Contact: Laura Falt, Public Relations Chairperson for Middletown Rotary Club

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: LAURA FALT, PUBLIC RELATIONS CHAIRPERSON FOR MIDDLETOWN ROTARY CLUB

PHONE: 860.335.7526 E-MAIL:

Middletown Rotary Shares the Club’s Plans to “Light Up Rotary”- the 2014-15 Rotary International Theme

MIDDLETOWN, CT: July 1 is the beginning of a new year in the Middletown Rotary Clubas well as within all 34,000 estimatedRotary serviceclubs worldwide comprising of about 1.2 million Rotarians. The Middletown Rotary Club, established in 1925,welcomes Trish Witzky-Lambert as the club’s 91st President for 2014-15, and thanks Garry Mullaneyfor his leadership and dedication in 2013-14. Witzky-Lambert has been an active member of Middletown Rotary Club since July 2010.

“This year, Rotary International’s theme is LIGHT UP ROTARY. One of my goals this year is to make sure we all have as much fun as possible as we continue to do the amazing work that we do,” stated Witzky-Lambert.

“My mission for this year is a simple one. It’s to continue and to expand on the programs and projects that we do so well. Literacy & Education, clean water, child health/safety, and hunger will be the focus of 2014/2015. We don’t have to look very far to make a difference in our world. It starts in our very own back yard, within our community, within our schools and our children,” added Witzky-Lambert.

In working towards this goal, Witzky-Lambert has arranged to work on a literacy project this year which will incorporate all of Middletown’s 2nd graders; it is a two part project that incorporates literacy and applied math through cooking. Additionally, a family literacy project is underway for Middletown parents who speak English as a second language and want to help their young children learn to read.

On a global level, the club is optimistic that the Ecuador Irrigation project will come to fruition and be implemented this year.

Some of the club’s current service projects include the Annual Thanksgiving Turkey Drive, Warm the Children, One Book-One Middletown, Student of the Month Awards honoring selected students from the eight high schools in the club’s service area, Service Above Self Student Scholarships, Amber Alert, the Wilfredo Nieves Dictionary Project, and donations to Amazing Grace Food Pantry (and other local food pantries) from club member contributions.

Leading the way for 2014-15 along with President Trish Witzky-Lambert are the following Officers: President-Elect,Bruce Driska; Secretary,Patricia Tucker; Treasurer, Patricia Tully; Assistant-Treasurer, Howard Schacter; Sergeant-at-Arms, Kevin Wilhelm; and Past President, Garry Mullaney. This year’s Board of Directors also includes Helena Vartelas, Lisa Santangelo, Howard Reid, Cathy Branch-Stebbins, and Steve Lovelace.

The Middletown Rotary club meets every Tuesday at 12:15 at First & Last Restaurant for lunch and guest presentations. For more information, contact Bruce Driska at 860.250.5661 or by email at . For an overview of the club, feel free to visit The Middletown Rotary Club is also on Facebook!

Members of the Rotary Club of Middletown are business, social, and civic leaders who make a positive difference in their community and in the world through humanitarian service, education, high ethics, and goodwill. The club maintains its membership from those who live and/or work in Middletown as well as the surrounding towns of Cromwell, Portland, Durham, Middlefield and Higganum.

PHOTO CAPTION: Pictured are President, Trish Witzky-Lambert and Past-President, Garry Mullaney at the Passing of the Gavel lunch meeting of the Middletown Rotary Club.

PHOTO CAPTION: The Rotary International Theme for 2014-15selected by Rotary International’s President, Gary Huang of China.