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50th Anniversary Celebration – June 14th
6:oo PM till 9:00 PM
To be held at Southern Waters
16470 Daughtreys Creek Road
North Fort Myers, FL 33917

Meetings
We are meeting at the Sea Craft Restaurant, on the north side of the Caloosahatchee River, on the west side of North Cleveland Avenue (also known as US-41 or N Tamiami Trail), located at 3440 Marinatown Lane.  Meetings start with fellowship at 7:30 AM, breakfast at 7:45 AM, and meeting coming to order at 8:00 AM.  

Sea Craft Restaurant Map 

Visiting Rotarians are always welcome!

 

The Rotary Club of North Fort Myers 
is part of the worldwide organization of Rotary International

Our motto is “Service Above Self” and we strive to assist various charitable groups in our community and in the worldwide organization of Rotary.

We strive to live by our 4-Way Test:
1. First, Is it the Truth ?
2. Second, Is it Fair to All Concerned ?
3. Third, Will it Build Goodwill and Better Friendships ?
4. Fourth, Will it be Beneficial to All Concerned ?
OF COURSE IT WILL, NOW GO OUT AND LIVE IT !!! 

St. Patrick’s Day Booze Raffle:
Thanks to all club members who sold tickets and donated liquor for our St. Patrick’s Day Booze Raffle.  We had a successful raffle and raised over $3,800 for our club projects.  Happy Rotarian John Gardner was the winner.

RYLA Students:
North Fort Myers High School students Caroline (R) and Amber (L) attended RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award).  RYLA is a four day leadership residential camp that provides an opportunity to exchange ideas and opinions with other students, try new things and explore new roles, develop new friendships, and become more effective as role models, team leaders, and leaders.  They gave a presentation of their experiences to our club.

New Bell:
We have a new bell.  Our old bell, welded, scratched, and beat up, was a victim of Hurricane Ian.  Through the generosity of Ed, we now have a new bell and it is engraved with:
Rotary Club of North Fort Myers
North Fort Myers, Florida
“Where the Tropics Begin”
Chartered June 14, 1973
Charter member Norm was given the honor of the first strike on the new bell.
St.

 

New Member:
Always a great day when we can bring in a new member to our Club and Rotary.  We inducted Stephanie Kragenbring on February 23, 2023.  Stephanie (center) with Christina (right) her sponsor and Norm (left) her inductor.

Rotarians and Friends Helping with the Hurricane Ian Relief Effort:
On Saturday, October 22nd, Rotarians and Friends gathered to help neighbors and friends in North Fort Myers to assist others with debris removal and other tasks to help home owners whose homes were flooded and damaged by Hurricane Ian.  The devastation is immense and heartbreaking.  It is going to take years to rebuild our beautiful community.  With volunteers like those seen in the pictures below, and contractors, SWFL will rebuild, rejuvenate, and regain it’s charm albeit new.

Volunteers 

Hauling debris 

Volunteers 

Volunteers 

Rotarian home contents on the street 

President Christina Schwinn Interview:

President Christina was interviewed by the North Fort Myers Neighbor as she took over for outgoing President Wendy on July 1st.  See her interview here:  President Christina’s Interview

New Member:
Always a great day when we can bring in a new member to our Club and Rotary.  Reid McDaniel was inducted on July 7, 2022.  Reid (center) with Wendy (left) his sponsor and Norm (right) his inductor.

Rotarian of the Year – 2022
Dick Marshall was recognized as our Rotarian of the Year by President Wendy on May 12, 2022.  Dick was presented with a plaque and a Paul Harris Fellowship award.

New Member:
Always a great day when we can welcome another new member to our club.  Margie Hill was inducted on March 10th.  Margie (center) with Norm (inductor-right) and Dwight (left) Margie’s sponsor.

New Member:
Always a great day when we can welcome a new member to our club.  Mary Havener-Christensen was inducted on February 3rd.  Mary (center) with Norm (inductor – left) and Terry (right) Mary’s sponsor.

New Member:
Always a great day when we can welcome a new member to our club.  Hugh McWhirter was inducted on December 9th.  Hugh (center) with Norm (inductor – right) and David (left) Hugh’s sponsor.

New Member:
Always a great day when we can welcome a new member to our club.  Debra Norris was inducted on November 4th.  Debra (center) with Norm (inductor) and Fran Debra’s sponsor.

 

District Governor Official Club Visit
District Governor Andy Lyman and Area Governor Suzanne Vasbinder made their annual club visit on October 28th.  President Wendy presented DG Andy with a certificate that our club had donated a “Wheelchair” from the Wheelchair foundation in his name in recognition of his sevice to Rotary.

 Boy Scout Community Support:
President David along with John present a check to Scoutmaster Charlie Krebs, Boy Scout Troop #110 with a check for $1,000 to help with their summer camping.

Officer Changeover:
Incoming President Wendy Murray presented outgoing President David Rice with his Past-President Gavel plaque, pin, and name badge on May 15th.  Even with the virus, we had a rewarding Rotary year and look forward to the new year.

Rotarian of the Year – 2021
Will Barnes was recognized as our Rotarian of the Year.  President David presented Will with a plaque and a Paul Harris Fellow award on May 15th.

Rotary Master’s Golf Tournament  – Fun and Success
Our tournament was held on April 17th and everyone was ready to play after being off the course with Covid.  We had a good turnout and were able to raise over $5,500 for our charitable and scholarship efforts in our community.  Valerie’s House was our Golf Tournament Charity: President David and Golf Tournament Chair Terry present Angela Melvin, Founder, with a check for $2,000.

Wheelbarrow Full of Booze Raffle – Great Success

Thanks to everyone who participated in our Wheelbarrow Full of Booze Raffle.  Ron Beecroft from North Fort Myers was our winner.  We raised over $6,000 for our charitable projects.

 

 

Holiday Toy Project – A District Grant Project:

Under difficult Covid circumstances we were still able to have our Holiday Toy Project for the J Colin English Head Start Students.  We were able to provide each of 84 students with two toys, a pair of shoes, and an outfit, all were placed in bags for each family.  Since we couldn’t have Santa and Mrs. Claus come to the school, Zoom sessions were held with the students talking with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

 

ROTARY’S POLIO PLUS:
Rotary’s Polio Plus, started in 1979, has raised over $1.7 billion, performed countless hours of volunteer time, and has inoculated over 2.5 billion children around the world.  Polio cases have been reduced by 99+ % since 1988 (350,000 cases worldwide) to 22 cases reported in 2017.  This January 2019, our own David Rice volunteered to volunteer to go to India as part of a Rotary Polio Plus Inoculation Team and administer the vaccine.