On Saturday, team leader Mary Gallivan was joined by Co-President Doug Shealy, Andrea Lacroix, and Ann Witzig at the Ipswich Community Involvement Fair.
Ipswich-Rowley Rotarians continued a tradition with the Open Door last Thursday of bringing cheer and laughter in a full bag of everything needed for a joyful birthday party of eight children. Birthday-in-a-Bag! For four years, Rotarians have packed 25 bags for re-distribution at the Gloucester-based food pantry. Each bag, tied with colorful ribbons, contained – Happy Birthday Banner, Cake Mix, Can of Frosting, Birthday Cake Candles, Plates, Flat Ware, Cups, Napkins, Tablecloth, Party Hats, Party Noise Makers, Party Games to Play, and a full Bag of Candy.
Children’s birthday celebrations add additional stress to families already experiencing food insecurity.
This Ipswich-Rowley Rotary donation of laughter and joy in a bag hopefully adds a day filled with fun for all!
This Ipswich-Rowley Rotary donation of laughter and joy in a bag hopefully adds a day filled with fun for all!In the photo above, Ipswich-Rowley Rotarians packed 25 bags with birthday supplies for families at the Open Door, Gloucester. Pictured are Rotarian John Witzig and Open Door Engagement Coordinator, Bo Abrams.
Seen at the right are Ipswich-Rowley Rotarians enjoying our Birthday-in-a-Bag service project! Pictured are Paula Bishop, Diane Herth, John Herth, and Jim Tedford.
On Thursday, September 11, 2025, our small town of Rowley, Massachusetts connected to other small towns and big cities across the United States as citizens remembered their own who perished on September 11, 2001.
A memorial garden at Cross and Pleasant Streets was the gathering point in September 11, 2025 for the ceremony, attended faithfully by Rowley Fire and Police department members, residents, and Ipswich-Rowley Rotarians.
A memorial garden at Cross and Pleasant Streets was the gathering point in September 11, 2025 for the ceremony, attended faithfully by Rowley Fire and Police department members, residents, and Ipswich-Rowley Rotarians.The Rowley 9/11 memorial is dedicated to town residents Jim and Mary Trentini and Laurie Neira, who were all killed when their airplane, American Airlines Flight 11 barreled into the World Trade Center. This hijacked flight departed from Boston, Massachusetts, and hit the North Tower at 8:46 a.m.
The Ipswich-Rowley Rotary maintains the 9/11 memorial each spring and fall with flowers and landscaping donated by Bill Freitag of Country Gardens. Bob Snow, Rowley Board of Selectman and dedicated Rotarian, has kept the memorial in beautiful shape each year. Unable to dig into the dirt this year due to a medical absence, he faithfully appeared at the memorial ceremony to remember his friends.
Other Ipswich-Rowley Rotarians volunteering at the memorial garden this year were Co-President Doug Shealy, Diane and John Herth, Jim Tedford, and Ann and John Witzig.
Following our regular meeting last Thursday, several Rotarians joined Ipswich Library Director Nora Blake in front of the town Library. The occasion was the dedication of a new granite post and refurbished signage donated to the town by Ipswich-Rowley Rotary. Seen in the photo are Jim Tedford, co-President George Gray who also is Chair of the Library Board of Trustees, Library Director Nora Blake, Project Chair Lee McNelly, Andrea Lacroix, and Martha Mauser. Kneeling are co-President Doug Shealy and dog Iorek.
This beautiful entryway post is an appropriate reminder that public Libraries are and always will be pillars of learning and democracy.
Lunch Meeting at Pine Grove School’s Tracker’s Trail
Our August 21st lunch meeting was breezy and cool, thanks to Hurricane Erin’s onshore winds and the beautiful, leaf-covered woods at the new nature trail, Tracker’s Trail, in Rowley. 
Rotarians brought bag lunches and folding chairs to enjoy and explore Pine Grove School’s environmental education space behind the Town’s Community Gardens and school sports field.
Rotarians brought bag lunches and folding chairs to enjoy and explore Pine Grove School’s environmental education space behind the Town’s Community Gardens and school sports field.A Rotary District grant recently sponsored environmental education training for every Pine Grove teacher. This generous grant included substitute expenses, student demonstration lessons for every teacher and class, and a new trailhead Kiosk, designed and constructed by Rotarians, with a large welcoming poster.
Exploring the trail after lunch, Rotarians discovered numerous Ecology signs pointing out forest features, such as This Old Tree, Great Horned Owl, and Animal Signs. A loop around the far end created a blending of children’s literature with the outdoor experience. These StoryWalk signs were spaced at intervals, inviting children and their adults to follow the story of the Honeybees and Pollinators as they explored the wooded landscape.
