Events

You, your family and guests are cordially invited to celebrate the holidays with us on Thursday, December 18th starting at 5:30 pm at the home of Mary Ann Millar in Andover. Appetizers and dinner buffet will be provided.  If you would like to bring a dessert or beverage to share or need Mary Ann's address, please email Diana who will be coordinating incoming fare.

We will also be collecting unwrapped gifts for kids and teens and canned food to benefit the Andover/No. Andover YMCA who generously offers meeting space throughout the year for our Club.  this Amazon Wish/Gift List includes items directed to mostly teens but gifts for all ages are welcome.  Gifts from the wish list can be mailed directly to the YMCA if preferred.

RSVP by signing up online (click blue button under Online Registration to the left) by Thursday, Dec. 4th. If you are signing up for more than one person, please use the appropriate registration category to help ensure adequate food.  If you missed the sign-up deadline, contact Diana.

Looking forward to celebrating another joyeous season together!

This year, The Rotary Club of Andover be competing to regain our title for the biggest cash haul in the Merrimack Valley to benefit the Lawrence Salvation Army. The Free Christian Church will try their best to hold onto the title that we previously held for eight consecutive years. We may have been the Washington Generals last year but we're lacing up our shoes and returning as the Harlem Globetrotters. (If you are under 40, you may have to ask a Boomer or Wikipedia.)  

...But, only if you join in the merrment on Tuesday, December 23rd from 9 am to 5 pm in front of Andover Old Town Hall. 

Sign up for one or more one hour shifts. Shifts involve serious emoting, like dancing, singing and (if you're Doug Mercurio) begging. Friends and family members are invited!

Questions, contact Coordinator: Mark Spencer  or 978-884-6958

The Good Shepherd Soup Kitchen at Lazarus House provides freshly prepared hot meals for more than 300 people a day at breakfast and lunch sittings.  Volunteers serve food to the individuals who stop in for a hot meal and socialization.  4th Thursday of each month...with 4 volunteers from The Rotary Club of Andover.

(In December 2025, we're serving food on FRIDAY 12/26, day after Christmas.

260 Park Street (Corner Park and Exchange);  Lawrence, MA

Lazarus House Food Pantry (aka St. Martha’s Food Pantry) supplies healthy groceries to over 2,000 families many weeks.
The Pantry offers a dignified shopping experience, allowing choices and greater independence and planning. Volunteers distribute food at a specific “station”.

1st Wednesday of each month...with 4 volunteers from The Rotary Club of Andover

Lots of standing.  LIght lifting (No heavy lifting required).; 
Minimum age 14

Lydia is the founder and CEO of Simplify the Journey LLC, an adult special needs consulting business for adults and those approaching adulthood with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, including autism. She educates families on the financial benefits, supports, and services available to their loved one and provides strategies to maximize these financial benefits and guidance to access the supports and services necessary to create a meaningful life. She is available for one-on-one consultations, workshops, trainings, and speaking engagements.

Lydia resides in Andover with her husband Brian. They have four adult children, including two who have autism.

www.simplifythejourney.net

Nick DiSalvatore is an educator and wellness mentor based out of Beverly, MA. He holds a PhD in Systematic Theology from Boston College, and he teaches philosophy and theology in the Boston area, including at Merrimack College where he is a full-time professor. He has over a decade of experience mentoring young people in their transition into adulthood, with a focus on intellectual, moral, spiritual, and vocational development.

Join us on Monday, January 26th, 2026 at Otto Pizza in Andover for a community fundraiser.  10% of ALL sales for the day (eat-in, take out and delivery) will benefit the Andover Rotary Charitable Trust. 

If you would like to dine with your favorite Rotarian(s), some of us will be meeting for lunch at 12:15 pm and dinner at 5:30 pm.  To join us, please sign-up. 

A coupon code will not be needed for your order to count.  Please help spread the word!

The Rev. Craig A. Phillips, Ph.D. is a retired Episcopal priest and Professor of Religion. He currently teaches as a Lecturer in Theology at St. Anselm College in Manchester, NH.

Craig is a member of the Rotary Club of Milford, NH, where he resides with his wife, Marguerite.

He graduated from Brown University, earned his Master of Divinity at Harvard University, and received his doctorate from Duke University. He has taught at many colleges and universities.

Craig also has served in a variety of ministry settings in the Episcopal Dioceses of Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Missouri, and Oklahoma.

His blog may be found at https://craigphillips.co and his free Substack page at https://craigphillips.substack.com.

Fifteen years ago, Andrew joined ALKU as an intern. He was just trying to figure out who he was as a professional and where he could contribute to a new and exciting specialty staffing company recently founded. He had the opportunity to grow, lead, and learn from some of the best people in the business. His journey may sound unique, but he's proud to say it’s just business as usual at ALKU. ALKU is a company that develops talent from within, giving employees every chance to thrive and it's right here in Andover!

Lazarus House Ministry has 50+ full and part-time staff, 5000+ volunteers, and 6500 donors working together to serve the most vulnerable people of Lawrence, MA – people struggling with material poverty, homelessness and food insecurity. We are a community.  Gail will bring her team to speak about opportunities for everyone to participate and ask questions about areas that are of interest to them.

Abigail (Abbe) Wertz is the Trauma Program Manager at MerrimackHealth in Lawrence, a role she has held since 2020 after more than two decades of service as an Emergency Room nurse. With 23 years of frontline ER experience and 13 years as a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Abbe’ career centers on trauma informed patient care and community safety.

In the role of Trauma Program Manager Abbe is active in the Merrimack Valley in injury prevention and education: teaching Stop the Bleed classes in schools and community groups to help the layperson identify and take steps to control severe bleeding while waiting for 911, organizing and supporting town Bike Rodeos to promote safe riding and helmet use, and sponsoring a biannual car seat safety check in Lawrence where Car Seat Patient Safety Technicians check the installation and appropriate size and condition of car seats.

A resident of Haverhill for the past 27 years, Abbe is active in the community primarily in the area of food insecurity. Abbe is also the mother of four adult sons and one granddaughter. She spends her free time happily working in her flower and veggie gardens and walking her dogs.