The Murfreesboro Rotary Club made the transition into its 93rd year on Tuesday (6/26/2012) with outgoing President Bart Walker passing the gavel to Kent Syler. 

(L-R) Incoming Rotary President Kent Syler receives the gavel from Bart Walker.

Walker complimented the members saying, "Your dedication to service above self over the past fiscal year enabled the Murfreesboro Rotary Club to earn the Changemaker Award (one of only 3 clubs in the entire district to accomplish this). Your dedication resulted in the club receiving the STAR Award. Plus, our first entry in the district's 4-Way Test Speech Contest resulted in Murfreesboro's Emily Hamby winning the college scholarship.  On top of that, Past President Ed Maupin was chosen a District Rotarian of the Year. You are amazing, and I will always cherish the honor of serving as president of this caring humanitarian organization."

Kent Syler was sworn into office by Judge Don Ash, a former member of the club. After taking office, Syler's wife, Lynell, pinned the presidential pin on his lapel and sealed it with a kiss.

Out of the Box thinking!

The MTSU political science professor announced that the club is expanding into the realm of social media and now has a FaceBook site with Twitter just hours away. In addition, he noted that the Murfreesboro Rotary Club is trying some out of the box meetings with field trips, which is a major undertaking considering the membership is over one-hundred. This has been successfully tested on individual activities in the past, such as last fall's hands-on visit to MTSU's world reknown cyber airport control tower. Syler is stepping-up to the next level and making it a quarterly activity. 

(L-R) New Murfreesboro Rotary President Syler being sworn into office by Judge Don Ash.  

He noted that the club is looking for projects that will have a positive impact on the community, along with continuing the already established projects. Joint projects with the other Rutherford County Rotary Clubs are also on the agenda in the new fiscal year. 

The Murfreesboro Rotary Club meets in the Stones River Country Club each Tuesday at noon.