Meetings are Tuesday's at noon at the Lake County History Center. Please join us if you are interested in finding out about Rotary or joining the club!
April 25, 2026
The 2026 fundraiser was a big success! Painesville Rotary is celebrating their 100th anniversary this year. The theme for the fundraiser was "A Century of Service Above Self". There were baskets, a 50/50 raffle, side boards, heads and tail game, and the dessert run which all earned lots of money for the fundraiser. Fun was had by all who attended! Below are a few pictures taken at the event and more pictures can be found in the photo album entitled '2026 Century of Service Fundraiser'.
Dan (President) and Becky Garry dressed to kill.
Casey and Julie O'Neil enjoying the evening.
Dick and Marilyn Kretschman having some fun.
Dave Franz and Anita Walters (Secretary) looking dapper.
Dave and Lois Osborn having a good time.
Jerry and Gail Walker, looking good!
Patrick Armstrong (Sergeant of Arms) leading the Pledge of Allegiance.
Stu Lucker (President Elect) saying some words during the program.
Resolutions presented to the Painesville Rotary for 100 years of service. May 12, 2026
Painesville Rotary scholarships were presented today by two members of the scholarship committee. Brian Kane, scholarship committee chair person gave a little history about giving scholarships prior to the presentation. Painesville Rotary has been presenting scholarships for almost 100 years. At the beginning, Rotary gave both a service scholarship and an academic scholarship, but in recent years they have combined them into one. Recognizing both excellent academics and service to our community.
The first recipient was Patricia Pacheco from Harvey High School. Patricia's teacher Sharon Fitzgerald told us a little bit about her. She said Patricia is one of her favorite students. She is kind and funny and always willing to help out when needed. Patricia will be attending Ursuline College in the fall, studying to be a nurse. Patricia has been a part of the Howley Aspire program at the Cleveland Clinic Main Campus for 2 years. Patricia participates in many extra curricular as well as school programs. She spoke about helping new freshmen, who don't speak English, with their classes and adjusting to school. With the Youth United Way program she went to every home football game and collected donations which were given to nonprofits organizations in the area. Patricia's 2 sisters came to watch her receive her scholarship.
Julie O'Neil, Brian Kane, Scholarship committee members with Patricia Pacheco, scholarship recipient. The other recipient from Riverside High School was Sarah Bernardo. Sarah was not able to join us because of a previous planned trip to visit her grandmother. Her Guidance counselor, Anne Dalby told a little bit about Sarah and read a letter that she wrote to the Painesville Rotary. She too said that Sarah is one of her favorite students. She said Sarah has completed over 300 hours of community service. She earned, during high school, 2 Associate Degrees from Lakeland Community College. She belongs to the Girl Scouts and the Scouts of America. She spearheaded a donation drive for Subzero Mission to name a few of the activities she has been part of. Sarah will be attending Kent State University in the fall studying Neuroscience Medicine.
Congratulations Sarah and Patricia and best of luck in the future!
Anne Dalby, Guidance Counselor, Julie O'Neil and Brian Kane, Committee members, Patricia Pacheco, scholarship recipient and Sharon Fitzgerald, teacher Harvey High School. March 3, 2026
Nora Sharpe, winner of the Painesville Rotary 4 Way Speech Contest.
Today we had the Painesville Rotary 4 Way Speech Contest. Rotary began the 4 Way Speech contest in 1932. Herbert Taylor, a Rotarian, and business owner held the first 4 Way Speech Contest. When his business was going bankrupt he decided to apply the Rotary International 4 Way Pledge to his company. The pledge actually turned the company around, changed the environment and helped to fix the problems within the company. The contest grew from that realization.
Our lone competitor and winner was Nora Sharpe. Nora is a junior at Riverside High School. She brought with her 2 teachers, her mom, and her friend. In her speech she spoke about how fear can take over our reality. She used the 4 Way Pledge to show how she herself dealt with the devastating news that her father had a terminal illness after a long battle of trying to find out what was wrong. Even though the doctors told him nothing was wrong, fear took over and life changed for the whole family. Through their family struggle and diagnosis she recognized the people who were with her and others who helped her to get through and continue to get through this difficult family struggle using the Rotary International 4 Way Pledge.
