John Schwab, pictured at the recent presidential festivities at Barnaby's, decked out in his special Rotary shirt designed by Debi Friedmann, was named Rotarian of the Year by outgoing President Mickey Hall. In honoring John, Mickey commented on John's quiet, behind-the-scenes presence on the governance committee, helping with strategic planning, and being her sounding board and advisor on so many occasions during her presidency. John has been a member of the club for over 24 years, has served as President, and in many leadership positions through the years. Congratulations, John!  A well-deserved recognition.

 

The annual presidential induction is always a gala event, with tempting and interesting items offered at the silent auction, lots of action at the live auction, and of course, the installation of our incoming president. Dwight Leeper did an outstanding job of handling the induction, including the tradition of the passing of the gavel from the oldest to newest serving president. Mickey Hall, outgoing president, delivered the gavel to incoming president, Bill Friedmann, and he in turn, presented her with a presidential plaque to note her year of outstanding leadership. Dwight also inducted the new and returning board members, before Bob Frame launched into the always fun, live auction featuring dinners and vacation events, which  make this a special, and profitable, event for club members, their spouses and significant others.

Linda Hicks gets assistance from Kyle Rheiner, Cristina Combee and Matt Holliday as she loads her car with items donated for the Stockings for Soldiers (SFS) project, with which Rotary has been involved for a number of years. Linda coordinated the sewing of holiday stockings by the West Chester club members earlier this year, and then put out collection boxes to receive small food and personal items to go in the stockings. New this year is the collecting of used American flags. SFS project volunteers cut out the stars, embroider the edges, then package them to be inserted in the stockings. The flags are then given to the Boy Scouts for proper disposal. Linda noted that she has taken three carloads of items to the SFS project office in Delaware this year, with significantly more items than have been donated previously.   "Rotarians were so very generous this year," she said.

 

Representatives  from local charities, who received grants totaling $33,400 from the Rotary Club of West Chester, were recognized and presented their checks at a recent luncheon meeting. Representatives included, (seated from left) Carol Baker, Read2Dream; Catherine Binz, Community Volunteers in Medicine; Gina Harrison, Safe Harbor; Lorri Sarosy, Friends Association; Sue Flynn, Chester County Family Academy; Hallie Romanowski, Act in Faith; and (standing from left) Shauna Yeldell and Matt Holliday, co-chairs of the Community Philanthropic Committee (CPC), Jeanne Meikrantz and Michael Donovan, ARC of Chester County; Jeanne Corman, Safe Harbor; Kenneth Klein, Chester County Children's Inc.; Victoria Dow, West Chester Public Library; Rich Roberts, Young Men & Women in Charge Foundation; Dolly Wideman-Scott, Domestic Violence Center of Chester County; Joyce Lacy, Interfaith Housing Assistance Corp.; Kathy Sullivan, West Chester Area Senior Center; Terri Potrako, Volunteer English Program; and Denise Antonelli, Act in Faith.
Funds for grants are generated by the annual Chili Cook-off. Thirty-one applicants for grants were screened by the CPC this year.

 

Mac Neilon, Rotarian and a bunch of his running club members are excellent chili cooks, as well as devoted runners. They were among the 67 teams of chili cooks who participated in the 14th Annual Chili Cook-off. Despite early morning rain, which discouraged some people, loyal followers of the cook-off were rewarded  with sunshine and brisk winds by early afternoon that made the day and chili a perfect combination.