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We’re thrilled to have you here! At our club meetings, you’ll always find a warm welcome waiting for you. Richard Sell, our Program Chair, introduced a fantastic new initiative this summer: a weekly greeter program! Greeters will wear big blue buttons to make their role even more fun.

This initiative has kicked off our new Rotary year with great spirit. The greeter selection process begins with our newer members, giving everyone the chance to welcome fellow Rotarians at our meetings. Richard shared that "I have seen the Greeter program used at other clubs and thought we could do it!  The reason behind it is NEW members need to connect.  It’s hard if you really don’t know anyone.  Many members sit at the same table with the same people, like a mini-fraternity/sorority. It’s my hope that by being a Greeter it will help connect us all."
      
In August, during our Public Image discussion, Garry Ketts shared a wonderful perspective with Theresa Brackett our Public Image Chair.  He noted one does not have to be a greeter rather one GETS to be greeter! It’s truly an honor, not a chore. So, when it’s your turn, take joy in welcoming your fellow Rotarians to our lunch meetings! 

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October is Polio Plus Month. In our Rotary efforts to end polio in the world, everybody in the club is asked to kick in a few bucks toward eradicating polio on our Polio Plus Board.  The winner (to be announced sometime the month of November) will receive a Paul Harris Award and a cash prize.  Here's Secretary Peter Wilkins and Club Treasurer Chuck Marlowe, with the Polio Plus Board.

Why attend RLI?  

Participating in the Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) not only enhances your Rotary knowledge but also connects you with fellow Rotarians from our district through the completion of Sessions I, II, and III.

Did you know your club offers reimbursement for attending these valuable sessions?

Big congratulations to Alicia Oates for successfully completing all three sessions this summer! Betty Kedziora and Theresa Brackett also attended their first session and are excited about attending the upcoming session on October 19th. Who else wants to join them?

RLI Parts I, II, and III will take place on Saturday, October 19th, at Woodland Middle School in North Port. Check-in starts at 8:15 AM, with classes running from 9:00 AM to 3:15 PM.

RLI provides in-depth knowledge of Rotary and essential leadership skills that will benefit you in both your professional and volunteer endeavors. You don’t need to aim for a Club President role to participate; these sessions are valuable for any Rotarian! Plus, it’s a fantastic opportunity to connect with Rotarians from different clubs and exchange ideas.

                           
Join us and elevate your Rotary experience!
Register NOW for RLI Gulf Coast Florida Division Parts 1,2,3. Click Here: RLI Registeration

RLI Administration: Sherry Penfield, slpenfield@yahoo.com and Judy Hammond, judyhammond@ymail.com

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Our Community Service Committee, led by Breven Baima, Michael Hunstad, and Darcy Hanley, is gearing up for an exciting season of service, and we need more Rotarians to get involved! Together, we can amplify our impact and strengthen our ties to the community.

One of our upcoming projects is the Neighborhood Fall Festival, where we’ll have a table at the Cooper Rec Center on October 26 from 4-6 PM. We’re looking for two volunteers to help man the table and promote the Healing Field of Honor—a great opportunity to engage with our neighbors and share the importance of our service initiatives.
                                 

Additionally, we invite all members to contribute to our downtown Trick or Treat event by bringing in candy. Collection bags will be available during our meetings on October 3 and 10, so let’s spread some joy to our local children!

Our Community Service Committee has planned projects for every month, so mark your calendars! Save the Date for January 13 at the Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center (CHEC), where we will be building oyster gardens to help restore our local marine ecosystems.

Together, let’s strengthen our community and embody the spirit of Rotary through active participation. Join us in these efforts and make a lasting impact!

Darcy Hanley has shown remarkable dedication as our Membership Chair, consistently working toward our membership goals. Thanks to her efforts, our club has been recognized by the district for achieving membership growth for four consecutive years. Darcy plays a crucial role in our success by attracting new members and fostering a vibrant community.

The Zones 33-34 Membership Action Plan (MAP) team awards Platinum status to clubs that experience two or more years of growth. Platinum Clubs embody Rotary’s Vision Statement: “Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.”

The accompanying certificate highlights all the clubs in our district with Platinum status, providing an opportunity for collaboration and shared ideas as we continue to grow Rotary together.

