Willem Bodisco Massink

The new President-Elect of the Fuquay Varina Rotary Club is Willem Bodisco Massink. He joined this Rotary Club in September 2007 through a transfer from the Deposit Rotary Club in New York State. His qualification is that of Presbyterian Clergy.

Willem Bodisco Massink became a member of the Deposit Rotary Club in 1997.

During the 10 years he was a member of that Club he was the Club’s treasurer and chairman of the Club’s Youth Exchange Program. The District of which the Deposit Rotary Club was a member, District 7170, had a very active Youth Exchange Program with 45 in- and outbound students to about 35 countries.

The Deposit Rotary Club had had for the last 30 years 1 exchange student per school year.

Presently Willem Bodisco Massink, besides being President-Elect of the FV Rotary Club, is also chair of the Club’s International Service Committee of which the Youth Exchange Program is a part and he runs the RYLA(Rotary Youth Leadership Award) Program for the Club.

During the recently held Hand-over-the Gavel dinner meeting Willem Bodisco Massink became a Paul Harris Fellow and received the Rotarian-of-the year Award.

Earlier this year he completed the 3-part course of the Rotary Leadership Institute.

Last year he was appointed Chairman of the Youth Exchange Program in District 7710. The Fuquay Varina Rotary Club is a member of that District.

Rev. Willem Bodisco Massink is a retired Presbyterian minister. He was 33 years in the ministry, serving congregations in the Caribbean and the USA.

He was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He has a BSc. degree in Tropical Agriculture and a Master of Divinity degree.

Is married to Janet and has 4 grown children of which 3 live in the FV region.

On July 2^nd, we celebrated the arrival of our two newest members, Urmila Ritchie from Willow Spring, and Eric Coates from Fuquay-Varina. Both members transferred from the Garner Mid-day Club, and both of those transfers were official on July 1, 2009. Although official welcoming activities will be planned for early August, the Fuquay-Varina club has already accepted their transfers and is excited to welcome such bright stars to our membership!

Urmila is an acupuncturist who works from her home in Willow Spring, and proprietor of “Acupuncture Works.” She holds a BA in Languages and a Masters in Oriental Medicine. She is fluent in Spanish and French, enjoys gardening, reading, biking, and cooking, and just finished serving as Secretary for her former club.

Eric is a home inspector and the proprietor of Detailed Home Inspections, Inc. of Garner. He holds a BS in computer science and a BS in applied mathematics from NC State University. His hobbies include camping, and he is a past president of the Garner Mid-day Rotary Club.

We received news on Monday that we will again host a foreign exchange student this year. Her name is DERE CAKIR. We’ve heard that we WERE and that we WEREN’T over the past month, for a wide variety of reasons (other clubs wouldn’t co-host with us; school systems couldn’t afford to have exchange students, etc.) We received a call on Monday and Willem Bodisco Massink has completed the paperwork for us to host a young woman from Turkey this year, and she will attend Fuquay-Varina High School. The first host family will be that of a student in our Interact Club at the high school. We are still in need of hosts for the second and third portions of our student’s stay. If you or someone you know might be interested, please email Willem at wjbodisco@embarqmail.com, or Lynanne at lynanne.fowle@adeliesystems.com.

The Rotary Club of Fuquay-Varina held its annual Officer Installation Ceremony on Monday, June 29^th at the home of Bob and Pat Barker on Woodrow Street. The catered meal from Daniels On Main was wonderful and a huge round of applause goes to the Barkers for hosting the event and supplying the wine, and to Pamala Williams who organized the food and refreshments. The opportunity to have a sit-down dinner with club members and their spouses and children in the warmth of the Barkers’ home was outstanding!

After the conclusion of the meal, outgoing President Lewyn M. Hayes III called the group to order and gave his remarks about the 2008-2009 year. Mr. Hayes and President-Elect Lynanne Fowle presented two awards to club members.

The first award was the Rotarian of the Year award, which was voted on by club members and presented to Willem Bodisco Massink for creating a functioning International Service Committee as well as his organization and administration of the RYLA scholarships and the Youth Exchange Program. This award also cited his commitment to Rotary International and the Rotary Club of Fuquay-Varina as evidenced all year by his active participation in representing Rotary at street festivals and fundraising activities.

