Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch News

ROTARY CLUB OF LAKEWOOD RANCH NEWS

2022-23 Leadership

RI President Jennifer Jones

District 6960 Governor Neil Snyder

Club President Carmen Spagnola

THIS WEEK

AliciaChalmers, manager of donor engagement for Manatee Community Foundation, concentrates her work in East Manatee and Lakewood Ranch. She builds relationships with current and prospective donors and families, professional advisers and community partners to help them achieve their charitable goals. She has been with the foundation for four years. Prior to her current role, Alicia was an initiative consultant at The Patterson Foundation. She enjoys connecting donors to their passions and engaging future generations in the power of giving. Alicia is a past president of the Junior League of Sarasota. A native of this area, she is a graduate of the University of Florida and lives in Lakewood Ranch with her husband and two sons.

LAST WEEK

Julie Poulin, our club's secretary, is the Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County's chief development officers. She told us about the Youth of the Year and the 2023-24 winner, Jayden D. He will represent the local organization in the Florida Youth of the Year competition in April. The recognition program honors and celebrates the country's inspiring teens and their incredible journeys. The Florida winner will advance to the National Youth of the Year competition. See Page 3.

MARCH 23

AT TARA COUNTRY CLUB

ALICIA CHALMERS, MANATEE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

MARCH 30

AT LAKEWOOD RANCH COUNTRY CLUB SUNCOAST FOOD & WINE FEST GRANT AWARDS EVENT

APRIL 6

AT LAKEWOOD RANCH COUNTRY CLUB JESSICA ROGERS, VICE PRESIDENT OF CHILDREN FIRST

APRIL 13 AT LAKEWOOD RANCH COUNTRY CLUB JOE NAJMY, ESTATE PLANNING FOR ROTARIANS, PART 2

APRIL 20 AT LAKEWOOD RANCH COUNTRY CLUB COMMANDER LARRY JASPER, JEWISH WAR VETERANS, SUPPORTING OUR TROOPS CHECK US OUT!

Alicia Chalmers

Julie Poulin

CALENDAR

March25: Seventh annual Suncoast Walk for Water, our club's fundraiser for clean water and sanitation projects. See Pages 4-6 for details.

March 29: Club board meeting, 6 p.m. at the River Club at Waterlefe, 995 Fish Hook Cove, Bradenton; meetings are the last Wednesday of each month. Info: President CarmenSpagnola at carmenspag1@gmail.com.

March 30: Save the date for our club's annual Suncoast Food & Wine Fest grants award luncheon. We will have a full ballroom, so plan to arrive early.

April 5: Wine Down Wednesday social at 5:30 p.m. the first Wednesday of each month at McGrath's Irish Ale House, on Lakewood Main Street. RSVP by April 3 with LangWooddy at lang66@comcast.net.

April 22: 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. District Assembly, Leadership Training and PETS makeup at Lemon Bay High School, Englewood. The cost is $25 and includes lunch; registration is open on DACdb.

April 22: Rotary baseball night at the Marauders game at LECOM Park, Bradenton; RSVP by April 1. See details on Page 9.

April26: Club board meeting, 6 p.m. at the River Club at Waterlefe, 995 Fish Hook Cove, Bradenton; meetings are the last Wednesday of each month. Info: President Carmen Spagnola at carmenspag1@gmail.com.

May 13: 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rotary Leadership Institute

Parts 1, 2 and 3 plus Graduate-Level sessions in northern and southern district locations; registration info on DACdb.

May 27-31: Rotary International Convention, Melbourne, Australia; for details, click here.

June 16-17: Save the dates for the District 6960 Conference at Hyatt Regency Coconut Point, Estero; details to come.

Pre-order your Florida Rotary license plate at FloridaRotaryTag.com or by clicking here. For each order, $25 goes toward Rotary youth programs.

MEMBER CELEBRATIONS

BIRTHDAYS

Paul Oakes 3/6

Carmen Spagnola 3/7

Susan Courter 3/9

Ken Kaplan 3/15

David Jack 3/20

Steve Gottlieb 3/21

Duane Saunders 3/23

Glynis Grawburg 3/27

Griff Griffiths 3/27

Peter Azzopardi 3/28

Nora White 3/31

WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES

Pres Olinger and Cecelia Abruscato 3/13

John Bodenburg and Nancy Helmer 3/17

Christi Womack and Greg Villalobos 3/20

Ryan and Carla Brems 3/22

Steve and Bobbie Bordes 3/28

CLUB ANNIVERSARIES

Jim Isherwood 3/1/18

Sheila Halpin 3/4/21

Gris Bettle 3/5/20

Carey Leichter 3/5/20

Izzy Pollack 3/5/20

Vince Cera 3/10/11

George Lewis 3/10/22

Govind Singh 3/28/19

Vonda Johnson 3/29/12

Inspirational image and text from the Being Rotarian Facebook page at facebook.com/groups/BeingRotarian

PHF awards presented

President Carmen Spagnola, left, and club Foundation Chair John Bodenburg, right, flank our club's newest Paul Harris Fellow Award recipients at the March 16 meeting. They are:

Mark Brink, PHF+2;

Preston Olinger, PHF+7; and Jennifer FretzSmith, PHF+5. Thank you all for your continued support of The Rotary Foundation, helping Rotarians do good locally and around the world.

Get ready to Walk for Water!

