Home Page | Rotary Club of Bluffton

Welcome to Our Club!

Fellowship and Service the Bluffton Way

We meet In Person

Wednesdays at 7:30 AM

Rotary Community Center/Oscar Frazier Park

11 Recreation Court
Bluffton, SC 29910
United States of America

Phone:

(843) 540-7957

Email:

blufftonrotarians@gmail.com

District Site

Bulletins

Venue Map

April Business Meeting

The Monthly Business Meeting is always a well attended meeting as we get to recognize outstanding leaders in our community and induct new members!

Congratulations to our Students of the Month: Jacob Broene (Red Cedar Elementary) and Fabio Galeana (M.C. Riley Elementary).

Welcome to the Rotary Club of Bluffton, Tom Middleton.

Club History Day

Do you know the history of the Rotary Club of Bluffton?

Thank you, Mary O’Neill for sharing the history of how we became a chartered club:

• The first Rotary Club was founded by Paul Harris and the first meeting was held in 1905 in Chicago.

• Rotary came to SC in 1915

• After several other clubs within the state were sponsored, the Hilton Head Island Club sponsored the Bluffton Club in 1988.

• On April 25, 1988, 29 men gathered to celebrate the first Charter Night of the Bluffton Rotary Club and since then, our Club has grown and expanded into a vibrant group who has and continues to make large impacts in our local community.

Dr. Bill Epps - 05.12.23

Thank you, Bill Epps, for filling in this morning for Dr. John Perry. We enjoyed an informational presentation on cardiovascular and thoracic procedures.

Culinary Institute of the South

This week’s meeting was a special treat! Thank you to fellow Rotarian and Club Admin, Cara Vercellone, for organizing our field trip to the Technical College of the Lowcountry - TCL - Culinary Institute of the South.

Rotarians and guests enjoyed touring the state of the art facility that is centrally located right in Bluffton.

Oyster Reef Build - 05.01.23

We love making a difference in our community. Interested in learning more about the Rotary Club of Bluffton? Reach out, we would love to invite you to join us.

Club of the Year

It was a great weekend at District Conference 7770. Our club won club of the year! We have great members and hard working volunteers. We would like to thank our community for their continued support, the Town of Bluffton, Bluffton Police Department and the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office without your support and partnership we would not be able to give back and assist as much as we do. It was a great honor to receive this award with all the outstanding clubs in our area.

5th Wednesday Gathering - 04.29.23

The 5th Wednesday gathering is always a special time together. We love spending this time fellowshipping with fellow Rotarians and those interested in learning more about the large impact that the Rotary Club of Bluffton makes.

The C.A.R.T Fund

Do you worry about Alzheimer’s? We do not have a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, but we must find one. Finding a cure starts with you. Every year the CART (Coins for Alzheimer’s Research Trust) Fund gives research grants focused on finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.

Have you given to the CART Fund this year? The CART Fund is dedicated to raising funds to provide “seed” money for cutting edge, high impact research in hopes of finding a cure/prevention for Alzheimer’s disease. The goal of the CART Fund is to encourage exploratory and developmental Alzheimer’s disease research projects within the United States. This is accomplished by providing financial support for the early and conceptual plans of those projects that may not yet be supported by extensive preliminary data but have the potential to substantially advance biomedical research. These projects should be distinct from those designed to increase knowledge in a well-established area unless they intend to extend previous discoveries toward new directions or applications.

If you would you like to donate to the C.A.R.T. fund please scan the code below:

Charitable Giving Grants Available

Have you applied for the Rotary Grant?

Rotary Club of Bluffton awards a grant twice a year (Spring and Fall), through the Charitable Giving Process. Non-Profit Organizations are eligible to receive funding from the Rotary Club of Bluffton once every 12 months. The maximum amount the Club will provide to any organization during a 12-month period is $5,000.

The deadline to apply for this grant cycle is next Friday, March 24. For more information and to access the application and guidelines, please click the link below:

https://blufftonrotary.org/page/charitable-giving-process

Wil Saleeby - 03.15.23

Two of the most important factors in business and in service are establishing goals and tracking the progress because it directly impacts its success.

Over the last several months, Fellow Rotarian Wil Saleeby has facilitated our Club’s Strategic Plan and this morning we enjoyed hearing the changes being made to improve the direction of our club.

Interested in learning more? Reach out to us! We’d love to invite you to join us for a meeting.

HHCA All Shook Up - 03.08.23

What an exciting morning seeing a preview of Hilton Head Christian Academy’s upcoming theater production, All Shook Up, a show inspired by Elvis Presley and based on the book by Joe Dipietro.

