July 18- Club President Bret Anderson’s Vision for 2024-25
LEXINGTON, KY – The Rotary Club of Lexington held its weekly meeting on Thursday, July 18, at The Mane on Main, Chase Bank building on Main St. The program included the Installation of Officers and Directors and President Bret Anderson addressed the club with his vision for 2024-25.
This meeting will also be on Zoom. For the Zoom link please email, [email protected].
If you would like to have lunch, please contact [email protected] to reserve your meal.
Bret Anderson, a dedicated Lexingtonian, is set to assume the role of president of The Rotary Club of Lexington. As the president of Cohesion LLC, a Lexington-based business development firm, Bret has been instrumental in helping a national roster of business clients grow through innovative sales, marketing, and business development solutions. Cohesion LLC specializes in guiding organizations to recurring revenue models.
Bret’s deep commitment to the Lexington community is evident through his decade-long service on the board of the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club, where he rose to the position of vice-chair. Since joining The Rotary Club of Lexington in 2013, Bret has played a significant role in its biggest fundraiser, Dancing with the Lexington Stars. He took charge of sponsorships in 2018 and has co-chaired the annual benefit and social event since 2019.
A mentor at the University of Kentucky’s Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship, Bret shares his expertise with the next generation of entrepreneurs. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri in 1992, focusing on marketing, sociology, and writing.
Beyond his professional and community endeavors, Bret loves seeing live music and is a self-described health enthusiast. He enjoys gardening, nutrition, and staying active through yoga, weightlifting, running, biking, and swimming. His dedication to fitness led him to complete his first sprint triathlon in 2022 and the next this September.
Bret is supported by his loving family, including his wife of 23 years, Carrie, and their three children, Lauren (22), David (20), and Natalie (16). As he steps into his new role as president of The Rotary Club of Lexington, Bret looks forward to continuing his service and making a positive impact on the community.
Rotary in Review
THE PRESIDENT IS GONE, LONG LIVE THE PRESIDENT!
Since the passing of French king Charles VI in 1422, the transition of authority from one to another (at least in royal circles!) has been marked with the phrase “The king is dead, long live the king.” While the Rotary Club of Lexington cannot trace its heritage back quite that far, last week nonetheless witnessed the 109th year of our own transition of authority, albeit in the form of the passing of the gavel from President Kim to President Bret.
The meeting began with President Kim taking care of some unfinished business as Crystal Newton was called to the podium to receive a Rotary-branded bottle of Woodford Reserve and be recognized as a co-winner of the Spirit of Rotary Award. That left Kim with one important task before passing the torch: the awarding of our Club’s Service Above Self Award to Chris Campbell. In doing so, Kim noted that Chris was an essential part of whatever success Kim enjoyed during her year, as he was always the first to volunteer to take on a task, provide sage advice, and even developed an Aviation merit badge program to support our Scouting Committee.
With that the oath of office was given Bret and current officers and directors and the gavel was passed. This meaningful ceremony involves the handing of the gavel from one attending past-president to another, beginning with Bob Milward, president in 1970-71 (this writer was then a junior in high school), before it ended up in Bret’s hands. The meeting was now Bret’s.
Bret began by acknowledging the close collaboration that he and Kim enjoyed over the years working on Dancing With the Lexington Stars, an event which has contributed approximately $500,000 to the Rotary Endowment. He also complimented Kim for leaving Rotary “better than she found it” and creating momentum that he must now continue, particularly with respect to elevating the Rotary brand through the Doing Rotary, Differently campaign and our early morning networking events. As Bret noted, “she fought for the right things, even if feathers were ruffled in the process.”
Before laying out his vision and priorities for the upcoming year, Bret recounted (tongue in cheek?) a bit of the “sage” advice he received at the Past-President’s Dinner: Dean Hammond said “be yourself”; Winn Stephens said “be like Dean Hammond;” and Darby Turner advised “don’t screw it up.” He also introduced the “new sheriff in town”, Sgt. At Arms Eric Brooks (dressed for the part), and warned us to silence those phones.
Bret’s vision for his term can perhaps be broadly summarized by the phrase “moving forward while honoring the past.” Doing Rotary, Differently will continue during the third week of each month, as will our 5th Thursday social events, ably abetted by Susan Adams and her Social Committee. Marketing and public relations efforts will continue and Bret vows to be available to Club members before our weekly meetings to hear ideas and suggestions for improvements. A major emphasis will be the first updating of our website in twenty years, a needed improvement to continue to attract social media-driven younger members and development of an “elevator pitch” to help us all promote Rotary.
Finally, Bret intends to tap into the resources of our “experienced” members through the Living Legends piece which will appear in The 5th Page throughout this year!
- John Wharton
