offer both hope and help to those who need it most. It has led to many lives being saved and for those who chose life for their babies to learn, grow, and understand how to be good mothers to their children. By attending incentive classes they earn Boutique Bucks that may be redeemed at their boutique for diapers, wipes, children’s clothing, and other essential items for life with little ones. For more in information or to make a donation contact 434-362-2207. Pictured: Charles Wright, Lynn Ellis, Ruth McDonald, Keith Ellis, Lisa Clary and Jimmie Keith Crowder.
Huguenot Trail Club:

First Responder's Day - April 2021
Recently the club hosted Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office Employee of the Year, Sgt. E. Magg, along with his colleagues, First Lt. L.A. Ford, and Lt. M. Franz. Sgt. E. Magg held three different assignments over the course of 2020 and was recently awarded a well-deserved promotion. Chesterfield County Sheriff's Department currently has about 230 employees and they manage around 1000 inmates throughout the County.

AND…

Thanks to everyone's support and help with the golfing event last month, we were able to present James Howard with a check for VAU Veterans and Athletes United. In addition to VAU, James is the President & Founder of REACHcycles - Richmond Empowering Abilities for CHildren with Cycles . This is a non-profit that provides mobility and independence to children and Veterans with disabilities through adapted cycles. He anticipates hosting another bike building event in July 2021--- details to come!











 
James City County Satellite Club:

James City County Satellite Club received a thank you for helping to celebrate the school’s fabulous teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week by baking and boxing delicious cookies for the James River Elementary teachers and staff to enjoy.

AND…
submitted by Neva Lynde

The Rotary Satellite Club of James City County continues its service at the Williamsburg Salvation Army Mobile Food Pantry. Joining with volunteers from the RC of The Historic Triangle and other organizations, the Satellite registers clients for the food pantry to meet the continuing need for food support throughout the community.




 
Warwick at City Center Club:
Submitted by Jennifer Daknis



Warwick at City Center Rotarians recently participated in a service project with SMART Beginnings of the Virginia Peninsula by spreading mulch, planting flowers and laying gravel for the new outdoor learning environment at Resurrection Lutheran Church.






 
Bon Air Club:

Petersburg Lunch and Petersburg Breakfast Club will be holding their 14th Annual Golf Tournament on September 10, at Dogwood Trace Golf Course, Petersburg. For details go HERE.

Tip of the Month

As we end one Rotary year and begin another it's a good time for clubs to complete a Social Media Audit:
    • Make sure to get rid of Zombie accounts - those Facebook pages and Websites that are no longer in use
    • Think about using another platform in order to attract other folks (eg. Instagram)
    • Make sure all accounts can be accessed and that more than one person has administrative rights
    • Be sure to use the proper branding – the Masterbrand and the a proper logos
    • Has the club been updating social media and websites regularly

Foundation News









District Rotary Foundation Chair, Stephen
Beer celebrates the end of another successful Rotary year with messages of thanks. Read it HERE.



 
Global Grant Provides a Legacy of Education:
The Earl H. Hale, Jr. Preschool

Four hundred plus students will begin their education journeys each year in the Earl H. Hale Preschool in Sunyani, Bono Region, Ghana. This primary school was officially dedicated on May 19, 2021, with Sunyani Central Rotarians, Rotary District 9102, government dignitaries, and the media gathered for this community-wide event. The dedication marked the public culmination of a global project of more than two years in implementation.
Shel Douglas, a Past Assistant Governor of Rotary District 7600, was the grant author, and the Rotary Club of Prince George County was the International Partner in the grant. Her work on the grant application began early in 2019. The preschool is a component of the Sunyani Yawhima School Complex which also includes a elementary school and a junior high school. The cost of the preschool, toilet blocks, and associated equipment was $60,000 USD. This grant was the result of many Rotary districts and individuals contributing to the cost and providing the leadership. Rotary District 7600 was one of those contributors as well as the Prince George Rotary.
Importantly, the project would not have been successful without the leadership and stewardship provided by the Sunyani Central Rotary Club in Rotary District 9102. The district’s Assistant Governor for the Sunyani area was Frank Kofi Owusu Debrah who updated the partners in almost weekly What’s App communications. Frank was the International Relations Chair of the club and has been appointed to serve as the International Relations Chair 2021-2022 for the district.
In 2013 The Rotary Foundation had provided grants to provide a borehole well to provide safe drinking water to the school complex, but the elementary and junior high school units had no access to safe toilet facilities. The global grant written by Douglas built on that prior work by including, not only a preschool block of 4 classrooms, and office and storage space, but also three blocks of 10 micro-flush toilets per block so that all three levels of the school had its own toilet block.
The plan also included furnishings, library materials, and equipment to support eLearning. The Sunyani Municipal Education Directorate agreed to supply ongoing teacher and administrative staffing, teacher training, certification, and periodic education standards sampling. The local PTA committed to funding the upkeep of the structures and maintenance of the borehole well and the toilet blocks.
There was a pre-existing preschool, but it was disintegrating and provided no shelter from rain and winds. The Earl H. Hale, Jr., school provides basic modern construction with lights, doors, windows, a concrete slap floor and appropriate furnishings for students and adults.

