The Rotary Club of Shepherdstown had the pleasure of listening to Mr. Chauncey Winbush, Vice President for Student Athletics at Shepherd University, speak about the wonderful success and future of collegiate athletics at our hometown university. Thank you Chauncey for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak to our club! We value the wonderful relationship we have with Shepherd University and applaud all the student athletes, coaches and administrators who help make Shepherd University such a wonderful institution!

Great presentation today at our morning club meeting by Shepherd University football star, quarterback Tyson Bagent. Remarkable young man. We wish him all the best as he pursues his career!

SHEPHERDSTOWN ROTARY CLUB INDUCTS NEW MEMBER

The Rotary Club of Shepherdstown has inducted Marcia Brand as a new member.
The induction ceremony was held at the Club's March 21 breakfast meeting at the Bavarian Inn.

The accompanying photo shows Brand, center, with Club President Sean Murtagh, left, and Club member John Loeffler, right.

Ms. Brand has held national leadership positions in the field of oral health care and rural health care, and she is currently a consultant and advisor on those matters.

She had a long career with the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services that works to fill in the gaps for people who live outside the economic and medical mainstream. From 2009 to 2015, she was HRSA's deputy administrator. Before that, she was associate administrator of the agency's Bureau of Health Professions from 2007 to 2009, and director and associate administrator of its Office of Rural Health Policy from 2001 to 2007. Earlier, she led efforts to plan and implement a state planning grant program, which helped states explore options for providing health care coverage for uninsured residents, and she coordinated HRSA's efforts to implement the Children’s Health Insurance Program. As a senior advisor to the deputy assistant secretary for health, she also worked on the Secretary’s Initiative on the Future of Academic Health Centers.

After leaving the federal government, Brand served from 2015 to 2017 as executive director the National Interprofessional Initiative on Oral Health, a foundation-funded effort to improve oral health.

Before going to Washington, Brand was a faculty member of the dental hygiene departments at Thomas Jefferson University and Old Dominion University. She earned bachelor's and master's degrees in dental hygiene from Old Dominion University and a doctoral degree in higher education from the University of Pennsylvania.

Shortly after receiving her Ph.D., she worked from 1989 to 1991 as a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Robert Byrd, through a legislative fellowship sponsored by the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professionals.

Locally, Brand served as the chair of the Board of Governors at Shepherd University from 2015 to 2018 and led the university's presidential search process in 2015. A native West Virginian, she grew up in Martinsburg.

The Shepherdstown Rotary Club comprises two groups of members: a morning group that meets weekly on Tuesdays, and an evening group that meets bi-weekly on Wednesdays. Both groups meet at Shepherdstown's Bavarian Inn.

Brand has joined the morning group.

To learn more about the Shepherdstown Rotary Club, including how to become a member, contact info@shepherdstownrotary.org.

SHEPHERDSTOWN ROTARY CLUB AWARDS READING GRANTS

The Shepherdstown Rotary Club has awarded three "Rotary Reads" grants, each for $350, to three Shepherdstown institutions to promote reading.

The first grant went to the Shepherdstown Public Library. It will help cover the cost of adding acoustic tiles to improve the sound quality and comfort of the children's room in the new library building.

The second grant was to the Shepherdstown Day Care Center. It will cover the cost of providing each of the Center's children with a Dr. Seuss book during this year's Read Across America event at the Center, which was held on March 2.

The third grant was to the Shepherdstown Elementary School. It will help fund a special reading activity, in which all the school's kindergartners attend a Maryland Theater stage production about the popular children's author Junie B. Jones and receive their own copy of one of her books.

The grants were presented at the Club's regular Tuesday breakfast meeting at the Bavarian Inn on May 21.

The accompanying photo shows, from left to right: Rotary Club President Sean Murtagh; Day Care Assistant Director Michelle Robertson; Day Care Center Director Melissa Holman; Library Youth Services Director Rachel Heller; Library Director Hali Taylor; Elementary School teacher Michelle Webb; and Elementary School Principal Scot Campbell.

The Shepherdstown Rotary Club's Rotary Reads grant program is one of several Club activities aimed at enhancing literacy among local children. It consists of cash grants, awarded annually, to worthy institutions for projects or programs that promote reading.
Enhancing literacy has been a major priority of Rotarians since their organization's founding in 1905.

