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LEXINGTON, KY – The Rotary Club of Lexington held its weekly meeting Thursday, September 3rd,  via Zoom. Guest speaker was be Bill Thomason, President & CEO Keeneland,  followed by pro handicapper, Gabby Gaudet.  If you  would like a Zoom invitation email trafton@rotarylexky.org. Of this week’s speaker, Keeneland Trustee Bill Lear observed, “I’ve never met anyone who has more love for Keeneland or more respect for its traditions than Bill Thomason.” However, those traditions have been put to the test as Keeneland has moved the Derby from May to September, prohibited fans in the stands, instituted drive-through betting, and encouraged folks who [...]

LEXINGTON, KY – The Rotary Club of Lexington held its weekly meeting Thursday, August 27th,  via Zoom. Guest speaker was  Ambassador Kelly Craft. If you  would like a Zoom invitation email trafton@rotarylexky.org. Ambassador Kelly Craft  Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations  Ambassador Kelly Craft was nominated by President Donald Trump to the position of Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations on February 22, 2019 and was confirmed to that position by the United States Senate on July 31, 2019. She was formally sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence on September [...]

LEXINGTON, KY – The Rotary Club of Lexington will hold its weekly meeting Thursday, August 20th,  via Zoom. If you would like a Zoom invitation email trafton@rotarylexky.org. Our guest speaker will be Dr. Janie Heath. Last week we heard about the progress we’ve made in understanding COVID-19 and, at least here in Kentucky, providing adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and COVID-19 test results with a reasonable turnaround time. This week’s speaker, Dr. Janie Heath, will talk about the essential workers on the front lines caring for patients with COVID-19.  Specifically, she will explain what the UK College of Nursing and the [...]

LEXINGTON, KY – The Rotary Club of Lexington held its weekly meeting Thursday,August 6th, via Zoom at 12:15 pm. For an invite to the Zoom meeting please contact trafton@rotarylexky.org. The program’s guest speaker was Lawrence Weathers, Chief, Lexington Police Department. Policing is never an easy job, and these days it’s only gotten more challenging.  Confronted with charges of excessive force, lack of transparency, and unequal enforcement for citizens of color, our speaker this week, Chief Lawrence B. Weathers, has expressed his support for revisiting current law enforcement policies to reflect citizen input while ensuring that such changes are tactically sound and [...]

LEXINGTON, KY – The Rotary Club of Lexington Held its weekly meeting Thursday, July 30th,  virtually on Zoom at 12:15 p.m. If you would like an invitation to join the meeting please email trafton@rotarylexky.org. The program’s guest speaker was Mitch Barnhart, Athletics Director, University of Kentucky.   Although Mitch Barnhart, this week’s speaker, has faced many challenges in his 18-year tenure as athletics director at the University of Kentucky, this year may be the most challenging yet.  As the academic year is set to start, much about SEC Athletics for 2020-21 is still up in the air and may stay that [...]

LEXINGTON, KY – The Rotary Club of Lexington will held its weekly meeting virtually via Zoom, Thursday, July 23rd. The program’s guest speaker was Susan Elkington. Susan Elkington President TMMK, Tuesday Feb. 4, 2020 in Georgetown, Ky. Photo by Mark Mahan Mahan Multimedia It’s rare that our weekly presentation comes from the manufacturing sector and rarer still when that sector is presented by a woman.  We’re pleased to have as our speaker this week Susan Elkington, President of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. (TMMK) since 2018.  As TMMK president, Elkington oversees an $8 billion operation that employs about 10,000 [...]

LEXINGTON, KY –  The Rotary Club of Lexington held its weekly  virtual meeting Thursday, July 16th  at 12:15 pm via Zoom.  Planning for the future and dealing with our past—both present significant challenges for colleges and universities these days.  Should students come back to campus, take courses online, or learn via some combination of the two?  How should small colleges and universities who value diversity welcome minority students to their campuses? Our speaker this week, Dr. OJ Oleka, will address both of these issues at Thursday’s virtual meeting. Dr. Oleka is the president of the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and [...]

LEXINGTON, KY –    The Rotary Club of Lexington will   held its  weekly meeting with Austin Simms, Executive Director, Lexington Housing Authority. Austin Simms has been employed by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Housing Authority (LHA) for the past forty-seven (47) years, serving as Executive Director for forty-three (43) years.  In this capacity, he is responsible for the administration of over four thousand three hundred (4,300) units of low-income housing in Lexington (1,097 public housing units and approximately 3,300 housing choice voucher units) with annual budgets of approximately $37 million.  He will quickly tell you that the LHA is not a welfare [...]

LEXINGTON, KY – The Rotary Club of Lexington   held its weekly meeting Thursday, June 25th, virtually via Zoom.  The program was President's Day with President Gerald Marvel giving year end summary and annual awards. In conclusion President- elect Jamie Schrader spoke briefly about his plans for the coming year. Gerald Marvel. Rotary Club of Lexington. Lexington, KY 7-25-19. (c) 2019 Photo by Bill Straus. Below is a letter from President Marvel to the club : Dear Fellow Lexington Rotarians, As this most unusual of Rotary years nears its end, I am more humbled, honored, and prouder than ever to [...]

LEXINGTON, KY – The Rotary Club of Lexington held its virtual weekly meeting Thursday, June 18th,  via Zoom. For an invitation to the Zoom meeting please contact trafton@rotarylexky.org. The program’s guest speaker was Michael Halligan, CEO, God's Pantry Food Bank. “Food insecurity,” that is, being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food, is not something that most of us have ever experienced or even worried about.  It’s something that happens to the homeless or those on very low wages.  And, while that may have been true before the middle of March, since then people who never expected [...]