News


We are proud to announce the presentation of a $15,000 donation, split evenly between the Highland Fire District and the Town of Lloyd Police, to our brave and selfless first responders. These funds, raised through the Club’s Third Annual First Responders Golf Outing held in May, will support the purchase of vital safety initiatives.

The Fire Department plans to purchase personal protective equipment for volunteers, while the Police Department will acquire a special drone to enhance public safety operations.
This year’s event marks continued growth in the Rotary’s support of local first responders—building on $10,000 donated to the Fire District in the first year and $15,000 split between fire and police in year two. Many years ago, long before they were standard safety tools, the Club also provided funding to purchase cameras for police cars.
We are so proud to present scholarships and awards totaling $12,000 to eight deserving Highland Central School District students from the High School and from Ulster BOCES Career & Technical Center.
 
Congratulations to the Ulster BOCES CTE students who each received $1,000 John Jankiewicz Scholarship Awards to use towards launching their careers in the trades, whether it be purchasing tools and equipment, paying licensing fees, or other expenses to support their professional goals:
• Gavin Goodenough - Electrical Construction
• Bradley Gatto - HVAC
• Stephen North - Electrical Construction
• Hayley Sutfin - Cosmetology
 
Congratulations to the following students who were each awarded $2,000 academic scholarships to use for college tuition:
• Alexa Pavese
• Amelia Delforno
• Lillian Reynolds
• Elaine Shebey
 
Join us in congratulating this year's Highland Rotary Club Service Above Self Awards honorees. The Rotary "Service Above Self" motto conveys the humanitarian spirit of our organization. Each year, the Highland Rotary Club recognizes the people in our community who live by the same motto and are dedicated to serving our local community. See the event pictures here.
 
This year's honorees are:
Amelia Delforno, Student Honoree
Darlene Plavchak, Individual Honoree
Bushiken Karate Dojo, Michael Skinner & Dan Paradies, Business Honoree
 
Five students who will be juniors at Highland Central School District in the fall attended the 2024 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) leadership conference at Mount Saint Mary College this summer. Their participation was sponsored by the Highland Rotary Club. RJ Schneider, Alexis Violaris, Zackary Maroney, Wesley Clarke, and Connor Pickett attended.
 
RYLA is an annual event that brings youth from across the region together for an intensive experience designed to help them develop skills in leadership, team building, problem-solving, and communication, while also having fun and making connections. RYLA’s main goal is to teach youth about the power of confidence, comfort, and cooperativeness. Participants are provided a once-in-a-lifetime experience that builds social and working skills.
 
RJ and Alexis attended this week’s breakfast meeting and shared their experience with members. Their parents reinforced the student’s enthusiasm upon returning from the conference, sharing that they are still taking about what a great experience it was.
The RYLA program committee is chaired by Mark Mahoney.
 
 
Thanks to those who made clothing donations at the Highland Rotary Collection sheds, we collected 106,555 lbs of clothes in 2023, which helped clothe nearly 20K people! These contributions also helped raise $8,500 that was used to support efforts for the Highland community, including donations to the American Legion and the Highland Rail Trail. What an impact! Thank you everyone!

Bjarne "BJ" Mikkelsen, a Tour Operator at Great Dane Journeys, has been a member of Rotary International since. 2014. In addition to being an active member in club activities and service projects, he has served as Membership Chair and International Committee Chair. BJ explains, “When Rotary was explained to me, I saw very quickly that it was exactly what I identified with. I did not need to be talked into it, I said, “Well that’s me.” It was that easy. It was just straight out of my heart and something I felt strongly about and something I knew I should be a part of.” 

Club Information
Welcome to the Highland Rotary Club
Highland

Service Above Self

We meet In Person
Wednesdays at 7:10 a.m.
From the Ground Up Cafe; Vineyard Commons
6142 Merlot Dr
Highland, NY 12528
United States of America
What We Do
Club Executives & Directors
President
President Elect
Vice President
Treasurer
Public Relations
Diversity Equity Inclusion
Immediate Past President
The Rotary Foundation
 

Mission:

The Highland Rotary Club mission is to support local community and international needs through the Five Avenues of Service:  Club Service, Vocational Service, Community Service, New Generations Service, and International Service guided by the ethical standards of the Four-Way Test.

Vision:

The Highland Rotary Club is one of the leading service organizations in the community, serving as a positive resource for the local community and expanding our humanitarian support internationally. As a service leader in the community, we make a difference in the lives of many people during their time of need and work to foster our service ethics with our youth.

A LOOK BACK TO 2024: We were honored to present $15,000 to our first responders to be split between the Highland Fire District and Town of Lloyd Police to aid in the purchase of safety equipment. The funds were raised through the generosity of our sponsors and participants in our second annual First Responder Golf Outing in May 2024. Special thanks to our title sponsor JSP Home Services!
A LOOK BACK TO 2023: We were honored to present the Highland Hose Co. No. 1 Fire District with a check for $10,000 to aid in the purchase of safety equipment. The funds were raised through the generosity of our sponsors of and participants in our first-ever golf outing in May 2023 to benefit first responders. Special thanks to our title sponsor JSP Home Services.
Upcoming Events
💙 Service Above Self in Action 💙 On Saturday, May 31, we had the honor of sponsoring, preparing, and serving a hot meal to more than 100 individuals experiencing homelessness and addiction through the Hope On A Mission:HOAM street outreach in Poughkeepsie.
 
Highland Rotary is proud to support their mission, and this event marked one of many times our members have stepped up to serve. This time, Rotarians were also joined by several dedicated student volunteers from the Mount Academy.
We left humbled, inspired, and reminded why we do what we do. 💛

2024 Service Above Self Honorees

 
The Rotary "Service Above Self" motto conveys the humanitarian spirit of our organization. Each year, the Highland Rotary Club recognizes the people in our community who live by the same motto and are dedicated to serving our local community.

Award Honorees for 2024 are Jami Anson, Dennis Bragg, Raegan Hons, Sorbello Landscaping/Steven Sorbello, and TRC Auto Repair/Matthew & Sarah Bahr. You make our community a better place and are an example for all to follow.
We are so pleased to provide Taso Bakatsias with a donation towards his Eagle Scout Project! Taso came to a recent Rotary meeting and discussed his project, “Anchors Away,” which is an informational kiosk of the Black Creek Watershed that will be installed at the canoe/kayak launch. Taso has worked with the town's Environmental Committee, Town of Lloyd, Scenic Hudson, and John Burroughs Black Creek Trail Committee to design and get approval for his project, which will cost approximately $3500. Once he has secured the funding needed, his Boy Scout Troop and students from Highland High School will help build the kiosk. Good luck Taso!