Rotary offers chance to meet people, needs
Rotary unites business professionals to provide service and encourage high ethical standards. A relatively new Liberty Lake Centennial Rotary Club took action quickly by hosting a youth leadership summit for Inland Northwest high school seniors.
Dan Frickle, Liberty Lake Rotary president, said the club staged the one-day 2006 Youth Leadership Summit on Ethics: Courage, Conduct and Character at Gonzaga University. The group also is awarding $25,000 in college scholarships to seniors who attended and submitted essays.
“We invited high school seniors from the Inland Northwest and even as far as Montana,” Frickle said. “We had a good cross-section of high school seniors and panel discussions. It was well received. We were the little club who could, even though we were small. We’re very proud of that.”
The Liberty Lake group started forming in 2004 under the sponsorship of the Spokane Valley and Sunshine Rotary clubs, and it was officially chartered the following winter.
Currently, the club has 25-plus members who meet every Thursday at noon in the George Gee Automotive Community Room.
In addition to hosting the youth summit, the club plans to provide equipment or amenities at two proposed parks in Liberty Lake, Frickle said. The group also has teamed with the Inland Northwest Candlelighters and Elite Martial Arts to bring the 2007 Washington state Karate Championships to Central Valley High School on Saturday.
All proceeds from the karate championships will go to the Candlelighters, which helps children and their families fight cancer.
“The rest of what we’ve done is more international,” said Frickle. “We supported a children’s program in Mexico and a water project internationally. We hosted a Rotary International Exchange student from Japan for an entire school year. Our club has also hosted a Rotary friendship exchange for a group of couples touring parts of the U.S. and Canada from Australia to get to know more about their rotary group and country.”
The club is made up of business professionals who include business owners, professionals and managers. Rotary was designed in 1904 for business people to learn more about one another’s professions, Frickle said. Members live or work in Liberty Lake or the surrounding area.
“Liberty Lake Rotary demographically is a fairly young group, distributed equally between male and female members. Our club is always looking for new members,” Frickle said.
Frickle said a desire for camaraderie and to improve the community are among reasons to join.
A potential member “would need to have an interest in bettering their community though volunteerism,” said Frickle, who is a certified public accountant.
“The second reason would be obviously for networking and getting to know other people in business.”