Ponca City Rotary met recently at The Perk Beverage Co to celebrate the beginning of a new Rotary year and to install their new officers and directors. Master of Ceremonies for the evening was Kelly Johnson, and the installing officer was Marty Postic from Midtown Rotary in Oklahoma City. Postic is a past district governor for District 5750 and the recipient of several of Rotary International’s highest awards.

New officers for the year are, President - T.L Walker, President Elect - Darrell Mendiola, Secretary - Jamie Phillips, Treasurer – Mike Trewitt, Sergeant At Arms - Mike Collins, Directors - Kelly Johnson, Brook Lindsay, Pat Mulligan, Don Nuzum, and Marta Sullivan.

“Create Hope in the World”, the 2023-2024 Rotary International theme, was also celebrated at the installation event. At the international convention in Melbourne, Australia, Rotary International President, Gordon McInally, introduced the new theme and called for members to capture the world’s attention and lead the way toward possibilities far beyond current expectations.

McInally said, “The goal is to restore hope — to help the world heal from destructive conflicts and, in turn, to help us achieve lasting change for ourselves. Peace is the soil where hope takes root.”

Building on McInally’s call to action, incoming president Walker offered some ideas for creating hope and ended her remarks with this charge to the local members.

“This is our task for the coming year, to create hope in our club by standing shoulder to shoulder, committed to each other and our common goals. We will help each other achieve those goals,” said Walker. “We will lift each other up and together, we will offer our gifts to the world through our dedication to service above self, because we are all part of something so much larger than ourselves. We have chosen to be part of a global community of like-minded individuals, and we are blessed with this opportunity to Create Hope in the World.”