Jul 1, 2015 | General News
Gary Newton has been a Rotarian since 1996. He is a member of the St. Marys Club and is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow. Gary has served as President of the Northmont Club in District 6670 and was honored as that Club’s Rotarian of the Year. He has also served more recently as the President of the St. Marys Club in District 6600. In addition, he has served on the Boards of both Clubs and many committees.
Gary has served District 6600 as an Assistant District Governor. He has been Chief of Staff for the District Governor Elect and the District Governor. Gary has also served on three District Conference Committees.
He is a former CPA having worked in both public accounting and private industry. He also owned and operated Newton’s Book Store in Englewood for 19 years.
Gary is a graduate of Wright State University in Dayton with a B.S. in accounting.
He serves as the Chair of the Administrative Board of his church. He has served on the Boards of the Northmont Area Chamber of Commerce, and Partners for Community Living. Gary has also served for the past 15 years as the President of Resident Home Association in Dayton.
Gary is married to Debbie, a Certified Nurse Midwife with ProMedica in Toledo. Debbie is also a Paul Harris Fellow. They are the proud parents of four children living in Ohio, Texas, and California, and three grandchildren.
See more photos from the District Installation of Officers held on June 26, 2015 in Lima, Ohio.
Jun 30, 2015 | General News, Uncategorized
On Saturday, April 25, 2015 at 11:45 am Nepal was severely struck by a major earthquake. The magnitude of this earthquake hit a 7.9 on the Richter scale followed by several aftershock tremors. On Sunday, April 26, 2015, Nepal suffered another major earthquake, this one with a magnitude of 6.7 and followed yet again by several aftershock tremors. The devastation was widespread- nearly 6,000 men, women, and children were dead and over 11,000 more suffered injuries.
Just three days after the final earthquake, a call to action was made by Rotary District 6600’s District Governor, Rex Engle. He reached out to each of the 63 Rotary Clubs in our district and encouraged everyone to dig deep as clubs and as individuals to help lend support to Nepal. The initiative was focused on sending ShelterBoxes to as many families in Nepal as possible. As an added incentive, District Governor Rex Engle pledged that the District would match 20% of the cost to the first 20 boxes collected.
Donations began to come in from both clubs and individuals at a great pace but then something truly incredible happened. Mark Makulinski from the Toledo Rotary Club, offered to personally match $50,000 for all funds raised for the Nepal ShelterBox initiative. With this new incentive, District Governor Rex Engle challenged clubs to Light Up Rotary and reach the full potential of this generous match.
The response from the District was incredible! Just check out the numbers:
- 42 clubs participated in fundraising
- One generous $50,000 donation from Toledo Rotarian Mark Makulinski
- $59,575 collected from clubs and individuals, including top fundraising clubs Toledo and Fremont
- $4,000 District 6600 contributions
Resulting in:
- A $113,572 ShelterBox contribution from District 6600 and
- Over 100 Shelter Boxes provided to families in Nepal
This Nepal ShelterBox campaign was just one way that District 6600 Rotarians changed lives under the leadership of Governor Rex Engle this Rotary year.
If you haven’t already, just visit rotarydistrict6600.org and check out the circle counters to see the results of our Annual Fund and Polio Plus giving. Your contributions and service are truly how Rotary helps to change lives all over the world.
Learn more about ShelterBox at shelterbox.org
Apr 3, 2015 | General News, Service Projects
Medical Equipment and Supplies Abroad (MESA) is encouraging all Rotary Clubs in District 6600 to consider holding a clothing drive. MESA is District 6600’s largest service project and yearly collects medical supplies and equipment and ships the containers all over the world. Last year shipments from MESA reached Jamaica, Honduras, Mongolia, Belize, Nicaragua, Nigeria, and Guatemala. The sometimes fragile equipment and long trips require each container to be packed with care and clothing is the solution. According to MESA Operations Manager Gary Davis, “We generally put 1,500-2,000 pounds of clothing in each container.”
