Events

Are you looking for the 2026 Ithaca Rotary Road Rally? REGISTER HERE!

Get Your Motors Running for the 12th Annual                         Ithaca Rotary Road Rally

Sunday, September 7, 2025

Check in anytime between 1:00 - 2:00pm ~

all cars must be on the course by 2:00pm

Starting location:   Maguire Imports,

370 Elmira Road, Ithaca (Next to McDonald's)

$25 per adult      $10 children 12 – 18      Free for 11 & younger

Proceeds benefit the Club’s James L. Gibbs Ithaca High School scholarship fund and other local youth programs

ONLINE REGISTRATION IS OPEN NOW!

Join us for the 12th annual ROTARY ROAD RALLY! The FUNdraising activity is open to everyone and is absolutely engaging and fun for everyone. 

Participants will follow clues in their cars along 30+/- miles of country roads in and around Tompkins County, answering riddles, taking pictures, and picking up scavenger hunt items along the way. The Rotary Rally will finish with the checkered flag at a “mystery” location for prizes, drinks, and dinner (pay on your own).

Cars must cross the finish line by 4:00pm to be eligible for prizes. Teams will be judged on a combination of time, mileage, number of correct clues, scavenger hunt items, and group photos. An additional prize will be awarded for team spirit, which may include costumes and/or best-decorated car. Minimum two people per team; no maximum — however many fit safely in the car are welcome!

Prizes: All participants who finish the course on time have an opportunity to win a grant for their favorite local non-profit, made possible by the Ithaca Rotary Club’s donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation of Tompkins County. Winners may select which local not-for-profit (NFP) they wish to receive their winning prize:

First Place:                 $500 grant to the NFP of the winner’s choice

Second Place:            $250 grant to a local NFP

Random Drawing from all finishing cars: $250 grant to a local NFP

…plus other donated prizes for the winning teams!

Questions? Contact JeanMcPheeters@gmail.com

If you are bringing children (@ $10 each), you can pay at registration. 

Sponsorship opportunities are available! Email perri.lopinto@gmail.com

Enjoy an end of summer picnic with other Rotarians from our club and nearby clubs, welcome our incoming Rotary Exchange Students and host families, and share some delicious food. Monday, September 15, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Rotarians, please bring a dish-to-share if you can. Host families are our guests and we invite you to just come and enjoy yourselves.

We will provide paper plates, actual silverware (!), napkins, cups, seltzer and some soft drinks.

Here are some alphabetical suggestions of foods that we hope you might share. If you'd prefer to make a dessert rather than an entree based on the initial of your last name,  feel free to do that. No one has ever had too much dessert.  

Please bring a dish-to-share based on the initial of your last name:

A through G   Desserts

H through O   Entrees (hearty dishes whether omnivore, vegan, vegetarian or whaterver)

P through Z    Salads and side-dishes

Start hoping for a beautiful night in the park.

Hoping to see you there,

Jean McPheeters and Mary Berens, co-chairs for this event

Come for an hour or for 2.5 hours or how ever many minutes you can.

We need your presence to make money for our club to give away to great organization in Tompkins County.

Have fun, laugh, and price things. We will teach you how to do it.

Jean McPheeters for President Mike

Join us at ReUse to price, sort, shelve, and have fun. 

Our work at ReUse is how Ithaca Rotary earns money to give to not-for-profit organizations in our community and to support activities like Rotary Soccer. By pricing and shelving the items donated to ReUse, we get a portion of those sales. To meet our budget we need to get about $3000 worth of goods on the shelves every month. Today, September 9, 4 of us priced about $900 worth of goods. We absolutely need more people to join in. 

This is fun and easy, and we will show you how to do it! 

Please register today for Tuesday, September 23.

Thanks,

Jean McPheeters for President Mike

We will be sorting items, pricing them, and placing them on the retail floor.

If you've never done this before, we will show you how. This is the major way our club makes money to give to area not-for-profit organizations.

Please come,

Jean McPheeters for President Mike

Come to the front desk of the big store, we may be in the back on this side or in the side with furniture and clothing. 

Provide assistance to participants (job seekers, employers and event administrators) at the 2025 World of Skills Job Fair on Wednesday morning, October 22.

