Leo Kaytes, Jr. heads Warwick Rotary Club
WARWICK — Leo Kaytes, Jr., readily admits his father has trained him well.
The only son of Leo and Gladys Kaytes, learned the automobile business from the ground up. He’s pushed brooms and worked in every department at the Warwick Ford dealership his father started in the early 1980s. Now, he serves as president of Leo Kaytes Ford.
His father also taught him the value of community service. For the past three years, Kaytes, Jr., has chaired Warwick’s June Tent Party, a major local social and fundraising event benefitting St. Anthony Community Hospital and the many organizations assisted by Warwick Rotarians. And now Leo Kaytes, Jr., has taken over the helm of the Warwick Valley Rotary Club for 2014-2015. He will serve as president of the 55-member local chapter of Rotary International. The person who performed the installation ceremony June 25 at Warwick Grove was his father, Leo Kaytes, Sr., who served as Warwick Rotary president in l987-1988.
Edward Lynch, financial advisor and Warwick Branch Manager for Edward Jones Investments, will serve as Rotary president-elect. Kathryn “Katie” Hansen, co-owner of Intrepid Strength and Conditioning, will become vice president.
Other officers for 2011-2012 include Dr. Laurene Iammatteo, recording secretary; Tina Buck, corresponding secretary; Mary McClurg, treasurer; Susan Ronga, assistant treasurer and Neil Sinclair, past president.
Elected to the board of directors are Stan Martin and Leo Kaytes, Sr., community service; Virginia Mazza Loomis, club service; Dave Eaton, international service; Deborah Giuliani, vocational service; John Mickowski, membership service and Frank Truatt, public relations.
Sinclair and Dr. Edwin Wiley, Warwick’s Rotary Foundation chair, spoke of the many accomplishment of Warwick Rotarians this past year, including the club’s being in the top two in the district in most gift-giving categories, “epitomizing Rotary’s motto of ‘Service Above Self'.”
Sinclair presented tokens of appreciation to his officers and board members, Warwick Paul Harris Fellows, named for the founder of Rotary, were recognized for their contributions to the humanitarian and educational programs of The Rotary Foundation. John D. Bollenbach, Warwick Rotary president in 1999-2000, received a pin symbolizing his becoming Warwick Valley Rotary’s first major donor to Rotary International. Ten years earlier, 1989-1990, his father, also John Bollenbach, had served as president of the Warwick Valley Rotary Club.
Rotary International is a worldwide service organization of business and professional men and women. There are over 1.2 million members in 33,000 Rotary Clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas.
Local Rotarians sponsor the Warwick Valley High School Interact Club, which has more than 100 members. Jeanine Fogler is the Interact advisor.
Warwick Rotarians assist dozens of local projects and organizations through donations and volunteering of time. They also assist in far-reaching projects, including disaster relief, pure water and sanitation projects, Rotaplast for cleft-palate operations and Polio Plus for eradicating polio worldwide The Warwick Rotary Club meets every Wednesday at noon at The Landmark Inn. Persons interested in membership are invited to attend.