Baked brie, smoked salmon, chocolate cake, music, and wine, Oh My!

District Rotary Foundation Chair, Chuck Arnason, and Rotary International Director-Elect (RIDE), David Stovall, assisted Past District Governor Diane Hagemann to celebrate the year of Foundation giving during her tenure as District Governor.

 

The evening of November 9th in Williamsburg was actually two events.  The Friends of the Foundation Reception honoring Major Donors, Bequest Society Members, and Paul Harris Society members, was sponsored this year by District Governor John Padgett and Maguire Woods, LLC.  DG John is the Managing Partner of the Norfolk Office of Maguire Woods.   During the Reception, three new Major Donors were recognized, by Rotary International Director-Elect (RIDE), David Stovall,  DG John and Lee Ann Padgett, Bill and Lois Billings, and Colleen Bonadonna & Daniel Hockenberger.  Kyle Davis, on guitar, provided music.

 

 

 

The second event, the Foundation Awards Banquet, is the culmination of the two-event evening.  It is at the banquet that the highest giving clubs, recipients of District Services Awards, and the recipients of the three highest Foundation Awards are recognized. The Banquet was accompanied by a cash bar reception, wicked baked brie,  and music on the keyboard by Jeff Paul. RIDE David Stoval did double duty, being both our keynote speaker and the chief presenter of the awards. Bill Billings was the event photographer.

The 2016-17 Awards list is provided here for a description of all of the club and individual recipients.

Alexandria Ritchie of the James River Club received the Outstanding Alumni Award.  She was an Interact member and is currently a member of the John Tyler Rotaract Club and the James River club, as well.  She is an undergraduate biomedical student.

 

The recipient of the James Russell Pierce Foundation Leadership Award was William “Bill” Henn of the Rotary Club of Petersburg Breakfast. Bill received the award from Suki Pierce (Rotary Club of Virginia Peninsula), the widow of Jim Pierce.  This award is conferred on Club Rotary Foundation Chair who served his or her club and The Rotary Foundation with distinction.

The final award, the Citation for Meritorious Service, is unique in that it can be only awarded once each Rotary year by a district and the recipient may receive the award only once.  The Award recognizes extraordinary service to The Rotary Foundation (TRF) and is not awarded for monetary contributions.  The recipient this year was Ken Hodge of the Newport News Club honoring his service and accomplishments for three years as the Development Chair for the District Rotary Foundation Committee.

 

All photos except the shot attributed to Jan Rowley are the art of Bill Billings.

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