Every year , the Rotary Club of Juneau has a Changing of the Guard banquet.
During the event, the club looks back on the past year, the gavel is passed to the incoming president, the old board is thanked, the new board is welcomed and a Rotarian of the Year is named.
This year’s honoree and recipient of the Service Above Self Award, is Steve Allwine, a member of the club for more than 30 years, according to the Rotary Club of Juneau.
As president and co-owner of Mendenhall Auto Center, his days are full overseeing multiple car dealerships in the capital city, but numerous Rotary projects have taken up good amount of his time as well, Rotary Club of Juneau said in a news release. Never one to say “no,” Allwine’s Rotary service has included holding offices such as president and sergeant-at-arms, serving as the club’s “go-to” auctioneer for various fundraisers, participating in annual Rotary projects such as bell-ringing during the holiday season and “food-raising” for the Southeast Alaska Food Bank; but it’s his generosity that truly makes him excel, according to the Rotary Club.
For the Rotary Club of Juneau, it’s meant donating the Mendenhall Auto Center showroom for the club’s wine auction for many years, and hosting “after-hours” for the club on numerous occasions. In addition, he’s the host of The Dodge Boy’s Country Caravan, which originally aired on KINY radio for many years and is now heard weekly on TAKU 105. Allwine was also one of the announcers for Rotary Radio, an annual multi-club fundraiser to help eradicate polio sponsored by the Juneau Radio Center. But perhaps most tireless, his efforts to raise funds for the restoration of the Four-Story Totem Pole in front of the city museum through the related sale of the Kitty Bauer four-color print.
