President Ken thanked all of the officers and board members and handed each an envelope that contained a personal thank-you and a Rotary coin. In addition to this, he also donated $50 to Polio Plus in the name of each one who served under his presidency.
He mentioned how Zoom really opened up opportunities for some programs to be presented by many different speakers from distant areas, that would not have been able to do otherwise. He thanked Brad Hoch for asking him to be the president and expressed what a fine job Brad did in leading the club through the difficult times at the beginning of the pandemic.
Ken also gave special thanks to Larry Redding, who underwent a liver transplant in the past year. while he continued to serve as President-Elect. He expressed his amazement at how Larry is already training for a marathon! He also expressed his gratitude for Mike Hanson stepping up to be the Vice President.
Ken mentioned Secretary Alex Hayes, who he affectionately called, "The Rock" because of his steadfastness in serving Rotary. He made a special mention of how Alex set up the Zoom meetings.
As he continued down the list, Ken recognized Tony Spangler for stepping into the role as treasurer and admitted that the books were not in the best shape when Tony took over, but we're in a much better position now, financially.
Ken thanked Chris Kimple for her work as International Lane Chair and also recognized Anna-Mae Kobbe for her good work as the Foundation Chair. In fact, she did so well that she was asked to step up to the role of District Foundation Chair, while she remains as our club Foundation Chair.
Ken gave similar kudos to Brad Lancaster as Community Service Chair, Peter Lagerberg, as the Philanthropy Chair, Doug Newell, as the Club Service Chair, and Clint Forry, as the Membership Chair.
He completed his farewell speech by asking all of us to support incoming President Larry Redding.