VENUE CHANGE!! Our social this evening is moving to Tavern on the Commons 130 E Seneca Street. Unfortunately, the Canopy Hotel is having issues that closed their kitchen and bar today. Spread the word!

At the FriendsGiving Event:
We’ll enjoy time together, share friendship and gratitude, and celebrate the meaningful impact of our club’s service.

Thank you for helping make this season brighter for others — and for embodying the Rotary spirit of community and care. Baskets filled with donations will be delivered to families by the end of next week after our celebration.

What to Donate:
Think of high-quality, joy-giving foods and household items that families will truly appreciate—especially non-perishables, diabetic-friendly options, and little luxuries that lift spirits.

Some ideas include:

•     Wegmans bakery items, Pepperidge Farm cookies, or Nutella
•     Family-size peanut butter and jelly, quality bread
•     Marinara sauce, pasta, parmesan or alfredo sauce
•     Brownie or cookie mixes, pumpkin pie ingredients
•     Cornbread mix, Bisquick, breakfast cereals
•     Quality canned soup, stuffing mix, jarred gravy
•     Trail mix, protein bars, sugar-free treats
•     Pop Tarts, single-serve mac & cheese, ramen cups
•     Gloves, socks, new hand towels, tablecloth, candle
•     Gift cards (Walmart, Trader Joe’s, Aldi, Tops, Wegmans, Target)
•     Puzzles or books

If you can’t join us for the FriendsGiving gathering on November 19 at the Canopy Hotel 5-7PM, there are still wonderful ways to take part in supporting the families we’re helping this year.

How to Contribute:

• Bring donated items, cash, or a check to our Rotary lunch meeting on November 12.

• Or send a check (no cash) by mail to:
  Rotary Club of Ithaca
  P.O. Box 306
  Ithaca, NY 14851

New members and anyone who wants a referesher are invited to New Member Orientation on December 10th from 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM (before the weekly Rotary lunch meeting). We will be gathering in the standard meeting room at the Hilton Garden Inn downtown Ithaca. Please register by December 3rd.

Sorting and pricing used items at ReUse at Triphammer Mall.

Sorting and pricingn at ReUse

Steve TenEyck serves as the Dean for the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance (MTD). Before becoming Dean, Steve was the Associate Dean for MTD, Chair and Associate Chair of the Department of Theatre Arts, and taught lighting design in the BFA in Theatre Production and Design program at Ithaca College.

Before moving fully into administration, Steve maintained an active freelance design career, including design work in theatre, opera, performance art, dance, architecture and live event has been seen both nationally and internationally.  Companies include: The Dallas Theatre Center, The Gulfshore Playhouse, The Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, Syracuse Stage, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, TACT-NYC, Big Art Group NYC, Tacoma Opera, Syracuse Opera, The Minnesota Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Anchorage Opera, Mill City Summer Opera, Madison Opera, The Kitchen Theatre Company, The Merry-go-Round Playhouse, Tri-Cities Opera, Pacific Performance Project, Santa Barbara Dance Theatre, Ensemble Theatre, Theatre Artist Group and the Vermont Stage Company. Steve also designs large scale events for institutions such Princeton, Cornell, Texas A&M, Ithaca College, Amherst College, Binghamton University, SUNY Oswego, University of Tennessee with companies such as BSI Productions, CP Production Services, Affinity Events Group and The Herson Group Ltd. 

Steve received his B.A. from the University of California at Santa Barbara with an emphasis in theatrical design and his M.F.A. from the University of Washington School of Drama in stage design. He is a member of United Scenic Artists local 829, the union for theatrical designers. 

Sorting and pricing at Re-Use

Sorting and pricing at ReUse

Michael I. Kotlikoff is the fifteenth president of Cornell University and professor of molecular physiology.

Prior to his appointment, President Kotlikoff was Cornell’s longest-serving provost, holding that office from August 2015 to June 2024.

He is a veterinarian and biomedical researcher whose laboratory’s work in cell signaling and heart repair was continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health for over 35 years. He was the founding chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences and chair of the Mammalian Genomics Life Science Initiative, and served as the Austin O. Hooey Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine from 2007 to 2015.

Sorting and pricing at Re-Use