It has been a busy Rotary week for me. First, on Tuesday, we had an inspiring presentation by Anton C. Krucky in which he described his “Beds of Many Flavors” strategy for addressing homeless populations in Honolulu. Following the regular meeting, we had a small but fruitful Board of Directors meeting (attended by Julia Allen, Nancy Youngren,Michelle Dolan, Clif Purkiser, Greg Lui-Kwan, Lee LaBrash and Carolann Biedermann by Zoom from California) in which we discussed Club operations and Membership. Then on Wednesday afternoon, a group of us (Nancy Youngren, Lee, Nancy White, Martha German, Rich Proctor and Cherokee Rice) filled backpacks for students at The Kukui Center. Later in the evening I attended an Executive Committee meeting with Tom Coyne, Leslie Allen and Lucci Pinoliad at The Pacific Club, where our speaker next week – Mayor Blangiardi – also made an appearance. From there, I made my way over to The Manifest, a wonderful little establishment on Hotel Street for the Rotary Downtown Hui Membership Pau Hana, sponsored by several downtown Rotary Clubs and the District. Finally on Thursday, I attended another small but fruitful Board meeting, this one the Foundation Trustees of the Rotary Club of Honolulu (with Rich, Carol Sakata, Paul Saito, Nancy Grekin, Gwen Yamamoto Lau and Martha). Phew!
I heard from Carolann, Rich and several others that the Presidents Elect Learning Seminar (PELS) this past weekend was an excellent and energizing experience for all who attended. I had a number of people at the Downtown Hui Pau Hana tell me how much they looked forward to working with Carolann next year, and I’m also excited as we look toward planning for the new Rotary year. I encourage anyone in the Club who has not already done so to give some thought to what contribution you might provide to the success of our Club next year, whether that is through taking on a leadership role, contributing financially or rolling up your sleeves for a service project. The more you put into Rotary, the more you will ultimately get back in satisfaction and fellowship.
As I noted above, this coming Tuesday, our speaker will be Rick Blangiardi, Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu with whom we will engage in some talk-story. As we have already reached the maximum capacity at The Pacific Club for this meeting, if you have not registered, you will need to contact Lee to get on the waiting list. It is unlikely that we will be able to have any walk-ins that have not contacted Lee in advance. We will also be polling those who have signed up to determine how many parking spaces we will need. I look forward to seeing many of you there.
The Will J Henderson Scholarship Fund, established in 2014, is an endowment fund invested with the Maile Hale Fund. The annual scholarship award has grown from $5,000 in 2016 to $6,000 in 2025,
The Rotary Club of Honolulu is excited to introduce Troy Person and welcome back, Kerri Van Duyne, to the RCOH Ohana!
WELCOME TROY & KERRI!
RCOH Members
Michael Marsh & Jessica Lani Rich
This Saturday, February 28, at 9:35 pm, on KFVE, between Hawaii News Now at 9 and 10 pm. See Jessica Lani Rich's Inspire You & Me featuring Rotarian Michael Marsh!
A message from Our District 5000 Leadership Team for 2026-27
(Benson, Doug, Rich, Bev, Naomi and Nancy)
WOW! What a weekend we had in Los Angeles at the Southwest President Elect Learning Seminar (SWPELS)! The district leadership is incredibly proud of all of the presidents-elect and next year's AGs who made the trip. We really bonded together, learned a lot about Rotary, discovered opportunities where we can work together across the entire state, country and the world! We know without a doubt that the clubs in District 5000 will have leaders of character, insight and vision leading the way in 2026-2027!
RCOH members! Can you spot Carolann Biederman and Rich Proctor in the photo?
On Wednesday, Feb. 25, we met at the Kukui Center and filled 60 backpacks for children! There will be another opportunity to join in on this project soon, so stay tuned!
MAHALO TO OUR WEEKLY VOLUNTEERS!
You are appreciated!
If you would like to help, watch for the signup sheet or contact your Administrator!
If you have a project you'd like to present, please complete the Project Recommendation Form and email to our Director of Community Services, Nancy HERE.
Do you have a speaker recommendation? If so, please complete theSpeaker Recommendation Formand send it to RCOH Administrator, HERE. She will submit all forms to the Speaker Committee.
Warm greetings from Taipei!
As many of our international sister club members will be visiting Taiwan for the Rotary
International Convention 2026, the Rotary Club of Taipei is in the early stages of planning a
Welcome Dinner to celebrate our long-standing friendship and fellowship. We are also
planning to invite all the Rotary International dignitaries, including all the PRIPs, to this event,
so this gathering will also represent a rare opportunity to meet and interact with the Rotary
International VIPs.
The dinner is planned for: Friday, June 12, 2026 (evening) Location: Sheraton Hotel Taipei Grand Ball Room
At this preliminary stage, we would be most grateful if you could kindly let us know whether
your club may be interested in attending, and, if possible, provide a rough estimate of the
number of members who might participate.
This information will greatly assist us in our initial planning and venue arrangements.
Please note that this is only a preliminary inquiry, and a formal invitation with full details will
follow at a later date.
We truly hope to have the opportunity to spend a meaningful evening together in fellowship
during this special Rotary occasion, and we very much look forward to welcoming our sister
clubs to Taipei.
With warm Rotary friendship,
Andrew Wong
President, Rotary Club of Taipei
2025–2026
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The Pacific Club
