Service Above Self
How We Serve
Our members – the area’s top business and civic leaders – personify the Rotary motto “Service Above Self”
Interact Club
Interact Clubs guide young 12-18 in developing leadership skills and discover the power of Service Above Self
Club Meetings
On Tuesdays, our lunch meetings educate our members on important issues, build fellowship and provide networking opportunities.
Club Events
Our members, and their guests, meet regularly to exchange ideas, share interests, & celebrate our diverse perspectives
Club Programs
During the club meetings we hear from community experts on various topics and, share ideas
Club Bulletins
Meeting Bulletins give a snapshot view of the Tuesday meeting content; future, past and present
About Us
Florence Rotary Club Members are people of action who personify the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self,” through several community service initiatives which enrich the lives of the Siuslaw Region’s youth and needy families. Our members also are part of a global action network that tackles challenges from the worldwide eradication of disease, to literacy and clean water.
WEEKLY CLUB MEETINGS
Tuesdays 12 noon – 1:00 pm
address
Florence Event Center • 715 Quince St.• Florence, OR 97439 • 541-997-1994
Florence Event Center • 715 Quince St.• Florence, OR 97439 • 541-997-1994
EMAIL ADDRESS
phone
(135)-573-2361
QUICK LINKS
Rotary encourages conversations to foster understanding within and across cultures. We train adults and young leaders to prevent and mediate conflict and help refugees who have fled dangerous areas.
Florence Rotarian Dr. Brain Holmes and the Florence Dental Clinic, with the support of our Rotary Club, provide free dental care for the needy people of our community as well as those of impoverished countries.
We educate and equip communities to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases like Polio, HIV/AIDS, and Malaria. In addition, we improve and expand access to low-cost and free healthcare in developing areas. Rotary members have contributed more than $2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries from this paralyzing disease.
Supporting Education and literacy is one of Florence Rotary’s six areas of focus. Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of our community to support education and advance literacy for both children and adults. Each quarter we recognize and celebrate top students from Siuslaw and Mapleton Middle and High Schools.
Clean water, sanitation & hygiene education are basic necessities for a healthy living environment. When people have access to clean water and sanitation, waterborne diseases decrease, children stay healthier and attend school more regularly.
Rotary is committed to supporting activities that strengthen the conservation and protection of natural resources, advance ecological sustainability, and foster harmony between communities and the environment.
The Florence area has such a generous and active community. The Rotary Club of Florence strives to honor that by working with other non-profits, clubs, and service organizations whenever possible to avoid duplicating efforts and maximize community support. We are currently partnering with Siuslaw Vision to develop a community service directory.
Each year our club donates dictionaries and thesauri to Florence and Mapleton 4th graders. In addition, we encourage our youth to read for enjoyment by providing books to all preschool through 5th graders during the annual “Read Across America Week”. During this time one of our members reads a story to the students and they get to select a book that peaks their interest from a variety of books we provide.
Rotary members train people to become resources for their community, offering networking activities, advice on new business development, and mathematics and financial management training.
The Rotary Club of Florence Supports Habitat for Humanity
Throughout the year The Rotary Club of Florence, along with the Siuslaw and Mapleton School Districts and several community businesses and organizations work together to make sure that our community food needs are met through the Siuslaw and Mapleton Food Share programs.
Rotary Supports The Boys & Girls Club of Western Lane County
Florence Rotary’s programs are developing the next generation of leaders, providing funding to make our Siuslaw Community a better place, and making peace a priority. And our programs are not just for club members. Learn how you can make a difference in our community through the Rotary Club of Florence.
Rotary Youth Exchange program connects cultures, inspires service, promotes international understanding and creates friendships that last a lifetime. For more than 40 years, Rotary Youth Exchange has been one of Rotary’s best-known programs. Every year Florence Rotary hosts a Youth Exchange Student. This year our Youth Exchange Student is Bruno Muñoz Röcken; a high school student from Germany.
Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is an intensive leadership experience where young 14-30-year-olds develop their skills as a leader while having fun and making connections. Activities can range from one day to ten-days covering communication, problem-solving, and becoming a dynamic leader. Community leaders are invited to work with our youth, unlock their potential, and turn motivation into action. Ask us how you too can become a Rotary Youth Leader.
