Interact Council of Presidents held in Stratford on Sunday

Members from 20 (of our 53 Interact Clubs) and 12 (of our 61 Rotary Clubs) attended a lively program Sunday (2/2/2014) on Interact at the Homewood Suites in Stratford.

The Interact Council of Presidents (ICoP’s) is an Interact district wide meeting of Interact Presidents within Rotary District 7980 that is designed to collaboratively lead and plan the activities of the Interact Clubs within our District.

Interact are clubs for youth ages 12-18 who want to connect with others in their community or school. Interact club members have fun while carrying out service projects and learning about the world. Interact clubs organize at least two service projects a year: one that benefits their community and one that encourages international understanding. While Interact clubs receive guidance from individual Rotary clubs, they govern and support themselves.

Interact has a membership of over 250,000 youth in more than 11,000 clubs worldwide. It’s one of Rotary’s fastest growing programs. Interact clubs are self-governing and self-supporting and can be either school or community based. Interact’s name is a combination of the words international and action. With clubs in over 120 countries and geographical areas, Interact is truly an international phenomenon. Interact’s global youth network is dedicated to community and international service. Every Interact club project, great or small, has a lasting impact on society worldwide. Brazil, India, the Philippines, and the United States boast the highest number of Interact clubs.

Rotary Club Fun(d)raisers for the next 30 days

There are many great Rotary Club Fun(d)raisers coming up in the next 30 days.

Be sure to come out and support these Clubs as Fun(d)raisers provide the gas in the ‘Doing Good’ engine.

Your Club’s event missing? Let us know and we will add it to this blog posting.

West Haven Rotary Club – Presidential Deinstallation

Outgoing West Haven President John Ambrusco and friends

Outgoing West Haven President John Ambrusco and friends

The annual passing of the gavel is a special event at the West Haven Rotary Club as the members have a rich tradition in taking great pleasure deinstalling their current president. Outgoing President John Ambrusco Jr. was deinstalled in their annual Tie Cutting Ceremony this year.

Rarely do outsiders get a glimpse at this sacred right of passage but this year the entire event was captured in videos for all of us to see.

Part I: Tie cutting ceremony

Part II: Tie cutting ceremony

Full disclosure: I grew up in West Haven and always enjoy the antics of my friends in the West Haven Club.

Looking for a great place to do a make-up? Then visit this fun bunch of Rotarians for lunch on Wednesday’s at App’s in West Haven, leave your tie home and bring plenty of $1’s for fines.