On June 27th, Rockford Rotary continued a long tradition of putting the outgoing President "On the Shelf" by roasting the incoming President.  No one has been able to explain the logic of this annual ritual, but we continue it anyway.  Roast Master Paul Logli (did you see my new library), changed things up a little last year and roasted both the incoming and outgoing Presidents.  He continued this "new tradition" by taking a few well aimed shots at President Pete who donned his tin-foiled covered hard hat for the occasion.

     Then it was incoming President Mike Forman to take the brunt of Paul's wit.  Despite all of the things that Paul tried to discourage the members from accepting Mike as President of Rockford Rotary for the 2024-25 Rotary year, the vote appeared to be unanimous to accept Mike as President.  Being a man of few words, Mike accepted the honor and will try and keep things moving ahead for next year.

     All in all, it was a terrific program, and we congratulate President Pete on a successful year and welcome President Mike to lead us in 2024-25.

 

     Below are some of the pictures from the event.  

 

 

Paul Von Driska giving an update on our Youth Exchange Student.  We have found a family

for Timeo through December 31st.  He will be attending Harlem High School.  Now we need

two more families who can get him to Harlem High School to split the time between January 1st 

and when he leaves in July.

 

 

Eric Moe and Chama present President Pete with a Buddhist symbol.

 

 

Chama presents President Pete with some sort of pants.

 

 

Ereic presents President Pete with a copy of the Rotary Magazine

signed by RI President Stephanie Urchick.

 

       

 

2024-25 President Mike Forman with the Rotary Theme 

"The Magic of Rotary".

     Our annual New Member Reception was held on June 27th at the University Club.  Again this year we enjoyed some hot hors d'oeuvres and some socializing.  Thank you to Linda Niemiec and her committee for a job well done.  A good time was had by all.

 

 

 

 

 

Mike Forman

President - 2024-2025

Mike.Forman@outlook.com 

 

        

 

 

The main purpose of Rotary Youth Exchange is to help inspire young leaders to become international ambassadors to serve as catalysts for peace and social justice in their local communities and throughout the world, long after their exchanges end.

 

We now have confirmation of who our Rotary Youth Exchange student is for academic year 2024/25. Timeo Paolo Gimbals is a boy from Belgium. He will be a senior. His native language is French, but he does speak and read English. He was rated fair in speaking and good in reading. He is passionate about science and the animal world and plans to study veterinary medicine after his exchange year. He also plays basketball, is a runner and plays the piano and drums.

 

Rotary works with the students to obtain their student Visas from the State Dept. before purchasing the roundtrip ticket for their year abroad. Rotary also requires every exchange student to purchase a specific health insurance policy that Rotary specifies. Rotary also provides host families and the exchange students with training to help develop an excellent relationship that will last a lifetime.

 

We have found a host family for Timeo for the first session which is through December 31, 2024.  He will be attending Harlem High School.

 

We are looking for host families that would be able to get Timeo to Harlem High School, so you don't have to live in the Harlem School District just be able to get him there. Again, we will be splitting up the time frame from January 2025 to July 2025 into 2 slots.   If you know someone that might be interested, please contact

 

Paul Von Driska at 815.222.6748 or pvondriska@bergstrominc.com.

 

Thank you! 

 

07-18-24 - 12:00 PM - Summer Meeting/Party

                   We will be having a party for Chama

                   who will be leaving to go back home on the 20th

 

07-18-24 - Rotary at the Rivets Game

                  Area Rotary Clubs will be seated in one section

                  More details to follow - Just a note that

                  Thirsty Thursdays are celebrated with $2 Domestic Beers 

 

07-25-24 - 12:00 PM - Committee Meetings

 

08-15-24 - 12:00 PM - Committee Meetings        

 

08-23-24 - Greeters at the City Market

                  We will need 15 - 20 volunteers to greet people at the Market

 

09-05-24 - First Meeting of 2024-25 Rockford Rotary Year