If you've been asked to be a speaker at our club meeting, congratulations and thank you! You were invited to speak because you are doing something of value to make our community and our world a better place. Read more for information about making the most of your presentation. If you are not on our speaker list and would like to present to the club, please email us at info@geneseevalleyrotary.org and we will respond soon.
|
So You're a Speaker...
|
Dennis Dinsmore
|
2023-09-19 04:00:00Z |
0
|
|
$5 Grand Giveaway 2023
Our 40th Annual Fundraiser Win big and help our community at the same time! $5,000 cash First Prize + Five additional $200 Prizes Drawing will be held Nov. 14, 2023 7:30 pm at the Redwood Steakhouse & Brewery, Flint, MI Check our Facebook page: @geneseevalleyrotary to watch the drawing live. Only 300 tickets will be sold and 100% of the profits will be used for Rotary and associated nonprofit community organizations. Ticket buyers and their guests are welcome to join us live at the Redwood, doors open at 6:00, order drinks and food from the menu. You do not need to be present to win. Online ticket buyers will be emailed their drawing number. Community Nonprofits We Help Carriage Town | Reach/Traverse Place | Boy Scouts | Old Newsboys | McLaren Hospitality House | Literacy Projects | Salvation Army | Food Bank of Eastern MI | Red Cross Blood Drives | Swartz Creek Fine Arts | First Tee IMA | Motherly Intercessions | Students of the Month and Scholarships at Carman Ainsworth - Swartz Creek - Powers High | And soon... The Miracle League baseball field for challenged kids |
International Projects We Help
Worldwide Elimination of Polio - Shelter Box Emergency Housing - Clean Water in Haiti
|
$5 Grand Giveaway 2023
|
Dennis Dinsmore
|
2023-09-04 04:00:00Z |
0
|
|
Who We Are
|
Who We Are
|
Dennis Dinsmore
|
2023-04-08 04:00:00Z |
0
|
|
About Our Club
The Genesee Valley Rotary Club, founded in 1977, is one of 35,000 Rotary clubs in 200 countries in every corner of the world. Our club, like every other, is made up of individuals who work towards making their communities a better place and look upon working with other fellow Rotarians throughout the world to bring peace through service. Our club of 40+ members meets weekly at Tuesday noon at the Redwood Steakhouse for lunch, fellowship, to discuss upcoming projects and to be informed by an invited guest speaker. We partner with other local non profits to help both financially and with hands-on support. Some of our partner organizations include: Carriage Town | Reach/Traverse Place | Boy Scouts | Old Newsboys | McLaren Hospitality House | Literacy Projects | Salvation Army | Food Bank of Eastern MI | Red Cross Blood Drives | Swartz Creek Fine Arts | First Tee IMA | Motherly Intercessions | Students of the Month and Scholarships at Carman Ainsworth - Swartz Creek - Powers High Miracle League Baseball Field for special needs kids |
Through cooperation with our Rotary International Foundation we participate in international projects as well including Rotary's anchor project of eliminating polio worldwide. Other recent projects include: Shelter Box | Providing temporary shelter and necessities for people surviving natural disasters | Avoidable Blindness in Mexico | Annual multi-club effort to provide indigent Mexican citizens with professional eye exams and glasses. | Clean water in Haiti | Rainwater harvesting project to provide a Haitian town a source of clean water |
|
About Our Club
|
Dennis Dinsmore
|
2022-12-26 05:00:00Z |
0
|
|
Concert For Ukraine
As the audience rose to it's feet for the opening playing of the Ukrainian National Anthem by the Flint Institute of Music string ensemble, we knew we were in for an amazing evening. The concert was organized by the Flint area Rotary clubs and raised more than $5,000 to be used for humanitarian aid in Ukraine. This donation will add to the more than $15 million raised by fellow Rotarians around the world which is going to provide food, shelter and medical aid to the brave citizens of Ukraine. Joining the FIM ensemble onstage was violinist Ukraine-born Solomia Soroka and her pianist Robert Conway. Her stirring performance was nothing short of electric as she played several pieces by Ukranian composers, one still working daily in Ukraine as the missiles continue to fall. Also appearing was Tamara Finlay, a talented singer from the Detroit area who sang several pieces in her native Ukraine language. Both performances were clearly inspired by their pride in the country and support for the people who continue to fight. Our thanks to the collaboration between the Flint Institute of Music and the Flint area Rotary clubs which both raised funds for a worthy cause and provided the audience with a memorable evening of entertainment.
