Rotary Club of Buckhannon-Upshur named District Club of the Year

BUCKHANNON – Calling it “the most well-rounded club in the district,” the Rotary District Governor was in town this week to present the Rotary Club of Buckhannon-Upshur with an award naming it the district Club of the Year.

Rotary District Governor Rick Macak attended the club’s June 30 meeting at the Brushy Fork Event Center to announce the honor.

“We have some old business we’d like to take care of, because this was supposed to have been done 30 days ago at Camp Dawson during the district conference, but it’s better late than never,” Macak said. “It’s a funny story: I was there getting some lunch and getting my thoughts together, and I’m going through all the awards, and then Sandi comes up to me and says, ‘Well, we have to take off early.’ Her son was in town, and I’m thinking, ‘I don’t want to tip my hat on who’s going to get the club of the year award,’ so I just kept my mouth shut and said, ‘We will do this at a separate time.’ And here we are.”

Macak said the award committee granted him some latitude in selecting the club of the year because he had first-hand experience meeting clubs across the district.

“When I gave them my thoughts on who the club of the year award should be, they all nodded in unison,” Macak said. “Sandi has talked about your club growth and the recycling project — that was a district grant. That’s very, very interesting. It’s doing great things for the community. This is the most well-rounded club in the district, and we would like to recognize you appropriately with this plaque.”

Rotary Club of Buckhannon-Upshur President Sandi LaRosa listed some of the club’s accomplishments during her tenure.

“I would like to thank all of you for your hard work, your encouragement and your support. We have accomplished so many of our objectives; all of you should be very proud,” LaRosa said. “I’d particularly like to thank Kelley [Tierney] for her advice and guidance, and upcoming president Deb [Harrison] for listening to my crazy ideas, and our committee chairs and officers.”

Over the last year, the club added 11 new members and awarded 14 grants to various community causes totaling $10,129.56. The club donated $6,676.04 to Rotary’s annual fund and $11,636 to Polio Plus. They also provided the Upshur County Parish House with $500 through their Happy Bucks, and five members of the club donated more than 2,228 minutes of their time on various Rotary projects.

Rotary member Dave Long said the club has set a goal to establish a Rotaract club at West Virginia Wesleyan College.

“Our club had never had a Rotaract club at Wesleyan. I’ve talked to President [James] Moore already — he’s on board — and he says that the students won’t have to worry about dues. That’s going to be taken care of by Wesleyan, so hopefully we’re going to go forward with the Rotaract Club,” Long said. “Following up on what I said about Special Olympics, there’s interest with that group of folks who want to create a companion club, so I’m hoping our club will have, before the next year is over, a Rotaract club at Wesleyan and a companion club with the Upshur County Special Olympics folks. That’s my dream.”

The club swore in its new officers for the upcoming year, including Deb Harrison as president, Paula Cutright as president-elect, Dr. Dan Martin as secretary, Don Nester as treasurer and Alan Hager as sergeant-at-arms.