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What does R O T A R Y mean to you?

What does Rotary mean to you?

R = Regular attendance - attend weekly meetings, and/or Board Meetings, events, service projects

O = Outlook - arrive with a great outlook, and remember to be fair to all

T = Truth (Is it the truth?)

A = Attitude - bring your best attitude, so that it will be beneficial to all

R = R you ready to build goodwill and better friendships?

Y = What is your “why”? Why are you a Rotarian - where do you want to make a difference?

We are Rotary! We are the Rotary Club of the Lowcountry!

By, Terri Stokes

Better to give than receive

“It’s more blessed to give than receive.” Thanks to the generosity of Johnny Harvey, of the Beaufort Rotary Club, five members of our community were recognized as Paul Harris Fellows.

First time honorees include Kay Keeler, Jean and Richard Norris( a Rotarian in the Sea Island Club); Doug Crowley with his 7th Paul Harris and Bob Bible with his 5th. It’s in this spirit that you may want to donate points to a deserving recipient…for more information, see Kerry Bunton our Foundation Director. As Pastor Steve Keeler says, you never know who’s watching what good deeds you are doing.
Our meeting had a very entertaining program by our very own Peggy Bartz, introduced by Kathy Crowley.

Peggy is a fairly new member who has immediately gotten involved.

Change of Watch

Change of Watch Social was a huge success! We enjoyed libations, a wonderful meal of salad, shrimp and grits, baked chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and a variety of pies.

President Bob Bible named two members as Rotarian of the Year - Doug Crowley and Terri Stokes (always an honor and a very humbling award).

Kerry Bunton, Assistant District Governor installed Pinky Harriott as our Incoming President, along with the new Board of Directors.

We had a terrific year with many committees recognized by their Chairs. We had several big accomplishments to be proud of with much participation from club members.

Happy Trails to Bob and Cheers to Pinky!!

Beaufort National Cemetery

Thank you to Louis Brown for such an interesting program on the Beaufort National Cemetery. He has been with the National Cemetery Administration for 14 years and is retired from the U.S. Army. The cemetery is open daily to the public from dawn to dusk.

“It is one of the earliest US national cemeteries designated by President Abraham Lincoln who authorized establishment in a letter dated February 10, 1863.”
Stop by their office for a self guided tour book and enjoy our very own “National Treasure.”

Kudos to Doug Crowley for inviting Lewis and for Kathy Crowley for filling in as president for our meeting.

Rain Didn’t Damper Spirits

The Show Must Go On! Despite the rainy weather, the Interact Club and the Rotarians had their year end trash pick up and picnic at Whitehall Park. Under the leadership of Cindy Lewis, the Interact Sponsor, and Dick Deuel, Rotary Sponsor - the Beaufort High School had a very active club.

The officers were engaged and dependable, active in our community and their school. Bob Bible, President, presented the annual Scholarship winner to Annabelle Nelson - a big congratulations to Annabelle!

2024 Memory Links Tournament

Things Are Happening, Try to Keep Up

Don’t stop and smell the roses or you will get left behind, as the Rotary Club of the Lowcountry is busy!!

We welcomed new member Daniel Thomas into our club April 26th.

(Pictured Susan and Daniel Thomas, President Bob Bible and Membership Chair, Neil Lipsitz). Welcome Daniel!!

Lori Opozda, Executive Director of HELP of Beaufort, presented a very interesting program including an update on their new facility being built in Port Royal. Thank you Dana Bolden for inviting Lori to our morning meeting.

(Pictured Dana, Lori and Bob)

And thanks to Scott Klumb for organizing the annual Buckets for Brackets challenge! Always a lot of partipation and fun (at least for the winners who get bragging rights). All monies go to the CART Fund (Coins for Alzheimer’s Research Trust) - don’t forget, we are Club of the Year for the Cart Fund (again). 🎊🎉

(pictured Kerry Bunton, Foundation Chair and Scott Klumb, Secretary)

Service Above Self

Service Above Self! Serving beer at the Annual Soft Shell Crab Festival is always fun!

So You Think You Can Garden?

We were so fortunate to have Wendy Hilty, Master Gardener, speak to our club recently about flower gardening for our area. She had such an informative and interesting program that many Rotarians said they could have listened for hours!

