New Short Pump Rotary Club Thrives

Stephanie Hudnell and Steve Schwarz were looking for a way to give back to their community, and both found it when they joined the new Short Pump Rotary Club. The club, which formed in January, meets weekly at Maggiano’s restaurant at Short Pump Town Center. Hudnell and Schwarz not only joined the Rotary club because […]

July 9, 2009; 2:19 PM • by Stephanie Colpo

Stephanie Hudnell and Steve Schwarz were looking for a way to give back to their community, and both found it when they joined the new Short Pump Rotary Club. The club, which formed in January, meets weekly at Maggiano’s restaurant at Short Pump Town Center.

Hudnell and Schwarz not only joined the Rotary club because of their individual drives to perform service work, but also because they felt the pull from other members and a camaraderie throughout the club.

Many of the club members grew up in or around the region and have either stayed put or felt a calling to move back. Thomas Smith is one member who said he loved the area and felt a need to return. While he travelled a lot after college to areas including San Francisco and Manhattan, he feels that Richmond is a place he can call home.

Though the club is new, members Carol Maccallum and James Towey said it already has more members (34) than some clubs that have been around for years.

In addition to members, the club’s weekly meetings often include guests. Amy Griffith of VACO and Michael and John Pratt, owners of the West End’s Jimmy John’s franchise, were among the guests who visited the June 23 meeting.

The club is looking into many new service projects. Some of the possibilities discussed by members include: “Adopt a Grandparent,” “Big Buddies” and efforts to support The Central Virginia Foodbank, Meals on Wheels and Comfort Zone Camp, which was founded by Lynn B. Hughes of Richmond.

Rotary club member Thomas Smith’s wife, Allison, is in charge of finances for Comfort Zone Camp, which helps bereaved children remember their loved ones in a safe and healing camp environment. The camp, which began in Richmond, is currently the largest of its kind in the nation. Because of Allison Smith’s involvement, the club strives to work with the camp for service projects.

Along with service, the club also plans to conduct many fundraising efforts, possibly including a poker tournament, a Dave & Busters night and a casino night.

After the networking and housekeeping portions of the June 23 meeting, speaker Jimmy Barrett of WRVA radio discussed his time as a talk show host, the changing economy and how it is important to follow along with technology for success.

Barrett has been in the radio business since 1975. He said that in order to maintain success in an economy like this, one has to keep up with technology.

“Now we are a radio station with a web site, but in a matter of time, we will be a web site with a radio station,” he said. People who continue to do what they did 20 years ago, he said, are out of business because what they did is no longer in demand any more.

For details about the Short Pump Rotary Club, contact James Towey.

July 9, 2009 2:19 PM 0