Rochester Rotary

Kitty Van Bortel, President, Van Bortel Auto Group. As a trusted automotive dealership owner for nearly four decades, Kitty Van Bortel stays true to the values that drive her dealerships, keeping kindness, integrity, and the highest standards of service at every interaction with her automotive brand. Kitty’s strong commitment to her customers and employees is evident in the widespread success of h...

Alex Wilkes is the President of CVI Americas. Alex started with the company on June 14th, 2022, and is based out of the Victor, NY office. After seven years in management consulting at Deloitte and Accenture, Alex joined Luxottica in 2010 as Head of Strategy for LensCrafters. After leading the vision care team with responsibility for the Doctor network, contact lens sales and strategy, and eye car...

The 6th generation owner of Seabreeze Amusement Park addresses Rochester Rotary, covering the history of the park, the rarity of being a 6th generation family business, and the difficulties/advantages of operating a seasonal business.

Giovanni LiDestri, chairman of LiDestri Food & Drink, tells us about how he went from being a bottle washer at Ragu, to building one of the highest yielding sauce factories in the world.

President Pauly kicks off the 2024-2025 Rotary year on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 at Oak Hill Country Club

Continuing our "Celebrating Leaders" series with Past President Bud Rusitzky. He sits down with Past President Don Alhart to share his story.

Adam Gogolski, VP of Marketing at Vuzix is leading the way in one of the most advanced technology industries in the world. In the past 25 years, Vuzix has evolved from a military display solutions company to the premier producer of optical waveguide technology and augmented reality smart glasses. Get a chance to experience some of our revolutionary smart glasses all designed and manufactured in We...

MicroEra Power envisions an on-site thermal energy storage system to decarbonize buildings, enhance the performance of heating and cooling systems, support grid resiliency and increased use of renewable energies.

Hear the second installment of our "Made in Rochester Series" that was held at Oak Hill Country Club on Tuesday, November 15th. Jim and Ray Isaac sat down with Donna Dedee to share the ISAAC story as a family-owned, multi-generational business; Leadership lessons, and how the past and present have set the stage for a new future.

Bears Playgrounds designs, manufactures and installs nature-inspired, cedar log playgrounds across the US, Canada and beyond. Every playground is made custom to order, using whole round logs. With their playgrounds, they have created a balance between the innocent, natural adventure of playing in the forest and the structure and safety required by today’s standards for children’s spaces. Their bol...

Fairport resident Clark King, charter member of the Association for Games and Puzzles International and member of the Strong Museum of Play's National Toy Hall of Fame selection advisory committee, speaks on U.S. board games through the decades, spanning 150 years of American families at play. He also displays many historic, unusual and rare games from his personal collection. Take a journey back...

In May 1976, Jon Spacher (pronounced: SPAY-ker) was brought home from the hospital to an apartment above the Fee Brothers’ factory. No one imagined that he would become the 5th generation steward of the family business 44 years later. A Penn State graduate, Jon leveraged his Insurance degree to go far in the industry. His commitment to sustainable business solutions and a servant leadership style...

This was the first installment of our "Celebrating Leaders" series. We took a deep dive on Andre Godfrey, Past President, and Rochester Rotarian since 2003. Andre Godfrey is President/CEO of Entre Computer Services Inc. and a fixture in the information technology industry since the early 1980s. Andre joined Entre Computer Services Inc. as partner and president in 1994 after serving in a variety of...

Nationally honored journalist and best-selling author Scott Pitoniak and 13WHAM-ABC sports anchor Jenna Cottrell talk about the Buffalo Bills chances of winning the Super Bowl, as well as other Bills/NFL topics in this annual Rochester Rotary football luncheon. Their conversation is followed by a Q-and-A with the audience.

About half of privately-held businesses in the United States are owned by entrepreneurs over age 55. As those business owners look to retire over the next decade, 12 million businesses are expected to change hands. What can we learn from some of Rochester’s oldest family businesses about planning for leadership and ownership transitions? Join us for a discussion with Genevieve Norris-Brown (6th ge...

Dr. Jeffrey J. Bazarian, tenured Emergency Medicine and Neurology professor at the University of Rochester. He discusses current concepts in concussion management including blood testing, brain scanning, hyperbaric oxygen, nutritional supplements, brain cooling, and return to play protocols.

Elizabeth Williamson introduces herself and then speak a bit about her background. She also talks about Geva’s 50th Anniversary Season and her vision for the company’s future.

Dr. Shaun Nelms is Superintendent of the East High School and University of Rochester Educational Partnership. He discusses the ways in which, and particularly how, this partnership has positively impacted the scholars, parents, and staff of East High School.

John launched our "Made in Rochester" series - a monthly recognition and awareness series showcasing a variety of businesses and their manufactured goods and services that reach far beyond our community. You will learn how each has contributed to American free enterprise, advances in innovation, cultural enrichment, and the Rochester economy.

President Kathleen Pringle's first meeting outlines her goals for her year at the helm.

President Scott Rasmussen's Rotary year comes to an end with a celebration at Oak Hill!

How the journey of a Muslim-American woman in broadcast media is only a small piece of a paradigm shift in how we approach telling local stories to represent a wider range of viewers.

The Department of Orthopaedics has a rich tradition of excellence and innovation. Dr. Rubery will provide an update on the new Orthopaedics and Physical Performance Center at Market Place Mall; a comprehensive center unlike any other in the Northeast. Dr. Rubery is currently the Marjorie Strong Wehle Professor and Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics. In this role, he is responsible for over...

Compared with cities its size, Rochester ranks as the number one worst city in the United States for child poverty, with 48% of our city's children in poverty. We are first in the nation in the rate of extreme poverty, with 15% of the city's population living in deep poverty (2020 U.S. Census data, 2015 – 2019. ). Currently, we are coming off a year with the worst number of homicides in our city's...

Many people know Goodwill from donating or shopping in our local stores, but Goodwill does so much GOOD in the community… from teaching people with vision loss independent living skills to connecting our community members to valuable resources to employing people with disabilities to assisting people contemplating suicide and more. Jennifer Lake, CEO of Goodwill of the Finger Lakes will discuss ho...