Home Page | Rotary Club of Reno Sunrise

Berry Courtney

Rise and Shine! Welcome to the Rotary Club of Reno Sunrise.

We are a fun-loving group of neighbors, friends, leaders and problem-solvers who come together to promote friendship, offer networking opportunities and provide service to others, both locally and internationally.

We meet Friday mornings, 7:00 to 8:30 AM at Aiden by Best Western, 5851 S. Virginia St., Reno, Nevada 89502.

Guests are welcome to attend and find out what Rotary is all about.

Wine School

Posted by Charlie Fettig on Jul 23, 2025

On Wednesday, July 23, 2025, Reno Sunrise Rotarians joined fellow members, past members and friends for a wine school with sommelier Loris Gentile from the Tenuta Torciano Winery in San Gimignano, Italy. This event was put on by Ed and Jan Basl at the Aiden Hotel (our new meeting place).

We tasted a variety of wines direct from the winery as well as amazing olive oils. It was all paired with individual charcuterie boards created by a local caterer. Loris entertained the group with stories from the homeland and intimate knowledge about the wines and the winery. It was an enjoyable evening of great wines, warm fellowship and lively entertainment.

Christmas Tree Recycling Service Event

Our second service event for the month of December was to assist with the KTMB (Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful) Christmas tree recycling event last Saturday.

It was a cold blustery day, but our club produces a hardy group of volunteers and the job was performed with efficiency and cheer.

Shared Harvest Service Event

The first of our two service events for December was on the 22nd. Four club members helped prepare holiday food bags for 84 families.

Shared Harvest is a joint event supported by six Lutheran churches in our area.

The Rotary Club of Reno Sunrise provided funds to purchase sweet potatoes and apple sauce.

KTMB Truckee River Cleanup

Steve Schroder submitted these photos of the Truckee River Cleanup that took place Saturday, September 21.

Reno Sunrise guiding runners

The Rotary Club of Reno Sunrise helped guide and provide encouragement to runners in the Truckee Meadow Park Foundation 10 Miler on Sunday, October 15.

President Dan Waters, Lynn Clark, Berry Courtney and Craig Sande were at their stations before 7 AM enjoying the morning tranquility. The race started at 7:30 AM and was finished by 10:00 AM. The event attracted a wide range of talent, from an Olympic hopeful to run/walk athletes. We were able to see the participants twice, once going out and then returning. There was one runner with a rucksack who was so fast that I didn't have time to take a photograph! It was our own Past-president Shawn Stoddard! Way to go Shawn!!

2024 Bowers Mansion Bluegrass Festival Beer & Wine Sales

Members of the Rotary Club of Reno Sunrise sold beer and wine at the Annual Bowers Mansion Bluegrass Festival held August 23-26. This is one of the club's fundraising events with proceeds going to the Rotary Club of Reno Sunrise Charitable Foundation.

Tour of Sierra Pacific Industries Saw Mill

Posted by Jon Greene

On Monday, May 12, 2024, seven Reno Sunrise Rotarians and guests had a tour of the Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) sawmill in Quincy, CA. The two-hour tour was led by the sawmill's controller, David Little, who is a member of Quincy Rotary.

SPI has about 20 sawmill facilities and window manufacturing plants in the United States. SPI is family owned and is the largest private landowner in the United States. Each year they plant over 7 million new trees. The Quincy sawmill processes dead trees from forest fires along with trees that have recently been cut. Lumber that is produced at the Quincy sawmill is shipped mainly to customers in the west, although they do shipments to the midwest and east coast. Home Depot is one of their major customers.

Rotary Club of Reno Sunrise Scout BBQ

On Sunday June 2,2024 the Scouts BSA Troop and Pack 154 had their end of the school year, Troop Court of Honor and Pack Crossover. Combined with a potluck BBQ for all the families and Rotarians in attendance. The Rotary Club of Reno Sunrise supported the event with donations of hamburgers and hots dogs. Troop members for provided side dishes and Pack members brought the desserts. All in all there were about 40ish on hand as we celebrated Cub Scout adventure awards, Troop merit badges, and rank advancement of 12 Cub Scouts and 7 Scouts.

