Stories

August 2021 - A preliminary plan is underway for a new dog park in Warsaw.

The process is in the early stages, but funds are being raised through Rotary Club events such as the Parrot Head Cruise on Lake Wawasee which took place in June.

The location being considered for the park is a parcel of land at 216 S. Hand Ave. The size of the parcel is just under 4 acres, with the dog park expected to take up 1-2 acres. 

“The hope is that there will be a walking path around the park and a place to launch kayaks, “ City Planner Justin Taylor told InkFreeNews. “These features would be open to the public even if you do not have a pet.”

As far as when work on the park is expected to begin or when it may be completed, Taylor noted that timelines are difficult to predict this early on in a project. 

“Once we start fundraising, we’ll have a better idea of when each phase of the project will be completed,” Taylor said.

The Warsaw Rotary Club is proceeding with the project and are in the process of acquiring the ground, which is currently owned by Indiana American Water Company.

Taylor has put together a preliminary plan; however, a number of technical details and approvals remain to be dealt with since a good part of the land parcel is in designated wetlands.

Although no decision has been made yet, Taylor said there will likely be a small fee to use the dog park because visitors would need to register their pet with the Warsaw Parks Department. 

An estimated 500 million people worldwide became infected. Many cities closed theaters and cinemas, and placed restrictions on public gatherings. Rotary clubs adjusted their activities while also helping the sick.

This is how Rotary responded to the influenza pandemic that began in 1918 and came in three waves, lasting more than a year.

The Rotary Club of Berkeley, California, USA, meets in John Hinkel Park during the 1918 flu pandemic.

Photo by Edwin J. McCullagh, 1931-32 club president. Courtesy of the Rotary Club of Berkeley.

Rotary and the United Nations have a shared history of working toward peace and addressing humanitarian issues around the world.

During World War II, Rotary informed and educated members about the formation of the United Nations and the importance of planning for peace. Materials such as the booklet “From Here On!” and articles in The Rotarian helped members understand the UN before it was formally established and follow its work after its charter. 

Many countries were fighting the war when the term “United Nations” was first used officially in the 1942 “Declaration by United Nations.” The 26 nations that signed it pledged to uphold the ideals expressed by the United States and the United Kingdom the previous year of the common principles “on which they based their hopes for a better future for the world.” 

Every hero has an origin story. “I was 10 years old when the entire journey started,” explains Binish Desai. It began with a cartoon called Captain Planet, an animated TV series from the 1990s about an environmentalist with superpowers. Desai can still recite the show’s refrain: Captain Planet, he’s our hero / Gonna take pollution down to zero! “That tagline stuck in my mind,” he says. “I wanted to do something to help Captain Planet.”

In early 1919, Rotarian Roger Pinneo of Seattle, Washington, USA, traveled to the Philippines to try to organize a Rotary club in Manila. Leon J. Lambert, a Manila business leader helped Pinneo establish the club. Several months later, on 1 June 1919, the Rotary Club of Manila was chartered and became the first Rotary club in Asia.

The club would be the only one in the country for more than 12 years. Eventually, Manila club members organized Rotary clubs in the Philippine cities of Cebu (1932) and Iloilo (1933). Iloilo club members then started a club in Bacolod (1937), and Rotary continued to expand across the country.

25 August 2020 - Warsaw’s Rotary Park was dedicated Friday as the project for the new park nears its completion. A ribbon cutting was held with the help of the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce to dedicate the park.

The park at the corner of West Market Street and West Center Street serves as several things according to Rotary Club President Bruce Woodward. It is a focal point for the Warsaw bicycle community and he said it is also a welcome into Warsaw if you are coming in on the west end.

Woodward said the park also commemorates the Rotary Club’s 100th anniversary, which was started in 1919. The park project started five years ago and cost more than $100,000.