On May 2, for the first time since before COVID 19, members of the Northlake Mandeville Rotary Club resumed their weekly/bi-weekly calling of bingo for elderly residents of the Heritage Manor Nursing Home.

 

On October 6, 2020, The Northlake Mandeville Rotary Club held its regular Thursday meeting at the Samaritan Center's new building in Mandeville.  Dena Grosart, Director of Samaritan Center, briefed club members on the mission and operations of the Center.  The Center functions as a Food Bank for families from LaCombe west to Mandeville.  The Center's Counselors not only provide food to those in need, but they also work with them to create and execute a plan that will make a lasting improvement in their lives.

After lunch, Clay Madden, Mayor of Mandeville, updated the club on the features in the new City Budget and the many other improvements planned and taking place in Mandeville.  Thank you, Mayor, for your leadership and foresight!!

Service Clubs from Mandeville - Northlake Mandeville Rotary, Kiwanis, and Lions - joined together to get to know each other and to provide service to the city.  The group chose to clean up the Mandeville lakefront.  After the cleanup effort, the group met at the Barley Oak on the lakefront for fun and conversation.

The Flag Committee of the Northlake Mandeville Rotary Club installed subscribers' flags for Labor Day and September 11.  A reporter for Channel 26 noticed the Committee placing the flags and filmed and ran a story on the effort.  Click on the following link to view the story.

On Saturday, August 20, 2022, five members of the Northlake Mandeville Rotary club joined 60 other Rotarians from each of the clubs in District 6840 at the Rotary Building in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, for the Vibrant Club Conference. Shown are Tom Quinn, Ken McAuliffe, Jeanne Schramm, Doug Place, and Bob Mathews.  Speakers led inter-active discussions on how to Attract new members and how to Retain members.  Tom Quinn, as Assistant District Governor for the Lake Territory, led two of the sessions!

Awards for the recent 2021-2022 Rotary year were distributed by Past District Governor, Bob Vaughn.  For one of the awards, each club of the 49 clubs in the District nominate one of their members for the Club Builder award, which recognizes the member who has most contributed to the progress of their club.  Three Rotarians each year are selected from the approximately 1800 Rotarians in the District.  We are proud that Tom Quinn of our club, was chosen as one of only three in the entire District who had the most impact during 2021-2022.  Congratulations, Tom!! Thank you for your zeal and all that you devote to our club!!

 

District Governor Regina Wedig inducted our newest member, Kennon Stingley!!  Tom Quinn is pictured here awarding Kennon with our official T-shirt which is worn when working on our service projects.

Rotarians help neighbors in Mandeville remember those who gave their lives for our freedom.  For each of the flag holidays, Rotarians place a 10 ft pole with American flag in subscribers' yards.  To subscribe the cost is only $50 per year.  Proceeds from the subscriptions are donated to 10-15 charities in the Mandeville area.

 

On Saturday, May 14, 2022 the Northlake Mandeville Rotary Club held its annual Crawfish Boil at the Madisonville Park Pavillion.  The crawfish and shrimp were delicious and catered by Nan's of Mandeville.  Pizza was also provided for those who preferred it.  Thanks to Bob Matthews and Cindi Raymond for chairing the event.  A good time was had by all!!

During the early Spring of 2022, the blood supplies in St Tammany Parish were at dangerously low levels.  Rotary President-Elect Marty Audiffred identified the need and organized a blood drive through the Blood Bank of Mandeville.  He enlisted two partner sponsors - the Beau Chene Homeowners Association and the Beau Chene Country Club.

The Blood Drive was held on Thursday, April 21, 2002 at the Beau Chene Country Club before, during, and after the regular Rotary Club meeting.

Rotarian Debbie Stuart receives her second Paul Harris Fellow recognition at a regular meeting of the Northlake Mandeville Rotary Club.  Pictured from left to right are Leanne Truehart, Past President; David Stuart, spouse; Debbie Stuart; and Ed Goodwin, Northlake Mandeville Rotary Foundation Chairman.

The Paul Harris Fellow recognition acknowledges individual Rotarians who contribute $1,000 or more to the Rotary International Foundation.

The Rotary International Foundation helps Rotary members advance world understanding and peace by funding worldwide grants and projects that provide disease prevention and treatment; assist in basic education and literacy; improve water, sanitation and hygiene; alleviate poverty through community economic development; and promote peacebuilding and conflict resolution.

On Saturday, February 12, 2022, Rotarians met at the Gazebo on the Mandeville Lakefront to particpate in their monthly Adopt-A-Spot cleaning of the Lakefront.  Since the Gazebo is about at the mid-point of the Lakefront, one team goes East and another team goes West.

Bags of trash collected are deposited in trash containers found on the Lakefront.  The most common item found is cigarette butts.  

                                                          

On January 27, the Northlake Mandeville Rotary Club met at the conference center at Fountainbleu State Park.  Fouad Harb, Manager at Fountainbleu, gave the club a very interesting history of the State Park, including that the Indigenous people inhabited the park as early as 200 BC.  At the end of his presentation, Fouad and Bob Matthews, club member, discussed how Rotary can help build a much needed hike and bicycle trail within the park connecting the popular Tammany Trace Trail to Lake Pontchartrain.  Currently families visiting the park must bike or hike on the narrow, heavily travelled main road.  This route is very unsafe, especially for young bikers.

Also participating in the discussion were potential community partners in the effort - Jeanne Marino, Director of Grants for St Tammany Parish and also the President of the Mandeville Master Gardeners.

 

 

On April 25, 2021, the Northlake-Mandeville Rotary Club hosted its 23rd annual Sunday with Scholars event.  The Rotary Scholarship is a $12,000 award, paid to the college of the recipient’s choice in $1,500 semester installments for a maximum of 8 semesters.  Rotary Scholars have exemplified outstanding academic achievement and participated in serving our community through various volunteer, school, and civic organizations.  Our scholarship goal is to find worthy students where our scholarship will make a difference in helping them realize their potential as a college student and a member of our community.  Over the past 22 years we have helped 44 students in achieving their goal of a college education.  

 

This year's event, planned by the club's Scholarship Committee, was held at Beau Chene Country Club.  Scholarship sponsors, Rotary members, students, their family members, and local elected officials enjoyed a live DJ, a silent auction, a mask contest, and a program event emceed by Rotary member Reid Falconer.  The new scholarship recipients for 2021 are Trevor Fortier, Celeste Guidry, and Lauren Lacoste.  Typically two scholarships are awarded each year but this year a third was available because of the endowed Wilson and Jean Sexton Scholarship.  The current recipient of that endowed scholarship, Ruston Keller, is graduating Spring Hill College and headed to medical school in St. Louis, thus a new recipient, Trevor Fortier, was announced.  The club also presented its 2020 scholarship winners, Isabella Kerth and Emma Santiago, and enjoyed hearing updates from all of our current and past Scholars.  A good time was had by all!

 

 

 

One of our club's important missions is our mental health initiative to address the growing mental health needs in our area.  Our club is committed to developing the recreation and meditation areas at Safe Haven, a multi-agency collaborative effort currently being developed on the grounds of the former Southeast Louisiana State Hospital.  The club's efforts are dedicated to Ken Thompson, a very special Rotarian who died suddenly last year while serving as Rotary District #6840 Governor.  Our club refurbished this lovely pavilion.  Pictured here are our club members celebrating the "crowning" of the pavilion with our Rotary Wheel.   Not long after we had our Annual Crawfish Boil here!

 

Rotarians love to have fun!!  These are some of our members enjoying a "Pop-Up" happy hour at the Beach House in Mandeville.  A good time was had by all!