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Early Saturday morning in mid-September, 51 community members answered Punta Gorda Rotary Club’s call to clean up Ponce De Leon Park on the western edge of the city as part of the 52^nd Annual Coastal Clean-up Day.  Charlotte County’s participation in this event is organized each year by Rhonda Harvey, Executive Director of Keep Charlotte Beautiful.

In addition to our Rotarians, volunteers answering the call represented Allegiant Air, Girl Scout Troop 181, Heal Our Harbor, and the Charlotte High School Interact Club.  In a couple of hours, volunteers picked up 330 pounds of trash from near the boat ramp, fishing piers, mangrove boardwalk, playground, picnic areas, around the Peace River Wildlife Center, and along Rotary beach. 

Trash items gathered included Styrofoam that had been dumped on the shoreline, light bulbs, plastic bottles, straws and other pieces of plastic waste, cigarette butts, and even a full-size bedsheet that had been buried in the sand on the beach. 

   

We’re excited to introduce two incredible new members who joined our Rotary family in the first quarter of this year!

Polly Pierce was inducted on August 15, 2024, and she’s already making waves! With a passion for volunteering, Polly is actively involved in the Dragon Boat races, organizes 5Ks to support victims of drug abuse, and enjoys playing pickle-ball and practicing yoga. We’re thrilled to have her on the Youth Service Committee, where she will undoubtedly make a positive impact. Polly’s sponsor is Betty Kedziora.

Kristin Mangas joined us on September 9, 2024. With a rich history in Rotary as a former participant in S4TL, Kristin is eager to get involved. She coaches Pop Warner cheerleading, loves kayaking, and is an avid runner, often participating in 5Ks. Kristin will be collaborating with Aryn Francis to enhance the Kids Zone at the upcoming Taste of Punta Gorda. Her sponsor is Paul Blaine. Welcome, Polly and Kristin—we’re so glad to have you with us!
 

             

American flags will fly solemnly at Laishley Park Veterans Day Weekend, November 2024, creating an awe-inspiring panorama.

This stirring display of 1000 flags is a community tribute to honor our heroes, each flag telling a story.

You can dedicate a flag to a military member who gave their lives, a veteran or active-duty military member, a first responder, a healthcare worker, a family member, or a hometown hero. Anyone you choose!

Sponsor Opportunities: Contact hfohpg@gmail.com
Flag purchase: Scan QR code or visit  https://www.puntagordarotary.org/hfoh/ 
Volunteer sign-up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B44ABA72FABF9C07-50969252-healing#/


 

We are thrilled to announce a significant achievement for our Rotary Foundation: we successfully submitted a DDF grant, which has been approved for $10,000! This funding will support the Heal Our Harbor Project, an initiative dedicated to ensuring the health of our local waterways.

The Heal Our Harbor Project is entirely volunteer-driven, focusing on water quality testing at four specific locations in Punta Gorda Isles (PGI). With the approved grant, the team aims to expand their testing efforts to include additional sites in PGI and Burnt Store Isles, further enhancing our community’s environmental stewardship.

      

The Punta Gorda Rotary Club recently recognized its two 2024-25 Rotary Youth Exchange students.

Natsuki “Natsu” Asano is 17 years old and is a junior this year at Charlotte High School. Natsu is from Fukuoka, Japan. She is making new friends at CHS, improving her English, and involved in school activities, including the school’s Interact Club, according to Rotary Club officials. Interact is a student-led service club at CHS sponsored by Rotary.

Sam Thomas, 16, was a sophomore at Florida Southwestern Collegiate High School in Punta Gorda last year. He is also a member of the CHS Interact Club. He is spending his junior year abroad in Campo Grande, Brazil. Campo Grande is a medium-size city and a provincial capital in southwestern Brazil. He is a high school student at Collegio Salesiano Dom Basco, a private college preparatory school. To prepare for his exchange, Sam has been studying Portuguese for the past five months.  Sam is the son of Greg and Amy Thomas, who are also Natsu’s initial host family.  Sam is working through Visa issues and has not left as of yet.

Rotary Youth Exchange is a worldwide program in which well-qualified high school students live and study abroad for a school year in one of about 30 countries in Europe, Asia and South America. Through its worldwide network of about 33,000 service clubs in almost 200 countries, Rotary International has annually sponsored thousands of student exchanges since 1975.