TOMORROW’S ROTARIANS
Coming Events
2023 Florence Rotary
Annual Auction
Saturday, March 11, 2023
Hi –
This is Jane Hanawalt, President of The Rotary Club of Florence inviting you to join us for our 63rd annual rotary auction, Saturday, March 11th. The auction raises scholarship funds for our Siuslaw and Mapleton High School Seniors, and Lane Community College Students, and is described by many as the premier social event of the season here in Florence. Please join us for an evening of fun, food, and fantastic auction items!!!!!!
Thank You,
Jane
2023 Annual Cool at the Coast
Rotary Golf Tournament
Saturday, August 5, 2023
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Recent Events
Club Annual Summer Lake Social
We work hard throughout the year serving our community and the last big event of the summer draws to a close, it is time to relax and enjoy being with other members and their spouses. Every summer our Club gathers at the lake for a fun-filled evening complete with great food, drink and conversation.
Florence Rotary Club President Jane Hanawalt meets with the Siuslaw School Board
We enjoy an excellent relationship with the Siuslaw School Board, as we do the Mapleton School Board. Throughout the year we engage with both the Siuslaw and Mapleton School Districts on various events, student recognition and scholarships.
Annual Florence Rotary Fundraisers
Annual Rotary Auction
What started out decades ago as a small event raising a couple thousand dollars to today’s gala event that raises hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in scholarship funds. The Annual Rotary Auction is a themed event where Rotarians and community members alike enjoy an evening packed with the lots of fun and a great dinner all while raising money for scholarships for students in the Siuslaw and Mapleton school districts. Over the years the Florence Rotary Auctions have raised over $2M for our student’s future education.
Annual Rotary Cool at the Coast Golf Tournament
The Annual Florence Rotary Cool at the Coast Golf Tournament raises thousands of dollars for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. When Rotary and its partners launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, there were 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries every year. Today, polio cases have been reduced by 99.9%.
Annual Rotary School Supplies Fundraiser
The Rotary Club of Florence holds an annual “School Supplies” fundraiser at the start of each school year. All Club member donations are divided between the Mapleton and Siuslaw School Districts who use it to meet student needs throughout the year. Historically,the funds have been used mainly to purchase food, clothing and personal hygiene items. Since 2019, Rotary and supporting organizations have donated over $11,000 in school supplies to the Mapleton and Siuslaw schools.
Club Leaders
 | Bartlett-Anderson, Jenna President Bartlett-Anderson, Jenna President |
 | Hosking, Dorothy A Club Executive Secretary Secretary |
 | Skidmore, Stephen C. Asst. Attendance Secretary Skidmore, Stephen C. Asst. Attendance Secretary |
 | Yecny, Richard Louis Treasurer Yecny, Richard Louis Treasurer |
 | Farnsworth, Crystal Membership Chair Farnsworth, Crystal Membership Chair |
 | Skulley, Karen Rotary Foundation Chair Skulley, Karen Rotary Foundation Chair |
 | Spencer, Meg Club 4-Way Speech Chair Rotary Club of Florence Foundation Chair Special Advisor |
 | Ferguson, Laurel Community Collaboration Chair/ Club Service 1- Community Service Ferguson, Laurel Community Collaboration Chair/ Club Service 1- Community Service |
 | Colton, Rich Club Service Chair 2 Youth Services Chair |
| Thompson, Elizabeth A. Interact Rotary Adviser Thompson, Elizabeth A. Interact Rotary Adviser |
 | Farm, Lis R. Youth Exchange Farm, Lis R. Youth Exchange |
 | Garner, Daniel Attendance Secretary Garner, Daniel Attendance Secretary |
 | Buss, Vanessa Club Programs Chair Buss, Vanessa Club Programs Chair |
| Robertson, John Sergeant-at-Arms Robertson, John Sergeant-at-Arms |
| Stevens, Theodore Club Admin Chair Stevens, Theodore Club Admin Chair |
 | McMullen, Kevin Club Director Social Committee Chair |
| Moffett, Timothy Bulletin Editor Moffett, Timothy Bulletin Editor |
 | Teter, Robert iPast President Past President |
 | Miranda, Mark J. Assistant Governor Miranda, Mark J. Assistant Governor |
Club Programs
Club Bulletins
Club Calendar
Club News
FIRST WOMAN ROTARY INTERNATIONAL PRERSIDENT JENNIFER JONES
is eager to advance Rotary’s narrative
By Diana Schoberg
Photography by Monika Lozinska
Jones, 55, was born in Windsor, Ontario, and — save for a few post-college years working in the Turks and Caicos Islands and Manhattan — has lived there her whole life. The oldest of three children, she'd run lemonade stands to earn money to give to charity, and recalls organizing a carnival in her family's yard to benefit kids with muscular dystrophy. "Growing up, my parents had given us wings to do service in our community," she says. Today, her mom, dad, and one of her brothers and his wife are Rotarians. Her other brother created a painting that inspired Jones' presidential-theme ties and scarves.
