Rotarianette - SPECIAL EDITION - 03/11/2026 (Mar 11, 2026)

Special Announcement!

The club was contacted by the representatives of a former club member, who asked for a meeting. Last week after our regular meeting David, Ann, Pat, and I met with the Frevert Family Trust representatives. Before we share with you why they wanted to meet, let me share some background on Elvin Julius (E.J.) Frevert.

He joined the Liberty Rotary Club in June of 1938 and was included in the club group photo above(circled in yellow). During WWII he briefly left the club for service in the Army. After returning home to Liberty he had perfect attendance from 1955 until he passed away in 1998. E.J. served as Club President from 1956-57 and during his year as President the club brought in twelve new members. In 1964 he was the chairperson for the District Conference held in Excelsior Springs. Following his death a club scholarship was created in his honor.

E.J. was also active in the community. He served on the Board of Public Works from 1959 to 1972. He was a member of the Chamber of Commerce and served on its Board of Directors.

His hardware business was initially on the south side of Liberty Square. In 1966 he made a bold move and relocated Frevert Hardware to 71-Bypass, now called Hwy 291. At the time people thought he had lost his mind!

Drum Roll…….the estate representatives are finishing settling up the Frevert Family Trust and presented the club with a check for…………$1,000,000.00…….yes, that is one million dollars!

We were speechless! The only condition on the donation was that the money was to go toward our Scholarship program, which is currently funded by our Butt Buster BBQ. Even now we are still coming to terms with what this will allow the club to do. Today at our Board meeting, we set up a committee to rework our Scholarship program for next year. We also set up a committee to rethink how to utilize the funds we will raise from our Butt Buster BBQ in the coming years.

What an exciting problem to have, how to best allocate the funding!

Have a great day,

Yours in Rotary Service,

Reed

Reed Hastings, President

Rotary Club of Liberty

March: March is designated as Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Month in the Rotary calendar. During this month, Rotary clubs worldwide focus on raising awareness and funding sustainable projects that provide access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene education to communities

Shoes for Orphan Souls: We are well on our way to reaching our 2,500 Shoe goal……Let's keep the pressure on thru March! UPDATE: Total Today over 1,800 !

District Grant Project: Our District Grant this year is to add Rotary branding information to Rotary Plaza in order to answer the #1 question we get from visitors---What is Rotary all about? We will be adding signage(4 way test) along with a Peace Pole, a dog waste station, and a little free library. All of the new additions represent important Rotary themes. We are developing signage to go with each item and if you are interested in helping with signage, contact Pat Knauss, Service Chair: patknauss.rotary@gmail.com

Supporting the Environment:

The “Dog Station” is here! We have a work day scheduled this Saturday 3/14/26 9am to install the station. Click HERE to sign up!

Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention:
Our “Peace Pole” is ordered! Now we have two needs: someone to remove the tree where we are going to install the Pole, and someone to design the area around the base.

Education & Literacy:

The red phone booth is now Dr Who's Tardis! We are installing this Saturday 3/1426 9am at Rotary Plaza.

Choice Sponsors:

BEM Business. Blue Dog Merch, Central Bank, Curry Real Estate, Hawthorne Bank, Isley Curry & Howerton, Life Unlimited, MO Farm Bureau, MO Pork Association, Paul & Carol Richards, Pony Express Bank, The Exercise Coach, Thomann Financial Inc, Verimore Bank, Withers Brant Igoe & Mullennix, Zipco.

IN KIND:

Action Printing, Arrowhead Containers, Cenral Bank, Cumpy's, Eileen's Cookies, KC Dumpster, Mendel Law Firm, Pittman Printing, Poney Express Bank

Blue Ribbon Sponsors

Attic Storage-Liberty S.

Hallmark Cards

Premier Network

Scratch Office Catering

Prime sponsors

Bank of Shoal Creek

Drs Waterman & Baker

Knauss Consulting

Liberty Live Well

RC Jones

Tracy Tucker State Farm

GOAL: $30,000

Raised to date: $24,600

Click here to Sign Up

District Conference - 2026

District conference will be at the Rotary Youth Camp in Lee's Summit April 24th and April 25th, with a special concert to be held on Friday, April 24th.

Please click the link below for more info and to register. PLEASE NOTE - EARLY BIRD registration is only $50 per person through March 15! After that, the cost will be $65 per person.

Click on the Poster to the right to register >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

District Conference - Concert: Friday April 25th 7pm

Rock Orchestra KC teams up with Feed Lee's Summit to present a benefit concert. Tribute to the 60's-80’s featuring music of The Beatles, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, ABBA, Fleetwood Mac, and more! Click on photo for tickets>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

It is not too early to make arrangements to attend the Rotary International Convention in Taipei, Taiwan, June 13-17, 2026. Make new connections and create unforgettable memories at the 2026 Rotary International Convention in Taipei City, where traditional and contemporary culture intertwine beautifully. Click here for registration options.

Club History: Want to check out the digitalized version of Jim Tanner's book, Wheel Within a Wheel-The Rotary Club & Liberty 1935-2010? You can access the book with this link to Flipbook: https://heyzine.com/flip-book/a7a2edf49b.html Want a pdf copy of the book, just let us know and we will email you a copy.

Want to learn more about Rotary? Check out the website for ‘Heart of America - Zones 30-31’. Rotary clubs are organized into Districts, our club is in District 6040. Rotary Districts are organized into Zones and D6040 is in Zone 30. The ‘Heart of America - Zones 30-31' website is filled with information, educational materials, and ways to connect with other Rotarians.

March- Message from the District Governor

Dear District 6040 Rotarians,

March is here, and with it comes renewed energy, new opportunities, and exciting moments ahead for our Rotary family across Central & Northwest Missouri.

It continues to be a privilege to visit your clubs and witness firsthand the passion, creativity, and commitment that define Rotary in District 6040. Thank you for the warm welcomes, meaningful conversations, and inspiring service stories you share at every stop.

Yours in Rotary,

Jodi Sundaram
District Governor, Rotary District 6040

Rotary Club of Liberty

Go go District Site

Rotary's Learning Center - How to Access

Take advantage of a wealth of training materials designed to help you learn new skills and become more successful in what you do. Check out the Online "Rotary Learning Center."

Accessing Rotary’s Learning Center is easy, and you’ll soon be taking courses and finding resources about the topics that matter to you the most.
• If you haven’t used the Learning Center yet, go to rotary.org/learn, sign in to My Rotary, and accept the privacy policy to enable your access. Direct links to courses work only if you have visited the Learning Center before.
• If you need to create a My Rotary account, use the same email address that your club has on file. If that email isn’t valid, ask your club secretary to update the club’s record in Rotary International’s membership database.