Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary Club Says Thanks To Outgoing President

With many inside jokes, the celebrated businessman Al Wannamaker's year of service as club president at a June 18 dinner party. It was an evening of guitar serenades, proclamations, and a visit and congratulations from Rep. Brian Bilbray, U.S. congressman from the 50th district.

The annual recognition dinner—called the “demotion dinner”—highlighted the past year's events and community service accomplishments under Wannamaker's leadership. One such success was the relocation and dedication of the refurbished in Magee Park. The club members also celebrated the success of an international project to buy for a community in India. Over $8,000 was raised to buy the goats, which are being given to families in Vakathanam, India, as a way to help boost their income from the sale of the goats' milk. The Indian Rotary of District 3211 will supervise the distribution of the goats to the needy families.

At the demotion dinner, Wannamaker named club member Walt Waggener as the Rotarian of the Year. Waggener's most recent service to the club was as chairman of a June 16 golf tournament at in Carlsbad. This year, the tournament raised $25,000 to give as scholarships for teens and Marines.

The incoming Rotary president, who will begin his term of service on July 1, is James Brubaker, who was the president-elect of the board of directors during the past 12 months. He said it is easy to be part of a group of people who volunteer to help on many projects because they get an assignment “and they take off and run with it.” Assisting him in the upcoming year will be the new president-elect, Yvonne Finocchiaro.

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