About Us

Who is Baldwinsville Rotary?

We are a diverse group of caring community members who want to learn about and give back to our village and our world. While participating in Rotary, we are growing as humans, improving our skills, and making genuine friendships. Our club's culture is warm and inviting to all!
 
Volunteering with our club will:
-Help you connect to the Baldwinsville community
-Build your resume with skills and experience
-Introduce you to a new network of friends
-Provide opportunities for hands-on projects that truly give back
-Help you learn about other cultures
-Make you one of 1.4 million Rotarians around the world
-Give you a chance to have fun while helping others!
 
The Baldwinsville Rotary Club meets on Tuesday evenings at 7pm and on Wednesdays at 12pm the first and third week of the month at The Wood Golf & Country Club on Canton Street Road. It's really easiest to just check the Calendar tab for our full schedule of events.

What do we do?

In short, we gather resources and use them to help others!

We partner with the chamber to run the B'ville Big Chill in the winter and put together Baldwinsville Rotary Seneca River Days each June as our main fundraisers. The monies we raise at these events are then used to provide educational opportunities, community improvements, and support for our friends and neighbors in need. This is done through a combination of programs that our club coordinates, like our Backpack Program that started in 2015, and through donations to other organizations that are effectively serving the needs of our community. We also help people in other parts of the world where basics like clean water and healthcare are lacking, or when natural disasters strike.

And we have fun doing it!

While coordinating projects and fundraisers, Rotarians form genuine friendships, get to know their community and make life-long connections with other members and the very people they are helping!.

Our Projects

Youth Service
  • Youth Exchange Study Abroad Program
  • Rotary Youth Leadership Awards
  • Scholarships & Students of the Month
  • Interact Club @ Baker High School
  • Support for programs like the after prom party, marching band, robotics club and more
Vocational Service
  • Valuing the unique skills each person brings to the service of others
  • Pride of Workmanship Program for local businesses

Club Service

  • Helping to run a fun & effective group of volunteers
  • Leadership & technical training for all members

Community Service

  • 10 years of our Backpack Program
  • Community Improvement like adding binoculars to the village walkway along the river
  • Donations to the local food pantry, veterans programs and community projects
  • Hosting our annual Senior Citizen Picnic
  • Our new Be Green initiative uniting multiple people and organizations to support the environment

International Service

  • Disaster relief
  • Installation of Peace Poles in our community
  • Eradicating Polio

Are you ready to serve? The first step is to visit us!

Attending a Meeting: What to Expect

If you are coming to a Wednesday lunch meeting, you can place your food order and pay at the bar before the meeting starts and they will bring out all lunches at the end of the program. Our meetings tend to take on different formats, especially on Tuesday nights, but we typically cover some club business and feature a speaker. Speakers are often from other organizations in the area, can be an expert to teach us about an interesting topic, or even some of the youth that we work with sharing their Rotary experience. More and more, we change things up and do fun stuff like visit a different local business, play games and go on adventures to things like baseball games and museum tours. 
All are welcome to visit meetings, which are free to attend.

About Rotary & Our Values

Rotary is a community service organization that brings together people who use their unique skills as a team, organizing events and implementing programs that address the specific needs of our towns, countries and world. We contribute to one of the world's leading foundations to raise money for programs ranging from community signage to the eradication of disease.
 
Our vision statement: Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change - across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.
 
Our core values: Leadership, Fellowship, Diversity, Integrity and Service
 
Rotarians follow the motto "Service Above Self." 
 
The Four Way Test of the things we think, say or do is a test used by Rotarians world-wide as a moral code for personal and business relationships. The test can be applied to almost any aspect of life.
 
The Object of Rotary describes our overarching purpose for belonging to our local clubs, which is to promote the idea that service is valuable and, in particular, to encourage and foster:
  1. The opportunity to build friendships while serving your community
  2. High ethical standards in business, the value of different occupations, and the use of each member's professional skills in giving back
  3. Incorporating service into every aspect of a member's life - personal, business and community
  4. Increased cultural understanding, goodwill and peace around thew orld through a unified goal of community service
 

Rotary Membership FAQ's

Answers to frequently asked questions about what it means to join Rotary. Don't see an answer to your question here? Contact us with the form right on this page!
 
What will I have to do in Rotary? We will ask you to be an active member and help you find an activity within the club that you will enjoy. It could be joining club leadership, it could be participating in an existing committee, or it could be coming up with something new for the club to start. We have programs that work with youth, events that serve senior citizens, partnerships with the local chamber, and everything in between! There are so many ways to get involved, we know you will be able to find something you find fun, interesting and rewarding.
You will also be asked to follow The Four Way Test (outlined above) in order to embody the principles of our organization. It's as easy as being kind, honest and doing the right thing.
You will need to be prepared to bring your professional and personal talents to the table. We strive to have a diverse club when it comes to interests, abilities and passions. This is your opportunity to apply your skills to helping others!

