Belleville Rotary scholarship students feted at awards night

On May 21, the Rotary Club of Belleville held its 74th-annual scholarship program at the Wayne County Community College Ted Scott Campus.
Six $5,000 scholarships were awarded to Belleville-area-resident graduates. Four awards went to Belleville High School students and two to local residents who attended other area schools.
Scholarships were distributed as follows: Donald D. Juchartz Award to Jensen Drewyor; Charles B. Cozadd Award to Corbin Fields; three Academic Scholarships to Emma Rafferty, Kyle Gurney and Alexis Satterfield; and the Community Service scholarship to Andrew Schweers.
Past Belleville Rotarians — Donald D. Juchartz and Charles B. Cozaad — were Rotarians who exemplified the Rotary motto “Service Above Self.”
Juchartz, well known to all, from local farmers to community and national leaders, had a remarkable career sharing his horticulture expertise locally, nationally, and internationally, through all forms of media.
Cozadd, a respected attorney and another committed Rotarian, contributed the major estate gift that led to the creation of the foundation that makes the scholarship program possible.
Belleville Rotary Club President-Elect Rachel Kozlowski offered welcoming remarks including an overview of Rotary’s scope and purpose. She then introduced keynote speaker Rev. James Walker of Belleville First United Methodist Church.
Rev. Walker’s presentation, directed primarily at the student awardees, highlighted two secrets of which they may not be aware: first, that their parents and families have sacrificed in many ways to make the students as successful as they are; the second secret is that in their lives relationships are more important than money or things.
He stressed the example of Jesus, whether one is a believer or not, to show love, compassion and kindness to those one encounters every day — especially those in need. He used other real-life examples in his talk and argued that greatness can even come from failure. He encouraged everyone to consider every day what can be done to help people.
Following Rev. Walker’s address scholarship presentations were made by Belleville Rotarians Mary Jo Suchy, Dennis Davidson, John MacDermid, Jerry Richardson, Brian Pearcy, and Ramon Eissinger.
After the presentations, President-Elect Kozlowski invited those who are interested in learning more about the club to join them at 6 p.m. on Tuesday evenings, meeting at WCCC. In closing, club President Brian Pearcy then thanked all attendees and those whose work made the evening possible.
Since inception, Rotary Club of Belleville has now awarded $552,500 to Belleville High School students in the club’s scholarship program. This year, as in recent years, the primary funding source for the program has been the Charles B. Cozadd Rotary Foundation, which assists the club in funding or partial funding of its many projects.