Join US at our Holiday Party with Residents at Carteret House

graphic courtesy Freepik

Newport Rotary Members, as Christmas approaches, we have a wonderful opportunity to live out our commitment to Service Above Self. Tomorrow, our club will be supporting 47 residents of Carteret House to ensure they experience a warm, joyful, and memorable Christmas. We are inviting all members and guests to join us for a special visit filled with warmth, conversation, and holiday spirit. You don’t need to bring anything—just your Christmas cheer and a willingness to brighten someone’s day. All gifts and supplies have already been arranged. 

Event Details:
Carteret House, 3020 Market St, Newport, NC 28570
December 8, 2025
5:30 at the location

Tammy Blizzard, President, Newport Rotary 

Another Successful Newport Halloween Hootenanny

Throngs of Newport area faithful flocked to the Newport Little League Field and Town Park on Halloween night...

Click here for the full article on the Hootenanny website.  

Thanks to Newport Rotary and friends for making it happen!

Newport Halloween Hootenanny Approaches

Status update: Newport Rotary is in the middle of preparation for the Newport Halloween Hootenanny. 

The club will meet Monday October 27, 2025 at 5:30pm at the Rotary Building for assignments and pre-event walk-through.    

See more about the event by clicking here. 

Additional Clara's Closet Items Donated

Newport Rotary members stocking Clara's Closet

Requests by Newport Elementary School Teachers resulted in additional items being donated to Clara's Closet this semester. The additional items stocked today are: 

• Computer Mouse, wired 30 blue, 30 gold
• 1200 thermal laminating pouches
• 500 Dry erase lap boards & markers

Clara’s Closet began as the 2022-23 Newport Rotary major project. It provides Newport Elementary School teachers with teacher and classroom supplies which may not be provided by the school system. More importantly, it sends a clear message to our school teachers and staff that they are valued and supported by their local civic and business communities! For more on Clara's Closet, click here. 

For this year's donation article, click here.

Newport Rotary Selected for Rotary's Club Excellence Award for 2024-25

Dear Past Pres. Richard Moreau
2024-25 Club President, Newport Rotary

Congratulations! Your club has earned the Club Excellence Award, the most significant award a Rotary club can achieve, for 2024-25. This past year, your club demonstrated a commitment to achieve its goals, which ultimately helps strengthen Rotary and shape our future.

Please find your Club Excellence Award certificate [attached]. I encourage you to display it proudly to celebrate your club’s achievement.

Once again, congratulations on a successful year as club president!

Sincerely,
Stephanie A. Urchick
2024-25 RI President

September 8, 2025 program: "When do you call the Electrician?

Brandon Mutch
of AMP'd Electric

The Newport Rotary September 8, 2025 program will be by local Electrician Brandon Mutch of AMP'd Electric on the topic "When do you call the Electrician?". 

Brandon has been part of the Newport community since opening his business in 2018. AMP'd Electric is located at 217 Chatham Street in Newport. 

It's never to early to get a refresher on electrical safety at home and in the workplace in order to reduce the number of electrically related fires and accidents, and we welcome Brandon to our meeting! 

Fall 2025 List of Clara's Closet School Supplies

The following items were supplied in August 2025 to Newport Elementary School teachers and staff by Newport Rotary's Clara's Closet located in the Hawk Hub: 

• 200 letter size file folders for teachers, Manila
• 440 letter size file folders for teachers, various colors
• 72 teacher scissors
• 30 dry erase markers, fine tip color, teacher set
• 600 two pocket folders
• 264 dry erase markers, chisel tip, color
• 24 stapler/staples
• 30 tape dispenser/tape
• 300 dry erase pockets
• 240 washable glue stick
• 400 dry erase lap boards
• 288 dry erase markers, fine tip student
• 120 colored pencils student sets
• 600 sticky note pads
• 2000 bulk number two pencils
• 144 colored highlighters
• 602 teacher dry erase markers, chisel tip, black
• Misc Classroom pack multi-color paper
• 320 ear buds for students (for older kids)
• 400 multicolor head phones (for younger kids)

Click here for this year's article on this project. 

Click here for more about Clara's Closet. 

Check out the Fun we Had- NES School Cleanup Photos Posted

Over 30 people showed up for our Newport Elementary School Cleanup! Rotarians, teachers, staff & their families all supported the effort and by mid-day- the school had a much improved curb appeal for those new and returning students. Click here for the fun photos! 