The good news is she writes a column for Island News and has written a book entitled Lowcountry Gardening for Newcomers. Also, you might see her often at the Clemson Ext booth at the Port Royal Farmers Market. Thanks to Terri Stokes for inviting Wendy!

Tooting Our Own Horn!!

Tooting Our Own Horn!!! Congratulations to our Rotary Club of the Lowcountry-Beaufort,S.C. USA for winning the: Drum Roll please.....District 7770 CART FUND club of the Year!

We're #1, we're #1.
Thanks to all members for donating every week into the little blue Cart Fund buckets on the tables. Thanks to Paula and Kerry Bunton for rolling coins and counting the monies diligently.
As always, we are a small club, but a mighty club!! Be proud!

Photos taken and award presented at the District Conference in Charleston, March 22-24th.

Interesting and Informative Program

We had a very interesting program led by Rebecca Burgess, the Executive Director of the Beaufort County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Dept. It was very eye-opening to learn about drug overdose, and fentanyl, etc and how this can possibly happen to anyone! We also learned about Narcan and how to use it. We are so fortunate to have the prevention program available to our residents - I encourage you to ask them to come speak to your club! It could be lifesaving.

Thanks to Jeff Althoff for inviting Rebecca to share this valuable information.
The Rotary Club Magazine had a very interesting article on this timely topic in the January 2024 edition. I encourage you to read it.

New Member!

Great things are happening with the Rotary Club of the Lowcountry!

Welcome to our newest member, Peggy Bartz - she was a member of a Rotary Club in Clarkston, Michigan for 16 years (they also met in the morning).
Our member, Peach Morrison, presented a wonderful program for us - she is the Executive Director of the SC Lowcountry Tourism Commission.

We are so fortunate to live, work and play in a beautiful location!

Presenting “Winston Churchill” !

Posted by Terri Stokes

Did you have to do a double-take?

Our awesome club member, Randy Otto, performing as Winston Churchill for our regular meeting recently. Bravo!! 👏👏

First Friday

First Friday in February was Fantastic! The Interact Club Board Members joined us for our breakfast meeting.

Dana Bolden was installed as our newest member

, and two members (Andy and Doug) were recognized with Paul Harris pins.

Rotary Reader

Scott Shipsey is having so much fun with Rotary Reader!!

Scott has been actively reading with the school children at not one but three different schools — St Helena, Lady’s Island and Coosa Elementary Schools.

If you would like to be a volunteer, see Scott for more information- it’s easy to sign up and so rewarding!

National Giving Month

Dick Deuel, Past President, chose Dec 22, to present checks to the Lowcountry Rotary 2023 Fundraising Recepients. How appropriate as December is National Giving Month! There were 14 organizations selected this year and only 3 weren’t available to attend our morning meeting.

Congratulations to all and thank you for your service to our community.

Celebrating Connie!

Let’s hear it for our Connie Hipp!! What a great meeting with Connie discussing the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce Leadership Program. She graduated in the second class, 1987, and has since served for the past 37 years as the volunteer Co-Program Director. Her enthusiasm and energy is contagious as she beams talking about Leadership Beaufort. Many of the Rotarians in our Club are graduates. We are proud that Connie is a Honorary Member of the Lowcountry Rotary Club. Thanks for the meeting introduction Bill Gossett. #leadershipbeaufort

Volunteer Saturday!

Volunteer Saturday!! Thanks to all of our members who donated their time this past Saturday for the annual “ringing of the bell” for the Salvation Army!

Kathy & Doug and Jeff and Valerie had the perfect weather day! #givebacktoyourcommunity #volunteer #salvationarmy

Club Awards

Congratulations to our club under the Leadership of last year’s President, Dick Deuel. Kerry Bunton, Foundation Chairperson, presented him with awards:
The Rotary District 7770 Club Leadership Citation and the Rotary International Presidential Citation, as well as the 5 star Rotary Foundation award. 🏆🎉👏 #givebacktothecommunity #rotaryclub #smallclub

26th Annual Lowcountry Rotary Family Oyster Roast

Our 26th Annual Lowcountry Rotary Club Family Oyster Roast is coming up on Saturday November 4th, 2023 from 3-7 PM at the Live Oaks Park in Port Royal, SC.