Nora will be competing at the district 4 Way Speech Contest on April 18th. Keep her in your thoughts. We are all rooting you on Nora!
March 17, 2026
Every 3rd Tuesday of the month Painesville Rotary partners with St. James Church and The Western Reserve Junior Service League to provide a hot meal for those people of Lake County who face hunger and other challenges. Please join us, to help prepare the meal, serve, and clean up. Preparations begin at 3:30 and clean up is usually done by 6:15-6:30.
Lots of preparation going on here! November 15, 2025
Today, at the Perry Outdoor YMCA a bench was donated in memory of our long time Rotarian Dr. Donald Lucker. For several months we have been collecting plastic film, and the hard work finally paid off in early October, we received a composite bench. We knew after Don's passing that the bench would be donated in his honor, we just didn't know where.
In early November, Dan Garry was approached by the parents of Sydney Brown, Brad (past Painesville Rotarian) and Becky Brown with an idea; because their daughter Sydney and Dr. Lucker were so close, why not place the bench near the tree that they planted in her memory at the Perry Outdoor Y. So the wheels were in motion and on Saturday November 15th the bench was placed. Dan will attach the memory plate at a later date, recognizing "Doc" and his 57 year contribution to the Painesville Rotary.
Dan Garry and Stu Lucker, standing; Brad and Becky Brown, sitting on the bench.
April 15, 2026
Today the Painesville Rotary and the Mentor Rotary got together to hear about the great things happening at University Hospitals right here in Lake County. Five years ago on April 16th University Hospitals acquired Lake Hospitals and there's been great improvements and more to come! Robin Strosaker, MD, FAAP, President and COO of UH Lake West, TriPoint, and Beachwood medical centers was our speaker. Robin a Pediatrician has worked for UH for over 25 years. While she worked at UH in downtown Cleveland main campus she saw frustration and confusion on patients and family members faces. She wanted to bring care to those patients and their families in their home area. She jumped at the chance to do that while being COO of the Lake County facilities.
UH made a $210M investment in Lake County and surrounding area hospitals and care facilities through the acquisition of Lake Health Systems. Dr. Robin said there were challenges and successes along the way but they met them and continue to do so daily. One of the biggest challenges started with a computer system which was not compatible between the care facilities, they implemented EPIC and now all patient information can be shared with all providers. There were big buildings that were under-utilized, they began filling and using those buildings for ambulatory services.
Dr. Robin spoke about wanting to have good quality care right here in Lake County and she has seen great improvements in hospital transfers both into and out of TriPoint and Lake West. Many patients can and are getting the care they need in these local hospitals. One avenue she followed was making TriPoint strong in women's health, orthopedics, and cancer and making Lake West strong in heart and vascular. Then both hospitals have a main focus and they aren't spread across all areas. At TriPoint they have a beautiful maternity floor for new families and new family members that can take care of some sick babies instead of sending them downtown. At Lake West they added a new cath lab and are able to bring surgeons there to do some complicated heart and vascular surgeries which could not have been done there in the past. Still, very critical and difficult procedures may need a trip downtown but they are working on improving that as well. At TriPoint they have had a Level 2 Trauma Emergency Department since 2023 and about 85% of the patients can now stay there instead of going downtown.
A couple of things that she is proud of is the collaboration UH has with Riverside High School. They allow students who do not know what they'd like to pursue after high school job shadow employees and jobs that might be of interest to the students. She is also proud of the Brunner Sanden Deitrick Wellness Campus by Mentor High School which is an orthopedic facility. They offer same day visits to people who have an injury, i.e. sprain, broken bone, dislocation, etc.
But what she and her team are most proud of is the Wellness Walk, a 1.5 mile restorative outdoor walking path encircling the TriPoint Medical Center and the future Seidman Cancer Center at TriPoint. The cancer center will open in the fall of this year to increase access to clincal trials, connect patients to services, enhance the patient experience, and provide new opportunities to recruit specialists. And best of all, it's close to home!!
Dr. Robin Strosaker, MD, FAAP.
Betty (Director) and Daphne of LGBTQ+ Allies Lake County, providing support and answers to questions. 