Our members gathered May 20 for an installation dinner for incoming president Michael while saluting outgoing president Byron. District Gov. Becky Bennett was on hand to do the honors and join in the fun.

President Byron awarded $9,500 in scholarships to deserving CHS students in May. Honored were Landon Hensley, Mahaela Sleeper ($1,500) Paisley Williamson ($5,000 Fairman Trust Scholarship), and Sylvia Underwood ($1,500).

The final installment of the Students of the Month for this school year took place on May 13, with two students each from Inverness Middle School and Citrus High School honored, accompanied by school staffers, advisors and proud family members.

From a six-club social and the inaugural Founders Day picnic to District training and the induction of two members by District Gov. Derek, our months continue to fly by!

Lace Blue-McLean, the do-it-all leader of the Rotary Club of Inverness, was honored in early May by two organizations for her tireless work to help Citrus County. First, the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce presented her with its Pillar Award, joined by our own Joe Brannen. Later, Lace was honored by the Academy of Environmental Sciences with its first Osprey Award for dedication to preserving our environment. She was joined by our own Holli Herndon.

Our club's first Founders Day potluck dinner featured loads of food, fun and fellowship as we celebrated our club's long and exciting history - including the creation of Whispering Pines Park, the site of the dinner. Nearly 50 members and their families, along with our Troop 457, enjoyed hearing from Joe Brannen about our club's history and from John Murphy about our club's latest project, the Bryant Park all-inclusive playground.

It was all hands on deck Saturday, March 22 as the club put on the annual Brew Fest to raise funds for the Bryant Park playground. The weather cooperated, the music was great and the vibe all day was special. This is what we can do when we all work together for a great cause!

Our members were up early and busy slinging strawberry shortcakes at the annual Floral City Strawberry Festival on March 1-2. Our members, assisted by the Interact students, raised a lot of money for our club's many charitable causes.

Sometimes, our meetings can be emotional as we hear about a pressing need for help in our community. On Feb. 18, President nominee Sonja spoke about the Nature Coast Ministries' efforts to provide dental care to the indigent. Then, a week later, we welcomed new member Tom Craig with our first handshake, high-five line while tooting kazoos! Cynthia tried in vain to set a tune on her accordion. It was a memorable meeting!

On Feb. 4, 2025, our club recognized the shining stars from Citrus High School and Inverness Middle School as well as their families and supportive school staffers during our monthly Students of the Month meeting.

Club members helped dozens of third graders from Floral City Elementary learn about conservation and protecting the environment during the Feb. 4 One Bag event.

Our members spent a recent chilly Saturday morning putting in the hard work to allow local deserving families to get their first homes. We joined Rotarians from the other five clubs in Citrus in living the slogan Service Above Self!

Our club honored Students of the Month from Inverness Middle School and Citrus High School on Jan. 14. We also inducted Holli Herndon, a returning member.

Our first meeting of 2025 featured a packed agenda starting with a visit from returning Global Scholar Abby Blocker, who updated us on her projects in South Africa; the indiction of new member Jill; and Chris proudly presenting us with the ribbon our club won, under her guidance, for having the Most Festive decorated lamppost at Liberty Park over the holiday season.

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PAR-TEE! Find a cool place (Citrus County Historic Courthouse), add some good food and drinks, sprinkle in some fun (a visit from the Griswolds and some holiday trivia contests) and you have a perfect recipe for a fun holiday party. Nearly 40 club members and spouses enjoyed fun company and ushered in the season with a fun dinner party. Big thanks to Lisa Cino and her team for pulling it all together! 

Chris Dudley, Lace Blue-McLean and other club members were on hand at a recent Inverness City Council meeting to accept the award from the city for the Most Festive lamppost at Liberty Park. Chris, Muchael Dandurand and others each year create new and dazzling decorations for the annual event to mark the holiday season. Congratulations, team!

Once again, our club was in awe of a special group of students from Citrus High School and Inverness Middle School, our Students of the Month, who have achieved so much for themselves and our community. We also heard from our new Interact leadership team at CHS, starting with President Addi Leonard, who shared her experience at S4TL. We also presented Interact with their new banner and ceremonial engraved brass bell.   See more photos in the Gallery!  #RotaryPeopleOfAction #d6950 #d6950strong

Our club members spent many hours in late October, early November selling beer to help the Kings Bay Rotary Club raise funds for the community, to unloading food at the Blessings Food Bank to spending hours at the fairgrounds helping Let's Feed Citrus donate Thanksgiving feasts to those in need to sorting and loading surplus medical supplies to be sent to the embattled people of Ukraine.

