Four of the Rotary Youth Exchange students were on WYKE TV
shown on August 30, 2015. Doug Lobel was the host along with
host parent Ed Turschmann. The students in order that they
appeared are: Steffani from Brazil, Lovisa from Sweden,
Ainis from Lithuania and Camila from Peru. Watch the program
on YouTube to learn about the students and why they are here.
The Club Board of Director and some other members met with the
District Governor Will Miller and had dinner with him. Will reviewed
the status of the club and provided insight on how we were doing
as a Rotary Club. There is one problem to resolve soon, selecting
and approving a President-Elect for 2016-2017. This will be done
at the next club meeting on September 2nd.
At the breakfast meeting the next day Will gave a very good talk about
his views on Rotary and how the he and his district staff of volunteers
can help the club. He then opened it up for questions from the members.
We really appreciate his visiting the club since this is the only time some
club members will have a chance to see him. Will did mention the District
Conference Cruise next April as a chance for club members to meet
Rotarians from other clubs in the district and have fun on the cruise.
District Governor Will Miller with Rotary Exchange Students
Lovisa Hansson from Sweden & So Jin Bae from South Korea
Our speaker was Melissa Bowmaster Executive Director of Jessie’s Place.
She provided a lot of information that most members were not aware
of what all was done their for abused children. They do the first interview’s
of the child when abuse has been reported or suspected to help determine
if child abuse has occurred. They have several programs going on to help
abused children to recover or deal with what happened.
Jessie’s Place is named in memory of Jessica Lundsford, a young Citrus County, FL
girl whose 2005 death drew nationwide attention and sympathy.
AnnMarie Briercheck & Melissa Bowmaster
Captain David DeCarlo with the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office was our speaker.
He talked about “Take Stock in Children” which he heads up for the Sheriff’s
Office. They are the only Sheriff’s Office doing this in Florida. The program
provides college scholarships for needy children in the county. The children enter
the program in the 6th to 7h grade and are mentored and tracked until they
graduate high school. They must meet certain criteria during this time to receive
a scholarship. The funding needed for a child to enter the program is $4000.
Funding for scholarships comes from individuals, companies and organizations
like the Rotary. This year 14 students received scholarships which means funds
need to be raised to bring 14 more students into the program. The club will
evaluate this program and other options for our scholarship awards this year.
Captain David DeCarlo