Rotary Club of Bowling Green, OH

06/11/2026

Last week we heard from Annette Wells and Marissa Muniz Kolhoff from the Wood County Museum. The museum just celebrated its 50th anniversary, and they are always planning and creating new and interesting exhibits. They also highlighted that their resident barn cat, Peaches, has quite an online following! 🐱 There are lots of programs and exhibits to enjoy at the museum, and to find out more about any of this, go to https://woodcountyhistory.org

06/04/2026

We are so immensely impressed with our 2026 BG Rotary scholarship winners! These are some incredibly bright and dedicated young people, and we are proud to be able to contribute to their education! Pictured below (left-to-right) are our winners Sierra Jessee, Zoe Brujic, Julia Barnett, and Calla Higgins, along with our club president Justin Henck.

05/28/2026

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the College of Musical Arts at BGSU! Our very own club member, Dr Bill Mathis, is the Dean of the College - and so he is in charge of the several celebrations that are taking place this year to mark the occasion. Dr Mathis spoke to the club about the history of the College and its mission, and shared some of the many accomplishments of its graduates!

05/21/2026

The BGSU library is the tallest and arguably the most recognizable building on the University campus, and the mural on its side is an iconic part of campus history. The mural was painted by artist-in-residence Donald Drumm in 1966, and the years of sunlight and exposure to the elements had taken their toll on the work of art - that is why the library launched a restoration project in 2025. The painstaking process took several months, and involved not only touching up paint, but also doing concrete repair and patching.

05/14/2026

Kristin Otley is the director of the BG Parks and Recreation department, and she came to our club last week to share some updates and information on our local parks. From Bellard Park at 0.13 acres to Wintergarden Park at over 120 acres, from splashing around at the City Pool to the beautiful flowers at Simpson Garden Park, the parks department has activities of every shape and size for residents to enjoy!

05/07/2026

Last week we heard from two talented speakers! The first was Laura Weaver, BG City Schools Gifted Services Coordinator, and the second was Molly Tyson, one of Laura's gifted and talented students! Laura talked about PACE, which is the district's Gifted and Talented program; she discussed how its structure differs from the district's general education practices, and how the gifted students are screened for the program. Students must have an IQ score in the mid 120's or higher to qualify for the program, which is designed to challenge and support their superior cognitive abilities. Once Laura had given us a general overview of the program, she introduced Molly, who shared a presentation with us that she composed in the program. Molly's presentation was about ASL, or American Sign Language; she gave us a history of its development, and taught us 10 basic signs!

04/30/2026

Last week, we learned about BGSU’s International Studies Programs. Our presenters were Dr. Beatrice Guenther, Director of the Program of International Studies and Dr. Vibha Bhalla, Director of the Global Village Learning Community. These educators talked about the wide reaching skills and knowledge that the students gain through their time in the program.

04/23/2026

For more than 20 years, St Mark's Lutheran Church of BG has been sending support to a small village in Tanzania named Kashasha. Over the past few years, our club has gotten involved in these projects and helped to raise money and awareness for the Kashasha community. AJ Fuller is a member of St Mark's who has participated in these initiatives, and he came to our club to give us updates on how things are going!

04/16/2026

Taylor Fitzgerald is the Development & Outreach Coordinator for the Ability Center of Greater Toledo. The Ability center serves 13 counties in NW Ohio, addressing, supporting and advocating for disability issues. The Ability Center's mission is to work to make our community the most disability friendly in the nation by increasing independence for people with disabilities, discovering true passions, and changing the community’s perception of disability.

04/13/2026