Tickets are available at Palmetto State Bank on Lady's Island or Bay Street Jewelers in downtown Beaufort. A limited number of tickets will be available at the gate for $45 on Saturday. Don't miss it!

And, That’s A Wrap! 2023 Oyster Roast Hugely Successful!

Congratulations to Oyster Roast chairperson, Pinky Harriott and the committee for a fantastic event! The weather was great; the crowd was big; the oysters, hotdogs and chili were plentiful; the drinks were cold; the music was perfect; and the auction items were exciting!! Bringing the community together to raise awareness of our Rotary club’s mission and to raise funds for local charities is so rewarding! 🌭🦪🍻🍷 Thank you to our Sponsors, Club Members, Spouses, Interact Club and Attendees for your support!!

Wreaths Across America

You're invited to participate! Thank you to David Edwards, local Coordinator for Wreaths Across America at the Beaufort National Cemetery for sharing his message and enthusiasm for this wonderful program. This year approximately 3,900 locations will participate across the U.S. in Wreaths Across America; 3.8 million wreaths were placed at gravesites last year.

David has been involved with the program for 17 years and said it's a way to honor the men and women who sacrificed their lives for us. On December 16, 2023, about 300 motorcycles and 4-5 freight trucks will enter the Beaufort National Cementery as a convoy to kick off the event, starting at 11:00 am. You are invited to donate by sponsoring a wreath and/or come out and help to lay wreaths on the graves of the veterans (over 26,000 internments). Please go to their website www.wreathsacrossamerica.org for more information.

Inspiration = Polio Plus

What an inspiring program! Meet Fil Acker who shared his story about being diagnosed with polio at the age of 5 years old - he was in the hospital in Greenville, SC - in an Iron Lung 24/7.

Fil was able to leave the hospital after 3 months of treatment and lots of PT, encouragement and love from friends and family. He thanked the Rotarians their continued support of Polio Plus.

Kerry Bunton and Bob Bible recognized Chuck Raynor and Terri Stokes for contributions to the Polio Plus Society.

World Polio Day is Oct 24.

Friday Mornings are Great!

Oh what fun we had on Friday morning, Sept 21st. We were graced by Bonnie Hargrove, the Director of the Center for the Arts for USC-B, along with Elaine O'Connell Lake. Bonnie filled us in on the upcoming shows and events - how lucky are we to have Broadway shows, Children's Theatre, Adult Theatre, gallery exhibits, etc. right here in Beaufort...the list goes on with Beaufort Film Festival, Dancing with the Stars, Books Sandwiched in.

Elaine, aka Mother Abbess, ended our meeting with her beautiful voice singing, Climb Every Mountain from the Sound of Music - she was remarkable and touched our hearts!
Check out their website at www.uscbcenterforthearts.com

Sept 29, 2023 we had the opportunity to hear the very moving story of two young people, Madison (18) and Jon Paul (19), who were tragically killed in an auto accident on 12/4/21… by a repeat offender who was driving at a high rate of speed while under the influence of drugs and alcohol. James and Jennifer Klepesky, Madison’s parents, shared their vision to keep Madison and Jon Paul’s memories alive through creating Madison’s Miracles, Inc. Their hearts are full of compassion. There are so many ways you can get involved: www.Madisonsmiraclesinc.org

Provide Educational Scholarships, Safe Driving Education, Assist with the Cost of Prom for Underprivileged Students just to name a few.

Thank you to Julianne Clark and Randy Ott for teaming up for the very meaningful program.

Did You Know?

Did You Know - Beaufort has a National Park?

Chris Barr, the Chief of Interpretation at the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park in Beaufort, was our guest speaker this past Friday.

Chris has only been in Beaufort since 2019, but he is a wealth of information! He has the passion, energy and knowledge to keep you on your toes - Chris filled us in

on our very different National Park as it’s not in one location but several including Craven Street Visitor’s Center, Camp Saxton in Port Royal, Darrah Hall at Penn Center, and others. This may call for a field trip! Pictured above are President Bob Bible, Park Ranger Chris Barr and Rotarian Terri Stokes.

Welcome to our Club!

Service Above Self

We meet In Person

Fridays at 7:30 AM

Sea Island Presbyterian Church

81 Lady's Island Drive
Beaufort,, SC 29907
United States of America

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