Pikeville Rotary Club
Awards Banquet & Installation Ceremony
The Pikeville Rotary Club met on Tuesday evening, June 28th, for the annual Awards Banquet and Officers’ Installation Ceremony at the Green Meadows Country Club. After a delicious meal, Kitty White, Chairperson of the Planning Committee came to the podium to serve as Master of Ceremonies and welcomed all Rotarians and their guests. She called for President Rakesh Sachdeva to take charge of the presentation of awards and special recognition of Rotarians who had served their vocations and community in a significant way this past year. Rakesh asked Secretary Yogi Yagodich to recognize the new Rotarians that had been inducted this year and allow them to introduce themselves and the Rotarian who had sponsored them. Rakesh thanked every Rotarian for making this year very special to him as he served as President and gave the following summary of the Club’s achievements: The Pikeville Rotary Club has grown to 119 active members, some of whom have continuous membership of over 36 years, and this year has donated a total of $ 41,685.00 to local and international charities, including $ 10,000.00 to the Polio-plus program. Rakesh also asked President-Elect, Jerry Kanney to come forward to make a special presentation of the proceeds raised in the Centennial Celebration this past year. Jerry presented four checks in the amount of $ 2,500.00 each to Kitty White of the Domestic Violence Shelter, Mike Corriveau of the Family Area YMCA, Leslie Combs of Pikeville College for the Pikeville Rotary Club Centennial Scholarship Fund, and to Treasurer Marcheta Blackburn for the Rotary Foundation. Rakesh returned to the podium to recognize the Rotarians that had achieved the distinction of becoming Paul Harris Fellows this year, but since many of them were not present tonight, he said he would ask Carrie Cinnamond to make that presentation at a later meeting. He went on to make the following President’s Annual Awards:
The Community Service Award - Jeff Vanderbeck and Darrell Maynard
The Vocational Service Award - Kitty White
The Club Service Award - Morgan Chapman
The Family of Rotary Award - Frank Dawahare and Reed Potter
The Four-Way Test Award - Pam Howard
The Silver Eagle Award - Jerry Kanney
The International Community Service Award - Gan Maddiwar
The Rotarian of the Year Award - Seema Sachdeva
The Special Presidential Recognition Award - Marty Backus
At this point, Rakesh delivered an impassioned farewell address and thanked everyone again for making this year one of the most productive in Pikeville Rotary Club history. He then turned the program over to Jeanne Clark, who asked for Eddy Coleman, Rotarian and Circuit Judge to come forward to swear in the officers of the 2005 - 2006 Rotary Club. First, Eddy swore in the Board of Directors - Mickey Anders, Morgan Chapman, Pam Howard, Brenda Maynard, Dan Stratton and Jeff Vanderbeck. Then, he swore in Marcheta Blackburn as Treasurer, Yogi Yagodich as Secretary, and Leslie Combs as President-Elect. Last, but not least, he swore in Jerry Kanney as the President. Jerry proceeded to the podium for his acceptance speech in which he described our Club as the “greatest club in the greatest city in the greatest state in the greatest country in the world.” He also recounted his experience at the Rotary International Convention in Chicago in which 45,000 Rotarians from all over the world came together to celebrate the Rotary experience and what an impact it had made upon him. He also said he had great hopes for our Club doing even greater things in the upcoming year and called upon every Rotarian to help make that possible.
Kitty came back to the podium and with the help of Jeanne Clark began to distribute the 25 door prizes that had been donated by several businesses and individual Rotarians. We would like to thank Kitty and the other members of the planning committee for a very successful and memorable ceremony.
- J. Morgan Chapman