Basketball author and historian Steve Farney Spoke  to Newton Rotary Club at the December 16 meeting.  Steve is recognized as one of the leading authorities on basketball history in the Sunflower State and over the years has appeared numerous radio and television shows around Kansas.  He has authored 4 books and numerous articles on the subject of basketball.

Steve and his writing partner have also penned around a dozen feature length screen plays and even more short films related to basketball and hopes that some of these will eventually hit the screen. 

Shelly Black told The Rotary Club of Newton about her career at the December 16 meeting. 

The speaker at our November 18th Rotary meeting was Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton.  He gave history of the Harvey County Sheriff Office.  

On January 12, 2009, the new Harvey County Sheriff, T. Walton, was sworn into office by District Judge, Richard Walker. Undersheriff, Todd Hanchett was sworn in and the Sheriff's Department took on a new look. Sheriff Walton and Undersheriff Hanchett have over 40 years combined experience in Law Enforcement. Sheriff Walton promoted Mark Hardtarfer to Chief Deputy. This new administration looks forward to serving the citizens of Harvey County. 
 

Newton Rotary had Jennifer Szambecki speak at their Rotary meeting on Tuesday,  October 21st .   Jennifer Szambecki is a native of Wichita and a proud Wichita State Shocker. She spent ten years in non-profit fundraising before joining Greteman Group as associate vice president and brand director. Last year, Kansas Transportation Secretary Mike King invited Jennifer to join the Kansas Turnpike Authority as brand director over the formalized partnership between the KTA and the Kansas Department of Transportation, which was enacted during the 2013 Kansas legislative session. Jennifer works with KTA, KDOT and other state agencies to ensure a consistent, positive brand experience for all travelers in Kansas, and helps position Kansas as the best state in which to start or grow a business. Jennifer is a member of the Wichita Downtown Rotary Club.

Tom, during a World Series Themed meeting, shares a summary of an article in the Rotary Magazine.  The article highlights a baseball program that benefits physically challenged individuals.  

Giving the Program to Newton Rotary Club about her exchange to Australia during the 2013-2014 year. These students, while on their exchanges, get to meet other exchange students that are also in the same regions.  The goal of a Rotary is to give these young adults as much exposure to each other as possible to increase their chances of becoming "lifetime" friends.  In todays word, there is considerable benefit I doing this.

Members of the Rotary Club of Newton entered a float in the August 2, Harvey County 4H parade.  Parade Captain John made sure there was plenty of candy to toss to the children along the parade route.  Jasper’s business refitted the trailer with sign banners advertising the clubs “Peach Sale” fund raiser.  He was also able to affix banner stands to display the club’s banner and the Four Way test.   This was the first year for children to join the members on the float, they were Andy’s daughter, Frank’s granddaughters and Jaspers grandson and son.  See other pictures in the album.

Here is Tom with his team, one of sixteen, at hole 13 playing in the scramble on July 22.  The scramble proceeds went to USD 373 to help fund the Anti-Bullying curriculum.  A committee of Rotary members and USD 373 school district  personnel all agreed the first annual scramble was a success.  See more photos in the album.

The Rotary Club of Newton heard from Stan about his company and profession.  Stan owns Bridges Construction which is celebrating 24 years in business.  

Yes, you read it correctly, Megan Fox gave a presentation at the July 15 meeting - and she started her presentation with a bit of humor about her name and all the hub-bub about having a celebrity name.    Our Megan was a transformer of her own kind, she went from excited to disappointed and back to excited about India - the country she lived in for several months.   Megan was part of the District 5690 exchange program.  Megan told of the different regions she was able to visit while in India.

Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) is a Rotary International student exchange program for students in secondary school. Since 1929, Rotary International has sent young people around the globe to experience new cultures. Currently, about 9,000 students are sponsored by Rotary clubs every year. Typically, students are sent to another country for a year-long stay, generally living with multiple host families during the year and being expected to perform daily tasks within the household as well as attend school in the host country.

Dave listens in on discussion during Rotary Foundation grant training.   District Governor Bauer hosted two days of training to certify clubs for eligibility for Global Grants.   Dave and TIM attended to training.  