Our Nov. 12 meeting was packed with accomplished students, proud parents and school officials as we saluted students of the month for October and November from Citrus High School and Inverness Middle School as well as inducting our Interact Club leadership team (who painted pinkies purple as part of a Polio-Plus fundraising and awareness campaign) to meeting our Exchange Students from Taiwan and Brazil.

The weather was divine on Nov. 10 as our club hosted students from Pleasant Grove Elementary School for the One Bag environmental awareness field trip. Third graders learned about conservation in a fun way, from building towers using recycled cans to games such as water conservation relay and lawn bowling to playing with worms.

At our club's Oct. 29 Boot Camp, members took a deep dive into the many education-related activities we do for students in the community, from One Bag and the Dictionary Project to Students of the Month, the Welcome Back Breakfast for teachers and staff at CHS to $11,500 in annual scholarships.

Our club members recently visited Pleasant Grove Elementary School to distribute dictionaries to 120 third graders, who learned the value of this important resource. Members showed the kids that these books contained more than just words and definitions, but things such as Sign Language, state capitals, maps and so much more. Best of all, the kids got to keep them. For some, this was their first book to own.

Club members spent the morning of Oct. 1 at Whispering Pines Park teaching Inverness Primary School third graders about environmental stewardship through a variety of games and activities known as ONE BAG. Despite the unusual heat for October, everyone had a fun time and learned a lot about Mother Nature.

Many of our club members visited Inverness Primary School on Sept. 17 bearing important gifts: new dictionaries for the third graders to use. This annual event, which involves all three regional primary schools, is a big part of our club's literacy initiative.

Our club members spent a recent Saturday morning picking up litter around Cooter Pond as part of Save Our Waters Week's Coastal Cleanup. This annual effort is part of our club's commitment to protecting the environment while teaching the next generation the importance of environmental stewardship.

On Sept. 10, our club welcomed high-achieving students from Inverness Middle School and Citrus High School as our Students of the Month. We also met new Interact President Addi Leonard. Congratulations to everyone!

We often say that our club is one big family, and it's growing! In recent weeks, we welcomed back former member Kenney Fagan, whose family just returned to Citrus County after an out-of-state stint, and Eddie Levin, who transferred to our club from the Rotary Club of Crystal River, where he served for more than two decades. And our family extends to future Rotarians as we welcomed some sweet visitors: Lace's granddaughters Olivia and Saffron, and Cynthia's granddaughter Milena June.

Here are the photos for the slideshow to be used at the Boot Camp

On July 30, nearly two dozen club members gathered for our first Rotary Boot Camp, designed to get members - especially new ones - involved in our many projects.

Rotarians recently helped unload a truck full of donated food and drinks for Citrus County Blessings, a unique program in the county that aims to make sure students from food-insecure families have enough food to get through weekends. The donations were later taken to pantries in schools around the county to be loaded into backpacks for kids to take home on Fridays.

Members of the Rotary Club of Inverness were up early on Aug. 1 to serve a hot catered breakfast to Citrus High School teachers and staff and district administrators as part of the club's annual token of appreciation for all that they do for our children and the community. Plus, it's a lot of fun!

The new Rotary year began July 9 for our club in a new location, Withlacoochee Technical College, a new president, Byron, and two new members, Jared and Jennifer. We're off to a great start!

Club members were out in force July 3 at the annual Patriotic Evening at Inverness' Liberty Park, selling beer and other beverages to the thirsty crowd gathered in the heat and later a downpour before enjoying a concert and the star attraction: the fireworks!

On June 25, our club celebrated the presidency of Tom and his leadership team while welcoming new President Byron! It was a Taco Tuesday to remember for all of the members, especially Mark Novak, named Rotarian of the Year for all of his work this year. Special thanks go to everyone who made this evening so memorable!

Seven members of the Rotary Club of Inverness spent an exciting day recently at Florida Southern College attending the annual Seminar for Tomorrow's Leaders. The members took part in rap sessions and other discussions of the challenges facing this next crop of community leaders - an future Rotarians!

