Virginia Peninsula Rotary - Club History

Below are the years of President Adam Duncan, 2021-2023. If you would like to go in chronological order, start at the bottom and scroll your way up.

Adam stepped in during the Coronavirus Pandemic, so you should not expect much to be normal.

On July 12th the incoming president, Elizabeth McCoury, was sworn in by Past District Governor Diane Hagemann. Her Board of Directors was sworn in immediately after.

Another honor for Adam Duncan: He was named by his peers as Rotarian of the Year for an amazing year of leadership.

??On June 14th John Frantz was recognized as the club's newest member of the Paul Harris Society. He is shown here with Kevin Yeargin, the club's Rotary Foundation Chair.?

On June 8th we had dinner and a game: a picnic at the ball park, and a baseball game featuring our hometown team, the Peninsula Pilots.

During April and May our speakers included our own Adam Duncan giving advice on retaining employees, Kalen Hammann talking about relationships at home and in the workplace, Pam Croom expounding on diversity, Amasa Smith bringing us up to date on An Achievable Dream, Billy Hannah telling the history of his own company, Diane Umstead talking about Smart Beginnings, Virginia Woodward talking about the Fear 2 Freedom program, and Judge Doug Miller explaining the U.S. District Court system.

March 25th saw our Casino Night. The intention was for this to be the first of many annual Casino Nights, which would become our chief fundraiser. The first of an event like this is always difficult, and the success of this one promises even greater success in the future.

The Ides of March was active in the membership area. First, we inducted James Hicks as our newest member; then James and Michael Vassalo told us about themselves in Classification Talks.

Some meeting programs early in the 2023 calendar year included Joe Massino joining us via Zoom to discuss our upcoming Casino Night, Linda Ficht speaking about the legalities of non-compete clauses in employee contracts, Jerry Markham explaining the Pentagon Memorial, and William Donaldson discussing the economy of 2023.

We closed out February with a multi-club social at the 1700 Brewery. Members of the Peninsula Club, the Newport News Club, the Warwick at City Center Club, and the Yorktown Club joined in fellowship.

Our Charter Night celebration this year was February 18th at the Oozlefinch Brewery Brewery on historic Fort Monroe. We recognized the 47th aniversary of the founding of the Club.

On February 8th Randy Gnatowsky and Amanda Gundry, portraying a pirate and his barmaid friend, introduced us to the daily life of the 19th-Century East Coast. They came from "Blackbeard's Crew," a Poquoson-based performing nonprofit.

Our own Phil Harris on the 1st of February spoke to the Club about how businesses buy business software, and how software vendors sell it.

On January 25th our newest member, Michael Vaasalo, was inducted into the Club.

On January 15th Amy Scott, a relatively new member of the Club, and her husband David presented the world with twins.

Our annual day of ringing the bell for The Salvation Army was on December 21, the Wednesday before Christmas. Shown here are Suki Pierce and Bill Ziglar.

Rounding out the end of the calendar year we were joined by Tammy Guido speaking about her family's memorial foundation, Sean Heuvel discussing CNU's Office of Graduate Studies, Luisa A. Vazquez-Lopez on the Mariners' Museum, and Monica Hill on how to use ads on LinkedIn.

Here we are showing off the Rotary Year 2021-2022 awards we garnered at the District's Foundation Banquet November 10th: the EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year) Award, the award for 100 percent participation in Foundation giving, the award for support of the Polio Plus campaign, and the award for giving $250 per capita or more to the TRF Annual Fund. Shown here are Club President Adam Duncan, Club Foundation Chair Kevin Yeargin, and Rotarian Suki Pierce, whose husband Jim was a long-time ardent supporter of the Foundation.

Some autumn programs not mentioned elsewhere included Mike Poplawski, Director of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism for the City of Newport News; Jack Gelman of the Peninsula Council of CEOs, discussing and demonstrating the activity of his organization; and John MacDonald, manager of the award-winning Hampton/NASA steam plant.

The Peninsula Club and the Warwick at City Center Club had a joint service project in late September, at the Four Oaks Day Service Center in Newport News.

As usual, this year's District 7600 Assembly just outside Richmond saw a good representation from the Peninsula Club.

The end of September saw a Club social at Bull Island Brewery, with a good crowd.

On September 14th District Governor Kenny Janes paid his official visit to the Virginia Peninsula Rotary Club.

Three late-summer programs not otherwise mentioned here were Coleen Bonadona giving us an update on Rotary's Polio Plus campaign, Chris Sapp from Yorktown's Victory Family YMCA told us about his facility's expansion plans, and Jonathan Provost of Pro/Vost Construction discussed his construction company and its project in downtown Newport News.

At the end of August we had a joint social event with the Warwick at City Center Club at the Smoke Restaurant.

On August 10th we inducted our newest member, Amy Scott.

July 28th found us out at the ball park--for dinner and for watching the Peninsula Pilots. Our team won!

