The Weaver family has a long history with Rotary Youth Exchange spanning over 40 years. Ken and Judy, along with their daughters, Carla and Lesley, have hosted five students from France, New Zealand, Turkey, and Spain. They remain in close contact with these students and their families. There have been many visits back and forth with these students, and now the second and third generations visit each other. As a teenager, Lesley was an exchange student to Denmark. Ken and Judy’s grandchildren, Tristan and Amelia Burke, also did exchange years in Peru and Brazil in 2014 and 2018, respectively, and Carla hosted a student from Italy.
Kennard Weaver joined Rotary in 1972 and served as the President of the Elkhart, Indiana, Club in 1987-88, the year that women were admitted into Rotary. He also served as the Club Youth Exchange Chair, Program Chair, and on the District Youth Exchange Committee. Ken joined Traverse City Rotary in 2007, and he has served as World Community Service Chair, and District Foundation Grants Chair.
Ken and Judy have participated in National Immunization week and West Africa Project Fair in Abuja, Nigeria. They support fund-raising efforts for Wheels of Hope, a program that gives the gift of mobility to people in Nigeria who are stricken with polio.
Carla and Lesley both joined Rotary in 2017 in Traverse City and Oakland, CA, respectively. Growing up the girls considered themselves “Rotary Brats” because of the Rotary activities that filled their childhoods! Carla serves as Traverse City Rotary’s Youth Exchange Officer and has been in the Rotary Chorus since 2009.
Ken, Judy, Lesley and Carla are all Paul Harris Fellows which supports the mission of Rotary International. Amelia aspires to have the Rotary seat at the United Nations. The Weaver family legacy is an example of how the Rotary “Service About Self” motto extends throughout the world.
