Westport Rotary Club

People of Action

Rotary is where neighbors, friends, and problem solvers share ideas,
join leaders, and take action to create lasting change.

Westport Rotary Is Co-Sponsoring the Compo Beach Playground Renovation

Donate to the Renovation

Upcoming Speakers and Events

March 4: Donna Disch, Westport Poet Laureate  

Donna Disch travelled the world before she settled in Westport twenty-five years ago.
She earned an MFA from Vermont College and has taught English in Vermont and Venezuela. She also worked as a textbook editor in Manhattan. Her poems have appeared in various journals and magazines. She is currently Westport’s poet laureate. Her mission is to heighten the awareness, pleasure and appreciation of poetry in Westport. Presently, she curates two poetry boxes: one on the road in front of her house and the other at Compo Beach where South Compo Road meets Hillspoint Road. A new poem is posted every Monday for the enjoyment of walkers and bikers. In the future, she will be presenting seminars at the Westport Library, writing and reading poems at public events and planning and participating in activities to celebrate national Poetry Month in April.

March 11: Green Village Initiative

Bridgeport’s not-for-profit Green Village Initiative was founded in Westport in 2011. Several years later the decision was made to move GVI’s base of operations and programs to focus on the residents of Bridgeport, CT and has since incorporated values of racial equity, antiracism and food justice into its goals. The GVI runs three programs which consist of community gardens, youth leadership programs and The Reservoir Community Farm, a 1.7 acre educational farm in the heart of Bridgeport with over 47 plots for community gardeners to grow food for their families. 
The farm has traditionally grown culturally appropriate vegetables, responding not only to the agro-climatic conditions at our farm, but also to the specific demands of the people who farm here. Some staples are collard greens, kale, okra, potato, tomato, sweet and hot peppers, green beans, snap peas, carrots, beets, radishes, and herbs such as basil, cilantro, thyme, and rosemary, among others. As a result they’re able to host local food pantries and religious congregations who collectively grow vegetables at the Reservoir Community Farm.

March 18: Mark Yuriw, Ukraine  

Native New Yorker now 28yrs in Wesport Mark left graduate school in Astrogoephysics to start a business creating Storytelling Sculpture for the Fortune 500 Companies. The work you saw in all forms of media over 25 years till 9/11 happened. Mark left the business behind to focus on fine art in 2002 and restoring a 1728 historical property in Westport.

Ex. for New York Cares Mark created the now iconic Homeless Statue of Liberty which became the symbol for the N.Y. Coat Drive. To date has helped bring 2 million coats to the homeless in NYC.

Mark has recently spent three weeks in Ukraine. It was a humanitarian mission to bring medical supplies to prevent unnecessary deaths. This mission is part of a larger global initiative to bring compassion to the world through Art, actions, and words. Mark Yurkiw and Miggs Burroughs recently exhibited “Signs of Compassion” at the United Nations Headquarters in NYC. This exhibit will travel to Taiwan next year and then through other cities in Asia. The Ukraine trip also brought an invitation to exhibit in Kyiv in 2026. Mark will present a slide show of his efforts in Ukraine

April 8: Wakeman Town Farms, Liz Milwe & Christy Colasurdo

The Wakeman Town Farm Sustainability Center is an organic demonstration homestead dedicated to serving the Westport Community. The Farm is a model facility created to educate the community with local healthy food production, responsible land stewardship, sustainable practices and community service orientation.   Activities include educational workshops, student internships, after-school environmental clubs, children’s summer camp programs, growing fruits and vegetables, animal husbandry, providing a farm stand and CSA pickup location.  

Mission

The mission of Wakeman Town Farm is to serve the community as an educational demonstration center for sustainable living.  

Vision

In keeping with our agrarian roots, Wakeman Town Farm provides a place where we can experience hands-on homesteading practices, encompassing time honored and cutting edge methods, such ascomposting, succession planting, solar and wind power technologies.   Wakeman Town Farm offers a wide array of educational programs in agriculture, land stewardship and animal husbandry which serve to inspire the community to unite for the mutual benefit of a healthy environment and a more sustainable future.

Want to Join the FUN of Westport Rotary LobsterFest?

Learn About Becoming a LobsterFest Volunteer
Become a LobsterFest Sponsor

 The Goal of LobsterFest

All funds raised at LobsterFest are donated to local and international charities. Giving to the Westport Rotary Club is “one-stop shopping”. Donations support a wide range of both local nonprofit organizations and many international humanitarian projects. The Westport Rotary Club Charitable and International Giving Committees vet each grant application determining suitability and the greatest levels of need.

Interested in becoming a LobsterFest sponsor?

Please contact one of our Co-Chairs of Fundraising:

Kenny Epstein – [email protected]

Leslie Roberts – [email protected]

What Is Rotary?

Rotary is a worldwide organization of more than 1.4 million business, professional, and community leaders spread throughout 37,000 Rotary Clubs in more than 200 countries.

Clubs are nonpolitical, nonreligious, and open to all cultures, races, and creeds. As signified by the motto Service Above Self, members of Rotary clubs, known as Rotarians, share the main objective of service — in the community, in the workspace and throughout the world.

Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world.  Membership is by application or invitation.

Westport Rotary Club invites you to join a meeting to learn more

Meetings are held every TUESDAY except the last Tuesday of the month in person at 12:00 pm. For more information please contact the club president or member chair.

In person lunch meetings are held at: Greens Farms Congregational Church – 71 Hillandale Rd Westport, CT 06880  

Member Chair: Audrey Demetres – [email protected]

Mailing Address:

Westport Rotary Club

P.O. Box 743

Westport, CT 06881-0743

AVENUES OF SERVICE

We channel our commitment to service through five avenues, which are the foundation of club activity.

Club
Service

A thriving club is anchored by strong relationships and an active membership development plan.

Vocational Service

Rotarians work with integrity and contribute their expertise to the problems and needs of society.

Community Service

We find ways to improve the quality of life for people in their communities and to serve the public interest.

International Service

We promote peace & understanding globally by sponsoring or volunteering on projects around the world.

Youth
Service

Rotarians work to empower young people through leadership development programs, encouraging the next generation of leaders.