Newport Rotary Recognized as 100% Giving & EREY Club!

Pres. Rachel Bell (ctr) and Immediate Past
Vice Pres. Steve Blizzard (r) accept Foundation
recognitions from District 7730 Foundation 
Chair, Skip Clarkson of Jacksonville.  

Newport Rotary has again been recognized for it's Rotary Foundation support, receiving the 2022-23 Rotary Year "Every Rotarian, Every Year" and "100% Foundation Giving" club banners at the November 4, 2023 District 7730 Rotary Foundation Banquet in Wallace, NC. 

 Immediate Past-President Mark Eadie thanked the club members for their continued support of the Foundation in comments at the clubs first November meeting after the awards were presented. Attending the event was current Newport Rotary President Rachel Bell, Immediate Past Vice-President Steve Blizzard, Tammy Blizzard, Richard Moreau, Anita Moreau, PDG Bevin Wall and Pam Wall. 

The Rotary Foundation is often referred to as "the engine that makes Rotary clubs work", allowing clubs and Rotary members to partner in local and international projects and geometrically increasing the scale of those projects. Newport Rotary has participated in numerous project in Newport and around the world during the past thirty years.

An "Every Rotarian, Every Year" banner is awarded to clubs that achieve a minimum Annual Fund contributions of $100 per capita during the Rotary year, and every dues-paying member must personally contribute at least $25 to the Annual Fund during the year.

A 100% Foundation Giving banner recognizes clubs that achieve an average of $100 in per capita giving and 100 percent participation, with every dues-paying member contributing at least $25 to any or all of the following during the Rotary year.

Hootenanny Fun Had by All

Crowds flock to the 2023 Hootenanny 

Newport Rotary coordinated another successful community event- the 2023 Newport Halloween Hootenanny. Click here for more... 

Newport Rotary Hard at Work on Annual Halloween Hootenanny

Under the lights at the 2022
Newport Halloween Hootenanny

See Posts on the Hootenanny Website: 

Are you getting excited about the Hootenanny? 

Orange Cards are in the Neighborhood

The Newport Halloween Hootenanny is coordinated by Newport Rotary each year on October 31. It's Newport Rotary's biggest event of the year. We rely on scores of volunteers to make the event happen. Our Event Sponsors include the Town of Newport, Newport Little League, Newport Pig Cooking Contest, and a multitude of local businesses, non-profits and individuals who come together to financially support the event. THANK YOU ALL in advance for your continued support of one of the things that makes Newport great! NEWPORT ROTARY. 

Gov. Quigley featured speaker for September 11 at Newport Rotary

DG Allen Quigley

Rotary District 7730 Governor Allen Quigley will be our featured speaker at a special Newport Rotary meeting called for Monday, September 11, 2023 at the Newport Rotary building. DG Allen has been a frequent guest at Newport Rotary recently. All Rotarians are encouraged to attend and bring a guest. A little more information about DG Allen follows. 

Allen Quigley, Wilmington West Rotary Club, serves as District Governor for Rotary District 7730 in 2023-24. He has served as co-chairman of the District DEI task force, and District International Service Chair representative. Allen served as president of the Wilmington West club in 2019-20 and the Warwick Valley Club (NY) in 2006-07. He is a Rotary Leadership Institute graduate, served his club as Foundation chair and is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow, Paul Harris Society member, and Bequest Society member. On the International landscape, he participated in projects in Ghana and Ethiopia.

Allen is currently principal of Lawson Gray, LLC, a business advisory firm. He has held leadership positions at Fortune 500 companies in the telecommunications, commercial construction, government, and services industries. He also owned and managed one of Wilmington’s favorite breakfast places. His areas of expertise Include building high-performance sales teams, creating effective strategic alliances and implementing strong fiscal controls.

Allen’s community service goes beyond Rotary as co-founder of Change the Channel, area organizer for Braver Angels, and co-founder of the Wilmington Chapter of Our Stories: Brave Conversations on Race. He is a graduate of Duke University and a former Naval Flight Officer on the P-3C antisubmarine warfare aircraft.

He has three amazing daughters and eight even more amazing grandchildren!

Announcement: Clara's Closet Teacher Supplies Distributed

Now in the first full week of school, the teacher supplies donated to Clara's Closet by Newport Rotary and others have been announced to Newport Elementary School staff and are being rapidly handed out and utilized. 

Below is Newport Elementary School's Principal, Laura Parish's announcement email this week. 

NES Teachers, 

Some of you have already made your way to Clara's Closet in the Hawk Hub.  The Newport Rotary and Wall Family have contributed $2,000 worth of school supplies to support our students!  They also plan to do a Spring Semester distribution as well.

