District 6600 in Northwestern Ohio is pleased to announce the selection of Keith Hodkinson from the Tiffin Rotary Club as the the District Governor for the 2020-2021 Rotary year.
Keith Hodkinson has been a Rotarian for 34 years. He is the only two-term President of the Tiffin Club (in 1997-1998 and 2012-2013. He has earned a Paul Harris Fellow and was awarded a second by then District Governor Do Nguyen for distinguished service to District 6600.
Keith started The KWH Company, Ltd. In 1987 and manages several businesses under its umbrella including WTSC-Seneca County Radio, Future Stars Sports Photography and Pegasus School Images.
Keith was one of the “Founding Five” that, in 1984, developed the Tiffin Rotary Community Auction, a locally televised auction that raises money for the local Tiffin Rotary Foundation and Rotary International. In its 33 years the auction has raised over $750,000 for both local and international efforts.
Hodkinson attended his first District Conference in 2012 in Toledo where he admits it was there that he ‘drank the blue and gold kool-aid’ of Rotary International. “I had been in Rotary over 25 years at that point but never understood what being a real ‘Rotarian’ was all about.”
At that conference he heard presentations by global leaders of Rotary International and by individuals that had been affected by Rotary’s help in water and sanitation projects. He also met RI Board Member Jennifer Jones for the first time. “Her dedication to the greater cause was infectious”, Keith said.
As president of the Tiffin Club for the second time in 2012-2013, Keith kicked off a program called the Rotary Technology Initiative where the club purchased 30 iPads and charging unit security cart to be used in place of textbooks at the Tiffin Middle School for science classes. Each iPad proudly carried the Rotary logo.
In 2014, as past president and a member of the Tiffin Rotary Club Foundation he helped encourage the club to move into supporting major international efforts. Tiffin became one of several district clubs that helped fund the Honduras project. In 2015 Keith and eight other Rotarians went to San Pedro Sula, Honduras and began a week long mission trip working with teenage girls at a small, local orphanage repairing toilets, water pumps, computers, windows and general construction. Even though there was a language barrier, Keith walked away committed to the Rotary way.
In 2015, District Governor Gary Newton asked him to take over as Assistant District Governor for a number of clubs in the north central portion of District 6600. In 2017, Keith served as Sponsorship Chairman of the District Conference and worked with a local production company to put together video footage of the event.
Locally, Keith has a great love of rescue dogs and was the chief developer of the Tiffin Bark Park project, a 1.5 acre off leash dog park in Tiffin that in one year has grown to nearly 300 registered users. He serves as the non-profit corporation’s president, raising funds for the park’s on-going maintenance and improvement.
Keith is the father of three sons Eric (35), Alan (32) and John (27).
Please join us in congratulating Keith on this distinguished honor.