Paul Harris Induction Ceremony

With the ringing of the bell, Chairman Jim Dickson officially opened the Paul Harris Induction ceremony. He started by giving a brief background and description of the Paul Harris award. He asked that all previous winners stand to be recognized.

District Governor, Tom Rogers, reported that $193,298 has been donated to the Rotary Foundation. Our Geneva Club has 36 Paul Harris Fellows and has given a total of $159,000.
Also, the Geneva Club is first in giving to Polio Plus with a total or $4,205.

Assisted by District Governor, Tom Rogers, the first of three inductees was introduced.

First was Margaret Wiant. Margaret has been a Geneva Rotarian since 2008. She has been a valuable asset to the club and is one of the “prime movers” in making the Service Above Self Dinner the success that it is. She is one of those people who loves to work behind the scenes and can always be counted on to get the job done.

Margaret is married to Timothy Wiant and they have two sons. She has been the Director of Public Relations for the Finger Lakes Visiting Nurse Service since 2003 and is responsible for their marketing efforts, all internal and external communications, and media relations.

Second to receive recognition was Shad Cook. Shad has been a Geneva Rotarian since 2014. He currently holds the title of President of Halco Energy and oversees the commercial division on a day to day basis. His team designs and installs Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing systems for new construction and renovation projects.

Shad has been actively involved with the local Little League organization for several years, and has been on the Board of Directors of Finger Lakes Catholic Charities since 2014.

Shad has been happily married to his wife, Andrea, for 21 years and they are the proud parents of three children. His daughter, Sophia, is excited to join the Interact Club next year.

Our third Paul Harris recipient was John Watson. John has been a Rotarian since 2009. Born in Geneva, he graduated from DeSales High School and went to college out west. He spent several years in Kansas, Louisiana and Texas before moving back to Geneva 14 years ago. Upon his return he held a management position at Wal-Mart until his retirement. He is active with Catholic Charities of the Finger Lakes.

John is a past-president of Geneva Rotary and is currently Assistant District Governor. In his spare time he likes to play golf and euchre.

At the conclusion of the inductions, Tom Rogers read a declaration from Rotary International and congratulated Margaret, Shad and John as the newest Paul Harris Fellows.

With the ringing of the bell, Chairman Jim Dickson brought the Paul Harris Induction Ceremony to a close.

(Congratulations to our newest Paul Harris Fellows!)