Under President Eric Johnsen’s capable leadership, the Rotary Club of Blacksburg had a successful 2024-2025 year providing service to the community and across the globe. Rotarians see “a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves”. The club ended the year with 83 active members that met every Thursday at noon at the Blacksburg Country Club. Rotarians enjoyed lunch, had a program that featured a speaker and sometimes entertainment and had the opportunity to get to know each other.
The first Rotary Club was started in Chicago in 1905 by an attorney named Paul Harris. He wanted to bring together a group of professionals with different backgrounds and skills as a way to exchange ideas and form meaningful acquaintances. The name Rotary was chosen by early members because meeting locations rotated among their offices. Today, more than 36,000 Rotary clubs unite people to cause changes in their communities and themselves.
The foundation of Rotary Club activity involves five Avenues of Service: Club Service, Vocational Service, Community Service, International Service, and Youth Service.
Club Service focuses on making the club strong. Weekly meetings help create meaningful relationships. Social events include replacing the regular noon meeting with an evening social event once a month so members could connect in a relaxed setting. Fifth Thursday events were held at Bull & Bones, Eastern Divide Brewing Company, Historical Smithfield Plantation, and the Montgomery Museum.
Vocational Service focuses on celebrating the careers of our community through our Citizen of the Year and First Responder of the Year Awards. N.L. Bishop was recognized for his remarkable career of service to many areas of the community. The Rotary club donated $500 to the charity of his choice. Every year, a community member is recognized as the First Responder of the Year. In 2025, Nathan Delp of the Christiansburg Police Department was chosen for his exemplary work as an investigator. He was given $500 to support the charity of his choice.
Community Service encourages Rotarians to improve the quality of life in the community. A team of Rotary volunteers participated in trash pick-up efforts at the Prices Fork and Route 460 Bypass twice during the year. Rotarians helped maintain a cleaner and safer community.
The Rotary Club provided financial support to four vital community organizations to help address local needs and enhance community well-being. The Women’s Resource Center, the Community Health Center of the NRV, and the Montgomery County Christmas Store all received $1500 each to support the meaningful work they do in our community. The Interfaith Food Pantry received $2325 to help fight food insecurity in our area.
International Service involves global outreach to promote peace and understanding and improve lives. The Rotary Club contributed $1000 to ShelterBox to support their ongoing disaster relief efforts around the world. The Wheelchair Foundation received $600 to supply wheelchairs to individuals in need in Nicaragua. Rotarians Christy Brown and Walter Pirie traveled to Nicaragua to help with the distribution of the wheelchairs. The club gave $1000 toward the purchase of Sawyer water filters which were distributed alongside the wheelchairs in Nicaragua. A scholarship was provided to a Mongolian student to attend university in Mongolia. The club pledged $2000 toward a district grant supporting the development of a school library and computer lab in Haiti.
Walter Hughes, from the Rotary Club of Salem, congratulated the Rotary Club of Blacksburg for playing a pivotal role in positively impacting 1 million lives with ongoing water and sanitation projects in Africa.
The last Avenue of Service is Youth Service and it is a very important part of the Rotary Club of Blacksburg. The club partnered with Micah’s Backpack to provide snack foods for students in need at Blacksburg Middle School. The program was made possible through a district matching grant totaling $8000. Rotarians regularly volunteered to pack food bags at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church for Micah’s Backpack.
Prices Fork Elementary School asked for the club’s continued support in fostering literacy. Rotarians went to Prices Fork Elementary School and listened to first and second grade students read, helping them to build their confidence and strengthening their reading skills.
The Rotary Club of Blacksburg partnered with the Rotary Club of Montgomery County to support the Rotary Youth Exchange and hosted an exchange student, Rut Thoren, from Sweden. She stayed with three different host families and immersed herself in the local community and culture.
Ten graduating seniors from Montgomery County Public Schools each received $1000 scholarships to support further education in Math & Science fields, Fine Arts and Vocational Services.
Under the leadership of Rotarian Leslie Jester, the BHS Interact Club expanded to 46 students. Interact Clubs give young people from ages12-18 the chance to work together while learning about the values of Rotary. They were active in community projects and prepared Thanksgiving baskets for those in need, collected food for Micah’s Backpack and goods for the Women’s Resource Center, hosted a Spring Interact Dance Assembly for 35 eight graders, and planted a Peace Pole to promote unity and harmony.
Fundraisers to support Rotary projects are held throughout the year. The Annual Golf Tournament was held June 9 at Blacksburg County Club and raised $8750 for the Foundation of the Rotary Club. Paul Murphy and his committee led the organization of this successful event. Dr. Chris Belluzzo and his committee had a productive YMCA Annual Yard Sale that raised more than $1700 for the Foundation.
Additional smaller fundraising activities contributed nearly $1400 to the club’s finances. These included NFL Championship Squares, NCAA Men’s and Women’s Sweet 16 Brackets, and proceeds from Amazon and
Kroger community reward programs. At each weekly club meeting, Rotarians and guests had a chance to participate in a 50/50 Raffle. Half of the pot goes to the winning ticket holder and half goes to support the club’s fundraising efforts.
The Rotary Club of Blacksburg had a very busy and satisfying year promoting the motto of Service Above Self. It is the guiding principle that encourages Rotarians to give service to others in both their local and international communities and make a difference.
To learn more about the Rotary Club of Blacksburg, please go to the website at www.blacksburgrotary.org.
Terri Lynn Howard