Our club raises funds all year to support worthy community projects, and on June 18, we heard from leaders of several groups that received grants who explained how our funds make a difference in what they do.

Our members recently helped the community group Relief Share collect, sort and box surplus medical supplies donated by local medical offices and hospitals to be shipped to the people of Ukraine as they struggle in their war for survival.

Members of our club helped the Citrus County Blessings organization collect leftover food from various food pantries for storage over the summer at the group's distribution site in Beverly Hills.

Our club members like to have fun; it can't always be about working hard for our community! We recently had a club social at The Cove, and almost all of the members were there to swap stories and laughter.

On May 14, our club recognized Students of the Month from Inverness Middle School and Citrus High School for their hard work in achieving exceptional grades while also growing as responsible members of the community. We also saluted Marco Wilson, whose wife, Lora, is a club past president, for all of his volunteer work as a Friend of the Rotary Club of Inverness.

Club members joined Scouts from Troop 457, which is chartered by our club, on Saturday May 4 in collecting 45 pounds of trash and 25 pounds of recyclables from along Haven Street in Inverness. The cleanup was part of the global initiative Scouts Trash the Trash, in cooperation with the international Messengers of Peace project.

Club leaders joined other Rotarians from throughout District 6950 for a weekend of fun, training and honors at the annual conference in Orlando.

Our club meeting on April 9 featured our recognition of Students of the Month from IMS and CHS, as well as laughter and fun among members over baseball caps and T-shirts. See Karen's meeting recap for more details!

Club members joined with volunteers from other Rotary Clubs in Citrus County and other organizations to help Habitat for Humanity make great progress on two Citrus Springs homes on April 13.

Club members gathered on April 11 for an evening of fun and fellowship at Connors Gifts downtown, where we browsed and bought and encouraged others to do the same. The evening was a success as the Connors family donated $1,000 to our club's charitable foundation to be used to meet local educational needs including scholarships.

Our club meetings on March 12 and 19 demonstrate how important improving education is to our club and to Rotary International. On March 12, we honored the February Students of the month from Inverness Middle School and Citrus High School. On March 19, we recognized our two WTC scholarship winners as well as heard from our Global Scholar Abby Blocker.

Members of the Rotary Club of Inverness gathered March 17 at Lora's home to decorate our club's float in the annual Inverness St. Patrick's Day Parade. Many thanks go to Lora as well as Drew and Jen Benefield for loaning us their truck and pontoon boat and to club members who helped decorate.

Nearly 50 third-graders from Floral City Elementary School spent the morning of Feb. 5 at Whispering Pines Park learning from our club members about different ways they can help save the planet through conservation and preservation - all while having fun! From playing golf and bowling to making aluminum can towers and gently handling worms, the youngsters learned they can help Mother Nature and have fun at the same time. For more photos, visit the Rotary Club of Inverness' Facebook page.

Hundreds of craft beer aficionados gathered around the Inverness Depot Park water tower on Feb. 24 for an evening of fun as they sampled suds from home and commercial craft beer brewers. The party was our club's seventh annual beer festival and raised much-needed funds to help make our signature project - turning Bryant Park into an all-inclusive playground - a reality.

Rotarians and friends of the Rotary Club bundled up Wednesday morning to help feed more than 1,000 of our neighbors at the Let's Feed Citrus food drive orchestrated by the Church Without Walls.

Ruth Bowling of AdventHealth spoke to our club on Feb. 20 about the Sharing Smiles program that helps children in Latin America get the treatment they need for cleft lips and palates. Find more details in the meeting recap, by Karen Aultman, elsewhere on the site.

At our club's Feb. 13 meeting, we honored the January Students of the Month from both Inverness Middle School and Citrus High School. From IMS, we had Makalya Butler and Jett Ritli, along with liaison Allison Lambert. From CHS, we had liaison Chad Myers and Conner Peltier.

Our club members responded to a call for help to build gift baskets for the silent auction during the upcoming Highlands Craft Brew Festival. Each of these baskets of fun will help raise needed funds for our signature project, the reimagining of Bryant Park as a playground for special needs children.

Abby Blocker returned home to Inverness for the holidays and visited our club, bringing her usual grace and good cheer while updating us on her important work to improve health care in remote areas of South Africa.

