Rotary Club hopeful hops draws new members, sponsors at Nickel Brook brewery event

The taps and the hearts were open at Nickel Brook Brewery last night (April 16) as the Rotary Club of Burlington North hosted a special event for members. 

Approximately 50 members, volunteers, and sponsors gathered in the tap room to mingle, eat, and sample some of the local brewer’s finest. 

“As a membership committee, we wanted to attract some new prospective members and let more people know about Rotary,” Mary Brady, president-elect of the club said. “We came up with the idea of hosting at Nickel Brook, they’ve been a very good sponsor of us in the past and we figured we could use their new space.”

Rotary is an international organization with thousands of clubs that fundraise, donate, and volunteer for local needs. There are 1.4 million members worldwide. 

As the incoming president, Brady is hoping to drive membership numbers up. 

“We have 39 members right now, and we’ve been higher than 50 in the past,” Brady said. “We’ve had people leave for good reasons, they’ve gotten a bit older and become honorary members, or they’ve moved three or four hours away.”

Brady is aiming to get to at least 45 members that can regularly attend meetings and events. She is set to take over as club president in June. 

Current president Clinton Howell will transition to the PR chair, though the role of past president also comes with its own duties. 

“Both are director positions on the board, but I’ll mostly be focused on the PR side of things,” Howell said. “That includes social media, keeping the community informed, and writing articles for our district rotary.”

Having been in Rotary for a decade, Howell has seen his share of change impact the club. He served previously as president of the club during COVID, never meeting a single person and having to do everything virtually. 

Since presidential terms for Rotary are only one year, Howell has used his second term to interact in person as much as he can. 

“As the president, I run board meetings, I’m the chair of the board, I run weekly meetings, and that means I learn a lot from the experience of past members,” Howell said. “The decisions that have to be made filter through me, but they’re all voted on. There’s a lot of knowledge that you just otherwise wouldn’t be exposed to.”

Many of the meetings in question take place early in the morning on Fridays, when new members typically expect a laid back, potentially sleepy atmosphere.

Brady said those expectations are shattered pretty quickly for anyone who has just signed up. 

“So many people walk in expecting it to be quiet, but we’re really high energy and welcoming,” Brady said. “People are like ‘whoa, Friday morning, I can’t believe this is what it’s all about’ and I hope we can just entice people to learn a bit more about Rotary.”

For more information on Rotary Burlington North events and causes, visit the club website.