|
Concert For Ukraine
|
Dennis Dinsmore
|
2022-06-29 04:00:00Z |
0
|
|
Students of the Month
Today we honored four students from Powers Catholic and Swartz Creek schools for their academic excellence and their community service. Students from Carman Ainsworth will be presented at a later date. From Powers Meghan Lawrence (L) and Sophie Klanseck (R) with club President Joe Szwed From Swartz Creek (L to R) Principal Jim Kitchen, Emma Skinner, Haley Feudale, Career Resource Consultant Ginger Ortiz
|
Students of the Month
|
Dennis Dinsmore
|
2020-01-21 05:00:00Z |
0
|
|
New 50-50 Rules
 The club recently adopted a new system for drawing 50-50 winners with an eye toward increasing weekly attendance. As always, the 50% of donations not given as prizes will be applied to a club literacy project. The change is that when purchasing a $2.00 chance ticket, the buyer will put his or her name on the ticket before placing it in the barrel. As before, three tickets will be drawn each week and owners of drawn tickets will have a chance to pick the joker out of a deck of cards. The new twist is that the tickets not drawn will not be discarded, they will stay in the barrel to be eligible for the drawing in future weeks. The catch is that the person must be present to win and, if not present, the ticket is discarded. Thus, the members with the greatest chances of winning are the ones who attend every week.
|
New 50-50 Rules
|
Dennis Dinsmore
|
2019-11-26 05:00:00Z |
0
|
|
Speaker Chairs, 2019-20
Speaker chairs for the Rotary year beginning 1 July 2019 and ending 30 June 2020. If you are viewing this chart as a potential speaker and would like to get on the schedule, please contact Club Services Chair Tom Svitkovich. Month | Chair | Notes |
---|
July 2019 | Jeff Ferweda | No meeting July 2 | | | | Aug. 2019 | Sally Joseph | Governor's Visit Aug. 13, no additional speaker | | | | Sept. 2019 | Tom Cowan | Offsite meeting Sept. 17, no speaker | | | | Oct. 2019 | Connie Tracey | No speaker Oct. 15, Students of the Month | | | | Nov. 2019 | Ed Henneke & Joe Reynolds | No speaker Nov. 19, Students of the Month | | | | Dec. 2019 | Sharon Fouts | No speaker Dec. 3, Christmas Party No meeting Dec. 24 No meeting Dec. 31 | | | | Jan. 2020 | Rory Mattar | No speaker Jan. 15, Students of the Month | | | | Feb. 2020 | Rodney Hetherton & Eddie Kindle | No speaker Feb. 18, Students of the Month | | | | Mar. 2020 | Dennis Dinsmore | No speaker Mar. 17, Students of the Month No speaker Mar. 30, Club Assembly | | | | Apr. 2020 | George Mehrens | No speaker Apr. 21, Students of the Month | | | | May 2020 | Keith Kirby | No speaker May 19, Students of the Month | | | | June 2020 | Dennis Matthew | No speaker June 30, Club Changeover Picnic |
|
Speaker Chairs, 2019-20
|
Dennis Dinsmore
|
2019-07-10 04:00:00Z |
0
|
|
Paul Harris Award
 Club Rotary Foundation Chair Dennis presented Rotarian Tom Svitkovich with his Paul Harris + 4 pin. Tom, besides his generous giving to Rotary's Foundation, is a real workhorse for the club and the community. He is a past club President and currently serves as the annual Speakers Chair. Retired as Superintendent of the Genesee Intermediate School District, he serves on several community boards and actively participates in all club charitable and fundraising activities. Congratulations Tom and thank you for all you do for Rotary. For readers who may not know the significance of this, the Rotary Foundation is the funding arm of all of our humanitarian work throughout the world and its primary source of funding is our own members. When a Rotarian donates a $1,000 to the foundation, she or he is given an acknowledgement pin and the distinction of being called a "Paul Harris Fellow". Additional $1,000 gifts add sapphires to that pin and today Past President Tom was awarded with a pin with 4 sapphires on it.
