From Polio to Playgrounds, Club Recognizes 35 Years of Service to Community
Vermont Business Magazine Thirty-five years ago, Ronald Reagan was President of the United States; Live Aid concerts raised funds for famine relief in Ethiopia; and NBC premiered “The Golden Girls”. It was also the year twenty-seven men, many civic leaders in the community and representing a wide variety of local businesses and services, officially launched the South Burlington Rotary Club. John Davis, a member for 34 years, recalls why he joined.
“A large part of what attracted me to Rotary International is what happens in a small village in Africa - such as eradicating polio - ripples around the world and ultimately impacts me and my community in some way” stated Mr. Davis. “Rotary provides almost a limitless number of options for service that can fit almost anyone.”
Four years later in 1989, the Rotary Council on Legislation would vote to admit women as members in Clubs across the world.Today, women represent 40% of the Club’s overall membership and 60% of the ten-member leadership team. Nancy Simson served as the first female President of the South Burlington Rotary.
“You can see our touch everywhere both in our community and, I hope, globally. I am most proud of our Club taking the initiative to pull all the area Clubs together to financially support the new YMCA. The work we have done on clean water in the world is another area we have supported that is so important. Rotary always steps up no matter the task.”
Literacy, education and youth programs have been top priorities for the South Burlington Rotary Club since its inception. For almost 20 years, the Bill Stone Scholarship Fund, named after a founding member, provides a South Burlington High School senior with a grant towards higher education expenses. For 15 years and counting, every 4th grade student in the South Burlington School District has received a dictionary from the Club. For many young students, it is the first book that belongs solely to the child.
Rotarian John Wilking, who helped launch the Dictionary Project in 2005, shared “I have met college kids who say they still have that dictionary. It’s a pretty cool (feeling to have this) influence on kids.”
The Rotary Youth Exchange program aims to help high school age students develop leadership skills, build lasting friendships and become global citizens. Students from Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Japan and Venezuela have attended South Burlington High School and embarked on adventures with their host families. South Burlington students who most recently participated in the Rotary Youth Exchange traveled and studied in Argentina, Chile, Italy.
The South Burlington Rotary Club organizes several signature events to raise the critical funds for the Club’s community service projects and charitable donations. During its 35 year history, South Burlington Rotary had contributed over $350,000 to support local non-profit organizations, youth programs, schools and more. The Club was instrumental in the building of the Veterans Memorial Park on Dorset Street, the Rick Marcotte Community Playground, the South Burlington Bookmobile, plus the installation of signs and benches along the popular South Burlington bike path.
Jay Pasackow, a member since 2001 and Chair of the Ugly Holiday Sweater fundraiser, states Rotary “is a way to reach out and serve the community in many ways. Many sit back and just comment, Rotarians step up and do.” The 23rd South Burlington Rotary Club Golf Tournament is scheduled for September 20, 2021 at the Vermont National Country Club. The Ugly Holiday Sweater Fun Run/Walk and the Howard Center Curling Challenge, both presented by the South Burlington Rotary Club, are slated to return in 2021/2022 as part of the community’s post-pandemic future.
Globally, Rotarians have been working to eradicate polio for over 35 years with the goal of ridding the world of this disease. As a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Rotary International has reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent since the first Rotary project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979. Today, wild polio has been eradicated from Africa.
Rotarian Penne Tomkins is proud of the South Burlington Club’s impact outside of Vermont. “We’re providing both financial and volunteer support to so many valuable organizations internationally through the polio eradication work, maternal health care, food programs and disaster relief. Anywhere there is a need globally, it seems Rotarians are there to help.”
Sandra Walsh, President of the South Burlington Rotary Club, a role she holds for the second time, recently summed up her extensive Rotary experience. “I feel more connected to my community, am able to make a difference, and develop lasting friendships that I cherish. Our Club is blossoming (during the pandemic) thanks to the creative ideas of our members which keep us involved and help our community.”
In recognition of the South Burlington Rotary Club’s 35th anniversary of service to the community, fun facts and other Club highlights are to be featured at meetings and on social media. The Club meets every Thursday morning at 7:30AM via Zoom. To learn more about Rotary or attend a meeting, please visit southburlingtonrotary.com or join us on Facebook and Instagram.
About South Burlington Rotary & Rotary International: Celebrating 35 years of “Service Before Self”, the South Burlington Rotary Club is a local volunteer service and nonprofit organization and one of the more than 34,000 clubs that comprise Rotary International. Rotary members are business and professional leaders who volunteer their expertise, compassion and power to improve communities at home and abroad in nearly every country of the world.
Rotary is dedicated to eradicating polio worldwide and tackling major humanitarian issues around the world including maternal and child health, clean water and sanitation, literacy and education, plus disease prevention and treatment. For more information visit www.southburlingtonrotary.org or www.rotary.org.
Source: January 28, 2021; South Burlington, VT: South Burlington Rotary