Tim and Jasper present checks totaling almost $8,000.00 to USD 373  Board President Tim Hodge.  The funds are to be used by the local school district for Chrome book computers for the Santa Fe building students.   The other project is for a playground amenities at the Early Education Center. 

Thanks to the organization of Stan Scudder, a dedicted group of 10 Rotarians cleaned I-135 from the Outlet Mall south 2 miles to K-196. This was a new area for the club to clean and because of this, there was ample amount of trash to pick up.

Dr. Dyke gives a vocational moment during the May 6 meeting of the Newton Rotary Club. 

David was present his Paul Harris Award at the January 21 meeting.

Individuals who have contributed more than $1000 to the Annual Program Fund, the Polio Plus Fund or the Humanitarian Grants Program of the Rotary Foundation are recognized as Paul Harris Fellows. Additionally, individual Rotary clubs may from time to time honor individuals as Paul Harris Fellows. These honorees are individuals who meet high professional and personal standards set forth by Paul Harris. Paul Harris recognition is not limited to Rotarians.

A Paul Harris Fellow receives a special certificate and a gold pin. At the discretion of the Fellow's club, the Fellow may also receive a gold medallion on a blue-and-gold ribbon.

Glen gave the vocational moment at the January 21, meeting.

Tuesday, January 21^st Newton Rotary Doug Monty was their program speaker.   Doug is the resident agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms (ATF) office in Wichita.  He started his career in Texas and was involved in investigations of both the Waco Branch Davidian case and also the Oklahoma City Bombings.   Doug was a graduate of Oklahoma University and has been in the Wichita field office for 17 years.  He will talk about what the ATF, what it does, how it works with other agencies, and tell about some of the cases that he has worked on.

Barbara Bunting was the speaker for Newton Rotary Club at their January 7^th meeting.   Barbara spoke about what you should know about school finance in Kansas. 

Barbara gives considerable amounts of time to her church and to volunteering in the community. Barbara is completing her 12th year on the Newton school board and served as President of the board in 2010-2011. She works diligently to create an environment that best benefits the education of children and their welfare.  Barbara has also been involved in other areas of the community. She worked for  Northview Developmental Services, Inc. as their marketing, development and community liaison. She chaired and served on the   “Leave a Legacy” Foundation and is a graduate of Leadership Newton. She served on the Kidron-Bethel Retirement Village Board of Directors and was a member of their fund development committee. She is a member of the Newton Area Chamber of Commerce for many years and served on various chamber committees. Barbara has chaired the Harvey County Communities-in-Schools Advisory Council. She is an active member of St. Mary ’s Catholic Church and has served, with her husband, as honorary Chairs of the“ Carrying on the Faith” capital fund campaign, as well as serving on various committees within the church. She is an active member of Junior Reading Circle and is a former president. Barbara is a member of Chapter IA, P.E.O.

The Avenues of Service award for 2013 was presented to Rod at the December Christmas and Awards banquet.  

Recognizing that the strength of the Rotary ideal is founded on the service carried out by club members worldwide,
this citation program provides a means for Rotary clubs to personally recognize a member of the club for outstanding
efforts in the five Avenues of Service. The citation commends the service carried out by an individual Rotarian in the
club, thereby reinforcing the importance which Rotary places on the personal involvement of each club member in Rotary
service activities.

Hearts4Him, a men’s ensemble from the central Kansas area, began in August, 2001. A passion and love for Christ, a love of music and a HEART FOR HIM were the driving forces that led to the formation of the group.

 The original group made their singing début at the Koerner Heights Church in Newton, Kansas. With the ebb and flow of life the group has changed members, but all hold this group close to their hearts. The diversity of the individuals in the ensemble makes it possible to relate to a wide spectrum of people. The richness of their combined voices delights audiences and stirs the soul. 

Here is Kim accepting the award for the Foundation support the Newton Club provided during her term as President of the RotaryClub of Newon.   Award is being presented by Jeri and Rod. 

Savannah's Sailors mother, Mari, attended our meeting.  She  shared about Savannah's experience so far.  It was a very fun time and left quite an impression with our club on the power of networking that Rotary offers.  Savannah Sailors, our outbound student in Townsville, Australia. 

