Ripon Rotary President Harrison Gibbs is making a difference in his club only three months into his presidency evidenced by last Wednesday noon’s meeting at Spring Creek Country Club where he installed three new members he personally recruited and handed out five Paul Harris fellowships to deserving members.
His hope is to get his membership to follow his lead and recruit more Rotarians into the club.
Paul Harris was the founder of Rotary in Chicago year ago and the fellowships represent a members’ service above self and usually a $1,000 contribution to the international foundation. They occasionally come from an anonymous source or from points garnered by the club over the years.
Past President Zachary Crawford was the first recipient to receive the fellowship at the Wednesday luncheon. Zac is the immediate past president. He was followed by Dean Uecker, a Ripon insurance broker; Stephanie Hobbs, responsible for spearheading the Ripon High School football field renovation; Chuck Winn, retired Highway Patrol commander and John Orcutt, Manteca police captain who served as an assistant district governor last year.
The donated funds are kept within the foundation for three years with the interest on that money going toward charitable efforts around the world as well as locally.
Gibbs is about to see his first major project come to fruition with the installation of a downtown free standing clock with a Rotary Club face. The clock will be a memorial with names of Ripon citizens engraved on its base standing erect next to the Ripon Memorial Library.
Gibbs is also responsible for his club’s efforts in adopting the northbound Highway 99 off ramp into the city assigned to cleaning up weeds and trash. Planting of new shrubbery is also planned for the weed infested area. One recent fund raiser was the selling of tri-tip sandwiches to members of the community.
Ripon Rotary meets every Wednesday at 12:10 with a luncheon at the Spring Creek Golf and Country Club.
To Contact Glenn Kahl emailgkahl@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3539.