Newport Rotary Provides Teacher Supplies

For a fourth consecutive year, Newport Rotary have provided teacher school supplies to Clara’s Closet at Newport Elementary School. Click here for the photo gallery. 

The Club along with the Clara Wall family identify the items that teachers usually pay for themselves or that they wish they would have during the school year to enhance their students experience. The items are then purchased in bulk and stocked in Clara’s Closet located in a corner of the Hawk Hub faculty room at NES. Newport Rotarians stock the shelves in August and January. Purchases totaled over $3,000 for this cycle, with funds being donated from private sources and the club’s fundraising efforts. 

We Support Newport Elementary School with August's Clara's Closet & Grounds Cleanup Projects

We share the following email:  

From: Mark Sheehe Wed, Aug 13, 2025 at 3:59 PM To: NES Staff, Newport Rotary will be here on Friday afternoon around 2:30 to help stuff Clara's Closet in the Hawk Hub. If you're around please stop by. Also, Rotary will be here on Saturday morning, 8/16, alongside us for school beautification (@8:00am). They plan on bringing mowers, plants, and mulch. Rotary also plans to help pick up around the grounds. If you get a chance, please thank those in the Rotary! This is what makes NES a true community school. Mark Sheehe, Asst Principal, Newport Elementary School

August 11 Newport Rotary Program - Zac Nally, Town of Newport

Zac Nally, Newport Parks & Rec

😀Hello Fellow Rotarians!

Just a friendly reminder about our regular Rotary meeting tomorrow at 5:30 PM.

Meeting Highlights:Guest Speaker: Zac Nally, Newport's new Director of Parks & Recreation

Special Visitors: Norwood & Manuela Woolard will be joining our club meeting

Refreshments: A small snack will be provided

Coming Up: 

15

Aug, Fri

Clara's Closet - NES

16

Aug, Sat

NES School Cleanup Day

25

Aug, Mon

5:30pm

Newport Rotary Mtg

Looking forward to seeing you there! Pres. Tammy

President's Note: A New Year of Service

President's Note: I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who attended tonight's meeting. Your presence and engagement demonstrated the true spirit of Rotary fellowship and commitment to service.

Mark Your Calendars - Important Upcoming Dates:July 28 - Service/Social Meeting: Inventory Hootenanny games with pizza
August 9 - Rotary Island Picnic (details to be confirmed)
August 11 - Regular meeting - speaker
August 15 - Clara's Closet supply event at 3:00 PM (details to be confirmed)
August 16 - School clean-up starting at 8:00 AM (details to be confirmed)
August 25 - Regular meeting - Hootenanny focus

New Meeting Schedule Reminder: Starting this month, we're shifting to the 2nd and 4th Mondays to improve attendance and avoid conflicts. This change was made with you in mind, and I'm excited to see how it enhances our participation.

Your continued attendance is vital to our club's success. We're implementing exciting new initiatives, including reviving our speaker sessions, adding informal social meetings, and increasing our community visibility. Each of you brings unique perspectives and energy that strengthens our ability to serve our community.

Thank you again for your commitment to our club and to the ideals of Rotary. Together, we can truly "Unite for Good." Pres. Tammy Blizzard

Newport Rotary Announces New Monthly Meeting Dates

By unanimous action of the Rotary Club assembled membership at the club's July 7, 2025 regular meeting, Newport Rotary's regularly scheduled meetings have been changed to the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month beginning immediately. Meetings will continue to be held from 5:30pm to 6:30pm on those dates. 

The action was taken to avoid conflict with town meetings. The change was announced by Club President Tammy Blizzard, and was ordered changed on the club's website, database and social media apps.

July 7 2025 at Newport Rotary - a New Rotary Year!

President's Note: I look forward to meeting with each of you tomorrow at 5:30 pm as we step into our New Year of Rotary! I do have a small surprise for you, but you will have to attend to take part in the fun! I will provide a little nosh for you.

