Rotary Club of Ferndale Exhibits Strong Youth Focus

The Declaration of Rotarians states that as a Rotary member you must offer vocational talents: to provide opportunities for young people, to work for the relief of the special needs of others, and to improve the quality of life in the community. The Rotary Club of Ferndale holds true to all it must offer.

The club meets every Thursday night at , a Ferndale floral shop that is owned and operated by Jerome Raska, the club's vice president. The small group of local people talk over dinner about what the coming weeks will involve, planning community fundraisers and their annual spaghetti dinner, which raises money for scholarships to be given to three high school seniors.

"We give three $2,000 scholarships out," said Amy Roll, Ferndale Rotary Club president. "(Students) get $1,000 for the first semester, and then they have to come back and report to us how they're doing before they get the other $1,000."

Roll is a Ferndale resident who graduated from Wayne State University and works at as a funeral director and preneed specialist. This is her second year serving as the club's president, and she thinks interviewing high school seniors for the scholarships is an all-around great experience.

"It's an application and interview process," said Roll. "We have specific criteria just to give them a baseline: grade-point average, community service is big for us because we want kids that have that spirit.

"That's what Rotary is," she said. "It's about community and giving back."

The Rotary Club gave back in a huge way this past year when it donated books to the new . Earl Sparkman, a six-year Rotary Club member, explained that through connections, the club managed to get in touch with previous Ferndale Library Director , about donating boxes upon boxes of new books. The collection of books was made possible by working in conjunction with the Richmond Rotary Club, which purchased books through a printer, said Roll.

Other than contributing donations, the Rotary Club provides opportunities for youth in the community to take on leadership roles. Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) are geared toward instilling young people with communication skills and encourage leadership of youth by youth, according to the Rotary's website.

Justin Stevenson,16, of Oak Park took interest in the RYLA program after he heard an announcement at his school, , about a Rotary banquet.

"I started getting interested in the meeting," said Stevenson. "There was a speaker that was talking about teenage drinking that I found interesting, so I started coming to more of the meetings, and that's when I was told about RYLA."

Stevenson will travel in May to a RYLA in Canada, where he will be among other RYLA members working to build upon communication and leadership skills.

The Rotary Club also hosts a youth exchange program. Students from different countries get a chance to live with a host family in the U.S. for up to a year. The same goes for American students who choose to travel overseas and learn about a foreign country's culture while studying abroad.

If you want a firsthand look at what the Rotary Club does, come to its second annual spaghetti dinner from 5-8 p.m. Thursday at . Local shops will be lending a hand at the dinner, with serving ice cream and offering a gift basket of goodies as a door prize.

Also, keep an eye out for this summer for the Rotary Club's annual Bike Rodeo. The rodeo gives children in the community a chance to pedal on down to ride through a safety course, have their bikes inspected and receive a free helmet supplied by the club.

The event also will feature a fire safety house, which gives children a chance to experience what a real house fire could be like and teaches them safety procedures to escape unharmed.

For more information about the Rotary Club and how you can become a member, visit rotary.org.