Marblehead Rotary Club Welcomes 8 New Members

MARBLEHEAD, MA —The Marblehead Rotary is celebrating its eight new members over the past eight months,

The new members include a millennial, two young professionals, two retirees and three returners to the Marblehead Rotary with a combined 115 years of Rotary experience. The Rotary said the new members all have the common goal of a strong tie to the Rotary and an enduring connection to the town of Marblehead.

"We'll continue to adopt innovative ideas to make our members even more engaged and hope to attract more new talents," Club President Blair Lord said.

Among the new members pictured are:

Wilson Lautner grew up in Marblehead through his sophomore year of high school and moved out to Sonoma Country in California, where he finished high school. Recently, he moved back to Marblehead to begin a career in residential real estate. His mission is to build partnerships with non-profit organizations to bring new opportunities to elevate and extend fine arts' reach to Marblehead.

Duncan Facey grew up in Marblehead and, in his junior year was selected to be a junior Rotarian in 1963. After many years living away from Marblehead, he returned and is happy to become a Rotary member. He looks forward to getting involved actively in fundraising events.

Joyce Elliott started her career as a nurse at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and by the time before her retirement, she was a CEO of a home health care. In 1988, she remembered being recruited to join Rotary between graduate school and single parenting. She spent most of her Rotarian years with Lynn Rotary and is now glad to return to Marblehead to share her skills in the community focusing on elderly outreach.

Cassandra Watts brings her young family to Marblehead and embraces being part of the community from the get-go. She owns and operates the only toy store in town, the much-storied Mud Puddle Toys. As a recent member, she jumps right into contributing as a committee member to Marblehead Rotary's Service Dog Project.

Gail Doyle has a history of spending summers in Marblehead, where she regularly visited her grandfather's rented cottage near Devereaux Beach. Her family eventually purchased a summer home in Edgemere, where she summered every year until her move to Milwaukee after college. In 1978, Gail returned to Marblehead, and with her recent retirement, she found herself gravitating towards joining Rotary Club, where her friends and her brother are actively involved. She, in turn, wishes to give back to Marblehead and the broader communities, as well as to make new connections.

Jeannette Andrews had a solid background as an accountant, where she ran her own business for many years. She made it a mission to educate the public about financial literacy. Her niche enabled people to understand the importance of financial health and achieve financial independence. She is an active Rotarian, first in the Lynn chapter, after which she returned to Marblehead Rotary, where she first started in 1989.

Lester MacLaughlin and Aviv Hod are two other new members not present for the photo.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)