Annual Bike Ride Helps ‘Small, But Mighty’ Noon Rotary Club Raise $3,000!

“Small, but Mighty.” I’m almost positive my friend and former Rotary Club of New Tampa Noon president Valerie Casey first coined that phrase about the Rotary Club to which both Val and I belong.

Our club, which meets every Wednesday at noon for lunch at Mulligans Irish Pub at the Pebble Creek Golf Club, has never had as many as 30 members and currently has around 20, but somehow, thanks to the often-tremendous efforts by our small “family” of club members, we’re still able to accomplish a lot.
Although we also have partnered with other Rotary Clubs — including the New Tampa “Breakfast” Rotary (which meets at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club for breakfast on Fridays at 7 a.m.; see story on the facing page) — the fund raisers and projects our club is able to put on with just a little effort have been pretty incredible.

Case in Point: Our annual “Cycling for Vets” Bike Ride through Flatwoods Park, which has raised thousands for U.S. Military veterans organizations and our local first responders (police, fire and emergency folks).

This year, with a committee of three — local dentists Dr. Steven Dau and Dr. Greg Stepanski and commercial real estate agent Scott Hileman — doing most of the leg work and just a few other club volunteers, this year’s ride on April 13 (I missed it for another kind of ride; see page 3) attracted a record (for us) number of 80 registered riders (some of those definitely found out about the ride from the Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel less than a month earlier). The 2018 ride raised $3,000, with portions of that amount to benefit the Fisher House residence for families who have family members who are active duty and military veterans being treated at the Tampa Veterans Administration Hospital on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. and for Support the Troops, a Wesley Chapel-based nonprofit that mails out hundreds of “care packages” every week to active military stationed overseas.

Dr. Dau, who basically celebrated the birth of his first child with his wife Monika a couple of months before he started planning this event, was quick to share the credit on May 9, when our club donated $1,000 of those proceeds to Fisher House Tampa director Paula Welenc (above left, with Dr. Dau, right, and Noon Rotary president Belvai “Vinnie” Kudva).

Our committee did a great job,” said Dr. Dau. “As always, it was a true team effort.”

The club also thanks the event’s sponsors — Dau Orthodontics-Dr. Steven Dau; Children’s Dentistry-Dr. Greg Stepanski; Gentle Care Dentistry-Dr. Tom Frankfurth; AllState Insurance-Gary Lefebvre; State Farm Insurance-Joyce Coleman; Suncoast, Tax & Accounting-Angie Garrett; Kiran Indian Grocery, AAA-Novelette Johnson; Stifel Financial-Mike Wallace; Goal Commercial-Scott Hileman; The Bantner Firm-Adam Bantner; Minerva Indian Restaurant, Thai Lanna & Sushi, Little Greek New Tampa, Peabody’s Billiards & Games, Tabla Indian Restaurant ,The Gift Box Boutique, Oliver’s Cycle Sports, Neighborhood News & WCNT-tv.

New Tampa Brewfest?
Fresh off that outstanding bike ride, the New Tampa Noon Rotary Club will host its first-ever “New Tampa Brewfest” on Saturday, November 10, 4 p.m.-8 p.m. (the time may be subject to change) at the Venetian Events Center at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church on Cross Creek Blvd.
The Brewfest will be another great event featuring craft beers, a variety of food trucks and entertainment. Look for details in these pages and future episodes of WCNT-tv.

New Tampa’s Rotary Clubs Both Step Up Their ‘Service Above Self’

New Tampa (Breakfast) Rotary president Karen Frashier, with firefighters at Station No. 20 on BBD Blvd. in Tampa Palms.

Years before I helped charter the New Tampa Noon Rotary Club — which meets every Wednesday at noon in Mulligan’s Irish Pub in the Pebble Creek Golf Club — the first Rotary Club meetings I ever attended were on Fridays at 7 a.m., in Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club (TPGCC).

I may not have been at the first meeting of the original Rotary Club of New Tampa (I may also refer to it as the NT Breakfast Rotary) which, more than 20 years later, still meets Fridays at 7 a.m. at TPGCC, but I definitely attended multiple meetings of the club that first year, when it became (and still holds the record) the largest Rotary Club ever chartered in the southeastern U.S., with more than 60 charter members.