At the monthly Shepherdstown Town Council meeting on March 14th, Rotarians John Loeffler and Jim King presented the new Shepherdstown license plates to the members and mayor as a thank you for their continued support of Rotary. The new plate design is the same found on the large entry signs at the north and south entrances of town.

To purchase a plate or mug, contact any member of the Shepherdstown Rotary. These items will also be available for purchase at upcoming events this year such at Shepherdstown Beer & Food Fest and other events TBD.

Shown with their new plates and mugs are, L to R: Jenny Haynes, Lori Robertson, Chris Stroech, Mayor Jim Auxer, Cheryl Roberts and Leah Rampy.

ROTARY SPEECH CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Rebekah McGivern, a sophomore at Washington High School, was the first-place winner of a Rotary speech contest for Jefferson County students held the evening of March 14 in the ballroom of Charles Town's Charles Washington Hall.

Rebekah received a trophy and a $100 award and will go on to compete for an additional $300 award at a Rotary regional speech contest to be held in Hancock, MD, on a date in April to be announced. If she wins again there, she will compete for a $2,000 award at a Rotary district speech contest to be held May 20 in Muncy, PA.

The second-place winner of the March 14 speech contest was Kaitlyn Hartzell, a junior at Washington High. She received a $50 award. In third place was Brennen Satterfield, a junior at Washington High. He received a $25 award.

In all, six Jefferson County students participated in the contest. The others were Chase Davis, a junior at Washington High; Nicolas Doza, also a junior at Washington High; and William Stacpoole, a homeschooled sophomore who is enrolled in the Air Force Junior ROTC at Jefferson High School. All the contestants received a certificate of appreciation and gift baskets that included an iconic motivational book, "Make Your Bed," by Admiral William H. McRaven.

The accompanying photo shows all the contestants, from left to right, as follows: Kaitlyn Hartzell, Brennen Satterfield, William Stacpoole, Rebekah McGivern, Chase Davis, and Nicolas Doza.

The contest was sponsored by the Charles Town and Shepherdstown Rotary clubs, and the Wild and Wonderful Toastmasters Club of the Eastern Panhandle. The Rotary clubs organized the event and provided the awards, certificates, and gift baskets, and Toastmasters members helped the students prepare for their speeches.

The two Rotary clubs have held their own speech contests for years, but this is the first time they have worked together on a county-wide contest and brought in the Toastmasters as mentors.

All Rotary speech contests are focused on four Rotary criteria, known as the "Four-Way Test," for evaluating situations and actions. These criteria take the form of four questions: "Is it the truth?" "Is it fair to all concerned?" "Will it build goodwill and better friendships?" and "Will it be beneficial to all concerned?" Contest participants are asked to construct and deliver a five- to seven-minute speech that uses these criteria to assess an ethical issue of their own choosing.

From its earliest days, the Rotary organization has concentrated on promoting high ethical standards, and its Four-Way Test criteria are intended to foster such standards in business, the professions, and everyday life. Rotary's speech contests are intended to help youngsters appreciate such standards as well, and to help them sharpen their speaking skills.

"We appreciate members of both Rotary clubs coming together to make this a bigger event for the county's students," said Cara Keys, who chairs the Shepherdstown Rotary Club's Youth Services Committee. "We're also thankful for the Toastmasters' mentorship."

"We commend the students for their courage to put themselves out there," said Julia Yuhasz, past president of the Charles Town Rotary Club. "Public speaking can be scary for many people, but it is an important skill to master. We use it in our daily lives whether it's presenting at a business meeting, leading in your church, or serving your community. Developing this lifelong talent will serve them well and we’re proud that Rotary can provide fertile ground to that growth."

The Toastmasters who mentored the March 14 contest participants were Vicky Fields, Tiffany Hine, and Alison Mee.

The judges for the event were Leo Kessler and Christy Kessler, community volunteers from Shepherdstown, and Fredonia Stewart, a member of the Shepherdstown Rotary Club. John Sherwood, of the Charles Town Rotary Club, was the timekeeper, and his wife Patti, was tabulator.

About three dozen family members, friends, and members of Rotary and the Toastmasters attended the event.

We had a festive morning celebrating our very own Rotary Club of Shepherdstown President Sean Murtagh's birthday which is on St. Patty's day! We are ☘️lucky☘️ to have you as our President, Happy Birthday Sean!