Once the containers arrive at their destination, the second purpose for the clothing is realized. MESA Chairman and Past District Governor Bob Vincent shares, “Because the packing materials themselves are also needed by people in the area where the containers are going, they are our lagniappe, which is a French word that means ‘something extra’. The clothing sent creates a lot of excitement, joy, and goodwill as the local Rotarians in the final port unload the medical equipment and supplies.”
Gary Davis also shared that when containers are going to specific areas where we already have partnerships, sometimes the clothing is more specific. “In the last shipment we sent to Honduras we packed the container with clothing specifically for a girls’ orphanage there. It costs MESA $5,500 to send a container and we want to use every inch of that container to make a difference.”
If you or your Rotary club would like to participate in the MESA Clothing Drive, here are some recommendations from MESA:
- Clothing and bedding of all sorts is accepted.
- Children’s clothing and shoes are an important need.
- Winter clothing is accepted but should be marked as such.
- An ideal donation would include clothing in a sturdy garbage bag with no more than 20 pounds of clothing per bag. Each bag is moved and transported over eight times from donation to destination so tough garbage bags are a must.
- Bring your donations to the Rotary District Conference at Kalahari on April 17-19th, 2015. A MESA truck will be parked near the conference center to drop off your donations.
For more information about organizing your clothing drive please contact Gary Davis at logistics@rotarymesa.org or 419-348-7719.
Mar 31, 2015 | Service Projects, Youth Programs
#MealsThatMatter15 will build 40,000 meals for victims of ISIS
On Saturday, April 11, 2015, at Gateway Middle School in Maumee, Ohio, area high school students will join together to help erase hunger in one part of the world in an event called #MealsThatMatter15. Student organizations from four area high schools have raised over $10,000 to build 40,000 shelf-stable meals through ISOH Impact’s Kids Against Hunger program. The meals built by students that day will be sent to refugee camps outside Israel threatened by ISIS.
The meal-building initiative has been a collaborative effort between Anthony Wayne, Maumee and Perrysburg Interact Clubs and Eastwood and Perrysburg Key Clubs. Leaders from Interact and Key Club have been meeting regularly to organize the fundraising efforts as well as the logistics for the meal build.
Perrysburg student Lauren Piezer said, “As high school students, the biggest misconception is that we are only the future. We aren’t waiting for the future to make a difference. We are here now and we’re ready to do big things.”
Anthony Wayne Interact advisor Deb Cheney has been meeting with these student leaders and said, “It’s inspiring to see how much can be accomplished by a motivated group of teenagers. These students have worked tirelessly to break down school barriers and organization barriers in the name of making a difference in our world.”
For information about this project please contact Waterville Rotarian and District Governor Nominee Designate Debra Cheney at deb.l.cheney@gmail.com.
Mar 26, 2015 | Service Projects, Uncategorized
What is Rotary? We can struggle with our answer to that question.
“A group of leaders…”
“A service organization…”
“A community service group…”
Sometimes words aren’t the answer to the question. Sometimes the answer is a picture:
Little Dresses that represent teamwork between churches, schools and organizations. Little Dresses that connect people in Northern Ohio with children in Northern Uganda. Little Dresses where the common thread is Rotary.
What is Rotary? We are Little Dresses on Little Girls in Uganda.
Congratulations to the Rotary Club of Avon/Avon Lake for an impactful service project. What started out as a small project to make simple pillow case dresses grew into embellished dresses lovingly made from pieces of heirloom fabric, some with hand painted designs. The dresses were made by beginner to highly experienced seamstresses who ranged in age from age 14 to age 93. Local newspapers covered the project and Rotarians helped deliver fabric, pillow cases, notions and patterns to those doing the sewing. In January 2015, the dresses were delivered to children in St. Monica’s School for Girls in Gulu, Northern Uganda. To learn more about this project contact Rotarian Linda Rakvic at rakvic@wowway.com.
Gary Newton has been a Rotarian since 1996. He is a member of the St. Marys Club and is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow. Gary has served as President of the Northmont Club in District 6670 and was honored as that Club’s Rotarian of the Year. He has also served more recently as the President of the St. Marys Club in District 6600. In addition, he has served on the Boards of both Clubs and many committees.