At the end of each school year our Cub Scouts receive their rank patch that they spent the last 9 month working and advance to working on their next Rank. The Cub Scout ranks are; Lion, Tiger, Wolf, Bear, WEBELOS, and Arrow of Light. Covering grades K to 5. We had 12 Cubs earn rank this spring and it was a great sight to Pack 154 coming back to life after COVID. Things are looking good for the Pack.

Our Scouts BSA Troop (formerly Boy Scouts) also celebrates awards about every 3 to 4 months in what is known as a Court of Honor (COH). Each of the 7 scouts in attendance received merit badges and three scouts were honored for ranks earned in the last few months. One of the great things about having this combined event was watching the interaction between the younger Cub Scouts and older Scouts. You could see how many of the cubs were just looking up to the older youths. During the ceremony, many of the Scouts were able to talk about all the fun they have in this program. I had many parents talk about how impressed they were with the older scouts and how well they interacted with the Cubs. This was truly a fantastic experience.

Moving forward we look to have another similar event in the fall while the weather is still nice and we can celebrate all the summer fun.

Thank you to the Rotary Club of Reno Sunrise for chartering this fantastic leadership program for the youth in our area.

Shawn Stoddard,

RSR Charter Organization Representative,

Pack and Troop 154

Shelter Box by Dave Sundstrom

During our meeting May 17, 2024 Dave "Sunny" Sundstrom, a member of the Rotary Club of Reno Sunrise, spoke about about ShelterBox. Dave has extensive prior experience in emergency humanitarian service and recently attended ShelterBox Ambassador Training.

ShelterBox, which started as a Rotary project, is now a nonprofit operating in several countries. ShelterBox provides emergency shelters and tools to help people survive and rebuild after disasters strike. Instead of moving people away from their damaged communities, they are given sturdy tent structures, survival equipment and basic construction tools which allow them to remain near their homes.

Dave will have more information for us at a future meeting.

Speaker Dave Sundstrom

ShelterBox Tent. The full kit also includes construction tools and a system for purifying drinking water.

Aid ShelterKit - Used when the home structure is partly damaged. The tools provided allow the homeowners to make necessary emergency repairs.

Club Service - KTMB Great Community Cleanup

Reno Sunrise Rotarians showed up to help with the KTMB Great Community Cleanup April 27, 2024. Members scoured the river banks and parks for trash and debris. This is an annual community service event for the Rotary Club of Reno Sunrise.

Rotary Service at Food Bank of Northern Nevada

We had a nice turn out of Rotarians and family members for our May Service Event at the Food Bank of Northern Nevada on May 11, 2024. Donated food items were first screened for any damage or expiration. Then they were categorized and boxed to the correct weight for each category before being placed on pallets for transportation. Each person had their station in the assembly line. As in the past, it is amazing how much work can be accomplished during our two-hour shift while being entertained with music.

Attendees included President Lynn Clark and his granddaughter Kyleigh Kuehnis, President-Elect Dan Waters, Past President Craig Sande with spouse Mary, organizer Steve Schroder with spouse Marcia, John Albrecht, Jon and Martha Greene, Susan Smith, and Jim Van Winkle with Spouse Ellie

Group Photo (minus Susan Smith)

Fast-handed Craig Sande boxing up "Wet Bevs."

Dan Waters handling the heavy lifting.

Steve Schroder making sure the boxes are being properly filled with food items.

Steve Schroder, Marcia Schroder and KyleighKuehnis doing quality checks on the donated food items.

Canned food items awaiting quality check before boxing up for distribution.

Columbia Water Filter Project

Posted by Jon Greene

This is a report from Jon and Martha Greene who traveled to Columbia to see the Columbia Water Filter Project in action. The project was financially supported by the Rotary Club of Reno Sunrise in conjunction with other Rotary clubs throughout the nation.

"There are 30 of us on the trip, all are either Rotarians or partners of Rotarians. The first half of our Colmbia adventure is 100% being tourist. Leave the hotel at 8 AM and return to the hotel around 6 PM. We did meet with the district 4281 District Governor elect, who has been active in Rotary youth exchange for many years, and she recognized me from when we have met at international conventions."

