Club events

31 December | Rotary Club of Millbrook, New York

New Year’s Eve Millbrook

Starting in the afternoon, this New Year’s Eve celebration is intended for the whole family. Highlights in past years have included circus acts, a puppet show, a model railroad display, and live musical performances from blues, jazz, and classical ensembles. Each year, local students enter a contest to design the event’s logo, which is placed on buttons and stickers sold as admission tokens.

1 January | Rotary Club of Guilford, Connecticut

Frosty 5K

Runners and walkers alike can start 2025 on a good foot with the club’s 40th annual New Year’s Day races, which include a 5K run, a 2-mile walk, and a kids’ fun run. Stretching from the town green to the marina on the coast of Long Island Sound, the 5K course offers a tour of Guilford, a historic community settled by puritans in 1639. Top finishers will receive prizes, and all participants can partake in New England clam chowder and other refreshments.

2 January-9 February | Rotary Club of Traverse Bay Sunrise, Michigan

Super Bowl Raffle

In the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, the club is holding a raffle involving the big game. Each raffle ticket sold is randomly assigned to a square on a grid, with each square representing a potential football score. On game day, the square that corresponds to the score at the end of each quarter will earn its ticket holder $300. Proceeds go toward education and literacy projects in Michigan and Malawi.

18 January | Rotary Club of League City, Texas

Polar Plunge for PolioPlus

With average January temperatures in the Houston area reaching the 60s Fahrenheit, this winter swim should have a milder chill than similar events held in more northerly climes. The annual event takes place at a YMCA swimming pool and has raised tens of thousands of dollars over the years to support the effort to eradicate polio.

25 January | District 5870 (Texas)

Central Texas Foundation Gala

Since 1997, the district has organized a gala dinner to honor members for their contributions to The Rotary Foundation throughout the past year, including those who became Paul Harris Fellows, Major Donors, and members of the Arch Klumph and Legacy societies. The top giving clubs in the district will also be recognized. This year’s event will be held at a hotel in the Austin suburb of Pflugerville, with dinner preceded by a cocktail hour.

25 January | Rotary Club of Redmond, Washington

Stinky Spoke

This annual mountain bike ride is so named because organizers schedule it on a day they hope will bring the crummiest weather of the year. Participants pedal a 20-mile course of rugged, muddy terrain, starting on a trail along the Sammamish River, cresting a summit nicknamed Heart Attack Hill, and winding through the Redmond Watershed Preserve. Hot food and cold drinks await riders past the finish line.

25 January | Rotary Club of Brighton, Australia

Kieser Great Bayside Swim

For over a decade, swimmers have swarmed to the Melbourne suburb of Brighton around Australia Day for a series of races in Port Phillip Bay. Courses of 650, 1,400, and 2,500 meters plunge competitors into the waters around Middle Brighton Pier. There is also a shorter course for children ages 7 to 12. Prizes are awarded in each event.