Tidewater Rotary Inducts New Officers and Donates Mobility Device to YMCA of the Chesapeake’s Rock Steady Boxing Parkinson’s Program

Where: The IVY restaurant in Easton

Tidewater Rotary Club held its annual induction of new officers at The IVY, in downtown Easton, on July 10th. Outgoing club president Joe Petro passed the gavel to new president Steve Waltrich, with Rotary Past District Governor Hugh Dawkins administering the oath of office. Rotary club officers serve for one year, beginning on July 1st.

Continuing its strong commitment to Rotary’s motto of Service Above Self, the evening began with the club donating a Nova Medical Rise Up Rollator to Wendy Palmer, Director of Health Interventions of the YMCA of the Chesapeake. The rollator, with accessories, is valued at around $300, will be used by participants of the Y’s Rock Steady Boxing program for those with Parkinson’s. This non-contact boxing program has been shown to slow the progression of Parkinson’s through exercises designed to build agility, speed, endurance, coordination and overall strength. The Rock Steady program is free to participating athletes, open to anyone with Parkinson’s and tailored to the individual athlete’s personal needs and abilities.

During the 2024-25 Rotary fiscal year, Tidewater Rotary held two major fundraising events; a Trivia Night at 4 Dogs Brewing and a team bowling competition at Easton Bowl. The club donated $10,000 raised from the events to Talbot Hospice, and the events will be continued in the coming year. Tidewater Rotary members regularly donate their time, talent and treasure to local e orts including being actively engaged in addressing food insecurity in Talbot County through meal packing and delivery, providing volunteer people-power to nonprofit events, and through past and ongoing support of community organizations including the Talbot County Hunger Coalition, the Mid-Shore Pancreatic Cancer Foundation, Talbot County Senior Center, Responsible Fathers Initiative, Upper Shore Aging, Talbot Humane, Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center, the Neighborhood Service Center and many more.

Tidewater Rotary meets weekly on Thursday mornings from 7:30-8:30 AM at Easton Utilities, and most meetings include a speaker from a community business or nonprofit that inform members and guests of the successes and needs in our community. Chartered in 2011, Tidewater Rotary continues to thrive and last year was one of the top two membership growth clubs in Rotary District 7630, which includes all of Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Tidewater Rotary is part of Rotary International which has 46,000 club in 200 countries and 1.2 million members. Rotarians are women and men from all walks of life and every profession who come together to network and provide service to communities locally and throughout the world. For more information and to attend a club meeting to experience Rotary first hand, visit TidewaterRotary.org or call Rick Hughes at 941-374-5896. For more information on the YMCA’s Rock Steady Boxing Parkinson’s program, contact Wendy Palmer at [email protected] or call 410-822-0566.