Happy Feet Report by Carolyn Abend

Carolyn Abend, Charlie Fettig, and Dan Waters were our club volunteers for our club's Happy Feet program. The project involves acquiring new shoes, socks and underclothing to be given to children in need at Virginia Palmer Elementary School

Through our 2024 efforts we were able to purchase 48 pairs of shoes, 9 pair of girl's socks, 4 pair of boys sock's, 15 pair of boy's underwear, and 12 pair of girl's underwear.

KTMB Christmas Tree Recycling

We had a hard working group of Reno Sunrise Rotarians and guests help KTMB with their Christmas Tree Recycling on Sunday, January 7, 2024. Attendees included Lynn Clark, Jon Greene, Harvey Miller, Craig Sande, Marcy Schroder, Steve Schroder, Jim Van Winkle, and Dan Waters. Although it was quite chilly to start, we quickly warmed up after the sun popped out. We kept up our energy with some delicious donuts!

Having Fun at Foodbank of Northern Nevada

Last Wednesday, October 25, several club members and guests (spouses) headed out to the Foodbank of Northern Nevada Warehouse as volunteers. The community service event was kindly arranged by Steve Schroder.

This is my third or fourth time to the foodbank's warehouse and I have found each experience unique, fun and fulfilling. This time we were packing boxes for the Senior Nutrition & Wellness program. We ended up packing about 11,200 lbs of food! Time flew by as we worked to 70's rock.

We will likely schedule another community service event at the foodbank after the holidays. If you have never participated, please consider doing so at your next opportunity. It is fun and helps out our community members.

Reno Sunrise Rotarians Help Clean Up Truckee River

Members of Reno Sunrise Rotary Club helped clean up the downtown section of the Truckee River during the Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful Annual River Cleanup on September 16. During the three hour event a total of 25 tons of weeds and debris were removed from the river corridor from Verdi to Wadsworth.

Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve joined Reno Sunrise Rotarians for a send off.

Trash collected at the downtown river cleanup site.

Supporting Our Environment

The Biggest Little Mini Golf Derby event was held on the evening of July 27, 2023. It was well attended and the participants enjoyed excellent sandwiches made by Pub N' Subs, drinks, and a surprisingly challenging mini golf course.

The young and seasoned all had an enjoyable evening. There were even a few hole-in-ones among the group.

The proceeds of the event are going to the Desert Pigs, an off-road group that removes illegally dumped debris from our locally accessible public lands. Our hats are off to all those who were able to participate.

Monthly Socials

All work and no play ...

We have an evening social in lieu of a morning meeting the last Friday of most months. It is a great time to get caught up with one another in a relaxed environment. Here are some more photographs from our May 2023 social at The Eddy.

Giving Back at Foodbank of Northern Nevada

We had a great time helping out at the Foodbank of Northern Nevada last Saturday. During our two hours we boxed a total of 10,900 lbs of food! We all received heartfelt thanks and bouquets of flowers to take home. It feels good to give back to our community.

Thank You Plaque at the Eddy House

Gary Foote shared a photo of a plaque going up at the Eddy House to thank the Reno Sunrise Rotary Club for the bunk bed project we carried out this year. They are very appreciative. In addition to the increased capacity, their clients are more comfortable as well.

Fun times at Magic Carpet Golf

The Biggest Little Mini Golf Challenge was a great success, meaning that it was fun and provided an opportunity to socialize with members, guests and Rotarians from other local clubs in the Reno area. We will definitely do this next year!

Eddy House Project Success!

On July 30, Reno Sunrise Rotarians completed the final step of the Eddy House Project - assembling the bunk beds and lag bolting them to the floor. With collaboration between the Eddy House, Rotary Club of Reno Sunrise, and FedEx, the drop in room capacity has been expanded giving youth a more comfortable place to sleep.

Welcome to Reno Sunrise Rotary

Service Above Self

We meet In Person

Fridays at 7:00 a.m.

Aiden by Best Western

5851 South Virginia St.
Reno, NV 89502
United States of America

Doors open at 7. The meeting begins at 7:30. Breakfast is available for purchase from the adjoining Two Chicks Restaurant (coffee & tea provided are by the Club). Our Club is dark the last Friday of each month and some holidays.

District Site

Bulletins

Venue Map