Rotary Club of Elmira

10/15/2026

10/07/2026

Rotary Club of Elmira M. Edward Lincoln Youth Salute 2026
The Rotary Club of Elmira honored 18 area high school seniors at the 39th annual M. Edward Lincoln Youth Salute program on Tuesday, Oct. 6, awarding $4,500 to the top three honorees.
The 18 seniors from Elmira High School, Notre Dame High School and Twin Tiers Christian Academy were recognized and celebrated for their leadership, community involvement, and academic achievement.

The students who received the top three awards are: First Place: Brendan O’Brien, of Notre Dame High School, $3,000; Second Place: Colin Baer, of Elmira High School, $1,000; and Third Place: Adelaide Kramer, of Twin Tiers Christian Academy, $500.

The list of students by school with the top 10 students listed in bold:
ELMIRA High School
Zavier Andrews Jr.
Harper Andzulis
Colin Baer
A’Zhanae Butler
Mayari Hernandez
Naudia Inness
Kariss Lynch
Madyson Weekes-Cordoni
Madelyn Wise

NOTRE DAME HIGH SCHOOL
Madeline Lee
Elle Carvellas
Anze Liu
Brendan O’Brien
Meredith Rogers
Mwesige Ahura
Mary Ugwoke-Onuzuruike
Gavin Meier

TWIN TIERS CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
Adelaide Kramer

Participating students in the M. Edward Lincoln Youth Salute program complete an application providing their grade point average, and a resume of their leadership involvement in school, extra-curricular activities, sports, and the community. In addition, they are required to write an essay that highlights their own personal leadership experience and strengths. The applications/essays are scored using a vigorous rubric, with the top 10 students being interviewed for the top three awards.
This year’s Youth Salute program was sponsored by Bethany Village, Chemung Supply, F.M. Howell, and DataFlow, along with the Elmira Rotary Club Foundation.

09/03/2026

President Maggie Barnes with Eve McLane, our Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) representative.

Eve came to the Club today to present an overview of her time at RYLA in July. Eve was very enthusiastic and is looking forward to the upcoming year where she can put some of what she learned into practice.

08/13/2026

Movie Night at Camp STAR the kids decorated “cars” for a drive-in movie!

07/21/2026

Dick Dubois had the honor of awarding Carol Lincoln with her $2,000 pin from Rotary International. This pin signifies that Carol has contributed this amount to the foundation. These funds help support Rotary projects around the world and here in our area.

07/21/2026

Huge kudos to everyone. Developing the next generation of leaders is one of the many things Rotary does.

Congratulations to Elmira High School Interact Club student Eve McLane on graduating from the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) program on July 16!

Sponsored by the Elmira Rotary Club, Eve attended the five-day leadership camp at Finger Lakes Community College, where she joined student leaders from across the region to strengthen her leadership skills and build lasting connections.

Eve will be a junior at Elmira High School this fall, and we look forward to seeing her put those leadership skills into action both in the classroom and through the Interact Club.

Elmira Rotary Club Co-Presidents Laurie Liberatore (left) and Katie Boland (right), along with Jenn Clark, Elmira High School teacher and Interact Club advisor, attended Eve's graduation to celebrate her accomplishment.

Congratulations, Eve! We are proud of your dedication to leadership and service and can't wait to see what you accomplish in the year ahead!

06/27/2026

6 members plus an honorary member and Past President served lunch at Elmira Community Kitchen today.

06/23/2026

Busy meeting today as we wind down the Rotary Year. Maggie returns as President for 2026-2027. Katie and Laurie released the reigns after a very successful year and can relax a bit now.
Leo was honored with a well-deserved Paul Harris Fellow award.
And Maggie shared some inspirations and SOME of her plans for her year.

06/08/2026

🌟 The Central Coast shaped an Oscar winner — and Rotary made it happen.

Before the Oscars, before the fame, there was Warnervale.

In 1988, a fresh-faced 18-year-old Texan named Matthew McConaughey stepped off a plane expecting Sydney. Instead, he found himself in a small Central Coast town — and it changed his life forever.

Here as a Rotary Youth Exchange student in District 9685, Matthew attended Gorokan High School and threw himself into whatever work he could find, from tending a pea farm to serving customers as an ANZ bank teller. No glamour, no shortcuts — just a young man learning what life was really about.

By his own account, that year on the Central Coast gave him something no classroom could — the perspective and self-knowledge to pursue acting over law or even a monastery. Not a bad return on a Rotary exchange! 😄

He later reflected on these formative experiences in his bestselling memoir Greenlights, a fascinating read that shines a new light on a part of the world we're lucky enough to call home.

This is exactly why Rotary Youth Exchange matters. The experiences we give young people have a way of rippling outward in ways we can barely imagine.

💬 Have you read Greenlights? Did you know about Matthew's Central Coast connection? Drop a comment below — we'd love to hear your thoughts!

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