2024-25: A Great Year for Watkins-Montour
Under the second-year leadership of Nan Woodworth, our club had a successful and fun 2024-25 Rotary year. Congratulations to Nan, her board and our many Rotarian and community volunteers and supporters!
A successful, enjoyable and memorable Rotary year came to a close at our 2025-26 Changeover Dinner on June 25 at the Watkins Glen Elks Lodge. Rotarians and their guests thanked President Nan Woodworth for two consecutive years of leadership and welcomed David Bond-Trimble as 2025-26 president. The evening included the awarding of Paul Harris Fellows to Elizabeth Watson and Nan for embodying the Rotary motto of "Service above Self." Rotarians Fred Hall, John King, Judy Phillips and Nancy Ruda were recognied for their continuing support of the Rotary Foundation. Lastly, we said goodbye to Camilla Haugland of Norway, our Rotary exchange student for 2024-25, who attended Watkins Glen High School. We were so pleased to meet her family, who accompanied her to our event! For Changeover Dinner photos, click here.
Above: Club Secretary Terri Orbin, left, and 2023-24 and 2024-25 Club President Nan Woodworth. Left: 2024-25 exchange student Camilla Haugland of Norway, second from left, and her family.
2025 Community Grants Awarded to 9 Organizations
Nine organizations in Schuyler County have received 2025 Community Grants for projects that align with Rotary's focuses, including health and well-being, food security, literacy and general community enrichment. The grants totaled $4,500, and the checks were presented at our June 5 meeting. It's a wonderful way to close out a great year, under the leadership of President Nan Woodworth. The grants were awarded to: Catholic Charities of Chemung and Schuyler Counties for the backpack program; Gorgeous Givers for cancer patient support; Lake Country Players for costume and production support; Montour Falls Methodist Church for the diaper program; My Place, A Play and Learning Center for mobile sensory carts; Odessa-Catharine Methodist Church for the food pantry; Schuyler County Habitat for Humanity for general support; Summer Swim Program for lifeguards; and Watkins Glen Village Summer Recreation Program for camperships.
Above left: The Rev. Mike and Pam Kelly, representing Odessa-Catharine and Montour Falls United Methodist churches. Center: Karen Stewart, representing Schuyler Habitat for Humanity. Top right: Watkins Glen Superintendent of Parks and Recreation Stacey Parrish and Clute Park Manager Chantel Fitzgerald, Summer Recreation Program.
Rotarians celebrated Earth Day 2025 on Saturday, April 26, with our annual Route 14 roadside clean-up south of Montour Falls.
Books for Third-graders!
In February, several Club members had the wonderful opportunity to present the book "Andy & Elmer's Apple Dumpling Adventure" to third-graders in the Bradford, Odessa-Montour and Watkins Glen school districts.
"Andy & Elmer's Apple Dumpling Adventure" was co-produced by the Fairborn, OH, Rotary Club. It demonstrates the Rotary Four-Way Test as a children's book. This project is a significant component of our Club's focus on local literacy. In 2024, the Club installed six Little Free Libraries across Schuyler County to increase public access to books for all ages.
What a joy it was to interact with our local students and teachers! We have an amazing group of young people and educators countywide. A special thank-you goes out to our community partner, Chemung Canal Trust Company, for their support in this project.