Also, Zoe Barbe (our exchange student from France) and Rachael Monaghan (Our exchange student from Australia) were at the meeting.  We used technology to SKYPE with Guillaume Mockel, another exchange student from Belgium that is hosted by Ulysses Rotary Club.  

Since 1929, Rotary International has sent young people around the globe to experience new cultures. Currently, about 9,000 students are sponsored by Rotary clubs every year. Typically, students are sent to another country for a year-long stay, generally living with multiple host families during the year and being expected to perform daily tasks within the household as well as attend school in the host country. Short term exchange programs are also quite common. These typically involve direct student exchanges between two families arranged through Rotary to coincide with major school holiday periods.

Chancy Gerbitz, one of our newest members provided the Vocational Talk at the December 3 meeting.   

U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom spoke the the club on Tuesday, Nov 19.

Grissom leads a staff of about 50 assistant U.S. Attorneys and 50 support personnel who work in offices in Kansas City, Kan., Topeka and Wichita. He was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2010.

Speaker for Newton Rotary Club was Bethany Spare.  Bethany is from Ashland, Kansas and was the recipient of the prestigious Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship for Rotary District 5690.  This is a $ 26,000 scholarship to study abroad at the recipients choice of Universities, furthering their education in their chosen field of study.    We should be proud as Rotarians to be a part of an organization that supports this scholarship program.  At this meeting, you will see the good the Foundation does as Bethany shares with us her experience.

Bethany used this scholarship on a nine-month graduate program at Oxford University in England studying modern European and native British history and completing a dissertation discussing the ways religious changes during the 16th century affected the wives of Henry VIII. She was an active volunteer at her church and K-State, is among 700 men and women from 70 countries selected this year to receive the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship. The award is given to university students to study in countries where rotary clubs are active. While abroad, the students act as goodwill ambassadors for their native countries and also speak at Rotary club meetings where they attend their selected university.

Chancy Gerbitz is inducted at the October 15, 2013 meeting.   Jasper issues the Rotary Challenge and Sandra Fruit, Chancy's sponsor assists in the ceremony.

Laverne Goering presents his vocational moment at the October Club meeting.  

On Tuesday October 1, 2013 - President Jasper inducted Glen Davis into the Rotary Club of Newton.  Davis is shown with his sponsor, Tim Marlar who assisted in the ceremony.  Welcome Glen!

At our meeting on Tuesday October 1, Melynnie and Tom Williams' daughter - Chandler shared with the Rotary Club of Newton her experience doing service work in Haiti with fellow Rotarians from Wichita. There were also other students that worked on the trip.  These experiences are open to other Rotarians and students.  See Rod if you would like to take part in a service work project.  

Born with cerebral palsy, Jerry Traylor was also born with a hunger to take on seemingly impossible goals ... and achieve them.

The first week of September, Jerry spoke about setting goals to area schools.  The Rotary Club of Newton was partnering with other area clubs and agencies on this event.

Here are two of our dedicated Rotary Club of Newton members changing Peaches into dictionaries - so to speak.   Kim and Gerald team up to sell peaches Sunday afternoon.  "We share what the proceeds of the fundraiser goes towards as we talk to the prospective customers" Kim says.  "Many tell us to keep the change, I think this is because they see where the money goes" Gerald comments.  They have a dictionary on display so lookers and shoppers can see it.   The club started with 210 boxes of peaches on Friday and they are below 60 as of the writing of this story.   Every year the Rotary Club sets up shop in the Auto Parts parking lot at 1st and Main in Newton.  

The peaches arrived in Newton on Friday at 3:30 pm.  Gerald said "They are great looking peaches and our customers will be happy".  The funds raised from the peach sales help fund the "3rd Grade Dictionary" project.   On Saturday Todd and his wife Tammy headed to Ulysses to deliver 60 cases that we pre-sold.  Many hands have already been involved in the project, but there are still opportunities to assist.  Contact Gerald or Jasper to see where you can assist. 

Here are several of our members who helped during the parade.   The club uses this to promote community awareness of the club and to help kick off the marketing of the Peach Sales project.   Many parade goers asks, as the Rotary float passes their location on the parade route, when the peaches will be available.  This year the answer is 15-21 August.