The grant includes obligations to provide internationally recognized handwashing and basic hygiene as well as handwashing stations at the schools.
When Douglas’ work on the grant began, the founder of the Rotary Club of Prince George County, Past District Governor Earl Hale, was alive an well and enjoying his 94th year of life. Sadly, on December 20, 2019, Earl passed away suddenly in the comfort of his own home with his wife Pat by his side. Pat was the Charter President of the club.
His passing prompted the club to step up and provide a significant portion of the funding for this project. This was a challenge for this small club of fewer than 30 members, but such was Earl’s presence in the club’s history that the club and its member’s contributed liberally to this school in Earl’s honor. So Earl’s commitment to education, to Rotary, and to humanitarianism will be a continuing legacy for children in a country far away who will know his name.

 
It’s Rotary Baseball Season: Let’s Bat Polio Out of the Park
submitted by Stan Wall -Polio Plus Baseball Chair, Rotary District 7600

Baseball season is here and we have a NEW opportunity to raise funds for the END POLIO NOW campaign. We ask that you share the information below with your club members, family and friends.
We are partnering with The Tri Cities Chili Peppers Baseball team for a Rotary Night fundraiser on June 24, 2021. Game Time will be 7:00pm and they will be playing the Peninsula Pilots from Hampton.
The team plays at Shepherd Stadium located at 901 Meridian Ave, Colonial Heights, VA 23834
Each ticket purchased to the game will have $4 donated to the End Polio Now fund. This will be matched by the Gates foundation 2 to 1 which will ultimately drive $12 per ticket to the EPN campaign.
The game offers TWO ticket options, a General admission ticket for $14 per person or an All You Can eat and drink from the Snack Bar (excluding Adult Beverages) for $20 per person.
It will also be Thirsty Thursday night which means they will have $3 domestic beer and $4 craft beer (their craft beer is from Three Roads Brewery Farmville VA)

To order tickets go HERE.

The Tri Cities Chili Peppers are a part of the Coastal Plains Collegiate League. Come on down to Colonial Heights and support this team in their Inaugural Season and Enjoy a Rotary night of fun and fellowship as we raise money for End Polio Now.
Also we will be having Rotary End Polio Now Night with the Richmond Flying Squirrels on August 1, 2021 game time 5:05pm. More details to come very soon on purchasing tickets.
Regarding the Norfolk Tides Pat Edwards and I are still working to get Rotary night scheduled with the Tides, more details to come just as soon as we have them.
Looking forward to seeing everyone at Rotary Night Baseball Games 2021. If you have any questions regarding any of the games, please call me at 804-835-1962
2021-2022 District Grant Applications
Twenty-two District Grant applications were timely filed for 2021-2022. These 22 proposed projects are requesting total District Designated Funds (DDF) grants for a total of $157,620 for a total value of $185,985. Unfortunately, the total DDF funding available is only about $130,000.
Of the 22 proposed projects seven were multi-club grants and one set of partner clubs, Virginia Peninsula and Warwick of City Center, Newport News submitted two separate grant proposals. At least one club, the Colonial Heights, Petersburg and Petersburg Breakfast Clubs proposal, has an Interact partner. A more thorough review of the grant proposals may reveal that other grant applications may include a Rotaract or Interact Partnership. Check the July issue of the Spirit for a more robust description of the grant applications.
What were the primary Areas of Focus in this collection of grant applications? Basic Education and Literacy was the leading cause with at least 10 designating that focus area. It was followed by Economic and Community Development with 7 applications. One application designated both Education and Economic/Community Development causes and another application cited both Economic Development and Water & Sanitation as the Areas of Focus. Water & Sanitation, Disease Prevention and Treatment, and Maternal and Child Health each had one grant application designation. There were no designations for Peace and Conflict Resolution and the Environment.
There was no category listed in the grant application for the environment, but at least one of the applications which used Economic/Community Development as its Area of Focus Designation would have fit nicely into the Environmental Category. Another couple of grant applications could have gone either way as a Water & Hygiene or as a Disease Prevention and Treatment category.
The grant applications are in the hands of the Grants Committee which will be evaluating the need, impact, and sustainability characteristics of each application. District 7600 strives to submit its proposed spending plan to The Rotary Foundation as early in the cycle as possible so that the awarded amounts can be in the hands of the club recipients to begin work on their projects.