Jones started her own television production company when she was in her late 20s, wowing bank officials with her business plan, negotiating a lease, and investing in hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of equipment. "I've always wanted to carve my own path," she says. "Sometimes that's meant taking risks and making yourself open to new experiences."
One of those was Rotary. As a rookie radio reporter in the late 1980s, she'd covered the organization and remembers attending club meetings where the members were nearly all men. "I remember feeling very intimidated by the experience," she says. "I was in my early 20s. It was the power brokers of the community." Fast forward to 1996, months after she'd started her business, Media Street Productions. The manager of the local cable station invited Jones to a meeting. She realized she had found her home. "It was clearly one of the greatest gifts I've ever received," she says. "I didn't think walking through the door that day that it would change the trajectory of my life."
In 2001-02, she served as president of the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland. Every meeting, she'd randomly pick a member, have them stand, and tell them why they were important to the club. "Every week, people would show up to see who the next person would be," she says.
It taught her a lesson about the importance of taking care of members, a priority now that she is RI president. "We were having fun, doing good work, and we liked each other," she says. "Sometimes we try to over-manufacture the reason why people join and stay."
At that point, her district had never had a female governor. She was under 40, and she "wanted to try to take that for a ride," she says. "I knew I wanted to put my full-on energy into Rotary. I loved it."
After her term as governor in 2007-08, she chaired the local chamber of commerce and the University of Windsor board of governors. "It was the most amazing precursor to sitting on the board of directors of Rotary," she says. "Each one was a building block."
In 2009, when Jones was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 42, her days turned to chemotherapy and radiation. She got the diagnosis in the fall, and she had been asked to speak at the International Assembly, the training for incoming district governors-elect, in January 2010. Then-RI President-elect Ray Klinginsmith encouraged her to come if she was able. In consultation with her oncologist, she decided to attend. "The Sunday before, I lost all of my hair," she says. "I showed up at the event in a wig."
Some technical issues interrupted her speech, but it still made an impact, most of all on her. "At one of the lowest points in my life, someone didn't count me out," she says, tearing up. "It was just such a message that I needed at that point in time. That I had value, that I could contribute and participate. He gave me hope at a time when you think that maybe hope isn't what you're going to get."
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world in March 2020 . . . the world changed. "I remember the moment I heard that the border between Canada and the United States shut down," she says. "In my life I could never have envisioned hearing those words."
Jones was a Rotary Foundation trustee at the time. She watched with pride and amazement as Rotary members quickly applied for disaster response grants from The Rotary Foundation to fund service projects. But she wanted to do more. Previously, she'd drawn on her vocation to plan large fundraising events for the Foundation, such as a golf outing with Jack Nicklaus in 2019. She called then-RI President Mark Maloney and pitched the idea of a telethon.
The idea came together over a matter of weeks. Jones reached out to her vast network of contacts in the Rotary world and asked them to send videos. "We really wanted to capitalize on what we could do in real time for people," she says. "Yes, raising critical funds was important, but more than anything, it was an opportunity to bring together people from around the globe and to showcase that we're people of action — even though we were all isolated in our own homes, we were able to do something." (More than 65,000 people tuned in to the event, hosted by Past RI President Barry Rassin and Past RI Director John Smarge, which raised more than $525,000 for the Foundation.)
One of the people who contributed a video was Anniela Carracedo. A Rotary Youth Exchange student in Mississippi in 2019-20, Carracedo could not return home to Venezuela when the pandemic struck. Stuck in the United States, she started Rotary Interactive Quarantine, a global youth network for Interactors and Youth Exchange students. Jones messaged her in a chat during an online zone meeting and asked her to create a video about the youth network for the telethon.
"After that, I googled her," Carracedo recalls. "Who is this person, and why is she organizing this? I told my host mom about it, and she said, 'People say Jennifer will be the first female Rotary president.'"