Here is a sneak peek at the agenda:

• Call the meeting to Order
• Pledge/God Bless America
• ​​​​​​​Prayer
• ​​​​​​​Happy Dollars
• Paul Harris Presentations
• Brief overview of Rotary Leadership:RI President Francesco Arezzo message
• DG Andrea Young message
• ​​​​​​​Meet the board & My message
• Meeting adjustment to accommodate the majority of membership
• Club Calendar

​​​​​​​Your presence and participation help make our club stronger and more effective in serving our community. We need your ideas, enthusiasm, and commitment to make this year our best yet! President Tammy

Newport Rotary 2025-26 Goals Summary

Newport Rotary has set ambitious, but achievable goals for the upcoming Rotary year report Club Secretary PDG Bevin Wall. The following is a summary: 

Priority Goals:

• Club membership goal of 20 (+5)
• Revise Strategic Plan
• All Active members participate in service projects throughout the year
• Support Rotary Foundation Annual Fund of at least $5,000
• Support PolioPlus Fund of at least $600
• Add 1 or more Rotary Foundation Benefactors

Other Goals: 

• At least 4 social activities annually 
• At least 9 service projects annually
• At least 2 new members sponsored  
• Review and revise online presence
• At least 1 member in a Rotary Action Group 
• At least 1 member in a Rotary Fellowship
• At least 2 new Bequest Society members
• Review and update club bylaws 
• At least 4 members attend District Conference 
• At least 2 members attend District Training events
• Sponsor 1 RYLA student 
• Review and update use of official Rotary promotional materials 
• At least 2 media stories about club projects   

Pre-Presidential Year Kickoff Board Meeting - 3pm June 30

Details for upcoming board meeting for the pre-presidential year kickoff.

Meeting Details: Date: Monday, June 30, 2025
Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Rotary Building

Purpose: Pre-Presidential Year Kickoff. This meeting will focus on planning and preparation for the upcoming presidential year, including key projects, calendar-setting, and organizational priorities.

Please confirm your attendance by email replying to Pres. Tammy Blizzard.

I look forward to your participation in this important planning session. Best regards, Tammy

Clara's Closet Project renewed for next year

CLARA’S CLOSET TEACHER SCHOOL SUPPLIES PROJECT
RENEWED FOR 2025-2026 SCHOOL YEAR

Newport Rotary announced on May 19, 2025 that its “Clara’s Closet” teacher school supply project would continue into the next school year of 2025-26. The project provides teacher school supplies that may not be provided by the school system to elementary school teachers at Newport Elementary School. The supplies are available semi-annually in a specified area in the Teacher workroom at the school. The needed teacher school supplies are identified through one or more needs surveys conducted with the teachers and input from the school administration.

Clara’s Closet began in the Fall of 2022. The project is named in memory of Clara Wall, “Miss Clara”, a career third-grade teacher at Newport Elementary (1960s-1980s) whose husband, son and daughter-in-law were all Newport Rotarians. Clara’s Closet is funded by Newport Rotary and the Wall family. It has received prior funding through The Newport Halloween Hootenanny, a grant from The Rotary Foundation, and various private donors.

Club Social Set for June 2, 2025 at Shortway's Brewing

Our second club social of the year is set for Monday, June 2, 2025 from 6-7 pm at Shortway's Brewing in Newport. Fun and Fellowship! Bring a guest. 

A 2025 Newport Halloween Hootenanny Committee meeting will follow at 7pm for maximum 1 hour. 

May 19 2025 Rotary Work Day Photos

 See our Work Day photos here.   

We had a great time and made visible improvements inside and out. Thanks to our special guests, Croatan High Sophomores Madison Madden and Maritzel Perez. You are invited back for our upcoming meetings as “Summer Rotarians”! 

Newport Rotarians with guests
Madison Madden (4th from left) and
Maritzel Perez (5th from left)

Work Day Today!

Rotarians will don their hats and gloves and wield their rakes and spray bottles as its time for "Spring-Cleaning" around the club building! One of the joys of owning our own building is that we get to take pride in its appearance, which does take a little effort now and again. 

Emphasis will be on the outside front hedges and beds and on the inside windowsills, jams, chair rail and baseboards. Bring your appropriate tools and supplies!! 

Newport Rotary Adopts New Name Badges

Nick's badge is alphabetically first,
first out of the bag, and
therefore used for this article!!  

After 76 years, Newport Rotary has adopted new name badges. 

Name badges have been synonymous with Rotary club membership since the beginning of Rotary in 1905. To this day they still prominently reflect the Rotary members first name, their "classification" or job descriptor and now possible volunteer status, and the Rotary wheel logo. 

In 2013 Rotary started phasing out the heritage (reads "old") branding and converting products and signage to the "master brand" format.

Name badges make it easier for guests to identify members at meetings and also are identifers for members out doing good in their community as "Rotarians". The new branding is consistent with other Rotary identifiers universally like websites, publications and social media.  