Our club had another successful Sorting Saturday with Relief Share on Jan. 20! Our members, including Interact students, volunteered to help sort and pack a mountain of surplus medical supplies donated from local medical facilities and offices to be shipped to hospitals in war-torn Ukraine. Special thanks to First Presbyterian Church of Inverness for hosting the event as well as Citrus County Schools and HCA Florida Citrus Hospital for all of their support for this worthy cause.

On Jan. 16, our club recognized four local students for their many accomplishments as our Students of the Month.

Our club added to the holiday cheer at Inverness' Depot District with a cleverly decorated lamppost at Liberty Park. Special thanks to Chris, Michael and everyone involved with making this otherwise ordinary lamppost shine!

It's the holiday season, and members of the Rotary Club of Inverness are everywhere around Citrus County spreading joy and working hard to make life better for our neighbors.

The Rotary Club of Inverness on Dec. 12 recognized the Students of the Month from Inverness Middle School and Citrus High School, who impressed the audience of club members, parents and school officials with their accomplishments and community spirit.

Our annual holiday party was a wonderful evening of laughter, friendship and good food! We send a special thanks to President Tom Slaymaker and wife, Kelly, for opening their lovely home to the club and for providing all of the delicious goodies for us to enjoy, and for Lace and everyone else involved in making this evening a success.

More than 100 students from Inverness Primary School swarmed Whispering Pines Park on Nov. 28 as part of the Rotary Club of Inverness' One Bag event, designed to teach local youngsters the value of conservation and recycling while having tons of fun!

Members of the Rotary Club of Inverness and their families rang in the holiday season over the Thanksgiving weekend by collecting donations for the Salvation Army outside of Publix in Inverness. For hours, these folks spread holiday cheers and helped raise needed funds to help others in Citrus County.

Members of our club joined volunteers from The Path in a demolition project on Nov. 18 in a storefront in Dunnellon, the future home of a renovated thrift store to help raise funds for the shelter.

The latest group of Students of the Month from Inverness Middle School and Citrus High School, filled our members with pride in their accomplishments during the Nov. 14 club meeting. Their good work left us inspired and hopeful for the future.

Surplus medical supplies collected by the community group RELIEF SHARE from doctors' offices and medical centers in Citrus County, all coordinated by our club's Megan Carella and packaged with the help of our Rotarians, have arrived in war-ravaged Kherson, Ukraine. It's another way Rotary's global reach is making a difference in lives.

Members of the Rotary Club of Inverness helped fellow Rotarians from the Kings Bay club keep the good times rolling at the 16th Annual Stone Crab Jam on Nov. 4. We were selling cold beer and our stand was near the live music, so we ours was a popular stop for the crowd.

Members of the Rotary Club of Inverness donned purple clothing at a recent meeting to mark World Polio Day, recognizing the enormous work Rotarians around the world have done to eradicate this disease.

Rotarians spent a recent morning at Whispering Pines Park teaching dozens of third-grade students from Pleasant Grove Elementary about conservation, recycling and other fun ways to appreciate and safeguard our world.

The Rotary Club of Inverness for many years has been honoring students of the month from Citrus High School and Inverness Middle School. We're so proud of these up-and-coming community leaders.

Our club members enjoy spending time with each other away from community service projects. Our social this month was an evening of duckpin bowling and games at the Inverness Depot cafe.

Members of the Rotary Club of Inverness clean the shoreline of Cooter Pond in Inverness as part of the annual Coastal Cleanup Day during Save Our Waters Week.

The Rotary Club of Inverness, in partnership with the City of Inverness, recently cut the ceremonial ribbon at the completion of the Phase 2 Project at Bryant Park in Inverness. This year’s upgrades included land preparation, installation of shaded picnic furnishings, BBQ grills and trash receptacles.

The Highland Craft Brew Festival, hosted by the Rotary Club of Inverness, Saturday, February 2, 2019 at Rock Crusher Canyon in Lecanto. The event kicks off at 6pm and continues through 9pm. The Highland Craft Brew Festival features home brewers who compete in a People’s Choice competition, craft brewers from around the state and entertainment from popular Celtic rock band Off Kilter. New for 2019 is the addition of an Ultimate Highlander VIP scotch tasting.

July 2019 "5th Tuesday" social took us all to Lakeside Ranches for a great meal, camaraderie, and a serene setting. Thanks, John & Kaley Wirthlin for such great hospitality!