On June 25, the Rotary Club of Westfield installed new officers and directors who will serve from July 2019 to June 2020. The members thanked outgoing President, Clark Lagemann and his board for their great service over the past year. Clark shared how proud he is of all the accomplishments the club made this year including Project Hunger in which Rotarians were able to serve lunches and provide weekend backpacks of food to nutritionally challenged youth in our community. The club also gave out over $24,000 in grants to local non-profit organizations and close to $100,000 in scholarships to Westfield students. .Elizabeth ("Liz") Ensslin was welcomed as the new President for the upcoming year. Liz is the owner of The InkWell Printers and has been a longtime Rotarian. She is also an active in her church and in the community, an accomplished musician and a mother. She is off and running with a great agenda to build the club up even more over the next year.
Before her inauguration as President of the club, Liz had served as a director and officer of the club for 5 years, and had attended an intensive program of training for incoming club presidents conducted by national leaders of Rotary, and by officials of Rotary District 7475, the regional organization encompassing Rotary Clubs in central and northern New Jersey.. This training also included seminars and meetings with the incoming presidents of other Rotary clubs.
The other officers and directors for 2009 are: Joe Mindak, Vice President and President Elect; Michael Hart, Secretary; Steven Ketcham, Treasurer; Blake Width, Director and Membership Co-Chair; Elena Herskowitz, Director; Maria Fuentes, Director Club Service; Anthony LaPorta, Sergeant at Arms. Outgoing President Clark Lagemann will continue to serve the Club as Immediate Past President, and will also serve as Chairman of the Westfield Rotary Foundation, the 501(c)(3) charity which funds the scholarships and community grants awarded by the Club.
in keeping with a long-standing tradition of the Club, past presidents of the Club who were in attendance joined together in the "passing of the gavel" ceremony. The past presidents stood in order of their year of service, from earliest to most recent, and the gavel used by the president during club meetings was handed down the line until it reached outgoing president Clark Lagemann, who presented to Ms. Ensslin. This ceremony symbolizes the continuity of the Club, and the fact that each person who serves as president builds on the achievements of their predecessors.