The Derby-Shelton Rotary Club marked the passing of another successful Rotary year as the president’s gavel was passed to Sharon Herman as the club celebrated a remarkable year under the leadership of outgoing president Joe Shapiro. Prior to the start of the evening and after the program, the guests were entertained with the music of the Stardust Jazz Trio which included Joe and also his wife JoAnn who is also a very active club member. Joe started the evening with his “farewell” remarks – He’s not going anywhere – where he thanked all the members for a very active year of community engagement which helped to make both communities better places. He noted that not only did the club award grants of $18,000 and scholarships of $22,000 they participated in a wide variety of hands-on activities throughout the year. He then brought up members of his board of directors and committee chairs and presented them with plaques for their service.

Assistant District Governor Lucy Andrade who also happens to be Joe’s predecessor as Club president then recognized Joe for his tireless work and then presented him with a gavel, past presidents’ pin, and president’s chair which is a long-standing tradition for the club.

Then it was time for District Governor Stephanie Philips to take to the podium to firstly congratulate for all that it has done to enhance the communities of Derby and Shelton during the past year noting the incredible amount of activity for such a small group of dedicated Rotarians. She followed that up with the formal swearing in of incoming president Sharon Herman and wishing her the best for another successful Rotary year. Stepanie also swore in the new officers for 2026-2027.

Joe then came back for his last formal duty as president by passing the gavel to Sharon and presenting thank you plaques to his leadership team.

Sharon then completed the evening with her thoughts and plans for the upcoming year. The Stardust Trio then continued to entertain everyone.

Some pictures from the evening- you can hover over and image and press Control twice to enlarge a picture:

During the June 18 luncheon meeting, Derby-Shelton Rotary Club President Joe Shapiro presented checks to 14 area nonprofits as awards in the club’s 2026 grants program totaled $18,000 to assist the nonprofits in carrying out the missions. The Club’s board of directors reviewed all of the applications and made the decisions. Representatives of the nonprofits were attended as invited guests and made brief remarks as the check were presented.

Grant Awardees

SHELTON — The Derby-Shelton Rotary Club held its 5th Annual Flags for Heroes Ceremony on Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Shelton Veterans Memorial Park.

This patriotic community tribute honored heroes who have made a meaningful impact in our lives — including veterans, active military, first responders, healthcare workers, teachers, coaches, community leaders, neighbors, and loved ones.

In the weeks leading up to the ceremony, hundreds of American flags were displayed on the Derby Green and the Shelton Veterans Memorial Park in a powerful visual tribute to service, sacrifice, and community pride. They will continue on display until June 18.

Community members, families, and businesses sponsored over 300 flags in honor of their heroes. Each sponsored flag includes a commemorative tag bearing the hero’s name and recognition.

New This Year

Sponsors also had the opportunity to upload a photo of their hero, which were featured on a slideshow throughout the morning and during the ceremony as part of the event’s commemorative display—bringing each tribute even more to life. Many did send in photos and we look forward to even more next year.

Proceeds from the Flags for Heroes program support local charitable initiatives and community service projects led by the Derby-Shelton Rotary Club.

The ceremony will feature patriotic reflections, community recognition, and a moment of gratitude honoring those who serve and inspire. Something new this year is that we will be displaying a slideshow of our heroes with the photos being provided.

This year’s event is especially meaningful as it coincides with the United States 250th Anniversary, making it a powerful moment to celebrate patriotism, unity, and service.

Click on following links to see all the heroes honored with flags from:

Derby         Shelton

 Connecticut loves to read and Derby-Shelton Rotarians are doing their bit to make sure that it continues. As they do every year, Rotarians visited schools to read to students in kindergarten through grade 3 during April. They brought along books to read to the students and leave behind for the schools’ libraries.

Here’s a list of the schools and the Rotarians who did the reading:

Booth Hill School – Liza Gambino and Kim Ryan-Caro

Irving School – Pat Tarasovic, Joe & JoAnn Shapiro

Elizabeth Shelton School – Gary Scarpa

Long Hill School – Sharon Herman & Lucy Andrade

Sunnyside School – Gayle Kreho

Bradley School – Linda Holmes-Hannon and Lorraine Inzerra

St. Mary’s/St. Michael’s – Jack Walsh

The Derby Veterans Memorial building was originally built as the first Unitarian Church in Connecticut way back in 1905. The beautiful stone building was taken over by the various veterans’ groups back in 1927. The city owns the building but the veterans’ group still operates the building. The railings needed extensive repair and painting and club members had a couple of enjoyable work days making it happen.

The Derby-Shelton Rotary Club is pleased to announce the winners of its annual scholarship program for Derby and Shelton High School students. Scholarship Committee Chair Ed Sheehy announced the awards at the weekly club meeting on May 28 at the Brownson Country Club. All of the winning students were in attendance along with their proud parents and administrators from both schools. Watch for more pictures later.

This year’s awardees are:

Each of the awardees gave a quick update at the meeting highlighting their experiences and the colleges they will be attending next year.

The members of the committee in addition to Ed Sheehy were Rotarians Rosemary Allen, Pat Carey, Lucy Andrade, and Kim Caro as well as administrators Jen Moffet of Derby High School and Lisa Sapienza Girard of Shelton High School.,

Some pictures:

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Asst. Area 6 Governors Patricia Patusky and Lucy Andrade flank award winners Linda Holmes-Hannon, Kenneth Korsu, Thecla Kirby and Nancy Valentine.

The four clubs in Rotary District 7980 – Area 6 came together on April 6 for the first ever Service Above Self Fellowship Luncheon hosted by the Derby-Shelton club at Brownson Country Club in Shelton. In addition to Derby-Shelton, Naugatuck Rotary, ANSEOX Rotary, and Tribury came together to recognize four outstanding individuals from their respective communities with Service Above Self awards. Area 6 Assistant Governors Lucy Andrade and Patricia Patusky handled the MC duties and District Governor Stephanie Phillips also addressed the group.

Each of the clubs selected a winner from their area and the club presidents presented the individual awards to:

ANSEOX – Nancy Valentine

Derby-Shelton – Linda Holmes-Hannon

Naugatuck – Thecla Kirby

Tribury – Kenneth Korsu

The club presidents had been meeting for months to put the event together and have also decided that it will be an annual event with Naugatuck hosting the event in 2027

Some event pictures:

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Kim Ryan-Caro

Linda Holmes-Hannon

Rotarians Kim Ryan-Caro and Linda Homes-Hannon are in line for special awards in the next few weeks. Kim has been announced as our club’s selection for the Norm Parsells Award which was presented at the awards luncheon at the Chris Bargas Golf Club at Whitney Farms in Monroe on April 9.

The Norman K. Parsells Award, is presented annually to honor the memory and spirit of Norm Parsells. He was a dedicated Rotarian who served his community and Rotary, demonstrating Rotary’s ideal of “Service Above Self”. This year’s recipients of the Award will be recognized as Rotarians who personify the same spirit and dedication to their community and Rotary that Norm represented during his lifetime. Clubs in Bridgeport, Fairfield, Trumbull, Monroe, Stratford, Milford, Devon, Orange and Derby-Shelton are involved.

A week later, Linda will be an honored for at the First Annual Area 6 “Service Above Self” luncheon which our club will be hosting at the Brownson Country Club starting at noon.

Both of these outstanding women are past presidents of the club and have been very active leaders and innovators in the Club.