                         

In addition to studying at a local high school, RYE students are hosted and guided by their local Rotary Club. They live with Rotary-selected host families, immerse themselves in a new culture, learn a new language, and make new friends from all over the world. The program is designed to build self-confidence, independence, and new abilities, which can be a life-changing experience.

Southwest Florida students, ages 14-18, interested in learning more about Rotary Youth Exchange and their parents are invited to call Paul Blaine, District 6960 RYE Outbound Coordinator, at 419-305-6224.

Area families interested in hosting an international exchange student in their homes for 3-5 months are also invited to call.

The Sponsor Committee, led by Peter Wilkins and Jim Sanders, has finalized an impressive sponsorship package for our upcoming fundraisers. This comprehensive package offers our sponsors a unique opportunity to support all of our fundraising events in one cohesive arrangement.

If you are passionate about community engagement and would like to contribute to our sponsorship efforts, we invite you to join this dedicated committee. Your support will help us enhance our fundraising initiatives and strengthen our impact in the community.

If you’re interested in being part of the Sponsor Committee, please reach out to Peter Wilkins or Jim Sanders. They would greatly appreciate your involvement and insights as we work together to secure valuable partnerships. Thank you for considering this opportunity to make a difference!

                  

Mark your calendars for an unforgettable evening on April 26, 2025, at the Isles Yacht Club as we celebrate 100 years of service in style! Join us for a night filled with fun, cherished memories, fellowship, and yes, plenty of dancing!

Tickets are $100 per person and include access to an exciting evening with live entertainment by the Marker 5 Band. There will also be a cash bar to keep the festivities flowing.

We invite you to consider becoming a sponsor for this momentous occasion! Sponsorships are available for $1,000, and sponsors will receive prominent recognition at all our fundraisers, including the Healing Field of Honor and Taste of Punta Gorda, as well as during the Celebrating a Century of Service event.

Tickets will go on sale in February, and with a limited capacity of just 200 guests, be sure to gather your table of 8 early!

The Public Image team is ready to bring your attention to our members and speakers on social media - https://www.facebook.com/puntagordarotary. We want to celebrate and recognize the great people involved in our club and community.  The board voted on and agree that promoting our speakers before our club meeting as a Facebook Event will allow. 

Barabara Boncompte not only created the clean and strategic graphics for each category, she is also the liaison to the guest speaker content Facebook Event postings with Richard Sell. 

Betty Kedziora will lead the content for the Monthly Member Spotlight and will look for fun facts about each member that is selected by a random process.  Watch out when we put the spotlight on you!  Our first spotlight member is Aryn Francis. 
 

In the spirit of service and community support, our Foundation Grant Chair, Charles Marsee, diligently accepts grant requests every quarter for our Grant Committee to review. This is a wonderful opportunity for our Rotary family to empower local projects and initiatives that align with our mission.

We are excited to announce that the Foundation has approved additional grants for several impactful initiatives, totaling over $19,000 to date.  Our recipients in 2024 thus far include Cathy's Place (Overdose Awareness),Team Punta Gorda  organic garden, Gulf Eagle Division US Naval Sea Corps, Peace River Wildlife Center, Peace  River Botanical Garden Together, YMCA, Hope Crossroads, Student PG Historical Society, Gulf Shore Sailing, Punta Gorda Fire Department and Wreaths Across America.

The next grant deadline is December 12, so if you know of a worthy cause or project, now is the time to act! You can find the grant applications on our website at puntagordarotary.org. Simply navigate to the Foundation tab and scroll to the bottom of the page.

If you're interested in contributing your time and expertise, we would love to have you on the Grant Committee. Please reach out to Charles Marsee, cmarsee@aol.com, for more information. Together, let’s continue to uplift our community through the power of Rotary!

 

Quarter Grant recipients included, from left, Polly Pierce, Cathy’s Place; Sandy Dressler, Team Punta Gorda; Tricia LaPointe, Peace River Wildlife Center; Joey Alonso, Gulf Eagle Division of the U.S. Navy Sea Cadets; and Tanna Horner, Peace River Botanical Garden.