Middletown Rotary establishes $1M in college scholarships for local students

Middletown Rotary Club members, from left, Debra Patterson, Fred Sauer and Joe Mulligan, prepare dictionaries that will be distributed to every third-grader in the service area. RICK McCRABB/STAFF

Middletown Rotary Club members, from left, Debra Patterson, Fred Sauer and Joe Mulligan, prepare dictionaries that will be distributed to every third-grader in the service area. RICK McCRABB/STAFF

Local students interested in pursuing higher education will be eligible for financial assistance from the Middletown Rotary Club.

The Middletown Rotary Club Foundation has established endowed scholarship funds totaling almost $1 million for Middletown-area students who are pursuing higher education, said Daniel Tryon, president of the Rotary Club and executive director/administrator of Kettering Health Network Middletown.

These endowments will support students at the Miami University Regionals, Middletown and Cincinnati State Middletown campuses, he said. He said for the Rotary this is “an amazing opportunity to continue to shape future generations of community difference makers.”

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The endowments, he said, strengthen Rotary’s “passion for passing on the legacy of service and the value of putting others over self.”

Tryon described the Rotary as “a venue to give.”

The Rotary Club Foundation has given out college scholarships periodically over the years, but Tryon said Rotary members felt it was important to turn the money over to the universities and allow them to distribute the funds. Students interested in applying for the scholarships should contact the universities, he said.

Tryon said scholarship funds were accumulated over the years through fundraisers that were supported by the community. He said the Rotary will host two “Thank You” events that will be open to the public. They will be held from noon to 1 p.m. Nov. 19 at Miami University Regionals, Middletown and Dec. 10 at Cincinnati State Middletown.

Dictionaries given to third-graders

This week, members of the Rotary gathered at Central Connections and prepared dictionaries that will be given to every third-grader in the service area. Inside the front cover, Rotarians placed stickers that addressed the “Four-Way Test” of things we think, say or do. Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build good will and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

Tryon said the dictionary program has been a long tradition and every year teachers ask about them.

Benefit concert at Sorg Opera

Also, a Rotary benefit concert will be held Friday at Sorg Opera House. The concert, called Rocking with Rotary, will feature The Magnums. The concert starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are $15. Proceeds will support Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a program that provides beds for the needy.

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