Carmel Rotary

05/31/2026

President Doug Willard announced that Rotary International President Francesco Arezzo has certified our newly chartered Interact Club of Carmel, IN. Interact is Rotary’s investment in young people who want to lead, serve, and make a difference in their school, community, and world. Through Interact, students develop leadership skills, build friendships, and discover the power of “Service Above Self.”

On Friday, the club celebrated the beginning of a new generation of service leaders by awarding the Charter Certificate to Alli Standish, President, and Jane Husband, Treasurer, of the Interact Club

Doug expressed his gratitude to Julie Standish our Youth Services Chair and the efforts of new member Erin Husband who helped guide this effort from idea to reality. Including their daughters being founding members of this newly charted club.

If you know of a local teen who wants to join a community club based in service, please reach out to us.

05/24/2026

Open to ALL Rotary and Rotaract Members. Will we see YOU this Summer? Pick a location or date that works best for your schedule and get ready to Make a Lasting Impact in your community. This one-day MasterClass is a “Must Do” action item for your summer bucket list.

05/24/2026

05/19/2026

Rotary Club of Carmel Community Grantee
ICAN Demonstrates Its Mission in "Pawson"!

ICAN's Director of Philanthropy, Samantha Wodecki, presented ICAN's mission: to advocate for independence and opportunity by facilitating partnerships between people and dogs to unleash possibility. She described that ICAN helps persons with disabilities gain greater independence with a
trained service dog, and provides education and rehabilitation to incarcerated persons.

ICAN service dogs provide mobility assistance, in-home companionships, and socio-psychological support for veterans. She shared that it costs ICAN up to $32,000 to train one service dog, and that through donations and funding support, ICAN can charge a reduced cost of $2,900 to clients and provide service dogs free of cost to veterans.

After describing how volunteers are needed to be litter-sitters, puppy raisers, and "furlough" volunteers who train and care for dogs in training, often for three weeks at a time before the dogs are placed with their
clients. Steininger and Drift then demonstrated Drift's abilities to respond to commands, and members were invited to ask questions and meet Drift.

05/19/2026

Congrats to our Paul Harris Award Recipients!

President Doug Willard and Carmel’s Rotary Foundation Committee Chair Sue Westermeier honored the club’s newest Paul Harris Fellows: Ray Kramp, Gail Bardach, David Hollander, Marta Spence, and Dave Pencak. The Paul Harris Fellow awards recognize club members who contribute, or in whose name are contributed, cumulative gifts of $1,000 or more to the Rotary Foundation Annual Fund, PolioPlus, or approved Foundation grants. Dave Pencak dedicated his award to his late father with a heartwarming tribute to his father’s legacy.

05/19/2026

When the community comes together, we can make a bigger difference.

05/18/2026

Thanks to all the Rotarians who joined Fields Market Garden on Thursday May 7! The group was able to w**d, broadfork, and compost FIVE 100ft rows in preparation for transplanting flowers and vegetables at the farm. Farmer Kate was very impressed at the team's dedication and hard work - she originally thought we might finish 1 or 2 beds - way to go team! Exceeding expectations and Making a Bigger Difference!!! Look out for more volunteer opportunities at the farm coming soon - this is a great venue to bring the whole family for a volunteer outing that impacts our local community!

05/14/2026

Hey Rotarians! Share this with your FB friends.

05/13/2026

Meet CarmelFest’s special 2026 mascot “Mr. 1776”

CarmelFest Chair Stanley Lebron updated the club about this year’s upcoming festival. In concert with our Nation’s 250th birthday, Lebron then introduced CarmelFest’s new mascot, Mr. 1776 (who greatly resembles Carmel Rotarian Rob Brown). Mr. 1776 enlightened attendees about the importance of our nation’s founding, then presented a flag to Mayor Sue Finkam.

Lebron introduces CarmelFest mascot Mr. 1776 (aka Rob Brown)

05/13/2026

Several Carmel Rotarians took advantage of Actors Theatre of Indiana (ATI) special Carmel Rotary Night for its “Broadway in Your Backyard” production of Andrew Llyod Webber’s Sunset Boulevard on May 6th at the Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts Studio Theater.

The stellar cast included Judy Fitzgerald (who was the club’s featured speaker several weeks ago) in the lead role as Norma Desmond, and Don Farrell as Max Von Mayerling. Both Fitzgerald and Farrell are two of the three former Broadway stars who relocated to Carmel and founded ATI to bring the quality of Broadway performances to the Midwest. Our thanks to Carmel Rotarian Meg Gates Osborne for arranging for the club to attend at special ticket pricing.