Newly-Chartered Short Pump Rotary Club Already Impacting Community

Last month, Short Pump officially became home to a new community service organization. the more than thirty members of the newly-formed Short Pump Rotary Club held a Charter Night Ceremony at the Richmond Country Club to celebrate its official formation. The Club began its formation just last January. With weekly lunch meetings at Maggiano’s […]

December 10, 2009; 1:39 PM • by Ross Catrow

Last month, Short Pump officially became home to a new community service organization. the more than thirty members of the newly-formed Short Pump Rotary Club held a Charter Night Ceremony at the Richmond Country Club to celebrate its official formation. The Club began its formation just last January.

With weekly lunch meetings at Maggiano’s Little Italy at Short Pump Town Center, the organization worked quickly to increase its membership and earn its Charter. The Club was officially chartered on April 15, 2009. The ceremony, Held on November 6, 2009, marked a celebration of the newly formed club’s successes during its first year. The ceremony was attended by several Rotary dignitaries, including District Governor Karlis Graubics. The attendees were entertained by two local comedians.

At 8:30 a.m. the following morning, more than a dozen members of the new club met to pick up trash along a stretch of Lauderdale Drive from West Broad Street to Ridgefield Parkway. The adoption of the stretch of road was organized by club member Eric Perkins, who stated, “we had over a dozen Rotarians traversing Lauderdale Drive Saturday morning gathering over two dozen garbage bags of roadside trash. We had a great time helping to keep Henrico beautiful.”

Among the trash collected were several items of interest. Club President Larry McKoy, and Director of Public Relations, James Towey, teamed up to offer a $100 gift certificate to the Short Pump Town Center to the member who found the most interesting “artifact.” To Towey’s dismay, President Larry McCoy also announced that the winning item would be displayed in Towey’s office for one year.

On November 14th and 21st, members of the Club, in an effort organized by member Darren Long, built and installed a wheelchair ramp at a local home. The project entailed constructing the components of a modular wheelchair accessibility ramp and then installing it at the selected residence on the 21st. Speaking to the projects, Director of Public Relations, James Towey, explained, “our members are energized and its now time to bring that energy to the local community.”

The Short Pump Rotary Club meets every Tuesday at 11:30 at Maggiano’s at the Short Pump Town Center.

December 10, 2009 1:39 PM 0