The second award was an Outstanding Service award, given to Vitaliy Bezrodnov for his selfless service as the Club’s Communications Officer, his design and administration of the club’s website, and his documentation of most club activities through the lens of his camera.

District Governor Don Buckner from Roxboro performed the installation of the new President.

Following her installation, Ms. Fowle presented Mr. Hayes with a gavel plaque and a “Past President” Rotary pin from the club for his dedication and service, thanking him for his leadership and commitment to the club and to Rotary during his tenure as President.

Following the presentation of gifts, Ms. Fowle assisted Governor Buckner in presenting a Paul Harris Fellowship to Rev. Willem Bodisco Massink. Reverand Massink’s wife Janet helped affix the Paul Harris Fellow pin on her husband’s collar as part of the presentation.

The second Paul Harris Fellowship to be bestowed during the ceremony was earned by Charles McLaurin and given to his wife, Sarah. Governor Buckner and Ms. Fowle participated in the announcement, and Mr. McLaurin helped with the pinning.

The ceremony continued with the installation and reaffirmation of the club’s officers and directors of service. Those are as follows:

Willem Bodisco Massink    President-Elect/International Service Director
Tollan Wade                                     Vice-President/Club Service Director
Jim Minor                              Treasurer
Chris Abbott                          Community Service Director
Thomas Ray                         Vocational Service Director
And last, but not least, the new President introduced the committee chairs as follows:
Tollan Wade                         Membership Chair
Vitaliy Bezrodnov                 Club Communications
Pat Meacham                       Fuquay Youth Initiative Liaison
Charles McLaurin                Foundation Chair
Willem Bodisco Massink    RYLA and Youth Exchange Coordinator

The event concluded with remarks from new President Lynanne Fowle, who again thanked the Barkers for opening their home and Pam Williams for arranging the meal and refreshments for the event. Ms. Fowle shared her goals for the upcoming year and complimented the club as a whole for participating in several conversations about vision and priorities for 2009-2010. Reinforcing the idea that every member must reaffirm their active commitment to making the club strong and helping it grow in both vision and membership this year, Ms. Fowle stated that although a leader can shape and define the direction of an organization, only with the help of everyone in the club can it stand a chance of reaching its goals. With that, she adjourned the meeting with the Four-Way Test and the 2009-2010 Rotary year officially began!

David Morris, Stephanie Ashworth, Don Briscar, Lewyn Hayes, Vitaliy Bezrodnov

Thursday, July 24, the Fuquay-Varina ROTARY Club awarded start up funding for the newly established Fuquay-Varina Arts Council.  Rotary Club President, Lewyn Hayes commented: “I hope our club’s contribution will lead to other civic organizations to step-up and support this beneficial community undertaking”.  Quality of life and education are always in the forefront of any Rotary supported project.

This Arts Council is committed to the arts in its many forms, as well, as educating our children, citizens and area visitors to the richness art brings to our lives.  The Arts Council has begun to develop relationships and alliances with other surrounding similar organizations.  This important vision for our area has already been acknowledged as a good step by the United Arts of Wake County and they welcome the opportunity to support this effort.  A vital commitment to the Arts fills out a community to an appreciation of our lives much beyond daily work and just getting by.  Performances, exhibits, festivals, workshops and just plain fun activities are part of all that is on-the-table in the view of our Arts council.

The Fuquay-Varina Arts Council is working with the Community Development Corporation to fulfill their vision of the re-birth of the Historic Jones Street Gymnasium.  This teaming is intended to provide the historic significance of the worthy structure while providing a focal point to a thriving art based community.  A community’s commitment is not only beneficial for quality of life but has a direct relationship to the economic development of our town.

David Morris, Stephanie Ashworth and Vitaliy Bezrodnov, shown here, accepted the award for the Arts council.  They along with Walt Wetherington (not shown) make up the current Executive Board of the newly re-formed Fuquay-Varina Arts Council.  Rotary Club President Lewyn Hayes made the presentation.  Don Briscar, the Manager of the Holly Springs Cultural Center was there in support and spoke to the club about the Holly Springs Cultural Program.

Watch for a major announcement of a Fuquay-Varina Arts Council EVENT on September 28!!!

Article at MyNC.org

Fuquay-VarinaArtsCouncil.org