Category Archives: Rotary News

Club History, Featured Member, Rotary News

Meet 2022-2023 Club President Tom Adams

Tom Adams took the helm on July 1, 2022 as the newly installed 2022-2023 Monrovia Rotary President for our centennial year of service.

Tom Adams was born in the Monrovia Hospital and is truly one of the few natives here today. Living his entire life in the San Gabriel Valley and mostly in Monrovia, Tom has seen many changes during his life here. Married to Sally Adams and along with three children who are all grown and gone, Tom and Sally enjoy three granddaughters and all of the fun they bring to life!

Tom has served a variety of roles in Monrovia including the newly retired Mayor of Monrovia and has served longer on the Monrovia City Council than anyone in history! Tom has served in a variety of other roles in the community and continues to serve on the Board of Directors of the Volunteer Center of the San Gabriel Valley, based in Monrovia.

Tom is a Real Estate Broker and is President of Adams & Barnes, Inc., based in Monrovia. They offer services through Century 21 Adams & Barnes including Residential Sales and Leasing, Commercial Sales and Leasing, Property Management and Escrow Services.

Here are some words from President Tom Adams regarding this upcoming Rotary year:

The pandemic has hit service clubs hard, just as it has business and my number one goal is to rebuild the Rotary Club of Monrovia back to its glory. The Rotary Club of Monrovia was Chartered on October 24, 1922 and this will be the Centennial Year. The Rotary Year is from July 1 to June 30 and you will see Rotary sponsoring events all year long from the fireworks on the 4th of July to all of the concerts in the parks as well as the movies in the parks. Rotary is truly a community leader. Driving around Monrovia you might note that the Bandshell in Library Park was donated by Rotary as well as Rotary Park and the new drinking fountain on Myrtle Avenue. 

Consider joining, you can help make a difference, at home and around the world.

Rotary News, Service

Monrovia Police Chief Sanvictores Awarded by Rotary

The Monrovia Rotary Club has presented retiring Monrovia Police Chief Alan Sanvictores with the highest award a Rotary Club can present, a Paul Harris Fellow Award, in recognition of his continual service to the people of Monrovia.

Named for the founder of Rotary International, the Paul Harris Fellow Award is given in recognition of individuals who have given $1000 to the Rotary Foundation or worthy individuals in whose name a donation has been made.

Other notable Paul Harris Fellow awardees include U.S. astronaut James Lovell, Mother Teresa, Pearl Bailey, UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, and Jonas Salk.

Club History, Featured Member, Rotary News

Meet 2021-2022 Club President Sylvia Domotor

Sylvia Domotor took the helm on July 1, 2021 as the newly installed 2021-2021 Monrovia Rotary President.

Sylvia was born in and lived in various parts of Europe, then in Montreal Quebec Canada and then eventually in the Los Angeles area. Lack of snow was a HUGE draw to SoCal!

Sylvia received her Bachelor of Science in Neurobiology from McGill University in Montreal and her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) in Guelph Ontario Canada.

Sylvia quipped that she speaks poor French, decent Hungarian and on a good day she can communicate in English.

Sylvia joined the Rotary Club of Monrovia in 2010 and has served as a Board member for most of that time and has chaired many committees.

Sylvia says her only regret about the Rotary Club of Monrovia is that she waited so long to join! In her words:

From the first meeting that I was invited to as the guest of Mary Ann Lutz (former Mayor of Monrovia), I fell in love with a group of amazing individuals who had one goal – bettering their community. That they also liked to have fun and enjoyed each other’s company was a huge bonus.”

Monrovia has always been very good to and for me. It was a wonderful town to work in as a veterinary associate from 1988 until I became a veterinary hospital owner in 1996. I moved to Monrovia in 1992 and intend to never leave! Which is a very significant for a vagabond such as myself.

It is my honor in 2021-2022 to serve as the President of this wonderful and amazing group of distinguished, community oriented and yet warm, friendly and fun individuals, as we recover from the damages of COVID and rebuild our club and our community.

Our slogan for this year is; FUN, FRIENDSHIP, COMMUNITY SERVICE!

Club History, Featured Member, Rotary News

Meet 2020-2021 Club President Pat Holley

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Pat Holley recently took the helm on July 1, 2020 as the newly installed 2020-2021 Monrovia Rotary President.

Pat Holley is a native Californian. Pat was raised and lived in Orange County, however, 5 years ago she found herself relocating to the city of Duarte. Pat greatly loves the Monrovia community and is excited to take an active role serving the community through Rotary. Pat purchased her home in Duarte 5 years ago, where she lives with 2 cats. Pat has two children, Christina and Alan and she wants you to know that she has two of the most amazing grandchildren, Carter and Sydney. 

Pat joined the Monrovia Rotary Club in 2015 while working as the Dean of Students for Mount Sierra College in Monrovia. Commuting from Huntington Beach 5 to 6 days a week and finding Rotary motivated Pat to make a major change in her life and she moved from the beach to the local area. She has never looked back as living near the foothills is just as wonderful as living near the beach. 

Pat completed her undergrad in Business at California State Long Beach and completed her Master’s in Business Administration from Keller Graduate School of Management. Pat enjoys swimming, hiking, scrapbooking, and working in her garden. 

