Rotary Club of Farmville honors ‘service above self’ with awards

A s the Rotary Club of Farmville welcomed in a new president, the group also honored several residents this summer. Established in 1938, the group is celebrating its 85th anniversary.

Rotarian of the Year – Julie Flores

The Rotary Club of Farmville recorded 735 service hours this past year. And one person’s service accounts for 10% of that total, in a club of over 50 members. This year Julie Flores started tracking the group’s service hours in the Engagement module of DACdb. And it is probably no surprise that the Service Chair is the Rotarian with the most hours served. Flores planned service projects 11 months out of 12. She reached out to organizations, made contacts, set dates, communicated with everyone, created signups and sent reminders, and every time she possibly could, she showed up and worked alongside. Rotary members describe Flores as unfailingly kind, generous and willing to work on any idea.

This Rotary club had a very good year for membership (12 new members!), one of the best in the district, and they attribute that success to being out visibly serving the community.

Julie Flores, on left, receives the 2023-24 Farmville Rotarian of the Year award.

New Rotarian of the Year – Conrad Taylor

President Shaunna Hunter noted that this award was special because this was the first new member she initiated as Club President. For having the best attendance of this year’s new members, for regularly attending both meeting times and joining the group’s socials, for participating in several service projects — especially during Madeline’s House work days and being an integral part of the Habitat for Humanity landscaping project and for cheerfully hanging out with the Happy Hour Crew, saying he “doesn’t go for the beer,” he “goes for the fellowship”.

Conrad Taylor, on left, receives the New Farmville Rotarian of the Year award for 2023-24.

President’s Award – Sue Carter

In gratitude for being President Hunter’s biggest cheerleader and encourager, for generously telling her she was doing a good job in her moments of self-doubt, and for being an incredible behind-the-scenes program planner and creator the club’s weekly newsletter the Weekly Wire, Hunter awarded a special President’s Award for service to Sue Carter.

Honorary Rotarian – Sandy Cooke

This year’s Honorary Rotarian is Sandy Cooke. Cooke’s title at Hampden-Sydney is Director of Student Affairs Operations, Orientation and Civic Engagement. That means she does a lot of things, but the part she enjoys most is planning service projects for students. She’s not required to go out and work alongside them, but she does it all the time. If you see a Hampden-Sydney man out serving in the community — Cooke is the reason why. As an example, the day before Taste of Farmville, Cooke was with a group of students working at the Food Market at the Sports Arena. At the end of the event the students helped clean up, but then stayed to help the Club set up all of the tables and chairs for Taste of Farmville. They finished the job in probably 15 minutes.

Sandy Cooke, left, was named the Honorary Farmville Rotarian for 2023-24. She stands next to outgoing Farmville Rotary President Shaunna Hunter.

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