How often do I have to attend Rotary meetings? There are no attendance rules in Rotary. We hope that you enjoy your time with fellow club members and have so much fun doing projects that you will make us a regular part of your schedule. There are events just about every week, plus additional virtual and district events for you to choose from. From our experience, there a many benefits to attending regularly, including being tuned into new opportunities to serve and forming real friendships with fellow members.

How much does it cost to join Rotary? Our club's membership dues are $170 per year, due by mid-June each spring. Payment plans are available if needed. Meetings are free to attend with food and drinks optional. Some events will cost money, like district dinners and our club's annual Charter Night. You do not have to be wealthy to be a Rotarian - your time is what is most valuable!
 
What if Rotary just isn't in my budget? We do have a program to support members, existing and new, with the cost of their dues, either partially or fully depending on need, called Pay It Forward. As much as possible, we don't want to see money as a barrier to membership. These membership grants come with a requirement that you be an active member and they must be applied for each year. The program is confidential, with only club leaders who have to review and approve applications knowing who is receiving support. Contact club secretary Jennifer at jljoslyn@hotmail.com if you would like to inquire about this program. 

Can my business join your Rotary Club? We do offer corporate memberships where you can pay dues for one person and have up to three additional employees acting as members. This is a unique way to join Rotary and our club is proud to offer it. We have several businesses with active members as a result of this program. This is a great way to provide your employees with an opportunity to serve their community! Click here to learn more about or Corporate Memberships.

How do I get started with joining Rotary? We often invite people to attend a meeting and chat with us about Rotary, but it can be intimidating to walk into a room full of strangers. Please reach out to us so we can make plans to bring you to the meeting or be sure to meet you when you arrive. Most of our regular meetings are hybrid, so you could also try joining on zoom to check it out. Or, better yet, come to one of our social events that are more casual and give you time to chat with the group. We are a pretty fun bunch and enjoy having other Rotarians and prospective members joining us!

Who do I contact if I want to join? The best place to start is our membership committee, but any Rotarian can help you if you already know someone in our club. Here are some helpful email contacts to get you started with making plans to visit us!
Membership Committee - Sally Fedrizzi, saltrav@verizon.net
Club President - Katie Reap, katherinereap@gmail.com
Club Secretary - Jennifer Joslyn, jljoslyn@hotmail.com
General Club Email bvillerotary1@yahoo.com
 
Click here to download a membership application.

Our Club History

The Rotary Club of Baldwinsville was born on October 31, 1972.
 
We were sponsored by the Liverpool Rotary Club, with 20 charter members, many of whom remained members for decades. Our charter members were:
James Barbery
Peter Bennett
Michael DePan
George Donaldson
Don Falardeau
Robert Greene
Stuart Hosler
David Jackson
Harold "Mic" Jenkins
Grant Madill
Jerry Noble
Rev. Early Noyes
Lewis Olmsted Jr.
Thomas Perkins
John Sloan
Gerald Speech
Richard Van Wie
Thomas Vaughn
 
We thank them for starting our legacy in the Baldwinsville community!
 
In 1989, Rotary allowed women to join our organization. Our first woman member was a local judge, Claire Rutherford. Our first female Club President was Rosemary Bucci, an attorney with a practice in our village. Rosemary was an active member for many years until her passing in 2022.
 
In the past, we have raised money for our programs through selling bullhead dinners, putting on spaghetti dinners, and for over 30 years we have sold tickets to our annual duck race held at Seneca River Days.
Our service projects have included everything from community beautification, like building our pavilion in Lysander Park, to giving out scholarships.
For decades, we have given every third grade student in the school district a dictionary and participated in Rotary's Youth Exchange program, bringing cultural exchange opportunities to our local high school students.
Our projects evolve over the years to address community needs. In 2015, member Ann Smiley had the idea of helping children at risk of hunger on the weekends with a Backpack Program. It protects their dignity, discretely providing breakfast and snack items in their backpacks each Friday. Starting with Elden Elementary and now expanding to all schools in the district, this program is supported by our club's fundraising, donations from individuals, businesses and organizations in the community, and partners like the Volunteer Center, Baldwinsville Kiwanis, and Erin's Angels.
 
While how we spend our volunteer time might change, Rotary's core values and what we provide to our Baldwinsville community have not. Our values of diversity, leadership, fellowship, integrity and service remain at the heart of everything we do. Creating a space where people can connect in the spirit of kindness, working side by side to make the world a better place while honing life and professional skills, and developing lifelong friendships that enrich all aspects of our lives is still central to our presence in Baldwinsville.
Upcoming Events
View More...
Contact Us With Your Questions or Comments
    Enter your email address and the message you want to send.
    fields are required
    Rotarians At Work