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The Toyota Bluegrass Miracle League celebrated its 20th anniversary on October 9 with a special evening at CommonSpirit Ballpark. The Rotary Club of Lexington was instrumental in founding the league in 2006, and that commitment continues today. Rotarian Tony Barrett currently serves as president of the league’s board. He is pictured here with fellow Rotarian Kevin Weaver and baseball legend Doug Flynn. The three served as the evening’s masters of ceremonies. Beautiful weather provided the perfect backdrop for celebrating the league’s amazing athletes, their supportive families, and the dedicated volunteers who make it all possible. Photo by Brenda Barrett

Rotarians enjoyed a great day at Keeneland last Thursday! By midafternoon, the sun was shining brightly on our old Kentucky home, and Rotarians were cashing in on winning tickets. The outing offered time to catch up with familiar faces and get to know newer members, spouses, the Woodford Rotary Club’s president, and other guests. Keeneland’s wonderful food and attentive service added to the enjoyment. Pictured from the left, front row: Jimmy Leon, Franklin Thompson, Tracy Hudson, Susan Adams. Kim Johnson, Lyle Hanna, and Ryan Ray, President of the Rotary Club of Woodford County. Second row: Linda Weaver, Marianna Taulbee, DG Linton-Gridley, ...

Frank Pottorff is the senior pastor at Lexington’s First Presbyterian Church, the oldest continuous church community in the city. After graduating from divinity school, he served his first call in Mount Sterling for five years, followed by seven years as an associate at a large church in Philadelphia. Frank, his wife, Abby, and their sons, Charlie and Ollie, moved to Lexington two years ago and love the community and their neighborhood. First Presbyterian is home to many Rotarians, and Franklin Thompson introduced Frank to Lexington Rotary. After attending a couple of lunches together, Frank knew he wanted to continue his community ...

The Rotary Club of Lexington is proud to support an American Red Cross Blood Drive on Thursday, October 22, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Mane on Main. Blood donations are always needed, and this is a wonderful opportunity for Rotarians to come together, give back and make a meaningful difference in our community. We encourage members to sign up, roll up their sleeves and support this important cause. Help demonstrate the power of Service Above Self by donating blood, spreading the word and encouraging a fellow Rotarian to participate!

It’s often interesting to learn how people ultimately find their chosen professions. For new member Lucy Hendricks, it happened quite by accident. After leaving college at age 19, Lucy’s mother offered to pay for her to attend personal training school. Lucy said she had “zero interest” in attending but thought it might help her get in shape and become less introverted. Halfway through the program, she attended a lecture in Louisville where one of the speakers discussed intelligent training and building muscle for people dealing with pain. That area of practice appealed to Lucy, and she set out to learn more ...

Now that Kim Wade’s three children are adults, she has more time to devote to community service through Rotary. Kim was introduced to service at an early age because her father was active in the Lions Club. She was a member of the Michigan All-State Lions Club Band and traveled to international conventions, visiting mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Hawaii, and other destinations. Kim has enjoyed volunteering as a Girl Scout leader, softball mom, basketball coach, and even a soccer coach—despite knowing nothing about the sport! Now that her children are grown and she serves in a managerial position with Spectrum ...

Rotary has been part of the Easterseals story since its beginning. In 1919, Ohio Rotarian Edgar Allen founded the National Society for Crippled Children and enlisted his Rotary club to help build a network of programs that eventually became Easterseals. In Kentucky, the Conference of Kentucky Rotarians formed the Crippled Children’s Society in 1923. The organization later became the Kentucky Easter Seals Society. The Rotary Club of Lexington helped bring that vision to life. In 1949, three Lexington Rotarians helped make the construction of Cardinal Hill Convalescent Home possible. The facility opened in 1950 during the polio epidemic. Rotarian Dr. David ...

A pollinator garden uses plants—often native species—to provide food and habitat for endangered pollinators, which, in turn, help produce one of every three bites of food we eat. Rain gardens slow the flow of stormwater, absorb standing water to help prevent mosquitoes, and filter many of the unhealthy elements found in stormwater runoff. Our garden at the back of Kenawood Park accomplishes all of these goals. We started this project almost six years ago to address Rotary’s seventh area of focus—protecting the environment—and to get Rotarians outside and working together during the COVID-19 lockdown. Today, our garden contains more than 350 ...

Any time you happen to be exploring the back roads of Central Kentucky, you may see new member Elysse Arrington. She could be traveling on two wheels—on her Ducati motorcycle—or on four wheels! Her four-wheeled ride of choice is a 1977 MGB. Those of us who have owned British cars are familiar with the love-hate relationship owners often have with their “offspring.” As with most British cars, much of the electrical system in her MGB was produced by Lucas Electric, also known as “The Prince of Darkness.” A Lucas headlight switch has three settings: Dim, Flicker, and Off. Its corporate motto ...