Not only were these people tremendously energetic (e.g., they were singing songs from the Rotary Songbook, aka, “Songs From the Year of the Flood,” at 7 a.m., no less, which was not particularly appealing to me) and dedicated to Rotary’s motto of “Service Above Self,” it also brought in amazing guest speakers who provided me with many of my biggest news stories back when there was a lot less news to write about that wasn’t road- or school- or development-related.

Rotary District 6890 Governor Tom Wagner (l.) and New Tampa Noon Rotary president Vinnie Kudva.

About a dozen years ago, I helped bring together a group of like-minded people who also wanted to be Rotarians — and who were more available for a lunch-time weekly meeting — at the old Circles New Tampa Bistro in Pebble Creek. It was a much smaller group — I think we chartered with 18-20 members — but we became like a new family — and quite a few of the original club members (and several who joined within the first couple of years) are still members today.

Rotary International, the parent organization which has all but eradicated polio from the world (with only eight new cases announced in 2016, all in Pakistan and Afghanistan), is the largest service organization on Earth, with tens of thousands of clubs and more than 1.2 million members worldwide.

Those numbers give local Rotary clubs, which are grouped together in districts, a lot of ability to serve not only their local communities, but to do service projects around the world.

Sophia Contino and Pasco Sheriff’s Deputies receive a donation from Frashier and New Tampa Rotary past president Brice Wolford.

Despite their differences in size, both clubs truly embody the spirit of Rotary. The Breakfast Rotary’s sheer numbers (with around 70 members today) allow the club to take on major service projects — like building a playground at Rotary’s Camp Florida in Brandon, humanitarian trips to Costa Rica and Honduras, helping to put on the Wiregrass Wobble Turkey Trot 5K race and taking over as the host organization for the rejuvenated Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel — and donating tens of thousands of dollars per year.

Although I mentioned in our last issue that the Breakfast Rotary honored me for helping make sure the Taste was a success this year, I neglected to tell you that on June 30 (the day I got engaged), the club donated more than $44,000 to 23 different nonprofit organizations, everything from the New Tampa Relay for Life and the March of Dimes to Sophia’s Lemonade Stand to benefit the Pasco Sheriff’s Charities, Inc. As outgoing president Brice Wolford handed the gavel over to 2017-18 president and 2017 Taste event chair Karen Frashier, New Tampa’s original Rotary Club is still vibrant and will continue to be ingrained in the fabric of the New Tampa community.

For the complete list of organizations the club helped this year and more information, please visit NewTampaRotary.org. 

But, before you make the assumption that small cannot be mighty, consider this: the NT Noon Rotary Club won the District 6890 Membership award by growing from fewer than 20 to  26 members, and has not only hosted another successful annual bike ride through Flatwoods Park, but also been able to provide international service projects in 2017-18 club president Belvai “Vinnie” Kudva’s native India, Nepal and Kenya.

Many of our club members, myself included, couldn’t understand how we could do so much good with such a small club, but current District Governor Tom Wagner explained when he visited our Aug. 2 meeting that Vinnie, “knows more about how to access Global and Local District grant money from the Rotary Foundation in order to fund important service projects than just about anyone.” Small but mighty, indeed.

For more information about the New Tampa Noon Rotary, search “New Tampa Noon Rotary” on Facebook. 

Noon Rotary Club’s Bike Ride Exceeds Expectations By Raising $5,000!

The Noon Rotary Club of New Tampa raised $5,000.

As a proud member of the Noon Rotary Club of New Tampa — which meets Wednesdays at noon in Mulligan’s Irish Pub, inside the Pebble Creek Golf Club — I am happy to announce that the club’s fourth annual bike rally to benefit U.S. military veterans and first responders on March 25 raised “about $5,000,” according to event chair and local orthodontist Dr. Steven Dau. “Even though we reduced our sponsorship cost (to $100 per sponsor), we had way more riders this year (almost 60) than last (closer to 30), so we actually came out ahead.”

The rally — which is not a race — offered riders a 4-, 18- or 39-mile course, starting from the Chili’s Grill & Bar on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. (directly adjacent to the BBD entrance to Flatwoods Wilderness Park), while raising funds to benefit four nonprofit charities that help local veterans, law enforcement and firefighters.

Noon Rotary president Valerie Casey says that during the four years of the event to date, nearly 300 riders have helped this small (only 21 members) Rotary Club raise more than $23,000 to help the club’s selected charities. “We’re small, but we’re mighty,” Valerie says. “If you’re looking for a club where every member truly believes in the Rotary International motto of ‘Service Above Self,’ we should be your club, too. Our members are more like family because we really love and support each other.”

