By Andy Furman
NKyTribune reporter
Jeanne Clark said she saved the best for last. Well, almost last. Perhaps that’s why she was in Covington, this week to address the Rotary Club at their regular Radisson Hotel luncheon.
Jeanne Clark is the Rotary District Governor – a district with 1,250-some Rotarians.
Jeanne Clark (Photo by Andy Furman/NKyTribune)
“This is the 33rd club I’ve visited,” she told the Northern Kentucky Tribune. “There are 34 Rotary Clubs in District 6740.”
Clark explained District 6740 – for Rotary purposes – is geographically from Lexington and points east.
And as for the Governor, well, she’s been a Rotarian for 20-plus years, and was elected to her present position last January — for a one-year term — which expires, June 2024. Born in Pikeville, where she taught English and Art History at the high school for 32 years, she joined the local Rotary Club in 2003 and was elected president in 2011.
“I had the opportunity to lead a Rotary Study Exchange team to northern India in 2009,” she said. “Spending a month in India opened my heart and mind to the importance of international service within Rotary.”
Clark said when her husband retired in 2014, the plan was to move to Florida, “And spend my days on the beach.”
Not so – Rotary pulled her back to work.
The couple moved to Lexington, and she transferred membership to the Lexington Rotary Club. In 2017, she was awarded the Rotary Serving Humanity Award and a Citation for Meritorious Service by the Trustees of The Rotary Foundation. And she continued teaching – but, it created a conflict in that her teaching schedule forced her to transfer her membership to the Rotary Club of Lexington After Hours. There she continues her work on international service projects.
“We meet once-a-month, after work, to unwind, and attack projects,” she said.
Covington Rotary co-presidents Gil Fauber and Dave Meyer with Jeanne Clark. (Photo by Andy Furman/NKyTribune)
Now, as District Governor, her main project, she says is to support all the clubs, and serve as a resource.
“I work with the leadership groups and serve as a sounding board to the district clubs.”
More than that, as Governor, Jeanne Clark trains all club presidents in District 6740.
“I’ll give them a thorough training course about three-months before each of them get started,” she said. “It’s really pretty easy for me, since I eat, drink and sleep Rotary.”
She then posed this question to the assembled group: “Do you have a healthy club?” she asked. And followed with: “What makes a club healthy?”
Clark listed the Rotary Five Avenues of Service to help answer her question:
Club Service
Community Service
International Service
Youth Service
Vocational Service
The Covington Club was quick with answers for each. In the community, the Covington Rotary Club has made, and delivered weekly since 2020 – some 27,000 sandwiches to The Parish Kitchen. The Club does grocery shopping for those who can’t get out; and they are very much involved with the Salvation Army. They had volunteer bell-ringers on the streets this season. Students in local schools were recipients of back-packs from the club; and the Youth Exchange Program has seen students study abroad thanks the work of the local club.
“Those who serve and volunteer make a club strong,” Clark said. “It creates a strong foundation.”
Jeanne Clark did say she saved the best for last – perhaps she was right.