Our seventh annual Suncoast Walk for Water is just a few days way. Although it’s a virtual event, we’re still inviting you to get together with your fellow Rotarians and friends to walk as a group at Nathan Benderson Park.

Here are some details.

Date: Saturday, March 25 Time: 9 a.m.

Contact: Bill Porter at 412-977-2292

Location: South parking lot at Nathan Benderson Park; see map on this page

We will meet at the south end of the lake near the parking lot. The easiest access is the entrance off Cattleman Road. If you’re coming from the north (University Parkway/UTC Mall), take Cattleman Road south past the playground, across the bridge and past the entrance to the island/watch tower. Keep going all the way past the lake and enter at the far south end into the parking lot near the boat ramp. If the lot is full, there is overflow parking on the grass.

Don’t forget to bring water and wear your Walk for Water T-shirt, sunscreen and a hat.

The Suncoast Walk for Water is the Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch fundraiser for our clean water and sanitation projects, and it gives us the opportunity to raise awareness about the global water crisis and promote what Rotary is doing to help.

If you can’t join us on Saturday, you can still walk from anywhere – take a photo of you and your friends/family/pets walking and share it on our Facebook page with these hastags:

#SuncoastWalkForWater

#EveryChildDeservesCleanWater

It’s not too late to donate and invite others to support our cause. Rotarians who donate $50+ will get a matching donation made in their name and receive double Paul Harris Fellow points!

Thank you for your support, Steve Gottlieb, Committee

Chair,

Suncoast Walk for Water

All Rotarians who give $50 or more will have their donation matched and earn double PHF points. Register for the virtual walk or make a donation at suncoastwalkforwater2023.eventbrite.com.

Our Next Mission's volunteers are hard at work renovating a donated home in Colony Cove in Ellenton that will be given to a deserving veteran.

LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS TO HELP OUR NEXT MISSION

Our Next Mission's work on the unit in Colony Cove is proceeding very smoothly.

The vinyl floor and interior painting is 90% complete. The finishing touches are being put on the kitchen cabinets and should be completed next week. This week's activities include beginning to install the vinyl on the front of the unit, starting exterior painting and installing the baseboards in the interior.

We will be working Monday, Tuesday and Thursday the week of March 20 from 8 a.m. to noon. The unit is located at 206 Holland St. in Ellenton. We aim to have this unit complete and ready for turnover by the end of March.

We are looking forward to seeing you.

Greg Kisela, president/CEO of Our Next Mission

Cell: 850-585-1698

Email: gkiselaonm@gmail.com

volunteers on each ramp job. Donna Layrisse and Jim Wingert, above, helped on a recent project.

Terry Byce

Rotay Club of Lakewood Ranch Veterans Committee

Home: 941-351-0092

Cell: 703-627-7765

Email: terry.byce@verizon.net

Our Next Mission's latest newly renovated mobile

Who's up for a fun baseball game?

Club member RussSexton is organizing a club social to go see the Bradenton Marauders play baseball vs. the Daytona Tortugas. Please sign up during an upcoming club meeting or contact him at drsexton45@gmail.com or 941-773-7280; RSVPsareduebeforeApril1. The Marauders. based in Bradenton, are the Minor League Baseball team that is part of the PIttsburgh Pirates organization. The Tortugas are affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds. Tickets include admission, food and drinks; you will pick them up at the will call window. Gates open at 5:30 p.m., food (hamburgers, hot dogs, mac 'n' cheese, sodas and water) will be served at 6 p.m. and the first pitch is at 6:30 p.m. We will be in a private area of the ballpark. For details about the team, click here.

Are you familiar with our club's Small Group Meals Program?

Our club offers an ongoing way to get to know other Rotarians in a meaningful way and include spouses or partners so they can also appreciate the value of being involved in Rotary. A sign-up sheet to be a host, guest or both will be distributed at our club meetings. As a host, you decide how many guests (four to six is common) for any type of meal that fits your entertaining style. Suggested guidelines for a Small Group Meal and a guest invitation template will be sent to all hosts. As a guest, you give the host $25 per person or a check made out to the Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch. This money goes into our club’s discretionary fund. If you have questions please contact DorothyBodenburg, Small Group Meals coordinator, at 941-714-0971 or Dorothy@Bodenburg.com

For more information about this clean comedy fundraiser, contact club member Bill Porter at 941-527-3400 or bill@portercs.com. Read about the featured comedians by clicking here.

CLEAN COMEDY! ONE NIGHT ONLY! TWO SHOWS!

Help raise $10,000 for The Players Centre for Performing Arts. Join supporters for a hilarious evening on April 1 featuring top talent who are clean comedians from around the nation. Event proceeds will help Sarasota's original theater.

Event organizers want patrons to join them to sit back and laugh with your friends! There will be two shows, one at 5 p.m. and the other at 8 p.m. at the Grove restaurant on Main Street in Lakewood Ranch.

Come early and socialize with light appetizers, wine, beer, soda and water. Included in your ticket is one of the above beverages. (A cash bar also will be available.) Should you purchase an $85 ticket, you will receive two beverages.

After the show, take advantage of the chance to meet the comedians.

In appreciation for supporting The Players Centre for Performing Arts, each attendee will receive a gift bag with gift cards for local businesses' products and services! This bag is valued at over $2,000.

To purchase tickets for the 5 p.m. show, click here. To buy tickets for the 8 p.m. show, click here.