By Matt de Simone
The Botetourt County Rotary Club President Don Nichols was joined by Rotary District Governor Bret Hrbek to give out the Paul Harris Fellow Award to local community members who have made significant contributions to the area. This award highlights the positive impact of service and community involvement.
Botetourt citizens Bill Price, Brent Hershey, John Alexander, Danielle Alexander, and Dee Nichols each received the award. Recipients received a commemorative certificate, a pin, and a medallion.
The meeting also featured a presentation by Hrbek about the Presidential Peace Conference that he attended in Istanbul, Turkey, last February. The three-day conference included keynote speakers, panel discussions, and breakout sessions that highlighted the many ways Rotary members, program participants, partners, and community leaders can advocate for peace; share stories, insights, and ideas about building peace locally and globally; and foster meaningful conversations about promoting peace within their communities and beyond.
Hrbek spoke about peace and about the opening of the Otto and Fran Walter Rotary Peace Center.
“The Peace Center is an opportunity for us to bring students from one country to another country to learn arbitration, peacekeeping skills, and dialogue skills, and they get a master’s or a certificate in Peace,” Hrbek explained.
When the students return to their homes, they work to implement those skills in their everyday lives. The point of peace centers is to address the root causes of conflict and train the next generation of peace-builders. These centers are housed in leading universities all over the world and offer advanced education in conflict resolution, peace studies, and international development. The new Otto and Fran Walter Rotary Peace Center is located at Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul.
Each year, Rotary funds 130 Peace fellows from around the world. With over 1,700 alumni in 140 countries, the Rotary Peace Fellowship is shaping the future of global peace efforts.
For more information about the Botetourt Rotary Club, visit bocorotary.org.
Photos by Matt de Simone
