The Tellico Lake Rotary Club has just made its move into their new home of Monroe County, renaming themselves the Monroe County Rotary Club.

Local Rotarians are anticipating an expanded member base and slate of programming in the coming months.

WHY THE MOVE?


John Everson, the group’s former President and current Membership Chair, spoke to The Connection about the recent decision and the swarm of community support they saw at their first social in their new home of Madisonville.

Everson said that 26 attendees were at the group’s morning mixer on July 31, at least seven of which made a verbal commitment to join before leaving the event held at the Monroe County Chamber of Commerce.

“The first meeting we held early in the year was with the [Monroe County] Chamber of Commerce,” Everson said. “They were ecstatic.

“In fact, one of the full-time employees there is joining the Club. They have just bent over backward helping us.”

Everson stated that one of the biggest driving forces into Madisonville was a genuine interest from local professionals, but a general lack of ability to piece together a chapter of Rotary all on their own.

When discussions around Tellico Lake’s next steps began to take place, the move into Madisonville was the runaway favorite. Villagers and other assorted members were excited to keep the charitable spirit going, as well as get some young blood in the mix to help keep their ears to the ground to listen for local needs.

“By moving to Madisonville, we’re going to be able to have a much better pulse on the needs of the community,” Everson said.

Moreover, moving out of a community primarily inhabited by retirees allows one of the main missions of Rotary to be realized to its fullest extent. Prioritizing the youth and investing in the next generation of leaders has been a focal point for this group as they look toward a full slate in their future.

“We’re excited to continue our long-standing tradition of service to Monroe County,” said Walt Marshall, President of the Monroe County Rotary Club. “Our move reflects our growing commitment to serving primarily the youth of the County.”

SLEEP IN HEAVENLY PEACE (AND MORE)

The schedule for the rest of the year, and even looking into 2026, is pretty packed.

The group is constantly raising money through various avenues for high school students seeking out higher education in college, vocational or trade school … as well as providing dictionaries to every third-grade student at Monroe County elementary schools and Greenback School.

The group soon will be filling up Wal-Mart shopping carts with kids clothes to distribute to children in need before the new school year.

Maybe the most unique program the group puts on, however, is their partnership with Sleep in Heavenly Peace. The nonprofit builds beds for children that typically spend their nights sleeping on the floor, trying to provide some semblance of comfort in a situation that’s anything but.

So far, the group has built and donated 10 beds.

Monroe County Rotary will also partner with the Good Shepherd Center, Our PLACE and the Monroe County Family Resource Center — as well as continue their mission of vaccination to help eradicate Polio among young children.

In a statement sent to The Connection, Monroe County Rotary said they continue to preserve the missions of Rotary International such as fighting disease, supporting local education, promoting peace and growing the local economy within the borders of their new home.

The group is retaining almost all of its previous members from Tellico Village and Rarity Bay, as well as welcoming with open arms new members young and old who are looking to blaze a trail and set an example for leadership and philanthropy within their community.

The group will meet on the second and fourth Thursday of each month for lunch at 11:40 a.m. and a guest speaker or standard meeting usually following at noon. For now, meetings will be held in the Monroe County Chamber of Commerce.

Quarterly dues are $60, or $240 a year, though many organizations are known to help subsidize the costs.

To learn more about Rotary International, you can visit rotary.org/en. For interest or questions regarding the Monroe County Chapter, contact John Everson by email at John.P.Everson@gmail.com.