|
Paul Harris Award
|
Dennis Dinsmore
|
2019-05-28 04:00:00Z |
0
|
|
This Week's Speaker
 Today we heard from Powers Catholic High School's teacher Stacy Turczyn, who coordinates the Powers Interact Club and has been a long time supporter of both Rotary and her kids at Powers. She joined the faculty in 2007 as an English teacher after graduating from Michigan State. She soon found her students wanted to form some kind of club to do community service so she began to explore their options. She and the students investigated organizations such as Doctors Without Borders and discovered that high school students options were limited. After looking at a number of options they decided to form their own in-school club. Coincidentally, GVR Rotarian Dennis Matthew, whose daughter was a student at Powers, approached her with the idea that our club would be interested in sponsoring a Rotary Interact Club and she immediately saw that it would be a perfect fit for the desire of the students to do good work in their community and in the world. The Powers High Interact Club was chartered in 2008. The club has since grown to more that 100 members and students continue to do worthwhile humanitarian work both in our community as well as several international projects. Stacy noted a number of the club's accomplishments over the past 11 years including: - Collecting over 900 recreational books for underprivileged children in the Flint area
- Making up Christmas "care packages" for 65 soldiers serving overseas
- Doing a "Sock Drive" to provide warm winter socks for homeless people
- Providing water filters for families in Guatemala
- Running a fundraiser to pay for materials to build bunk beds for Guatemalan kids in an orphanage
The hard work and fun shared by the Powers Interact Club has had significant positive impact on both those people who have received their help as well as the students themselves. Behind every one of these students are great parents and a caring teachers. Many, many thanks to Stacy Turczyn for a job well done.
|
This Week's Speaker
|
Dennis Dinsmore
|
2019-05-28 04:00:00Z |
0
|
|
Students of the Month
This week marks the end of the 2018-19 school year selection of Students of the Month at Swartz Creek, Powers and Carman-Ainsworth high schools. One senior from each school will now be selected for a $1,000 scholarship to be awarded at the annual changeover picnic in June. This month's students from Carman-Ainsworth are shown here, photos of the students from Swartz Creek and Powers will be posted next week. (L-R: senior Audra Auston, teacher Zachary Nash, senior Brittani Bridgett)
|
Students of the Month
|
Dennis Dinsmore
|
2019-05-21 04:00:00Z |
0
|
|
Literacy Donation
Club President Chad presented a check for $500 to Andrew Heney toward the Global Village Ministries program which sponsors the Omalaika Home in Kenya which shelters and educates girls. Currently 37 girls are cared for by the program as well as many more children come to the home for health and dental care. The money, which will be used to provide books for the school, comes from our club's literacy fund. Our 50/50 game and "happy bucks" donations all go toward the literacy fund.
|
Literacy Donation
|
Dennis Dinsmore
|
2019-05-14 04:00:00Z |
0
|
|
Paul Harris Awards Evening
On April 9th of this year the club held an evening during which Rotarians had an opportunity to honor friends and family who have made significant contributions to making their communities a better place. The vehicle for honoring these people was to bestow upon them the Paul Harris Fellowship (PHF), Rotary's recognition named after the organization's founder, Paul Harris. When a Rotarian donates $1,000 to our private foundation which funds our international humanitarian work, she or he is recognized with a PHF, a lapel pin and a certificate. The donor also has the opportunity to honor another person and in our club, seven Rotarians qualified for this opportunity and most of the honorees were able to join us for the evening. We owe a debt of gratitude to the Rotarians and the honorees who have given of their time and treasure to help others and will surely go on to serve in the future. Rotarian | Honoree(s) |
---|
Jerry Heck | Patricia J. Dolansik | Tom Svitkovich | Taron M. Masi | Paul Semerad | Christopher M. Gehringer | Ed Henneke | Richard J. Ruhala | Sally Shaheen-Joseph | Paul N. Shaheen | Joe Reynolds | Robert & Helen Ackerman | Dennis Dinsmore | Amanda Smith |
|
Paul Harris Awards Evening
|
Dennis Dinsmore
|
2019-05-07 04:00:00Z |
0
|
|
Bake Fresh Friday
 Bake Fresh Friday is an annual cooperative training program, the brainchild of Rotarian Sharon Fouts, which brings together Rotarians, culinary school students from Mott Community College and residents of the Carriage Town Ministries homeless shelter. With support through a Rotary District Grant, residents are taught the art of baking.
|
Bake Fresh Friday
|
Dennis Dinsmore
|
2019-05-03 04:00:00Z |
0
|
|
Genesee Valley Rotary Club is on Facebook!
Posted by Amy van der Putte
|
Genesee Valley Rotary Club is on Facebook!
|
Amy van der Putte
|
|
0
|
|