The Wilmington Rotary contingent was welcomed to Kochin, India in grand style Sunday by the Kochin Downtown Rotary Club.  Kochin Downtown Rotary President-elect and prime mover of the water purification project, Paul Raj, arranged for and graciously hosted a large public ceremony at a local hotel restaurant as soon as the visitors arrived. 

      Jack Manock, Dale Smith, co-chairs of the International Committee, and Dick McGraw traveled from Wilmington to install solar-powered water purifiers at girls’ orphanages as part of the Home of Hope water project.  Dale’s brother Steve came from California and joined the group to help with the installation.  They were met by Kochin Downtown Rotary Club President Dr. Sunil Mathai, Rotary District Governor B. Jayarajan and State Legislator Jose Thittayal and about 200 local residents, including many nuns and girls from the orphanages, and Rotary members.  Some of the nuns and girls drove several hours to come to the ceremony.

      The ceremony was held at the Lotus 8 Hotel, within minutes of the airport and was held almost immediately on the arrival of Jack, Dale and Steve.  Dick McGraw arrived a day earlier.

      During the ceremony the Wilmington Rotary members were welcomed effusively by local Rotary and political dignitaries who expressed great appreciation for the Wilmington Rotary members coming to Kochin for the Home of Hope Project.  Jack Manock made a power-point presentation on the history of the project and some information about Wilmington.

      Kochin is in Rotary District 3271 and has 110 clubs and about 4,000 members.  The city of Kochin has a population of about 12 million people and 20 Rotary clubs.

      Four of the water purifiers have been delivered to India and the group plans to install two of them during the week.  The remaining two will be installed by local plumbers.

 WILMINGTON ROTARY CLUB CELEBRATES MILESTONES

Wilmington, NC – July 14, 2011:   The Wilmington Rotary Club – also known as “The Downtown Club” – celebrates two milestones in July.  Together, they represent the evolution of this Rotary Club, even as it maintains its strong foundation built on 96 years of service. 

On July 15, member Sam Warshauer celebrates his 64^th year as a member of the Wilmington Rotary Club.  Dr. Warshauer was inducted on July 15, 1947– and holds the club’s Badge #1.  He continues to attend meetings as his health permits, and remains a revered and respected pillar of the club.  This past January, the club honored Dr. Warshauer and his wife, Miriam, on the occasion of his 97^th birthday. 

On July 1, Stacy Ankrum took office as the club’s sixth female president.  Wilmington Rotary Club was the first club in the Wilmington-area to accept women as members, when Fran Young of Olsten Staffing Services and Eloise Thomas of Cape Fear Hospice joined in 1990.  Ms. Ankrum’s presidency marks the growing involvement and leadership of a new generation of Rotarians. 

           Mark Lynch, Governor of Rotary District 7730, marked the occasions with these words:  “The Wilmington Rotary has an incredible legacy of service doing great projects both in the community and throughout the world.  The depth of that leadership is exemplified by their longest serving member, Sam Warshauer.  The energy of their leadership is obvious in the level of commitment and focus shown by their current youthful President, Stacy Ankrum.  Although the Rotary Wheel at Greenfield Lake Park is probably the most obvious service project in Wilmington, anyone who takes the time to look deeper will find an amazing array of service projects completed by the Wilmington Rotary Club that have enriched the lives of thousands and make a difference to humanity.  From efforts to end Polio worldwide, to sponsoring kids’ attendance at the Rotary Leadership events, the Wilmington Rotary Club is definitely doing a lot of good in our world.”

Wilmington Rotary club applauds the founding leaders such as Dr. Warshauer and the new leaders such as Ms. Ankrum – together, today’s 194 members are committed to “Service Above Self” and giving back to our local and world-wide communities as a member club of Rotary International. 

Rotary International is a worldwide organization of more than 1.2 million business, professional, and community leaders and provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world.  There are 33,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographic areas.  Clubs are nonpolitical, nonreligious, and open to all cultures, races and creeds.