Carracedo and Jones kept in touch. They've never met in person, but they've formed a strong bond. Jones has spoken at Carracedo's meetings and invited her to speak at the International Assembly. Carracedo has made TikToks about Jones. In an interview over Zoom, she holds up her phone to show Jones-themed stickers on WhatsApp. "I'm her biggest fan, I guess," she says. "She really inspires me to keep doing what I'm doing. That it's OK that I'm a leader and that I'm a woman. If she did it, that means that I can do it too."
District 5110 Leaders
 | Bruce A. Reece |
 | Steven Schneiderman |
 | Keever T Henry |
 | Robie McGowen |
 | Richard L Fuller |
| Mark J. Miranda |
 | Peggy L Sweet |
 | Ed Hodney |
 | Michael R Hewitt |
 | Ian Foster |
 | Janel R Yergen |
 | Kathleen R. Hoffer |
 | Gary Manly |
 | Scott Gary Hendy |
 | Tonya Bernardy |
 | Christine A. Waugh |
 | David M. Walsh |
 | Kellie Hill |
 | Freddy Saxton |
 | Deanna L. Rivera |
 | LeAnn M. Mobley |
 | Charles L. Root |
 | Camille Joyce Ronzio |
 | Bruce Abernethy |
 | David Reece |
| Christine A. Waugh |
| David M. Walsh |
| Kellie Hill |
| Bruce A. Reece |
| Freddy Saxton |
 | Richard K Olson |
| Deanna L. Rivera |
 | Charles J. Polk |
 | Julianne Di Chiro |
| Christine A. Waugh |
| Bruce A. Reece |
| Steven Schneiderman |
| Keever T Henry |
| Robie McGowen |
| Mark J. Miranda |
| Ed Hodney |
| Michael R Hewitt |
| Ian Foster |
| Janel R Yergen |
| Kathleen R. Hoffer |
| Gary Manly |
| Scott Gary Hendy |
| Tonya Bernardy |
| Kellie Hill |
| Christine A. Waugh |
| Deanna L. Rivera |
 | Claudette Mirassou McWilliams |
| Richard K Olson |
 | Kirk L. Brown |
| Julianne Di Chiro |
 | Jay Silverman |
 | Steven A. Matthes |
 | Michelle L Corradetti |
 | Jane Ann Falls |
| Charles L. Root |
 | Hal Kibby |
| LeAnn M. Mobley |
| Camille Joyce Ronzio |
 | Gary Plano |
| Michelle L Corradetti |
| Charles L. Root |
 | Kenneth C. Rymer |
| Bruce Abernethy |
| Freddy Saxton |
| Jay Silverman |
| Christine A. Waugh |
| Robie McGowen |
| Freddy Saxton |
Virtual Meeting Archive
Virtual Meetings By Date
Rotary Spotlight Tuesdays on KCST at 8:30 am
Air Date: 10.04.22
Florence Rotary President Jane Hanawalt introduces Rotary Spotlight.
Tells the “Rotary Story” and Explains what Rotary Spotlight is all about
Air Date: 07.07.23
Rotarian Crystal Farnsworth Discusses How Rotary Promotes Peace
Discussion is around Rotary International’s Peace Initiative and the Seven Focus areas
Air Date: 01.31.23
Florence Rotarian Graham Ross Discusses the Opening of Connected Lane County Culinary & Hospitality Excelerator in Our Region
Air Date: 01.17.23
Florence Rotarians Kim Erickson and Kevin McMullen (Rotary Auction Co-Chairs) announce the 63rd Annual Rotary Action on Saturday, March 11th
Air Date: 01.10.23
RAIN Deputy Director Robert Killen Discusses the Current and Future RAIN Projects
Paul Harris Fellowship Awards
Upon news of Rotary Founder Paul Harris’s death in January 1947, Rotary created the Paul Harris Memorial Fund to solicit these donations. Rotarians were encouraged to commemorate the late founder of Rotary by contributing to the fund, which would be used for purposes dear to Harris’ heart. In the 18 months following his death, The Rotary Foundation received $1.3 million, which helped support the Foundation’s first program — scholarships for graduate study abroad.
The Rotary Foundation Transforms Your Gifts into Projects that Changes Lives
OUR MISSION
The Rotary Foundation helps Rotary members to advance world understand, goodwill and peace by improving health, providing quality education, improving the environment, and alleviating poverty.
WHAT IMPACT CAN ONE DONATION HAVE?
- For as little as 60 cents, a child can be protected from polio.
- $50 can provide clean water to help fight waterborne illness.
- $500 can launch and anti-bullying campaign and create a safe environment for children
