What an ASTOUNDING night our club had last night at our Paul Harris Celebration and Installation! So much happened that there will be a couple of posts. Thank you to DG Diana Nestorova and PDG Karin Gaffney for making it a very special night, and to@Jack Prior and others for taking so many wonderful fun photos.
DG Diana (in her last act as District Governor!) presented our Club with SEVEN Rotary District 7910District 7910 and Rotary International:
• Gold Public Image Award
• Silver Community Service Award
• Bronze Best Club Award
• Bronze Membership Award
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Citation
• Rotary International Citation
• Rotary Significant Service Award, Nourishing Newton
Additionally, member and brand new President Susan Faccenda Peghiny received a District 7910 Innovators Award and District Service Award. AND brand new BOD member Michael Woo was recognized for his service to the District 7910 RYLA program!
Following the awards, were....more awards! These were given by the Club to a community member and several Club members who have gone above and beyond the call:
Dr. Regina Wu was awarded a Paul Harris Community Service Award for her outstanding work with the Newton Food Pantry and Newton Community Freedge@420 Watertown Street.
Susan Goorvich Paley, who was awarded a SURPRISE Paul Harris Community Service Award for her tireless work supporting and advocating for so many great organizations in Newton.
Ron Faccenda was also presented with his first Paul Harris Award, in recognition of his TWO consecutive years as president of Newton Rotary and for leading us through a challenging yet ultimately very impactful pandemic year.
Finally, the Board surprised Susan Faccenda Peghiny by awarding her the "Rotarian of the Year" award (and a perfect t-shirt to go with it).
And to cap off the evening, we inducted a new member and installed a new president and Board.
Michael Jordan recently joined The Village Bank and it turns out he's already an experienced Rotarian! We're delighted to have his enthusiasm and experience in the club.
Susan Faccenda Peghiny was president a few years ago, and bravely stepped up to take the role again a few weeks ago when our President-Elect Alex Magay got his dream job. The entire club wishes Alex great success, and is happy to have Sue at the helm again.
Our amazing new Board of Directors is a great mix of experienced Board members and new recruits. We're happy to install Andrew Willinger, Liz Tavares, Devender Guhania, Rob Slocum, Jack Fucci, David Sellers, Andrew Holmes, Cindy Holle Laughrea, Paul Sullivan, Susan Susan Goorvich Paley, Jack Prior and Michael Woo as our 2021-2022 Board of Directors!
During the entire evening there was laughter, fun, much food, and even an adult beverage or two.
Thank you to all who attended, and we look forward to another successful Rotary year!