Pat is honored and proud to lead the Monrovia Rotary Club for the 2020-2021 year and hopes you will consider visiting one of our weekly meetings.  Currently, the club is utilizing the Zoom platform for our weekly club meetings during the COVID situation.   We at the Rotary Club of Monrovia are a group of people who “Dare to Care and turn Passion into Action and are Monrovia Rotary Strong.”

Club History, Featured Member, Rotary News

Meet 2019-2020 Club President Jan Mueting

Jan Mueting recently took the helm on July 1, 2019 as the newly installed 2019-2020 Monrovia Rotary President.

Jan Mueting is a native Californian and Daughter of the American Revolution.  Jan’s family have long been residents of Ventura County, however, 20 years ago she found herself to be a resident of Monrovia. Jan greatly loves this community and is excited to take an active role serving the community through Rotary. Jan purchased her home in Monrovia 20 years ago, with her spouse of 22 years, where they live with their three rescue dogs. For the past 16 years Jan has worked for the nations largest and oldest pet insurance company as an Operations Manager. As you may guess, with three dogs the veterinary bills can add up, fortunately all three of her pets are insured!

While Jan is a “newer” resident of Monrovia, she recently learned that several of her ancestors lived in Monrovia over a hundred years ago! She feels that living in Monrovia was destined to be.

Jan joined the Monrovia Rotary Club three years ago when it was pointed out to her by a friend that, at heart, she was already a Rotarian. Her response to that friend was, “isn’t helping someone who needs it, just what you do?” 

Jan is honored and proud to lead the Monrovia Rotary Club for the 2019-2020 year and says “I hope you’ll consider joining us. We at the Rotary Club of Monrovia are a group of people who ‘Dare to Care and turn our Passion into Action’. “

Rotary News, Scholarships

Monrovia Rotary Club Honors Life-Long Kiwanian Fred Bowden

By Susan Motander via Monrovia Weekly

The Monrovia Rotary Club in collaboration with the Monrovia Community Adult School (MCAS) and Bowden Development has created a new scholarship fund.  The Fred Bowden Family Vocational Scholarship is the newest Rotary scholarship fund to benefit adult learners in the Monrovia Community.

It may seem rather strange for the Monrovia Rotary Club to honor a member of the Kiwanis Club, but one only needed to know Fred to understand the tribute.  Fred was a great supporter of all things Monrovia.  According to Bill Shieff, a member of Monrovia Rotary Club, Bowden was a great supporter of both clubs.  He participated each year in the big Rotary Club auction.

This new scholarship fund is especially significant in that Fred was a major construction contractor in Monrovia for many years. The fund will provide four annual scholarships to adults so that they can complete certification training in construction at MCAS.

Monrovia Rotary President Darrell Brooke explains the process: “Through the Fred Bowden Family Vocational Scholarship program, the Monrovia Rotary will contribute 50 percent of the cost per student, and the MCAS will cover the other 50 percent. This is the same formula we have been using successfully for the last several years for certification in other fields.  Our goal is the same: putting people to work.”

The mission of the Monrovia Community Adult School is “Helping to Build the Future Together” by reaching out to the community to create more opportunities.  These scholarships will help to fulfill that mission with assisting students in programs such as Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) certification.  Other programs will offer information about construction materials and practices, plan reading, and networking opportunities for those already working in construction.  Each course lasts 26 weeks and ends with certification in a particular construction field.

As the Bowden Construction part of this program, Todd Bowden, Fred’s son, is offering job site access to these scholarship recipients after they have received their certification.  Bowden said of the program, “We are thrilled to walk along this journey with everyone involved, and we look forward to seeing it come to life.”

Rotary News, Scholarships

2018 Monrovia Rotary Scholarships Awarded

Scholarship Committee Chair Erica Hahn, and committee members, John Campbell and Richard Tipping were pleased to present the 2018 recipients of the Monrovia Rotary Scholarship program. The Monrovia Rotary Club thanks Richard Tipping for his yearly generosity in providing additional scholarship funds.

2018 Rotary Scholarship Recipients

Monrovia High School 

  • Samantha Childers
  • Kemyl Tadeo
  • Benjamin Tang
  • Brenton Guthaus
  • Gizzel Ramirez
  • Gabriel Lujan
  • Valerie Flores

Service to the Community

  • Megan Matthiesen
  • Ishika Muchhal
  • Alison Lauder
  • Madison Schoonmaker

St. Lucy’s Priory Academic Scholarship

  • Frances Jimenez

Tipping Scholarship at MHS

  • Kemyl Tadeo
  • Benjamin Tang

Tipping Scholarship – Canyon Oaks/Mt High

  • Zelda Pacheco
  • Emilio Jimenez
  • Isabel Vargas

Tipping Scholarship – St. Lucy’s Priory

  • Frances Jimenez

Billy Ryan Scholarship

  • Luis Suarez
Rotary News, Service

Retiring Monrovia Police Chief Awarded by Rotary

The Monrovia Rotary Club has presented retiring Monrovia Police Chief Jim Hunt with the highest award a Rotary Club can present, a Paul Harris Fellow Award, in recognition of his 27 years of service to the people of Monrovia.

Named for the founder of Rotary International, the Paul Harris Fellow Award is given in recognition of individuals who have given $1000 to the Rotary Foundation or worthy individuals in whose name a donation has been made.

Other notable Paul Harris Fellow awardees include U.S. astronaut James Lovell, Mother Teresa, Pearl Bailey, UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, and Jonas Salk.