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At Rotary, we have no tolerance for racism. Promoting respect, celebrating diversity, demanding ethical leadership, and working tirelessly to advance peace are central tenets of our work.

We have more work to do to create more just, open, and welcoming communities for all people.

We know there are no easy fixes and that challenging conversations and work lie before all of us. Rotary’s strength has long been our ability and commitment to bringing people together. We will tap into that strength now as we stand with those who are working for peace and justice.

Rotary will do our part to listen, learn, and take action to ensure that we continue to contribute to making positive change.

Pride of Workmanship 2020: Call for Nominations

Pride of Workmanship nominations due November 5, 2020

The Rotary Club of Ithaca is accepting nominations for its 22nd annual Pride of Workmanship Award.

The award recognizes employees whose outstanding work performance in their organization is “above and beyond the call of duty” and is instrumental in the achievement of the organization’s goals. The public may also nominate an individual at a local company who consistently provides good, meaningful service.

A panel of Ithaca Rotarians will select the award winners based on the information provided, the employee’s initiative and consistency, and how he or she embodies the spirit of the business or organization. Preference may be given to those who have not been recognized by Rotary for their workmanship in the past.

The following information should be submitted to Kati Flynn, at katitorello@gmail.com by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5:

Pride of Ownership 2020: Call for Nominations

Annual Susan Blumenthal Pride of Ownership Launches Twenty-Third Year
Nominations Due Monday, November 2

Nominations must be received at the City Clerk’s Office, 108 East Green Street, no later than 4:30 pm on Monday, November 2. Click here for a nomination form.

Ithaca’s Twenty-Third Annual Susan Blumenthal Pride of Ownership Awards program, recognizing owners of properties within the city of Ithaca who have developed projects or taken care of their properties in ways that enhance the physical appearance of city neighborhoods and commercial areas, is seeking nominations for this year’s awards. The program is a joint project of the Ithaca Rotary Club and the City of Ithaca.

Founded by former Common Council member Susan Blumenthal, who felt that developers and property owners should receive recognition for work that went above and beyond the requirements of the project, the awards are focused on projects that are thoughtful, unexpected, and lift the aesthetic experience of their setting and surroundings.

Do you own property in the city? Have you made improvements lately? Nominate yourself, a neighbor, or be nominated by others. Projects may range from major structural work to small but significant improvements. Commercial projects, owner-occupied housing, rental housing, and institutional facilities (education, religious, government) are eligible. Awards focus on how properties appear from the street and public right-of-way, improve their local surroundings, and thereby improve quality of life for the city as a whole.

Nominations must be received at the City Clerk’s Office, 108 East Green Street, no later than 4:30 pm on Monday, November 2. For more information or an application, contact a member of the 2017 Committee:

John Barradas at 277-2755 or jb@barradasandpartners.com; Frost Travis at 273-1654 or ftravis@travishyde.com; Margaret Hobbie, 220-5334 or mhobbie@verizon.net; Brett Bossard 351-1554 or brett@cinemapolis.org or Scott Whitham, 379-9175 or whitham@whithamdesign.com.

Pancake Day 2020

2020 Pancakes-to-Go Event

Election Day, Tuesday, November 3rd

3:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Coltivare, 235 South Cayuga Street, Ithaca

$6 per meal

Tickets may be purchased at the door or from Ithaca Rotarians

Ithaca Rotary’s annual Election Day tradition has been re-imagined this year as a take-out only event. Each meal-to-go prepared and packaged by the staff at Coltivare will consist of pancakes, sausage, hash browns, and applesauce for $6.

This year has been unlike any other, but Ithaca Rotarians remain committed to continuing an Election Day tradition, even if in a different way with reduced hours and a limited menu.

“We are not counting on this year’s ‘Pancakes-to-Go’ event to raise significant funds, but rather, we see it as offering our community a small slice of normalcy during these uncertain times while keeping everyone safe,’ said event co-chair and Ithaca Rotary President Geoff Dunn.

2020 Community Grants Awarded

The Ithaca Rotary Club has awarded nearly $12,800 in community grants that will fund personal protective equipment for an after-school program, packets of seeds and vegetable plants for low-income families and online programming for a youth theatre group.

The annual grant program received 33 proposals requesting $29,000 this year. The grants were awarded by the Ithaca Rotary Club Grants Committee, co-chaired by Jessica Gosa, executive director of Foodnet Meals on Wheels.

“The decisions were especially difficult this year because there were so many worthy requests,” Gosa said. “The grants committee was impressed by all of the projects, which reflect how organizations have had to pivot their operations and programming during the pandemic.”

The agencies will be recognized at the Rotary Club meeting at 12:15 on Wednesday, October 7 on Zoom. Anyone who wants to attend the meeting can request a Zoom link on the club’s website at www.ithacarotary.com

Funding for the grants is raised through Rotary’s annual Little Apple Fall Follies (LAFF) event each October. This year, LAFF has been postponed because of the pandemic, but organizers are hoping to stage the event in some form in the spring of 2021.

Rotary Cares - Quarterly Update

Let’s admit that the impact of COVID 19 caught us a bit by surprise. That at first we thought we might be able to manage to function as a service club with simple adaptations. Then reality struck, and we went in to social isolation. We only cancelled two weekly meetings, though! We started meeting on ZOOM at the beginning of April. By mid April, we had a Pandemic Response ad hoc committee in place, tasked with creating initiatives in response to the consequences of living in a world wracked by virus. This is what amounts to a quarterly review of what we’ve done in these past three months.

Rotary Club of Ithaca Inducts Dunn as New President

Geoff Dunn, the community preparedness coordinator for the Tompkins County Department of Emergency Response, became the new president of the Rotary Club of Ithaca on July 1.

Dunn, who joined Rotary in 2014, will lead the service club through June of 2021. A Dryden resident, Dunn has worked for Tompkins County since 2012, following a 30-year career in broadcast journalism in Oswego, Syracuse, Albany and Ithaca.

Dunn said the Rotary Club has continued its service to the community during the coronavirus pandemic by launching several new programs, including the Tastes of Gorges Supper Club that has encouraged residents to patronize locally owned restaurants. Rotary members also led a community-wide cleanup in June and have continued to help the Salvation Army collect food and distribute meals.