At a gathering of District leadership July 16th, our President Adam was recognized as the outstanding club president in the entire District for the Rotary year 2021-2022. Well done, Adam!!

June 29th brought a bright sun and kind temperatures to our social at Styron Square in Port Warwick.

The evening of June 10th saw the Peninsula Club and the Warwick at City Center Club jointly holding a social at the Virginia Living Museum. There was camaraderie, good food, and an excellent venue.

On the 11th of May Oleksandr Humen, better known here as Alex, visited our club. He is a native of Ukraine, and gave us an interesting and thought-provoking talk about the informal but effective methods he and his fellow Ukrainians in the U.S. are using to help his friends and relatives back home. We Rotarians got first-hand insight into the ongoing war.

April 23rd was a work morning at the Virginia Living Museum. A crowd of Peninsula Club Rotarians and Warwick at City Center Club Rotarians worked on a new museum site--a playground area next to the Dinosaur Discovery Trail. We worked on preparations for a "treehouse" with a swing, climbing boulders, balance beams, and a slack line. And we took a large pile of mulch and distributed it over the area.

Schoolchildren in Costa Rica are still going to school virtually, and some of the students cannot afford the internet access necessary for online schooling. The Peninsula Club, partnering with the Warwick at City Center Club and the Heredia Club in Costa Rica, obtained a District 7600 grant to give two years' access to 23 families in Costa Rica. The photos above show a meeting at which the Heredia Club gave instructions and internet hotspot devices to high school students taking part in the program. A similar meeting was held for grade-school students.

On April 7th Adam Duncan and John Frantz attended the annual Christopher Newport University President's Donor and Recipient Scholarship Luncheon. Ariana Gatewood is this year's recipient of the Peninsula Rotary Club Endowed Scholarship. Ariana is a sophomore majoring in cellular, molecular, and physiological biology, and minoring in Spanish and Leadership Studies. Our scholarship fund is one of the oldest at CNU, and since its inception in 1983 we have awarded 38 grants totaling $146,435.

March 30th saw a social at Burger Theory.

Sunday afternoon, March 20th, saw three local Rotary Clubs--the Peninsula Club, the Warwick at City Center Club, and the Yorktown Club jointly turning a hallway in Patrick Henry Mall into a food factory, packaging thousands of meals for Rise Against Hunger.

In March we had a brewery fest--three programs, each presented by a different local craft brewery. On March 2nd Seth Caddell of the Coastal Brewery talked about the quest for excellence. On March 9th Eric Williams of the Billsburg Brewery discussed the brewery as a destination venue. On March 16th Tuan Bui of 1700 Brewing talked about brewing your own beer at home.

Our annual February party is Charter Night (46 years!), held at the Hampton Yacht Club. There was a good crowd, good conversations, and good food.? The upper photo shows Paul Harris honorees.

January 19th saw the inauguration of our new meeting venue at the Holiday Inn at City Center. Not quite coincidentally, the first program was by the manager of the newly-renovated hotel.

What would the holiday season be without the day of Peninsula Rotary bell-ringing for the Salvation Army? On December 22 we rang all day long at the Sam's Club in Newport News, in one-hour shifts of two people each. Above are Howard Waters and Charlie Edmonson.

On Friday night, December 17th, our annual holiday party at the Hampton Yacht Club was a great success. The usual seafood spread plus cut-to-order beef, and lively companionship.

During a meeting of the Board of Directors the morning of December first, President Adam laid out some possibly important shifts in the Club's direction: a change in the venue of the meetings, an innovative new type of membership, and a surprise in the core of the Club's year--the Tennis Ball.

Some happenings during the months of October and November not mentioned elsewhere include Wendy Drucker giving us an insider's look at the world of real estate, Greg Seigel discussing the streetcars on the Peninsula, Alex Ritchie Oniell talking about the current state of Rotaract on the Peninsula, and Martha Morris giving us a nostalgic look back at Buckroe Amusement Park.

Once again this year the Peninsula Club was active at the District Conference. As you can see here, two of the four members of the Sargent at Arms team were from our Club.

October 13th found us once again at the Bull Island Brewery.

On October 6th Past District Governor Judy Cocherell delivered a check for our District Grants.

Programs duing August and September not mentioned below include Randy Troutman, Regina Mobley discussing the life of a video-journalist, Betsy Layman explaining lean agility in business, and Holly Koons telling about the new CNU Torggler Fine Arts Center.

The evening of August 18th found us at a club social event at the Bull Island Brewery in Hampton. Good food, good beer, and good fellowship.

As the first act of his new presidency, Adam Duncan congratulated Bill Ziglar as the 2020-2021 Peninsula Rotary Club Rotarian of the Year. At a time of immense challenges--the Covid pandemic and the Club President moving away, to name but two--Bill's leadership made a success out of what could have been a disastrous year.

The Club's change of leadership took place on June 30th. Past District Governor Diane Hagemann swore in President Adam Duncan, and District Area Governor Bill Ziglar swore in the officers and board of directors as a group.