A Rotary club gets busy with autumn projects for community An Ethics Conference for school students and Chilli Cook-off, a fundrasier for the club's local and international causes, are the highlights of major projects during the season.
The Rotary Club of Granville (Ohio, US — D 6690) completed a busy autumn of activity in 2017, highlighted by two key events — the Ethics and Leadership Conference for 90 area high-school students, and the annual Granville Chilli Cook-Off.
Granville Rotarians organised and hosted students from nine area schools for the annual Ethics Conference on Nov 9 with the goal of educating 10th and 11th-grade students about ethics and how the concept is important for thinking through decisions and actions in all aspects of life, said event coordinator Amy Huddleston.
Rotary’s Four-Way Test was introduced to the students as a guide to refer to when making decisions — “Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships?”, and “Will it be beneficial to all concerned?”
Rotarians Dr Doug Wagner, Andy Wildman, Dr John Weigand, and Melissa Green and Denison University Vice President of Student Affairs Dr Laurel Kennedy presented ethical dilemmas in multiple areas: social media, veterinary medicine, sports, college life, and medicine.
The students were encouraged to use Rotary’s Four-Way Test when answering how they’d handle ethical dilemmas presented to them.
One student remarked, “I felt honoured to get the chance to go and it definitely has made me think about my decisions more and will help me help others too.”
The conference is one of the projects Granville Rotarians execute to support its vocational service efforts.
Meanwhile, Rotarians’ chief involvement with the annual Granville Chilli Cook-Off continues to pay off.
In the event co-sponsored by the event’s host, the Granville Inn, the club realised $3,500 in proceeds that will go toward its community and international causes.
A total of 13 cooks participated, with visitors making a contribution for the opportunity to taste chilli along with four judges, both of who chose winners in addition to awarding prizes such as Best Presentation and Most Original.
An estimated 350 attended the event in October, said Rotary president Andy Wildman.
In other fall projects, the club hosted its annual Shred-It Day and Book Drive, both of which were deemed successes.
As a result of the book drive, over 1,000 children’s books donated by area residents were given to the Children’s Reading Foundation of Licking County.
The books will make their way into the hands of hundreds of school-aged children throughout the year.
The Shed-It Day was a relied-upon community service event allowing community members to safely purge unwanted paper documents.
As a result of monetary donations made during the drive, the Granville club was able to contribute to Rotary International’s End Polio Now campaign.
Club members are looking forward to the next Shred-It Day and Children’s Book Drive in March 2018, to be held again at Ross’ Granville Market.
Meanwhile, planning has already begun for the club’s biggest annual event, the Taste of Granville food and wine tasting event, to be held Saturday, April 28 on the Bryn Du Mansion grounds, where over 500 visitors enjoy local foods as well as a variety of wines and beer.
Granville Rotary causes include six college scholarships for Granville high-school graduates, contributions to the Licking County Food Pantry, continued support of the Rotary International End Polio Now initiative, sponsorship of Granville fifth-grade students at Biz-Town, helping to fund clean-water wells in Haiti and sponsoring inbound and outbound foreign exchange students.
Source: Newark Advocate