Purchase tickets at the link below: https://www.eventbrite.com/.../all-shook-up-presented-by...

Dana Ridenour - 03.01.23

Thank you, Dana Ridenour, a retired FBI agent and the author of three FBI undercover novels: Behind The Mask, Beyond The Cabin, and Below The Radar, for joining us this morning!

Over the years, Dana has been employed in a wide variety of jobs including first mate on a tour boat (her favorite job), lawyer, and Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Dana entered on duty with the FBI in November of 1995 and retired in April of 2016 after over twenty years of service. She was assigned to four different FBI Field Divisions and had the opportunity to work a wide variety of cases to include multi faceted narcotics investigations, domestic sex trafficking of minors, and violent crime. Over the years, Dana was a proud member of the FBI's Evidence Response Team where she and her team traveled to New York City in response to the 9/11 World Trade Center attack. The highlight of her career came in 2003 when she attended and passed the FBI's prestigious undercover school, thus allowing her to work as an undercover FBI agent. This undercover certification opened the door for her to work a series of long term, deep cover cases focusing on domestic terrorism. Dana had the rare experience of working a long term undercover investigation with her husband who was also an FBI agent.

Fireside Chat - 02.23.23

It was a great night for a fireside chat. It's always great to connect with new and prospective member

February Business Meeting 2023

Congratulations, Madalyn Ricciardi (Red Cedar) and Jessie Hernandez-Hernandez (M.C. Riley) on being recognized as the Students of the Month!

Welcome, Doug Crawford, to the Rotary Club of Bluffton. Always happy to have new members!

John O'Toole - 02.15.23

Beaufort County Economic Development has some exciting things going on! We enjoyed welcoming John O’Toole, Executive Director, this morning to learn about some of their projects and impacts that they are making in our local communities.

Dean Turner - 02.08.23

A special Thank you to Foundation Director Dean Turner for all his efforts, knowledge, passion, and presentations on the Rotary International Foundation.

Dean has educated our club on the importance of the RI Foundation and value it has to our local and International communities.

Glen Umberger - 02.01.23

Thank you Glen Umberger, Historic Preservationist for the Town of Bluffton Government, for joining us this morning to share what you do in your role.

We all thoroughly enjoyed seeing the projects that have been preserved and hearing about the projects that are on the horizon!

January Students of the Month

We enjoyed filling the room this morning for our Business Meeting and Students of the Month Celebration!

Congratulations, Erick Garcia (M.C. Riley Elementary) and Ryan Fox (Red Cedar Elementary) on being recognized as your schools Student of the Month.

Welcome Ted & Marty

Welcome, Ted Thames and Marty McAuliffe, as our newest Rotarians!

Lt. Mike Danyov - PHF

Congratulations to Mike Danyov on becoming a Paul Harris Fellow, an honor received by those who make substantial contributions.

RCB Meeting 01.18.23

We enjoyed welcoming Dale Douthat, Executive Director of United Way of the Lowcountry, this morning to share how workforce development begins in kindergarten.

HBD Bill Cornelius

All enjoyed celebrating Bill Cornelius’ birthday and long-standing service to Rotary with singing and cake! Who said cake wasn’t for breakfast?

Business Meeting 12.21.22

It was a great morning to recognize individuals at our last meeting of the year for going above and beyond to receive their Paul Harris Fellow. This recognition is given to those who have supported and contributed to the Rotary Foundation.

Congratulations! Thank you for being the epitome of Rotary’s mission, #ServiceAboveSelf

- Dot Jeger (PHF +6)

- Tom Bulcock

- Bill Epps

- Lyndee Simoneaux

- D. Scott Chandler

- Derrick Coaxum

#rotaryclubofbluffton

Wreaths Across America 12.17.22

“Each December on National Wreaths Across America Day, our mission to Remember, Honor and Teach is carried out by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as at more than 3,400 additional locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea and abroad.”

Every person should have this humbling experience at least once in their lifetime.

We would also like to take this opportunity thank May River High School's Interact Club for their help yesterday during Wreaths Across America. They came out in full force, it's always a pleasure to partner with such a great group.

12.14.22 Meeting Recap

The annual visit from M.C. Riley’s Singing Eagles is always something that our club looks forward to. Thank you for bringing the Christmas Spirit to this morning’s meeting! Please see their full video on our Youtube page: https://youtu.be/hL89UnOQ7z0

Congratulations to the two local students, Kenneth Castro (Red Cedar Elementary) and Kenia Salgado (M.C. Riley Elementary), who were recognized as Students of the Month for their school.