The club also is partnering on an upcoming project with City Council member Luis Viera and the original Rotary Club of New Tampa (which meets Fridays at 7 a.m. at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club) to beautify Tampa Fire Rescue Fire Station No. 20 in Tampa Palms.

Proceeds from this year’s bike rally will benefit four nonprofits — Support the Troops, the Stay in Step Spinal Cord Injury Recovery Center, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue & The Homefront Foundation.

This year’s sponsors included Chili’s, The Little Greek Restaurant, Gentle Care Dentistry (the office of Dr. Tom Frankfurth), Stifel Financial/Mike Wallace, Children’s Dentistry (the office of Dr. Greg Stepanski), State Farm Insurance/Joyce Coleman and the New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News.

For more info about the New Tampa Noon Rotary and its international and local service projects, visit one of our meetings as my guest or search “NewTampaNoonRotary” on Facebook.

New Tampa Noon Rotary Celebrates A Year Of Growth With A New Location

FisherHouseWEBOver the past 12 months, the New Tampa Noon Rotary Club has grown quite a bit — from only about a dozen members to 21 members today. Valerie Casey has served as president over the last year and will stay in that role for the upcoming 2016-17 Rotary fiscal year. “We’re continuing to grow and we’re always looking for new members who really care about the community and who want to be hands-on to have a positive effect on the community and the world around us,” Casey says.

In addition to Casey, the leadership team for the year includes Angie Garrett, treasurer; Barry Shuman, secretary; Belvai Kudva, executive secretary/director; Scott Hileman, foundation chair; and Gary Lefebvre, club membership chair.

As Casey talks about the New Tampa Noon Rotary, she explains, “We all know each other, and support each other so much. We always say that if something is important to one member, it’s important to all of us.”

So, members who have a charity they are already involved with often find support from their Rotary Club that will allow each to do a little more for their favorite organization. Casey says the club really feels like family. And, for Casey, at least one member literally is family.

“My niece, Taylor Dumke, is one of our newest members.” Casey explains, adding that while Taylor is just 21 years old and is physically disabled, she is contributing to her community through the Noon Rotary Club.

05-16 Rotary Bike picWhen asked why she was interested in joining the club, Dumke says, “It’s a lot of giving back to the people in the community.” Casey says Dumke is assisting with some of the club’s secretarial job duties, and that she really likes the responsibility.

She says her niece is proof that, “Everyone can be a member of Rotary, and everyone can do something, regardless of their temporary or even permanent disabilities.

“And, we would love to have more younger members,” Casey adds. “It’s a good way for people in their 20s to give back to the world around them.”

Casey also says that’s what the mission of Rotary International is all about. On a local level, the New Tampa Noon group recently provided a check to support the Trinity CafĂ©, which feeds homeless and hungry people in downtown Tampa. The club also supports needs throughout the entire world by partnering with international Rotary clubs. Casey says one member of the club recently returned from a trip to India, supporting the charitable efforts of a Rotary Club there, including building a shelter at a bus stop and providing needed beds. Additionally, financial support was provided to a club in Nepal that was working on a water project in that area.

For the upcoming Rotary year, Casey says the club will be working hard to host its annual golf tournament to raise money for Tampa’s Fisher House, a place for families of military veterans to stay while their loved ones receive treatment at the James A. Haley Veteran’s Hospital. The 2016 date for that event is set for Friday, October 28.

The club’s signature event is its annual bike ride for veterans and first responders, which will be held next March. The 2016 ride through Flatwoods Park raised $3,500 to help benefit the Navy Seal Foundation, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, Support the Troops, and the Stay In Step Spinal Cord Injury Recovery Center. In 2017, Casey says there are plans to add a run to the event, either a 5K or 10K, or both.

New Meeting Location

One more change for the NT Noon Rotary is that the club’s meetings will no longer be held at CafĂ© Ole on Cross Creek Blvd.

“CafĂ© Ole has been wonderful,” says Casey. “But, they’re not going to be open for lunch anymore.” She says the club’s meetings will still be held Wednesdays at noon, but will now be held at Mulligan’s Irish Pub at the Pebble Creek Golf Club. For more information about the New Tampa Noon Rotary Club, visit Facebook.com/NewTampaNoonRotary or call Valerie Casey at 317-8886.