Kim Manring, Immediate Past President of the Rotary Club of Newton is presented a plaque in recognition of her year as President.  Current President Jasper Eicher made the presentation during the July 16, 2013 meeting of the club.   Kim gives selfless community service the in all the Rotary Clubs service projects, she also serves on the Board of Directors for the United Way.  Kim’s leadership adds value to the Community and the Rotary Club of Newton. 

Senator Carolyn McGinn, State Senator for Newton, gave a program at the July 2, 2013 meeting.  She provided the club with great information about the running of the Kansas Government and the legislative process.  Senator McGinn is also a member of the Rotary Club of Newton and a Paul Harris recipient.

On Tuesday, June 19^th, this exchange team presented a program to Newton Rotary Club about their trip to New South Wales, Australia.  They talked about the culture, the wine country, the business, the geography, and other things of interest.  The team was led by our own Steve Johnson.  The team members are Matthew Hosey – a landman with J Fred Hambright, Inc from Wichita, Charity Davis – a registered client associate with Wells Fargo Advisors from Wichita, Melissa Shippy – a case manager with Big Brothers & Big Sisters from Wichita, Hope Swartz – a mortgage loan assistant from Central Bank in Hutchinson, and Larry Altis – the manager of Ulysses Standard supply in Ulysses

One of the interesting programs sponsored by Rotary International is called ‘Group Study Exchange”.  This is where a group of young professionals under the age of 40 from our Kansas / Oklahoma Rotary District go to another countries Rotary District to experience their profession in that country.   Then, the district our team goes to sends a similar Group Study Exchange team back to our District.  These exchanges last for 3-4 weeks and the team members get a good dose of culture during the exchange. The Rotary Districts also send a “team leader” along that is a Rotarian and the entire group attends several Rotary Club meetings and functions sharing information about our their selves and our District.

Newton Rotary Club had Steve Coen from the Kansas Health Foundation speak at their meeting on Tuesday June 4^th.   Steve Coen has served as president and CEO of the Kansas Health Foundation since August 2008.  Since joining the Foundation in 1987, Coen has held a number of different positions, including director of public affairs, senior program officer and vice president for administration.\

Before coming to the Foundation, Coen served as a legislative assistant to Sen. Bob Dole in Washington, D.C. and as state director of his four Kansas offices. In addition to his professional experiences, Coen served as chair of the Governor’s Council on Fitness, and is a member of the Leadership Council of the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition.  Coen’s idea to develop a physically-active, healthy lifestyle course for high school students earned him a national award from the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD). He also received the 21 ^st Century Community Champion Award, given by the American Association of Family and Consumer Science to individuals who have made a significant contribution toward strengthening families.

Coen completed his undergraduate work at Emporia State University and later earned a law degree from Washburn University in Topeka, Kan.

The Kansas Health Foundation is a benevolent organization that funds close to $ 2 million in Recognition grants to around 100 recipients each year.   They are also funding several other health related issues including efforts to make people aware of the dangers of second hand smoke, the importance of good nutrition, promoting healthy behaviors, growing community philanthropy, and building civic leadership.  Steve will talk about several of these programs and the work of the foundation.

Tom Williams provides the members at the meeting with a vocational talk.

Dr. Charles Graber shares about his vocation during the club's Vocational Moment.

Todd, who heads the Human Resources at Newton Medical Center, give the club a "Vocational Moment" at the May 7 meeting. 

Jasper, President Elect, discusses his vision for the upcoming year as it relates to active committee participation.  He made initial assignments to Committees and offered opportunities for members to change committees if they desire.  The members present at the May 7, 2013 meeting met and had a robust discussion.  Jasper said "I am asking everyone to be active in a committee."

Judy Friesen give the vocational talk during the April 16, 2013 meeting.

The guest speaker for the April 16, 2013 meeting was the 44th Attorney General of Kansas Derek Schmidt.  His program focused on two areas Identification Theft and the need for a new crime lab for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

At the Heartland PETs training in Salina on Friday April 4, 2013 Incoming President Jasper and President Elect Nominee Tim get to meet RI President Nominee Ron Burton.  The banner in the background is the banner for Ron's Year at the helm of RI.   Jasper has received an autographed miniature.

