We meet at The Woodland Community Center on Thursdays at 12 noon, 2003 Cobb Street, Farmville, VA 23901. We also have a Happy Hour Club that meets on Thursdays at 5:30 pm at Three Roads Brewery.
Below is a recap of some of our meetings. The Rotarian responsible for each meeting is given in parenthesis should you want more details or contact information.
Click here to see the meeting places for all Rotary clubs in District 7600.
March 16, 2023—Ilsa Loeser, founder of Letterpress Communications and a sponsor of Rotary, gave an inspiring talk on community-powered marketing, how to tie your organization’s efforts with the efforts of others and improve the community as a whole. (Jenn Kinne)
March 9, 2023—Major David Wilmoth of the Prince Edward Sheriff’s Department talked about crime statistics in our area and the various strategies they use to keep those statistics low. (Bruce Davis)
March 2, 2023—Author Jerry Todt talked about his journey to becoming a published author and his latest success—one of his novels has become a Hallmark movie! He’s also working with Hallmark on a Christmas movie set in Farmville. (Cannon Watson)
February 23, 2023—Rotarian Dan Dwyer talked about Piedmont Habitat for Humanity and the great number of homes going up this year, thanks to a generous grant. They are partnering with Cardinal Homes to get the homes built more quickly. Several Rotarians are involved in the organization.
February 16, 2023—We had two representatives from Alpha Phi Omega, a service fraternity, talk about the good work they’re doing in the Farmville area. And it’s good work indeed! (Bill Bergen)
February 9, 2023—We had Sara Mullins-Spears, who founded Better Days Farmville, which “provides the basic necessities to feel at home when starting over.” She told several compelling stories of people who fell on hard times and, when finally finding housing, couldn’t furnish the home—until Better Days helped out. (Chance Reynolds)
February 2, 2023—Another new member talk, this time by two members, actually—the husband-wife team of Katy and Bill Anderson. Bill is a professor emeritus from Hampden-Sydney. Katy is an antique dealer among other ventures. They’ve had many life adventures!
January 26, 2023—Le’Tina Giles gave her talk as a new member, a spirited presentation on how she overcame both personal and career challenges. After many years at SVCC and elsewhere she’s now with Prince Edward Schools.
January 19, 2023—Ashley Shelton gave an overview of the services provided by Centra PACE, an alternative to nursing home care that helps those in need remain in their homes. (Russell Dove)
January 12, 2023—Kathi Manis talked about the Centra Cancer Center and its services available to our community. (Julie Flores)
January 5, 2023—Our own Doug Stanley, county administrator for Prince Edward County, gave us an update on the county budget and the good use made of our tax dollars. (Cannon Watson)
December 1, 2022—Pat Payne, director of the Heart of Virginia Free Clinic, talked about the 10-year history of the clinic and how many patients it has served. Many non-insured people have found life-saving care! (Rhonda Arnold)
November 17, 2022—Odessa Pride, Ed.D., Chair of the Prince Edward Board of Supervisors, gave an update on the many activities and initiatives by Prince Edward County. We have a busy and flourishing county! (Doug Stanley)
November 10, 2022—We hosted Sheri McGuire and Brandon Hennessey, representing the Small Business Development Center of Longwood University. The organization has helped many small businesses over the years, contributing greatly to our local economy. (Teresa Stewart)
November 3, 2022—We enjoyed hearing from four applicants for our community grant. All gave fine presentations, but the winner ended up being FACES, specifically funds to install their new walk-in cooler in their satellite location.
October 27, 2022—Megan Clark, Commonwealth’s Attorney for Prince Edward, gave a great update on the efforts of her office to keep crime at bay in our area. Lots of challenges, but they are working hard to meet them. (Andrew Payne)
October 20, 2022—Shelley Mays-Couch talked about her non-profit, LOC Family Services, that helps provide employment for released prisoners, which in turn keeps recidivism rates low. They have a wonderful track record! (Patti Wagner)
October 13, 2022—The Farmville Police Department told us about Blue Christmas, a program to bless kids who don’t have very much with a very special Christmas. The program also helps police officers build good relationships within the community. Our Rotary Club supports the effort. (Teresa Stewart)
October 6, 2022—Rhett Weiss, a site engineer who has worked with some of the largest tech companies in the world, now lives in Farmville and says we have an ideal location to attract a billion dollar data center. He is working with our local governments to possibly bring that about. (Cannon Watson)
September 22, 2022—Emily Grabiec, Director of Education and Outreach at the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts, gave an inspiring talk on how the Center spreads the joy of creativity and art to students and all those in the community. The Happy Hour club heard from Alex Grabiec, Curator of Exhibitions at the LCVA. (Barbara Smith)
September 15, 2022—Angela McDonald, the new Dean of Education at Longwood University, gave an overview of Longwood’s important history teaching teachers and how it’s trying to meet the difficult challenges of today. (Chance Reynolds)
September 8, 2022—Erin Small from the Ag Extension Office talked about the Spotted Lantern Fly, a new invasive species, and the threat to local agriculture, especially vineyards. (Jen Fraley)
September 1, 2022—Jamie Anderson gave an update on Piedmont Senior Resources and the enormous work they do in our area. (Justine Young)
August 25, 2022—District Governor Kenny James gave us quite an inspiring talk on the importance of Rotary’s work around the world. Read about his visit here.
August 18, 2022—Juanita Giles, founder of the Virginia Children’s Book Festival, gave an update on how the Festival fared under Covid and how it has grown to mammoth proportions. (Anne Tyler Paulek)
August 11, 2022—Penny Pairet spoke at noon and Chris Moss at 5:30, both representing the Town of Farmville. Penny discussed the Citizen Group of the Farmville Police Department. (Andrew Payne)
August 4, 2022—Dr. Donkor, representing Ama Nyame Memorial Medical Clinic, talked about his important work since leaving Farmville many years ago.
Dr. Donkor was the pulmonologist at Centra-Southside for over 25 years. He saved many, many local lives. He retired in 2018 and returned to his home in Ghana to help his own village where there was no medical care. Some years prior to Dr. Donkor leaving, a fundraising campaign to build a medical clinic in Ghana was formed. With the help of many local donors, we raised a significant amount of money and a number of volunteers from the Farmville area went to Ghana to start the buildings.
Today there is a standing clinic and Dr Donkor is the only physician. His wife is the administrator. They work full time. He is truly practicing jungle medicine without the benefit of modern technology. There is no AC. Patients sometimes die and it may be a day or so before the body is removed. They desperately need a morgue and that is where fundraising efforts lie now. (Justine Young)
July 28, 2022—Marty Favret, Head Football Coach from Hampden-Sydney College, gave an inspiring talk about what’s truly important in college athletics. (John Miller)
July 21, 2022—Katie Hood gave an update on the important work being done by The Alzheimer’s Association and opportunities to support local efforts. (Kerby Moore)
July 14, 2022—Louis Gould III and Tylic Vaughan talked about the Fresh Boyz Club, which inspires and mentors the youth in our community. (Kerry Mossler)
July 7, 2022—Kyra Marken, who teaches English and other subjects at Bucharest Christian Academy, talked about her experiences taking in Ukrainian refugees. (Jon Marken)