Published in the August 26, 2016 edition
THE MELROSE ROTARY’S officers for 2016-2017 are, from left, President Susan Nadworny, Vice President Beth McNelis, Secretary Kate-Marie Roycroft and Treasurer Joan Cassidy
MELROSE — The Rotary Club of Melrose recently installed a new president and several new officers, honored one of its own and thanked its outgoing president, Dan Burke, former principal of Melrose High School, for a job well done.
New President Susan Nadworny, a family advocate, will lead the club for its 2016-2017 season. Nadworny has been a moving force in Massachusetts Families Organizing for Change, a statewide, grassroots coalition of individuals with disabilities and/or chronic illnesses and their families.
Assisting her as vice president is Beth McNelis, former director of the Melrose Chamber of Commerce and current executive director of Artis Senior Living of Reading, a memory care community opening in January.
Other officers on the Board include Joan Cassidy, treasurer, a veteran of numerous Melrose organizations and activities, including the Melrose School Committee, The Bridge: A School/Community Partnership and EMARC; and Kate-Marie Roycroft, secretary, who is director of public policy for the Alliance of Massachusetts YMCAs.
The two new directors joining the Board are Jim Oosterman, vice president of lending and marketing at the Melrose Cooperative Bank, and Maia Moran, a lawyer specializing in estate planning, with offices in Melrose and Waltham.
In recognition of his many years of exceptional service to Melrose Rotary, Jim Halligan received a “Paul Harris Fellow Award.” Owner of Miter Biter Frame Company in Melrose, and a past president of the local club, Halligan exemplifies Rotary’s motto of “Service Above Self.”
The local club is one of the 34,282 clubs of Rotary International, a service organization whose stated purpose is to bring together business and professional leaders in order to provide humanitarian services, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations and help build goodwill and peace in the world.
Rotary is a secular organization open to all persons regardless of race, color, creed, religion, gender or political preference. There are over 1.2 million members worldwide.
Melrose Rotary raises money to support many activities, including constructing the Melrose Skate Board Park on Tremont Street; supporting Beyond the Label, an initiative to encourage area businesses to employ young people with developmental disadvantages; serving monthly at a Bread of Life dinner, and contributing to Rotary International’s top philanthropic goal, a program to eradicate polio worldwide.
Melrose Rotary meets weekly for lunch and a business meeting at Memorial Hall. Anyone who wishes to learn more about Melrose Rotary or Rotary International may e-mail the club’s secretary, Kate-Marie Roycroft, at kmroycroft@gamil.com.