The trail exit (or trailhead!) expanded the educational space for student pollinator gardens. Signs introduced more ecological concepts throughout the raised beds, such as Composting, Native Plants, Invasive Species, Milkweed, and Monarch Life Cycles. We left this beautiful new learning environment, enjoying still the delightful weather, and anticipating our return, maybe next time armed with Merlin, the bird song identification app.
Happy Trails!
Four times each year, Ipswich-Rowley Rotary volunteers gather at the Masonic Lodge in Ipswich to serve nutritious meals to senior citizens and other residents. This month, a dozen Rotarians and local volunteers served over 70 “Ipswich Dinner Bell’ guests and prepared another 75 meals for delivery to those unable to attend.
The Ipswich Dinner Bell provides free meals weekly. Ipswich churches, veterans, and non-profits rotate as hosts, setting up the room, plating meals, delivering food and desserts, and cleaning up and resetting the room after the event. Ipswich High School Interactors participate during the school year wearing team shirts that are a great hit with the elderly guests. Ipswich EarlyAct, the Rotary sponsored elementary school club, is another group that lends a hand during the year.
At our regular meeting last week, founder and Director Dorothy Calandra shared the story of the Ipswich Dinner Bell. It was formed in 2010 as a “non-profit cooperation of churches and community organizations to serve hot, nutritious meals, free to all who come, and create a mealtime atmosphere of fellowship with one another.” The Committee receives primary support from the Ipswich Masonic Lodge whose members support the food preparation and wash the dishes every week, the Ipswich YMCA which organizes the delivery drivers, and the Institution for Savings and Ebsco that provide generous donations.Recently, head cook Denny Drislane retired but has stayed on to assist. Rotarians will recognize that name. Yes, Denny is the brother of legendary Past District Governor David Drislane. Denny is much like his brother, charming and dedicated to helping others in need.
Rotarians pictured above: from center front Andrea Lacroix, George Gray, Steele Sartwell, Laurie Cameron, Julie Nelson, Gina Healy, Joe Healy, Mason volunteer, Martha Mauser, John Witzig, Brian Nelson, Diane Herth, and Iris Yoeli. Not seen in the photo is Ashley Borden.
At right, Dorothy Calandra
At our recent breakfast meetings, Ipswich-Rowley Rotary presented this year’s scholarship recipients and introduced our short-term youth exchange students. Earning scholarships this year were Charles Quimby from Ipswich High School and Emma Penniman from Rowley who graduated from Triton Regional High school. Charlie will attend Fordham University this Fall where he will study for a business degree in Environmental Science. Emma is heading to Syracuse University to pursue a degree in Business Management.
Presenting checks to these deserving scholars were the Scholarships Committee co-chairs, Andrea Lacroix and Katie Platt.
Interesting side note, exactly 60 years ago the then Ipswich Rotary Club presented a scholarship to Cindy Quinn, our current bulletin editor and a Past President.
In the photo, Andrea Lacroix, Charlie Quimby, Emma Penniman, and Katie Platt (Bob Snow photo).
Also introduced to the club were our short-term youth exchange students, Sean Mahoney from Ipswich High School, and Sergio Giannico from Sicily. Sergio is sponsored by the Viagrande 150 Rotary Club, and he presented that club’s friendship flag to co-President Doug Shealy.
Rotary Short-Term Youth Exchange is a family-to-family exchange. According to Martha Mauser, the club’s Youth Exchange chair, “When a student applies s/he is matched with a student about the same age and sex from another country. When the match is accepted, the families decide who will go where first. For example, with these boys, Sergio came to Ipswich first to spend about 3.5 weeks with Sean's family. In the photo, Doug Shealy, Sean Mahoney, Sergio Giannico, and Martha Mauser (Bob Snow photo)
So far, the boys have travelled to New York City, York Beach, and around Boston. In the coming weeks they will head to Vermont and other places in New England. When Sean joins Sergio's family in Sicily, their plans include travel to Rome and to Puglia, where Sergio's parents are from originally.”
Twenty-three teachers at Pine Grove Elementary School, Rowley, were provided workshops in grade specific environmental education curricula through an Ipswich-Rowley Rotary District grant. Each classroom, for a total of 430 students, joined their teachers for a demo outdoor lesson along the new nature trail, Trackers Trail. It elevated the entire schools awareness of the local surroundings and built sustainalbe support for environmental education in the future.Ipswich-Rowley Rotarians also designed, built, and installed a large trail kiosk with a large poster introducing the new outdoor education space.
Please select this link to see an ill1980400ustrated summary of our project and its impact on the Pine Grove School community.
