Rotary Club of Goochland

11/07/2026

Yesterday’s Rotary Club of Goochland meeting featured a great discussion with Craig Toalson, CEO of the Home Builders Association of Virginia (HBAV).

Craig shared HBAV’s mission to promote housing opportunities for all Virginians and highlighted the important role housing plays in our state’s economy. Did you know housing is the 6th largest industry sector in Virginia? An interesting look at an industry that impacts so many of our communities!

We were also happy to welcome Moses from the Rotary Club of Kitale, who shared his gratitude for our club’s sponsorship of a community well. It’s a wonderful reminder of how Rotary’s commitment to service reaches beyond our own communities and makes a real difference in the lives of others.

Thank you to both of our speakers for sharing their time, knowledge, and stories with us!

Service Above Self! 💙💛

11/06/2026

It's Brunswick Stew time!! Order online NOW!

11/02/2026

🌿 Keeping Goochland Beautiful! 🌿

On October 24, members of the Rotary Club of Goochland rolled up their sleeves and hit the road for a community roadside cleanup! 🚮💙

👏 Great job to our crew for collecting approximately 12 bags of trash and helping keep Goochland clean and beautiful!

Small acts of service make a big difference in the community we call home. Thank you to our Rotarians for giving their time and making a positive impact!

💙 Service Above Self!

11/02/2026

What a great evening at Bella Sicilia for our Fifth Friday Social! We had a fantastic turnout and enjoyed a fun night of good food, drinks, laughter, and catching up with friends. It was nice to step away from our usual morning routine and spend some time together in a different setting!

A big thank-you to our Social Committee, especially Tara, for putting everything together and making the evening such a success!

The evening also included a very special moment as we honored Don Lee with a memorial plaque presentation. Wayne shared some wonderful thoughts and memories that reminded us of the impact Don had on our club and how much he meant to so many of us.

We are also incredibly thankful to Don’s wife, Toni, for her generous $1,000 donation to our Centennial Endowment Fund in Don’s memory. What a meaningful way to honor Don and the contributions he made to our club.

Great friends, great memories, and a wonderful evening all around! ❤️

10/24/2026

It’s that time of year- Woodchucking has begun!

10/23/2026

🎄❤️ Rotary Club of Goochland Welcomes Christmas Mother Sally Graham! ❤️🎄

Christmas is meant to be a magical time of year, but for some local families, it brings added financial stress. During our recent Rotary meeting, Sally Graham shared the important work of Goochland Christmas Mother and the difference it makes for our neighbors.

Since its beginnings in 1956, Christmas Mother has helped Goochland County residents facing financial hardship by providing food, clothing, gifts, and other essentials. Last year, the program assisted nearly 600 individuals and more than 200 families!

With more families expected to need assistance this year, community support is more important than ever. There are many ways to help:

🎁 Adopt a family or individual
🥫 Donate canned goods or organize a food drive
❤️ Make a financial contribution
🙌 Volunteer to help organize and distribute donations

To adopt a family or learn more about volunteering, contact Sally Graham or Grace Creasy on the Goochland Christmas Mother website.

Neighbors helping neighbors make Christmas a little brighter. Thank you to Sally, the dedicated volunteers, and our community partners for making this wonderful program possible.

10/22/2026

Rotary Impact Club meeting is tomorrow, Friday, October 23 at 10:00 AM via Zoom.

Join us!

Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81823706917?pwd=rsyczzVxYUjFNqSXicCh3jr3lnoZIY.1

See you tomorrow!

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise cloud communications.

10/16/2026

🐾 Rotary Club of Goochland Learns About K-9 Operations! 🐾

Today, the Rotary Club of Goochland welcomed Sheriff Creasy and deputies from the Goochland County Sheriff’s Office for an informative presentation on the important work of their K-9 teams.

Deputy Whitlock introduced the club to K-9 Doc, who works in narcotics detection, and Deputy Dolan's K-9 Liberty, who assists with tracking scents to help locate individuals.

Through videos and firsthand explanations, members saw how these highly trained dogs use their incredible senses, specialized training, and body-language indicators to support law enforcement. We also learned that K-9 teams may assist neighboring counties and that some dogs are even trained to detect cell phones in correctional facilities!

One especially impressive highlight was learning about the work completed by retired K-9 Achilles, whose record included 143 detections and 155 total callouts, among other assignments. Retired K-9s remain with their handlers, who become their owners after retirement.

Our thanks to Sheriff Creasy, Deputy Whitlock, Deputy Dolan, and the entire Sheriff’s Office for sharing their knowledge and for their dedication to keeping our community safe. We also appreciate the community support that helps make these K-9 operations possible.

Service, teamwork, and an extraordinary partnership between handlers and their K-9s! 💙🐕‍🦺

10/10/2026

Did you know Virginia has a Thanksgiving story dating back to 1619?

The Rotary Club of Goochland was pleased to welcome Matt McDonald, a board member and Secretary of the Virginia Thanksgiving Festival, for an informative presentation on Virginia’s First Thanksgiving.

Yesterday, Oct 10, Matt shared insights into the history behind the annual festival at Berkeley Plantation, where English settlers arrived on December 4, 1619, and observed a day of thanksgiving—more than a year before the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts. Today, the Virginia Thanksgiving Festival keeps this history alive through living-history demonstrations, colonial activities, music, traditional foods, and a reenactment of Captain John Woodlief’s landing.

Beyond his involvement with the festival, Matt is a partner at Keiter CPAs, where he has served for 33 years. He is also active in Rotary and Scouting America, continuing his commitment to service and community leadership.

Thank you, Matt, for sharing this fascinating piece of Virginia history with our club!

📅 Want to experience the history for yourself? The 2026 Virginia Thanksgiving Festival is scheduled for Sunday, November 1, at Berkeley Plantation in Charles City, Virginia.

Learn more: https://virginiathanksgivingfestival.net/

10/02/2026

🔎 Inside a Criminal Investigation: Evidence, Technology & the Pursuit of Justice

This morning, the Rotary Club of Goochland welcomed Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney, B.J. McGee for an insightful presentation examining the investigation in Commonwealth v. Keith Douglas Groff.

Members learned how investigators connected evidence from four burglaries through multiple investigative methods, including Flock camera technology, traffic stops, the recovery and identification of stolen property, and cellphone location records.

The presentation offered a closer look at how technology, forensic analysis, and careful evidence gathering can help investigators establish timelines, trace movements, and build a case.

Thank you to B.J. McGee for sharing this detailed look at the investigative process and giving our members an opportunity to learn more about the role evidence and technology play in criminal investigations.

🤝 Rotary Club of Goochland — bringing our community together through learning, service, and fellowship!