Rotary Club of Bowling Green, OH

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Rotary Club of Bowling Green, OH

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The official page for the Rotary Club of Bowling Green, Ohio. For more than 75 years, we have been dedicated to giving back to our community, and the world.

For more than 100 years, Rotarians have joined together from all continents, cultures, and occupations to take action in our communities and worldwide. Clubs are nonpolitical, nonreligious, and open to all cultures, races, and creeds. We bring together leaders to exchange ideas and take action to help empower youth, enhance health, promote peace, and eradicate polio.

10/22/2026

From the City Pool to the Pickleball Courts, from concerts in the park to a quiet walk through the woods, the Bowling Green Parks and Recreation department has something for everyone. Last week's speaker, Kristin Otley, is the Parks & Recreation Director for the City of Bowling Green. She came to talk about the wide variety of opportunities that the parks provide for residents, and highlighted several of their programs. She also discussed the levy that is on the ballot this November, which is a renewal levy that includes an increase of 0.95 mill, due to the increased costs of personnel and supplies (such as chlorine for the city pool).

10/15/2026

Last week, we heard from Staci Swing, from the Wood County Dept. of Jobs & Family Services. Staci is a licensing specialist in Foster Care & Adoption Licensing. She works with prospective foster and adoptive parents, guiding them through licensing requirements, and supporting families through the placement process. A big focus of Staci and her team is trying to get kids into "kinship homes", which is a home of a relative, one of their teachers, or a church member; the goal is to keep them in the same community, so that they don't lose all of their community support. In the past, kinship homes did not receive financial support, but last year the state of Ohio started paying kinship providers the same benefits as any other foster family. They also focus on preventative support, to keep families together before children get removed to foster care.

10/08/2026

For our first meeting in October, we heard from one of our own club members, Jack Robinson! Jack is the Wood District Executive for the Erie Shores Council of Scouting America. This means that he is in charge of coordinating scout units in and around Wood County. Jack is an Eagle Scout, and was a staff member at Camp Frontier. He spoke about his own scouting experiences, as well as opportunities that it provides him.Jack talked about the values, skills, and life lessons that scouting teaches young people, and he truly believes that the world would be a better place, if more people were involved in the program.
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10/01/2026

Last week, we were visited by the Director of the Wood County Public Library, Michael Penrod. He came to talk about our community's participation in Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. And he even brought a standup of Dolly with him! Michael talked about how the program is funded, in cooperation with the state, the Dollywood Foundation, and local partners.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting books free of charge to children from birth to age five, through funding shared by Dolly Parton and local community partners in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Republic of Ireland. The program has gifted over 300 million books so far!

09/17/2026

Any person facing criminal charges in the United States has the right to legal representation, regardless of their ability to pay; for defendants who don't have the means to afford a private attorney, the answer is a public defender. Justin Daler is the head of the Wood County Public Defender's office, and he spoke to our club this week about his office, and their role in the legal system. He talked about the kinds of cases that his office frequently handles, and the legal processes they use. Public defenders are licensed attorneys who are government-funded.

09/03/2026

With the fall semester beginning, many community members are getting excited for BGSU sports to kick off the fall season, and one of the school's most prolific traditions is Ice Hockey. Head Coach Dennis Williams came to visit the club last week, along with two of his players, Max Martin and Breck Mckinley.
Coach Williams (or "Willie" as his players call him) was named the BGSU Men's Ice Hockey Head Coach February 27th, 2024. Williams, the ninth head coach in Falcon ice hockey history. As head coach, he works hard to help his players succeed, both on and off the ice. Some of his proudest accomplishments are that the team finished last year with an average GPA of 3.78, and EVERY ONE of his graduating seniors got signed with pro league contract!

08/27/2026

It's always fun when one of our club members steps up to be one of our featured speakers! Last week, Dr Ted Haselman gave us an update on what's happening at BG City Schools; he talked about the district's enrollment levels, staffing changes, district finances, and progress on construction of the new high school.

08/20/2026

Last week, we met Natalie and Stacy from the Northwest Ohio Cooperative Kitchen (called the NOCK for short). The NOCK is a 24/7 shared commercial kitchen, located in Bowling Green, OH. The NOCK is designed to assist entrepreneurial efforts and expand current food-related businesses by providing access to commercially licensed kitchens with top-grade equipment, networking opportunities with other entities, and technical solutions. The NOCK offers 3 different kitchen spaces: The General Kitchen, The Food Processing Kitchen, and The Prep Kitchen, each kitchen offers a wide range of state-of-the-art equipment.
From small meeting offices and conference rooms to a fully automated canning line and storage, the NOCK offers entrepreneurs or restaurant owners a launchpad to scale up their signature recipes.

08/06/2026

Last November, the Wood County Jail launched a new program called I.G.N.I.T.E. (Inmate Growth Naturally and Intentionally Through Education).
IGNITE is designed to provide incarcerated individuals with meaningful educational opportunities that instill hope and prepare them for successful reintegration into society. This May, the first class of the program successfully graduated! Inmates who chose to voluntarily participate in the program were able to graduate with certificates and diplomas in areas like: skilled trades training, employment counseling, financial literacy, SERV Safe certification, parenting classes, and religious and counseling services. Two of the IGNITE students had even finished their jail time, and were released - but still came back to attend graduation!
The program partners with businesses and community organizations to deliver practical, job-ready skills. Research conducted by scholars from Harvard University, Brown University, and the University of Michigan has found that IGNITE is effective not only in reducing recidivism, but also in improving post-release employment outcomes and fostering positive behavioral change within jails.

07/30/2026

Last week our club was visited by Jessie Walton-Summers, the Community and Communication Specialist for the Wood County Park District, and her assistant Taylor Vanek. Jessie and Taylor provided the club with insights and updates about the Park District's numerous properties and programs. The District currently has 23 parks and nature preserves, in which community members can enjoy a variety of activities, including (but not limited to) hiking, biking, archery, hunting, and more.
Taylor Vanek, in addition to working with Jessie at the park district, is also a graphic designer that created the poster for this year’s Black Swamp Arts Festival. The poster was shown publicly for the first time at our meeting!

Address

PO Box 982
Bowling Green, OH
43402

Opening Hours

11:30am - 1pm

Website

http://www.rotarybg.org/

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