Issue #6 · August 11, 2026
Tribute to Joan Ganz Cooney
Creator of Sesame Street and the Children’s Television Workshop
[PHOTO PLACEHOLDER: Joan Ganz Cooney]
Chuck McKone started the meeting with a tribute to Joan, who certainly had all the qualifications for being a Rotarian! Joan Ganz Cooney was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest civilian honor in our nation) in 1995. Her simple vision was to use television to teach young children so that disadvantaged kids could enter school with the same level of preparation as other kids. Didn’t we all learn kindness, as well as math and reading, from Sesame Street?
Around the Room, August 11
[PHOTO PLACEHOLDER: Around the Room, August 11]
Rex has returned! The other half of our club’s original sibling duo is back in The Villages. Rex and Susan will enjoy having the Dudley siblings join them in their RCTVN projects!
[PHOTO PLACEHOLDER: Santa Claus]
Guess Who Is Coming to Town?
Saturday, December 19: Carols by Candlelight! Mark your calendars now! Info to follow!
[PHOTO PLACEHOLDER: District Meeting attendees]
President Linda thanks the NINE club members who attended last week’s educational District Meeting in Orlando: Carrie Dixon, Bob Lowell, the Dudleys, the Kmieciks, Lynne Schneider, Chuck McKone, and President Linda.
Rotary in ACTION!
Past President Bobbie is our newly sworn-in costume chairperson! Look in your email for her fun themed meeting attire suggestions. Bobbie is also sponsoring a new member. Please say hello to Marsha!
Thank you, Karen and Robin Davies, Cookie Mom-sters! The Davies ladies provided banana nut bread and HUGE chocolate chip cookies this week.
Alex Lakatos was relieved when he realized Sheriff Bob Lowell meant CARDS when he was asked to DRAW. Sadly, Alex did not win the 50/50 raffle… but he did announce that he’s won a trip to Transylvania in August 2027!
Thank you to Bob Hayduk, club photographer, for helping with this issue! Delsa and Stacey would love photos from all Rotarians for social media.
[PHOTO PLACEHOLDER: Mail illustration]
New Mailing Address!
We are re-routing mail from the Lady Lake box to a more convenient central location, saving $72 a year in the process! (Thanks to Treasurer Ron.)
RCTVN
333 Colony Blvd
Box 337
The Villages, FL 32162
Rotary Global Missions: Nepal
[PHOTO PLACEHOLDER: Ruth Bowling]
Ruth Bowling is a Development Officer for the AdventHealth Foundation. AdventHealth partners with Rotary clubs to provide help and healing to children around the world. Ruth is an honorary member of FOUR Rotary clubs in District 6980 and has made over 100 presentations to Rotary clubs in Florida.
Nepal was identified by Rotary as having a very high maternal and newborn mortality rate, as the economy and the treacherous mountain landscape leave mother and baby in low-resource settings. Most births were home births with untrained “birth attendants.” Rotary has partnered with the Ministries of Health, Mission Footprint Hospitals, and AdventHealth to save lives by training locals.
[PHOTO PLACEHOLDER: Nepal training demonstration]
In her demonstration, Ruth showed the low-tech training equipment used to train care providers in Nepal, with Scott playing the part of the new parent. All of the visual aids fit in a backpack. In the targeted area of Nepal, there is often no internet and sometimes no reading ability, so this backpack of teaching tools can be used to train birth attendants with 10 minutes of hands-on instruction per day.
[PHOTO PLACEHOLDER: Super-Achievers award winners]
Super-Achievers!
Immediate Past President Andy wants to repeat his sincere thanks to these award winners from his term:
- Rising Star: Bob Lowell
- Rotarian of the Year: Linda Truitt
- Major Donor: Alex Santoriello
- Most Dedicated: Doug Mintz
Practicing for the Rotary Golf Fundraiser, April 17, 2027!
[PHOTO PLACEHOLDER: Golfers at Pimlico]
Mark your calendars for our 2027 golf tournament fundraiser. We will again host the event at Stonecrest. Fundraising Chair Bill Kmiecik will have more info soon. Meanwhile, Bill continues to encourage all of us to join his Rotary casual golf group on Mondays. Stacey, Scott, and Betsy enjoyed a round this week at Pimlico.
Happy Birthday!
[PHOTO PLACEHOLDER: Birthday cake]
- August 15: Casey Decker
- August 24: Doug Mintz
(Dan Bonivich was August 12!)