Grand Rapids Rotary passes the gavel to new leadership

The Grand Rapids Rotary Club recently held a special meeting at Gunn Park to “pass the gavel” from outgoing president, Jim Dobbyn, to incoming president, Mike Arezzo.

Club members reflected on the accomplishments of Dobbyn’s leadership from July 2023 until June 2024, which includes the following contributions to several community projects and programs:

$20,000 to Greenway Township Fire & Rescue$20,000 to the Grand Rapids Amateur Baseball Association$5,000 in scholarships to area students$2,000 to Future Farmers of America (FFA)$1,000 to Keisler House$1,000 to Eric Northard Memorial Travel Scholarship Fund$1,000 to VFW veterans Twins baseball bus trip$800 to Grand Rapids Library summer fun day$500 to Grand Rapids High School jazz band$500 to Project READ$500 to Itasca Ski and Outing Club

New plants for the Rotary Park

“I’d like to thank the greater Grand Rapids community for supporting our club when they buy Rotary roses each fall, or buy a ticket to the Rotary reverse raffle,” said Mike Arezzo, incoming club president, 2024 – 2025. “These two activities are our only fundraisers for the year, and it’s the only way we’re able to give back to so many worthwhile projects and programs that strengthen our communities – so thank you!”

The Grand Rapids Rotary Club meets every Monday at 6:00 p.m., has 25 active members, and is always looking for more people to join the club and serve the community through a variety of service-oriented activities. For more information, please email grmnrotary@gmail.com or call 800-421-9959, extension 7152.

Rotary is a global humanitarian organization with more than 1.4 million members across 46,000 Rotary clubs that span the globe. Rotary clubs bring together people across generations who wish to create lasting change in the world, in their communities, and in themselves. Rotary started with the vision of one man – Paul Harris. The Chicago attorney formed the Rotary Club of Chicago on February 23, 1905. In 1979, Rotary began a project to immunize six million children against polio in the Philippines. The effort’s success led to Rotary making polio eradication its top priority and remains a primary focus today, among many other initiatives. More online at Rotary.org.

The Grand Rapids Rotary Club was established in October 1935 with sponsorship by the Rotary Duluth Club 25.