Ipswich-Rowley Rotary is delighted to welcome Beth Chase to the Rotary family, where we achieve more together than we can alone.Beth joins our club with years of experience as a licensed mental health therapist. She holds advanced degrees in both Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Education. Her typical client is “an adult who is dealing with depression, anxiety, life changes and life stages, and who seeks to find joy in life and new tools to meet everyday challenges.” Beth also is a skilled practitioner of coaching, e-learning, educational technologies, and professional research.
Beth lives in Ipswich where she is active in her church and passionate about conservation. She holds memberships in the Ipswich River Watershed Association and the Trustees of Reservations. Beth discovered her love for nature early, as a Girl Scout while growing up. In her leisure time she enjoys paddling, birding, environmental activity, and reading.
Her Rotary sponsor/mentor is Rev. Brad Clark.
In the photo from left, President Tom Murphy, Beth Chase, and Rev. Brad Clark (Bob Snow photo)
It was a busy week for Ipswich-Rowley Rotarians.
On Wednesday, we participated in the opening and dedication of ‘Our Place”, a new recreational area designed and developed by the Ipswich Housing Authority for its residents. Ipswich-Rowley Rotary was a major donor, along with the Institution for Savings. Our donation marked our club’s 100 years of community service in Ipswich.The following day, we gathered in the Byfield Community Arts Center to install and celebrate our incoming Presidents and Board of Directors, and to honor our outgoing President and Board. As is our tradition, we also recognized our living past Presidents in attendance with a ceremonial ‘passing of the gavel’.
On Flag Day, we assembled with local veterans and area dignitaries on the Ipswich South Green to pay tribute to our local heroes in Ipswich and Rowley. Each year on this day of remembrance, we formally dedicate our fields of flags which are on display in both towns from Memorial Day through July 4.We also celebrated with two of our local elementary schools.
This year, Interactors joined Rotarians for lunch with our sponsored Early Act club at Doyon School in Ipswich. This annual end of year event is great fun and an opportunity for the clubs to look back and celebrate Early Act’s service achievements for the year.
And we also received final approval of our $5200 matching grant to assist Pine Grove School teachers in Rowley to develop skills in leading grade specific environmental educational programs on the new ‘Tracker’s Trail’ on adjacent town land. This sustainable learning program will directly benefit 23 teachers and 413 students and promote science literacy. The club's total investment in this project now exceeds $8,000. Seen in the photos, at 'Our Place' are Town Planner and Rotarian Glenn Gibbs, President Elect George Gray, President Elect Doug Shealy, IHA Commission Chair Charlie Allen, Institution for Savings President Mike Jones, Rotarian Keith Harris, and Secretary Mary Foote-Hill. In Byfield, Presidents Elect Gray and Shealy congratulate outgoing President Tom Murphy. On the Ipswich South Green, VFW Commander and Rotarian Larry Jordon addresses those assembled as George, Doug and Koz look on. In Rowley the Pine Grove 'Tracker's Trail' teachers pose along the trail.
The Ascension Church Hall in Ipswich was once again blooming this week with colorful tablecloths, floral centerpieces, and lots of smiling faces. The event was the annual Senior Lunch, Rotary’s gift to its senior citizens. The event is co-sponsored by the Ipswich Council on Aging. A dozen students from Ipswich High School Interact, including our sponsored Rotary Youth Exchange student Joao Alfonso, were on hand to cheerfully engage and serve our guests.
Music was provided by The Journeymen, a local band who regaled the diners with fun and nostalgic tunes from a variety of eras. Following lunch, the celebration continued with students and seniors dancing to tunes such as ‘Sweet Caroline’.
Henry's Catering served up their yummy chicken pot pie, which was so popular it sold out! Filling out the menu was a well-prepared garden salad, green beans, and assorted beverages. To cap off this wonderful feast, Interact served a delicious cake with a choice of chocolate or vanilla ice cream.
At a gala dinner last Saturday evening at the Ipswich Country Club, Ipswich-Rowley Rotary was one of seven area Rotary clubs that were honored with Massachusetts Senate Citations presented by State Senator Bruce Tarr. Senator Tarr noted the clubs were being recognized for their historic founding by local business leaders in 1923, and for their many years of community service and social support. As he put it, “700 years of community and international service are represented in this room”.Accepting the citation for Ipswich-Rowley Rotary was club President Martha Mauser, who is seen with Senator Tarr in the accompanying photograph. (Photo by Ted Costa, Gloucester Rotary)
Ipswich-Rowley Rotary is in its 99th year of serving the community. Follow us to learn more about the exiting plans we have to celebrate our anniversary over the next two years.
At Cable Hospital 2009, with Ben Collins in the same relative position as in the 1953 photo below.
At Cable Hospital 1953.
Charter Members at the Olde Manse, 1923.
Rowley, MA 01969
United States of America