FLORENCE – Is Big Bone Lick a local recreational park or hallowed scientific ground? Depends upon whom you ask, actually. But the truth is, it’s really both. “We (Northern Kentuckians) see it as a great recreational park and it is that, but it’s so much more,” said Pat Fox, president of Friends of Big Bone. Watching a group of 25…
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The American Cancer Society Visits Rotarians
FLORENCE – The “road to recovery” from cancer is literally paved with volunteers. The Road to Recovery is an American Cancer Society program in which volunteers provide transportation for cancer patients with no other way to get to treatment facilities. Volunteers made almost 1,000 trips for 64 patients in Northern Kentucky alone in a year. “We couldn’t do a lot…
Read MoreFlorence Freedom Extends Promotional Invitation to Rotarians
The Florence Freedom has a message for the businesses and organizations that Rotarians are associated with. The message is – “Use Us!” Our home team provides a great venue for bringing groups together and they’ve produced a video (below) to prove it. Whether it’s friends, fellowship, promoting a great cause, or a company outing, a Florence Freedom baseball game at…
Read MorePaul Harris Fellows Recipients for 2015
The first Rotary Club was founded in 1905 by Paul P. Harris, an attorney in Chicago, as a service organization where professionals could exchange ideas and form lifelong friendships. The Paul Harris Fellow recognition, established in 1957, acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, in the amount of $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation of Rotary…
Read MoreHunger Doesn’t Go on Vacation…GOPantry fills the need for local school children
It is 11:30 and almost lunch time. You can tell because your stomach starts grumbling. Unfortunately, you have meetings or commitments for the next two hours. What happens next? You start getting cranky, restless and loose concentration while you watch the hands of the clock tick away until you can finally get something to eat. Now imagine this for a…
Read More2015 Pastor Appreciation Day
Roger Babik left Cincinnati Bell after a 17 year career to become a full time pastor. He launched Master Provisions in 1994 as a Christian organization that connects resources like food and clothing to people in need locally, regionally and globally in cooperation with strategic mission partners. Master Provisions also places orphans into Christian homes internationally through monthly sponsors. Babik…
Read MoreNational Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) Visits Rotary
National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership-based organization that builds resiliency in communities nationwide. It serves as the forum where organizations share knowledge and resources throughout the disaster cycle — preparation, response, recovery and mitigation — to help disaster survivors and their communities. The organization was founded in 1970 in response to the challenges experienced…
Read MoreGetting Uncomfortable with John Salyers
Melissa Stewart: INDEPENDENCE – More than a year ago, John Salyers suddenly found himself outside his comfort zone. He was at a health care center in Cameroon, Africa. He had traveled there on Rotary business with the United Nations Foundation and congressional staff members. Salyers had been participating in polio immunization and was observing HIV and malnutrition treatment at the…
Read MoreTony Lamb Shares a Key Ingredient to the Kona Ice Success
FLORENCE – Never mind the colorful trucks, the joyful music and the clean-cut, mannerly drivers. Tony Lamb credits the survival and explosive success of his shaved ice trucks to community involvement. Kona Ice, Inc. of Florence has grown from a single truck to 575 franchises in 44 states in seven years. The company has helped raise more than $21 million…
Read MoreJoe Parker and Freedom Farm International, Inc
The Florence Rotary club recently had the opportunity to hear from Joe Parker, a local entrepreneur who has been involved in international farming for over twenty years. Mr. Parker was one of the founders of the Ukrainian/American agricultural production company, Freedom Farm International, Inc. (FFI). Joe and his partner, Roger Denhart (Illinois), saw the opportunity to enter the Ukraine marketplace after…
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