Don Voth, gives an informative talk about his vocation.

Rachel Monaghan, Australian exchange student was the April 2, 2013 guest speaker.  Her presentation was about her home and the Continent of Australia.  Here she is after the meeting with Club President Kim Manring.

John Bardo, the 13th President of Wichita State Unversity,  provided a talk about the Unversity during the February 5, 2013 meeting.

President Kim Manring inductes Gaylord Sanneman, Lynn Moore, and Todd Tangeman at the February 5 meeting. 

Paul Sanford,  the Amreican Legion of Kansas Department Commander, give an overview of the department during a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Newton.   Commander Sanford is a resident of Newton and leads the statewide organization.

Carolyn is awarded the Paul Harris Award at the December meeting.

John and Leroy deliver dictionaries to Sedgwick elementary this year.

The Rotary Club of Newton's newest member is Debbie Hamm.  She recieved her new member packet at the Christmas and Awards Banquet.

The Avenues of Service Award (highest award given by a club to one of its members) was awarded to David Yoder for his years of service to the club and to District 5690.

Past President Steve Johnson of Corner Stone Law received a Paul Harris Award which is the highest award for giving a Rotarian may receive from Rotary International.

The Rotary Club of Newton held their 95th annual Christmas and Awards Banquet Tuesday December 4, 2012 at Cross Wind Conference Center in Hesston, Kansas.

On November 20, 2012 the Rotary Club of Newton heard from four members of the 2012 GSE Team from District 5690.  This team traveled to Russia for the 2012 Group Study Exchange.

David Nygaard is attaching an award for International Service to the Rotary Club of Newton's Banner.  This was one of several awards the club earned at the Distict Conference.

Leroy with the Southbreeze students on the map that the club painted on the playgound at the school.   

The Rotary Club of Newton under the great leadership of the 2010/11 President John Hosford received four awards from the Trustees of the Rotary Foundation with their deep appreciation to all the members for their generosity in support of the Annual Programs Fund.  Presenting the awards were Past District Governor & District 5690 Foundation Chair Geri Appel (Wichita Down Town Rotary Club) and District 5690 Annual Giving Chair Steve Pershall (El Dorado Rotary Club).  The awards received were:

 No. 1 Club in the District in per capita Annual Programs Fund giving to The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.  Only the top 4% of 34,301 clubs in the world received this award.

Every Rotarian Every Year Club – 2010/11 where every active member made a personal contribution and the average was at least one hundred dollars per Rotarian.  Only the top 4% of 34,301 clubs in the world received this award. 

 Rotary Foundation Sustaining Member Club - where 100% of all active members personally contributed one hundred dollars or more.  Only the 2% of 34,301 clubs in the world received this award.

End Polio Now - Certificate of Appreciation - for their financial support of Rotary’s US200 million challenge.  The club gave two thousand dollars to help fulfill our promise to the children of the world to eradicate polio.

Kim Manring, David Nygaard and Tim Marlar delivered the four new tricycles that  the Newton Rotary Club donated to the Early Childhood Center in Newton.

For the seventh year in a row, The Rotary Club of Newton provided Scholastic Children's Dictionaries to all third graders in Harvey County and Berean Academy.  The 522 dictionaries have a retail value of $10,440.00.  The dictionaries contain more than 30,000 words, more than 1,000 photographs, and illustrations, maps thesaurus, grammar guide, punctuation guide, initials, acronyms, abbreviation guide, flags, and Presidents of the United States.  The dictionaries were paid for from the proceeds of selling peaches, oranges, and grapefruit the club sold throughout the year.  The Rotary Club of Newton was chartered in 1917 and is the oldest service club in Harvey County.

July 3, The Rotary Club of Newton sponsored the 3rd Annual Hero Night at the Newton Rebels baseball game.  The club honored those who are community individuals who performed exceptional service to the community.  Below is a picture of Tim with a group of EMT/Firefighters.  See the album for more pictures. 

Here are some photos of people enjoying our annual Christmas celebration.  For More photos see the December 2013 Album. 

Here are two of our members out ringing bells for the Salvation Army's Red Kettle Campaign.  Thanks to all members who helped out raising the much needed funds.