An example of the old badge style is displayed on the left. 

Photos and article by PDG Bevin Wall, Newport Rotary

April 7 2025 program - Aliceson Turnage - Volunteer Coordinator, Newport Pig Cooking

Aliceson Turnage

Newport native Aliceson Turnage will be the guest speaker at Newport Rotary's April 7, 2025 meeting at the Newport Rotary Building. Aliceson is the Volunteer Coordinator for the just completed 2025 Newport Pig Cooking and will share with us some of her experiences and challenges in that role this year. 

A 2005 West Carteret High School graduate, she works at FRC-East at Cherry Point and is a member of the Harvest Church of God where she helps teach children's church, works in the sound room, and assists with other church functions.

Join us at 5:00pm for a meet & greet and our regular meeting from 5:30-6:30 pm. Our meetings are open to the public. Bring a friend! A committee meeting for the 2025 Halloween Hootenanny will follow. 

Newport Rotary to Get CCT Theatre Project Update

Carteret Community Theatre in Morehead City lost their building and all their contents during Hurricane Florence in 2018. Since that time, CCT has faced major challenges in finding suitable performance locations while they work to restore the theater. We are going to hear from Pam Wall, CCT President (and Newport Rotarian) about the progress they have made on rebuilding to once again provide live entertainment, summer camps, and other amazing artistic programs for the citizens of Carteret County.

We will hear about fundraising - including the "Rotary Lobby", and progress on "Phase One" of the rebuild featuring a renovated, upgraded building with new seating, new lighting, an expansive stage, a first-class sound booth, expanded concessions, an art gallery, and new bathrooms. For more, see https://www.carteretcommunitytheatre.com/ovation-campaign 

Carteret County Rotary Clubs 100 Years Video debut

Our Rotary 100 year anniversary video - A Century of Service, premiered on Sunday February 23rd to a crowd of over 100 Rotarians, family, friends and guests. What an exciting day.A huge thank you to the Big Rock Foundation for funding our video, Rebekah Brooks and Carteret Community Theatre for donating their facility, the Carteret Community College audio/video team of James and Kyle for setting up projector and sound, and Hitchcock Television for production and creative video work.

The video was filmed last July over 4 days with 36 Rotarians committing their time to being interviewed. It's a busy time of year for Carteret County and while many were asked to participate, it was difficult for many to respond. We are so grateful to those who were able to contribute. Every club was represented by 2 or more Rotarians in the film.

When you take over 20 hours of video interviews and cut all but 18 minutes, there is a lot of good material sitting on the cutting room floor. The full-length interviews are available for viewing on the Rotary Clubs of Carteret County YouTube channel. We grabbed the gems, but there is a lot more if you take some time to watch what we missed showing in the final product.

For your viewing pleasure, here is the link to our full video: https://youtu.be/2IGPz2tjw-k

Please consider sharing this with friends, family, schools, churches and community organizations. The goal is to expose more people to Rotary and build a foundation for the next 100 years of Service above Self. We have speakers available to talk to groups in our area and around the world. Now is the time to put a focus on who we are as Rotarians and what we do. It is our time to grow and increase our impact.

Enjoy the video and thank you for your personal Service Above Self as a Rotarian in Carteret County.

Questions or concerns: contact Barbara Johnson at barbarafjohnson@live.com.

Newport Rotary Restocks Little Free Libraries

Newport Rotarians (l-r) Anita Moreau, 
Tammy Blizzard & Rick Moreau
make sure our libraries are clean and
well-stocked!

Neither rain, nor snow, nor the bleakness of day will stop Newport (NC) Rotary from taking care of their dozen Little Free Libraries placed strategically around the community. While most of these libraries are self-sustaining, we like to monitor all of them to ensure they are filled with great reading material and kept neat and clean. Some locations have more children, so we make an effort to maintain a small stock of replacement juvenile literature, along with magazines and the occasional comic book (and every now and then, a donated Hot Wheels car).

Most people follow the “take a book, give a book” method, but some may not always have a book to give, and that’s perfectly fine—we just want everyone to read and have fun. This has been a great project that we started three years ago, and we continue to find new reading treasures all the time.

Do you have a book desert in your town? Consider investing in a Little Free Library or two, and provide those folks with a refreshing dose of literary nourishment. Contact us at Newport Rotary if you are interested at NewportNCRotary@gmail.com.