The Fall distribution includes the following items:

4800 thermal laminating sheets

250 earphones assorted colors

1152 No 2 pencils

Black sharpies

876  Black/Colored dry erase markers

60 Dry erase erasers

Elmers Glue

Safety scissors

320 earbuds

Assorted folders

Please join me in thanking Newport Rotary and the Wall Family for continuing to support our students and staff!

Laura Parish, Principal

Newport Elementary School

Rotarians Conduct Annual First Day of School Cleanup at Newport Elementary School

First Day of School Cleanup Crew

Over 25 Newport Rotarians, school personnel and guests participated in the "First Day of School Cleanup" on Saturday morning, August 19, 2023. The event is an annual event of over 10 years duration organized by Newport Rotary that seeks to make school grounds and entrance as inviting as possible for the students, parents and staff on what can be a stressful first day of school. This year the cleanup featured a lot of lawnmowing, mulching the front garden beds, sweeping up and hanging fresh flower baskets at the school entrance. New Newport Elementary School Principal Laura Parish and numerous staff members joined in. Over 100 hours of volunteer service went into the event. 

Club Provides Teacher Supplies for a Second Year

Newport Rotarians provided $2,000 in teacher supplies to Clara's Closet at Newport Elementary School on Wednesday, August 23, 2023 for the Fall 2023 semester. The school supply closet contains items that teacher usually pay out-of-pocket for during the school year. Teachers were surveyed for the items they most needed.   

The project continues Newport Rotary, Rotary Foundation grant and funds from the Wall family supported project from last year providing over $6,000 in teacher supplies. This year Bread & Barley church also donated some items and several additional grants are being sought. 

Thanks Pres. Rachel, Matthew, Pam, Bevin, Rick, Anita, Dennis and Tammy for day-of support stocking the shelves, Pam, Rick & Erin for additional logistics. And Matt for getting the church involved! 

We will do it again in December/ January! 

August is a busy Service Month!

August is a very busy service and planning month at Newport Rotary.  

August 7 - Rotary Meeting - busy meeting planning upcoming service activities. 

Week of August 14 TBA - Clara's Closet stuffed at Newport Elementary School - (Rick Smith & Matt Shortway, Coord)  

August 21 - Rotary Meeting - Program on the Carteret Local Food Network

August 19 - Project - First Day of School Cleanup at Newport Elementary School (Maher Saikali & Julia Capps, Coord) 

We need good turnout on all of our projects! Please make all effort to participate! 

Local Nurse is Newest Member of Newport Rotary

Pres. Rachel Bell (l) and new
member, Taylor Pridgen (r) 

We welcome Taylor Pridgen as the newest member of Newport Rotary. Taylor is a nurse working throughout eastern North Carolina and has lifelong ties to the county. Taylor is the first new member in the 2023-24 Rotary year for the club. 

Taylor was proposed by Past Governor Bevin Wall for membership, she met with Rotarians Wall and Tammy Blizzard for her pre-membership review and was inducted by new Newport Rotary President, Rachel Bell at the regular club meeting on July 17, 2023. 

As a medical professional, Taylor is already helping with development of the club's 2023-24 Signature Project in the mental health area. Thanks, Taylor! 

Newport Rotary 2023-24 Officers Installed

Newport Rotary's President 
 Rachel Bell (l) installed by 
District Governor Quigley 

Newport Rotary's Leaders for the ensuing Rotary year, including President Rachel Bell, were sworn in by 2023-24 District Governor Allen Quigley during the club's June 19, 2023 meeting. During his comments he recognized Newport Rotary as "one of those small, unique clubs, that gets things done". It was a special occasion to have our club president installed by their own District Governor.

Quigley encouraged Rotarians and guests in attendance to use their Rotary involvement to "Create Hope in the World", echoing RI President Ian McInally's theme. Pres. McInally calls for Rotary to create hope in the world by working for peace and mental wellbeing. He urges members to engage in tough conversations and earn the trust that’s necessary to realize these values. Newport Rotary is engaging in that process to determine their next major grant supported project. 

Installed along with President Rachel were Anita Moreau, Vice-President; PDG Bevin Wall, Secretary; Maher Saikali, Treasurer; Matt Shortway, Sergeant-at-Arms and Dennis Barber as President-Elect. President Rachel's guests Matthew and Lucas were also in attendance.  

Newport's Anna Shortway Places in Rotary Competition

Newport Rotary's sponsored competitor, Anna Shortway, was recognized as a winner of the District 7730 Four Way Test Essay Contest. District Governor Nancy Carr announced the winners of the competition in her weekly email to clubs on May 8, 2023. Anna was awarded a $300 cash prize for her second place finish. Anna is the daughter of Past President Matt Shortway of Newport Rotary and spouse, Lindsay. 

CONGRATULATIONS ANNA. WE ARE REALLY PROUD OF YOU!       

Jacob Rowe Newest Newport Rotary Member

Jacob Rowe (r) is welcomed
to Newport Rotary by
his proposer, Bevin Wall   

Jacob Rowe is Newport Rotary's newest member after an induction ceremony during the club's March 6, 2023 meeting.

