Monroe Rotary honored as the Outstanding Club for 2021-22

MONROE, CT — The Rotary Club of Monroe was chosen as the Outstanding Club for 2021-22 in a vote of 35 Assistant Governors in District 7980.

This award is presented annually to the club whose membership for the year is less than 45 (Monroe has 20 members), as measured by the district secretary as of March 31, 2022, and has distinguished itself by building an outstanding record of service, in a combination of all of Rotary’s five avenues of service including the Rotary Foundation.

Five areas of service are:

• Club Service -strengthening fellowship through membership and service
• Community Service-projects and actions to the community
• Vocational Service- serves others through vocation, education, and service
• International Service- expands Rotary humanity work throughout the world
• New Generation Youth – training and educating young people in Rotary “service above self” philosophy

In 2021-22-year, Monroe Rotary did the following:

• 

  Hosted over 38 different speakers on diverse topics — from homelessness and veteran services to helicopter test pilot service and a Monroe engineer who has 17 patents on different items — some on the U.S. Space Station; Rotarians handed out handheld fans for Masuk graduates and their families. Had a Comedy Night fundraiser for the Monroe Food Pantry

• The Rotary handed dictionaries to all district third graders; had a blood drive, numerous food drives and donations; provided mile markers for Great Hollow Lake and Wolfe Park; cleared and cleaned Webb Mountain picnic areas and fire pits, donated to and helped build Kid’s Kreations Playground; donated $10,000 to the Emergency Medical Services building project; provided 1,500 N-95 masks to the school system (adult and children masks) after the spread of COVID-19; through its Soctober program 4,500 pairs of socks for the homeless and needy were collected and distributed to six towns — with gratitude for the stores and facilities that hosted collection boxes.
• The Monroe Rotary extended membership to a diverse group of individuals growing to 20 members from 15 (now 50 percent male and female representation).
• Internationally: Monroe worked with both the Newtown and Orange Rotary Clubs to gather 1,500 N-95 masks for three cities in India.
• Youth Services provided help to strengthen the Monroe Rotary Interact Club to 50 high school students and by creating a program called: Reality Check (a Masuk high school program where kids were offered a crash course in finance after high school and survival as an adult — students were given jobs — shown taxes being withdrawn and then had to visit and record expenditures for items such as automobile car insurance, housing, food, etc. Students had to figure out if they could live for one to two months or whether they had to change expectations and purchase items. These skills were taught over a two-hour period, and the Rotary hopes to double the attendees next year.

“Much thanks to the Monroe school system,” said Monroe Rotary Club President Dennis Condon.

“Our youth student exchange leader Mr. Dave Wolfe lectured at the Annual Rotary International meeting in Houston,” Condon said.

Ed Osterman was the district leader who oversaw the Monroe Rotary Club charter club steering committee in the initial formation of the Monroe Rotary Club in 1994, according to Condon.