Topeka South Rotary

06/24/2026

Get to know one of our newest members, Chelle Decker.

Chelle Decker serves as Director of Community Engagement at YWCA Northeast Kansas. She volunteers with several organizations, including Topeka Civic Theatre and KTWU. She enjoys creating pottery with her niece, Lacey, and together they operate Dell Terra Ceramics. Chelle and her husband, Dan, who serves as Director of Rehabilitation Services for the State of Kansas, are proud parents of Teddy, a recent graduate of Rockhurst University.

Welcome to Topeka South Rotary!

06/23/2026

!!!TSR After Hours!!!
June 24th meeting is at Johnny's Tavern @ 5:30 pm. Hope to see you there!

06/21/2026

06/19/2026

Friday Photos - Congrats to Caleb Rice for officially becoming a new member today! Congrats also to Kristin Lewis and Kaylee Champagne for earning their blue badges!

06/18/2026

Please join us Friday, June 19th for our morning breakfast meeting and a presentation on Kansas United for Impartial Courts by Evan Gates.

Evan Gates serves as the Executive Director for the Kansas Voter Initiative (KVI). Her extensive background in advocacy includes serving as the Director of Logistics for the Peoples Climate Movement and Project Director at a progressive consulting firm. Throughout her career, Evan has anchored numerous leadership roles across issue-based campaigns, statewide initiatives, and congressional races spanning Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, and Washington, D.C.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in Communications from the University of Kansas. Outside of her work building a more equitable Kansas, Evan is an avid crafter, powerlifter, and dedicated KU basketball fan.

This week's meeting will be held in person at the Brewster Place Cultural Arts Building, located at 1205 SW 29th Terrace, Topeka, KS 66611.

06/15/2026

06/13/2026

Friday meeting photos:
- We inducted new member, Cory Lusk. Thanks for joining, Cory!
- Dennis Bosley earned his blue badge
- We had three members receive a Paul Harris this week - Lori Rowe PH+5, Pete Stauffer PH+4, and Terry Carney PH+1.

06/11/2026

Please join us Friday, June 12th for breakfast and a presentation on the '51 Flood by fellow TS Rotarian Doug Anstaett.

Doug Anstaett is a native Kansan. He grew up in Lyndon, graduated from Lyndon High School and then Kansas State University with a degree in journalism and mass communications.

His 50-year journalism career has included stints as a reporter, editor or publisher at six newspapers in four states. He was editor and publisher of daily newspapers in Brookings, S.D. and here in Newton, where he and his wife Lucinda raised their two daughters. His last career move was as executive director of the Kansas Press Association, where he retired in 2018.

While an editor and publisher, he won four William Allen White Editorial Excellence awards in 1987, 1992, 1999 and 2002, the last three while in Newton. In 1992, he also was awarded the sweepstakes award for the best editorials among the 650 newspapers in the Inland Daily Newspaper Association.

He is a member of the Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame.

He and Lucinda are the parents of Beth Iversen and Ashley All and have seven grandchildren.

They are both retired and spend their free time with their grandchildren or at their farm south of Lyndon.

This week's meeting will be held in person at the Brewster Place Cultural Arts Building, located at 1205 SW 29th Terrace, Topeka, KS 66611.

06/04/2026

Please join us this Friday, June 5th offsite at SENT. Our host/speaker is Jill Rice.

Jill Rice serves as the Executive Pastor at Fellowship Hi-Crest and Operations Director at SENT Inc. in Topeka, Kansas. With
over nearly a decade of leadership experience, she has guided teams through seasons of transformation, led strategic planning and
budget processes, and helped secure over $1.1 million in grant funding. Jill currently oversees more than $2.5 million in annual
budgets and directs programmatic and operational teams across 18+ ministry and community initiatives. Deeply invested in holistic
transformation—spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally—Jill is also an advocate for women in leadership and a champion
for the Hi-Crest neighborhood.

This week's meeting will be held at SENT located at 455 SE Golf Park Blvd. Parking is right out front of the building. Coffee and pastries will be provided.

06/02/2026

This past weekend Topeka South Rotary hosted the TopCity Pickleball Tournament by welcoming 80 doubles teams for 2 days of fun. Saturday and Sunday start times were both delayed due to rain, but luckily our crew was able to squeegee the courts each morning in order for everyone to play. We received several compliments throughout the weekend about how well run our tourney is and how much fun it is.

This year's event raised over $3,700.

Special thanks to the crew that helped make this event happen!

Check out photos from this year's event -
Day 1 - https://photos.app.goo.gl/qCyhBMCLEacHuk259
Day 2 - https://photos.app.goo.gl/JkJGTdpGLcwG53KJA

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