2018 August PASO Magazine

Paso Robles Rotary Club
Gives Local and International in 2018
By Nicholas Mattson
The mission of Rotary International is to
provide service to others, promote integrity, and
advance world understanding, goodwill, and
peace through its fellowship of business, professional,
and community leaders. In service to
others, Paso Robles is home to two of the seven
clubs in the North SLO County, and through a
variety of fundraisers, they produce a bounty of
goodwill for the local community.
The Paso Robles Rotary Club meets weekly
at noon on Thursdays at Paso Robles Inn for
lunch and business. With two big annual fundraisers
and the management of a scholarship
fund, the club produces more than $100,000 in
local support.
Club president Gail Tannehill began her
term in July, and intends on developing the
club’s international participation, but knows
how important it is for the club to focus on our
local community.
“We do a lot in our community, and in the
world,” Tannehill said. “We are going to be
highlighting some international activity, but our
club is very concerned about supporting our local
community.”
One of the ways the club supports local community
is through the annual golf tournament,
which was renamed the “Tee It Up For OUR
Kids” golf tournament with a dedication to deliver
all proceeds to programs and organizations
that serve our local Paso Robles youth.
“We decided to support non-profit organizations
that work with the children of Paso
Robles,” tournament organizer Rick Goree
said. “We invited the organizations to attend a
Rotary lunch as our guest and we presented the
big check to them. It is a good opportunity to
let our sponsors and community know where
the money is going.”
From the 2017 proceeds, $5,000 was donated
to each of the Boy Scouts, Children’s
Museum, CASA, Boys and Girls Club, Paso
Robles Youth Arts Foundation, SKILLS USA;
$2,500 donated to Morning Star Youth Ranch
and Youth Works; and $1,000 donated to Paso
Robles Youth Soccer, North County Dance and
El Chorro.
In March, the annual golf tournament raised
about $35,000 to be distributed among local
charities or causes. The list of beneficiaries is
currently under review, with a number of past
recipients — such as the local Boy Scouts troop,
North San Luis Obispo County Boys & Girls
Club and SkillsUSA — in the running for a
contribution.
In July, $2,500
of that sum was
donated to the
“Made in the
Shade” fundraiser
for the construction
of shade over
the playground
of Paso Robles’
Uptown Family
Park. The park
playground provides a great local resource, but
without any large trees or other shade structures
it is often too hot to use. Rotary’s mission gives
local businesspersons a means to impact the
local and international community with large
donations and service opportunities such
as this.
Following the success of the golf
tournament, the Rotary Club of Paso
Robles prepared for the distribution of
more than $75,000 in local scholarships
to graduating Paso Robles High School
students in June. The scholarships ranged
from $1,000 to $5,000, and assisted 22 PRHS
seniors’ trips into higher education.
A majority of the money raised for those
annual scholarships comes from the Rotary
Winemakers’ Cookoff. The event was founded
by Gary Eberle when he was the Rotary president
in 1998. Before the Cookoff, the club donated
between $1,000-3,000.
“It was an embarrassingly low amount for
such a strong Rotary club,” Eberle said.
Twenty years later, and that has dramatically
changed. Proceeds from the cookoff are paired
with the interest from a foundation fund —
jointly named after Harlow Ford and Callum
Black — managed by the Paso Robles Rotary.
The general Paso Robles public can be a part
of the scholarship fundraising effort by enjoying
an August evening at the 20th annual
Winemakers’ Cookoff, as the community gathers
to wine and dine with the best of what Paso
Robles has to offer.
“Just come down,” Eberle said “You will have
all the food you can possibly eat. Phyllis Madonna
still gives us those sheet cakes for desert
— great desserts. You could not eat all the food
presented — and all the wine and music.”
Wine country has made room for some
world-famous beer producers, and the cookoff
has made room as well.
“We have some breweries involved now, so if
you don’t like wine with your ribs, you can have
a beer,” Eberle said.
At the end of the day, bellies are full, and
glasses are empty, with the profits of the event
making their way to the scholarship counts of
the next generation of
PRHS graduates.
“The money stays in
Paso Robles,” Eberle
said. “It is truly a community
event.”
Between the cookoff
and the scholarship
fund, the Paso Robles
Rotary continues to
build a head of steam
in serving local students’ transition from high
school to college, and Eberle set his sights on
another threshold.
“Three years from now, we will be doing
$100,000 per year in scholarships at the high
school,” Eberle predicted.
Looking forward to a great event, Rotary
sends out an invitation to those looking for a
good time and a good cause.
“Each year it is a little bigger, and better run,”
Eberle said. “The wineries are always coming up
with new foods, and bribes for the judges.”
The 2018 lineup of cookoff judges will be
Robert Whitley, Bridget Binns, Mira Honeycutt,
Mike Cervin, and William Carter.
Throwing events and raising money is only
part of what it means to be a Rotarian, and Tannehill
invited anyone interested in getting more
involved in the community to reach out.
“We want to encourage new members,” Tannehill
said. “If you are at all interested in Rotary,
go to our website and contact any of our
members.”
20TH ANNUAL
WINEMAKERS’ COOKOFF
Paso Robles Event Center
Saturday, August 11
Participants pour their finest wines and
beer to compete for the best grilled
appetizer north of Cuesta Grade!
Tickets: winemakerscookoff.com
$90 each, $50 for Designated Driver
Must be 21 or older to attend
All money raised goes directly to local
high school scholarships.
To date, Paso Robles Rotary Club has
raised nearly $1.4 million dollars toward
local scholarships.
26 | pasomagazine.com PASO Magazine, August 2018