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Jun 15, 2023

Local Rotarians reap reward

Rotary President Phillip Brown accepted the award on behalf of the group. Submitted photos Fifty different clubs are listed in District 7690 of the Rotary organization and a local group has been named

Rotary President Phillip Brown accepted the award on behalf of the group.

Submitted photos

Fifty different clubs are listed in District 7690 of the Rotary organization and a local group has been named the best of the bunch.

The Rotary Club of Mount Airy was honored Thursday as Leading Club of the Year for District 7690, which is situated in North Carolina’s Piedmont region. It includes chapters in the cities of Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point and Burlington among a 15-county area.

Being tapped for that distinction came as a complete surprise for a local Rotary delegation on hand for the occasion, according to longtime member Carol Burke, who was there and supplied information about the event.

The award presentation occurred during the District 7690 Membership Summit Conference held at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro.

This is believed to be the first time for the Rotary Club of Mount Airy’s selection as Leading Club of the Year for the sprawling district.

It is one of the city’s oldest, and most-active, civic organizations, which was founded in the late 1940s including 20 local business and professional leaders as initial members, with the ranks now numbering about 80.

The award announced Thursday is viewed as continuing a record of community service attained over a quarter-century.

“It was a great year for our Rotary Club,” Phillip Brown, its president, said in a statement issued after he accepted the award on behalf of the group.

“Our leadership team has proven year over year that they can and will rise to the challenge of serving our community,” Brown added, while citing the Rotary motto.

“This recognition is a reflection of their continued hard work and commitment to ‘service above self.”’

Enviable record

The Leading Club of the Year honor for District 7690 is based on overall points accumulated by all 50 chapters involved, says information from Burke.

A number of factors were considered, including the number of new members recruited, which in the Rotary Club of Mount Airy’s case amounted to 21 through its sponsorship of a satellite club. It meets on the first and third Thursdays of each month at White Elephant Beer Co. on Market Street.

Rotary of Mount Airy’s sponsoring of various efforts also was singled out, including service projects involving funding for Boy Scouts and the historic Satterfield House and Rosenwald school sites.

Its ongoing opioid-prevention and rehabilitation activities also figured into the club’s list of achievements along with a backpack project, the supporting of Interact Clubs in all five local high schools, international activities in the Ugandan cities of Kitgum and Gulu and the sponsoring of two international students.

Then there is the signature fundraising project for the Rotary Club of Mount Airy, the annual Budbreak festival. It promotes the area wine and craft beer industries while also generating proceeds exclusively aiding a number of charitable causes in the community.

Tom Joyce may be reached at 336-415-4693 or on Twitter @Me_Reporter.