Jacob is founder and CIO of hedge fund Rogue-Funds, LLC, and also is an engineer at FRC-East, aboard Cherry Point MCAS. Jacob's significant other is Grace Riley. 

He was proposed to the Club by PDG Bevin Wall. 

We welcome Jacob who was looking for a way to serve his community. We think Newport Rotary fits the bill! 

Rick & Anita Moreau Recognized for Continuing Rotary Foundation Support

Rick & Anita Moreau are presented with 
Paul Harris Fellow recognitions by Newport
Rotary President Mark Eadie (r)

Newport Rotary members Rick and Anita Moreau have been recognized by The Rotary Foundation for their significant and continuing support of the Foundation's Annual Fund, which supports both international and local projects identified and led by Rotary Clubs and Districts around the world. The couple received the Paul Harris Fellow +6 pin, one-ruby designation in a ceremony at the club's regular meeting on March 6, 2023 with Club President Mark Eadie making the presentation. Both recipients addressed their fellow club members with remarks on their passion for the service afforded by The Foundation and it's importance to Rotary clubs and members around the world for "Doing Good in the World". The Moreaus have both been active in using District Grants from the Rotary Foundation to fund Newport Rotary's signature projects in Newport, such as recent projects Clara's Closet, Little Free Libraries, The Newport Halloween Hootenanny, The Dictionary Project, the Rotary Benches around town, and other projects. The Moreaus have set a great example for others in the club and as a result 100% of Newport Rotary members support The Rotary Foundation financially every year!  

The Rotary Foundation is a non-profit corporation that supports the efforts of Rotary International to achieve world understanding and peace through international humanitarian, educational, and cultural exchange programs. The mission of The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. The "signature" program of the Rotary Foundation since 1985 has been it's Polio Plus initiative to eradicate Polio globally. Since 1985, Polio cases have been reduced over 99% and Polio is endemic in only Afghanistan today. The Rotary Foundation has raised nearly a half-billion U.S. dollars during this period to support global polio vaccination programs. Over $200 million of this has come from matching grants from the Gates Foundation. In addition, the Rotary Foundation supports the global water initiative to ensure safe drinking water globally, and conflict resolution training programs in cooperation with the United Nations to promote world understanding.

Another Teacher Thank-You for Clara's Closet

Received last week from another Newport Elementary School Teacher:

Thank you for Clara’s closet at NES. It has been a great resource for a number of supplies I’ve needed in my STEM/maker space classroom. I serve the entire school body, over 700 children, and with donations like yours I am able to provide materials that will inspire their creativity. Thank you,

Deanna Windham
Wonder Workshop Coordinator 

Read more about our Clara's Closet Teacher Supplies Project here 

Newport Rotary continues its Support of Hospice

Bevin & Pam Wall deliver the February 2023 
Newport Rotary Meals to Hospice - 
Fried Chicken & fixin's - yum! 

Newport Rotary continues monthly delivery of meals to Crystal Coast Hospice House in Newport. Newport Rotarians sign up independently with Hospice to coordinate the meal delivery. Our Rotary club was one of the initial contributors to the original Million Dollar commitment to get a Hospice House facility in the county, eventually locating in Newport. This is just one of the many great things that Newport Rotary supports in the local community. Thanks to the many Newport Rotary members who have organized and funded this ongoing project. Special thanks goes to past and current organizers over the years including Rachel Bell, Julia Saikali, Tammy Blizzard, Anita & Rick Moreau and Anita Jo Eadie, among others. The need is real and the appreciation is heartfelt! THANK YOU! 

Newport Rotary Re-Stocks Teacher Supplies in Clara's Closet

Newport Rotarians were busy during their Monday February 20, 2023 meeting with the restocking of Clara's Closet teacher supplies onsite at Newport Elementary School. The $7,000 project funded by Newport Rotary, the Newport Halloween Hootenanny and a District Grant from the Rotary Foundation is in Rotary's Basic Education and Literacy area of focus and is Newport Rotary's major community service project during the 2022-23 Rotary year according to Club President Mark Eadie. See the photos of the fun here.  

The club is seeking ways to make the project sustainable for future years. The project needs assessment indicated a real need for teacher supply funding, as most teacher spend a significant amount out of their own pockets for teacher supplies each year. Read an inspirational thank you letter from NES teacher Rachel Hampton here. 

Participating in the re-stocking effort were Newport Rotarians PDG Bevin & Pam Wall, Steve & Tammy Blizzard, Anita Moreau, Anita Jo Eadie, President-Elect Rachel Bell, Dennis Barber, Joe Garner, Maher Saikali and Newport Rotary President Mark Eadie all celebrate the Feb 2023 restocking of teacher supplies in Clara's Closet. Click here for more information on Clara's Closet.