Quick Question - Out of 34,000 Rotary Clubs in the world, name one that could host a PHF Reception at 11 am on a Tuesday morning, have 55 Paul Harris Fellows in attendance, and present 3 new Fellowships and 4 Multiple Fellowships? Final Answer? The Rochester Rotary Club! The pride and honor in the room was palpable as our District Governor Gavin Hurley, Foundation Chair Hank Ralston, and Past District Governor and Past Club President Don Alhart presented the certificates and the pins.

                New Paul Harris Fellows:                   Multiple Paul Harris Fellows:

                Fran Antonelli                                    Warren Bastian - Plus 1

                Steve Hoitt                                             Carl Gerard - Plus 5

                Hank Stuart                                           Rick Krempin - Plus 1

                                                                                        John White - Plus 1

The stories behind each one of these awards have two things in common. Service Above Self and Generosity Beyond Compare. To each of the recipients and to all those PHFs in attendance; I am humbled to be in fellowship with you and proud to be in your service.

The Tuesday luncheon was our annual Valentine's Day Celebration and DG Gavin Hurley delivered a compelling message about all the good that The Rotary Foundation is able to do around the world and recognized Rochester Rotary Club as the largest all time contributor to the Foundation with donations totaling $530,000. He challenged us to do more as the needs are great. You should take a moment to be proud of what we have done.

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This week's Tootsie Roll Bright Spot Award winner was Warren Bastian! Warren was nominated by Marie Campbell and became the first ever Multiple Bright Spot winner! He was honored for years of raising money for the Sunshine Campus through his outstanding service to the LPGA, his dedication to the kids at School #8, and exemplifying Service Above Self. Congratulations Warren!

Thinking of You cards were signed and sent to Joe Rixner who just had hip surgery. He'll be out of commission for a while, but I understand the surgery went very well and he is recovering nicely.

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Please join me in yet another round of applause for our Community Service Teams! On Saturday, February 9^th, a team of 19 Rotarians and friends painted their little hearts out to help Volunteers of America freshen up their offices on Lake Avenue. We taped, scraped, cut in, rolled and finished a project that CEO Joanne Ryan has wanted to get done for over 2 years! This is an excerpt from what she sent us on Monday morning.

"Everything looks so beautiful!!! It was so great to walk in this morning and see it completely done. You were all incredibly kind to devote half of your weekend to our project. I can't begin to put into words what a gift like this means for our agency."

Here are the Rotarians that gave their time to help, and left with a true sense of accomplishment and the pride of knowing we have helped another non-profit organization in the Rochester area. The project was organized and led by Pat Stack.

Bob Attardo                                                      Fran Ostrom

Bruce Baker                                                     Maddy Ostrom    

Eileen Broderick                                          JoAnne Ryan

Tom Broderick                                             Pete Sarratori

Emma Broderick + friend Gabby     Sherri Siclare (friend of Pete's)

Dan Dupre                                                         Paul Siclare (friend of Pete's)

Sandy Frankel                                                Pat Stack

Ira Korn                                                              Sandy White

Dolly Malik                                                       John White

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Judge Johnny's Fines and Recognition Report:

• Don Twietmeyer was honored by Marie Campbell for being kind and driving her to the meeting. Marie volunteered a $25 contribution and Don matched it with another $25.

If this spreads and everyone carpools to Rotary, I figure we can collect about $100,000 by the end of June!

• Bob Attardo volunteered a $50 "recognition fine" for his wife Marlene's achievement. She was named the 2013 recipient of the Stephanie Kupferman Juvenile Justice Award by the NY Women's Bar Association. The award is for outstanding achievement in legal matters involving juveniles over at least a 3 year period. Congratulations Marlene!

Reminder! All checks for fines and recognitions should be made payable to Rotary International.

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Here is the link: