Serving Those Around Us: A Rotary Member’s Mission

Week 1 (March 6, 2024): Kim Dow, Owner and Publisher of Sass Magazine

The Sass website welcomes their viewers with immersive photos for some of their recently written articles. (McKenzie Mollica)

This week’s guest speaker was Kim Dow, a Frederick local who started her own magazine, known as Sass. She publishes both a digital and a print copy. The magazine is meant to recognize and empower women throughout the country. She has a small team that works with her, but together they produce a variety of different articles. Dow was one of many who were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. She shared with the members of the meeting that the cost of paper has increased by over 300%. Sass Magazine highlights powerful women throughout the county, and it also provides an advertising space for a plethora of local businesses.

Week 2 (March 13, 2024): The 4-Way Speech Contest

Pictured above is the flyer that was shared with students containing information for the 2024 4-Way Speech Contest. (McKenzie Mollica)

The Rotary 4-Way Test is a speech contest that was first brought about in 1932. This is a scholarship opportunity for high schoolers. “Is it the TRUTH? Is it FAIR to all concerned? Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?” are the four things that Rotary challenges all of their members to think about with everything they say and do. As students prepare their speeches, the highest chunk of their score is dependent upon whether or not they meet some of these guidelines.

Week 3 (March 20, 2024): Christine Van Bloem, from The Empty Nest Kitchen

On the Empty Nest website, these are two of the many classes that Van Bloem has coming up within the next few months. (McKenzie Mollica)

Christine Van Bloem is the owner of The Empty Nest Kitchen, which is a women-owned business right here in Frederick. At this session, Van Bloem shared with us the struggles she faced within the span of a few months. As if the pandemic in 2020 wasn’t difficult enough to deal with, Van Bloem suffered a heart attack, her husband had medical issues, and on top of that - she lost her brick & mortar storefront. While Van Bloem did what everyone would’ve done in this situation, and cycled through the stages of grief, she finally decided to revisit the drawing board, and came up with an online platform that people can use to buy into online classes or join her free classes.

Week 4 (March 27, 2024): Rich Robertson, Cybersecurity

Did you know that by the time you discover you’ve been hacked, the hacker has already been in your system for months? Rich Robertson, who is also an active member in the Rotary of Frederick, shared his experience working in the cybersecurity sector. He currently owns his own company, Computer Enhancement Systems, and their mission is to help people protect themselves when dealing with the internet.

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