New Longboat Rotary Club president continues legacy of founder

Actress. Playwright. Philanthropist. 

Jan Wallace can add one more title to her resume — president of the Rotary Club of Longboat Key.

After stepping up when no one else would, Wallace followed in the footsteps of her husband’s late wife, Sydelle Pittas, who started the Longboat Key chapter 10 years ago. She has given her position of recording secretary to her husband Philippe Koenig and is prepared to lead the Rotary Club on its path of high achievements. 

Originally from the United Kingdom, Wallace has been an actress since her youth and later moved to New York to continue this passion. She moved to Sarasota full-time in 2013 and joined the club in 2022. 

The Observer sat down with Wallace to learn about her love for the club and what she is looking forward to in her term as president.

What has been your main involvement in the club?

I work mainly with our Books For Kids program at Tuttle Elementary. Each month, we donate books to the school to encourage the importance of reading. When we give the books to the children, we will do a read-aloud. Since I am an actress, I encouraged everyone to start acting the stories out to make them interactive. Then Nancy (Rozance) brought out all of her costumes like Josh The Otter and it was perfect. 

Photo by Petra Rivera

I have worked with kids a lot. I am a Guardian Ad Litem, which is a group of advocates for abused, neglected and abandoned children. So for 16 years, I have worked with kids who have been removed from their parents' homes and are either in foster care or with other family members. When I lived in New York, I ran a children's theater. Here, I taught kids theater and acting for several years at Venice Theatre. 

So reading to the kids with Rotary has been the perfect fit for me because I love connecting with them and being able to provide them with greater opportunities in their lives. 

What do you like about being a part of the Rotary Club?

I joined the club because of my husband, but my friendships, like with Nancy and others, have truly grown throughout my time here. It is a tight-knit group that loves to support each other like they are always going to my shows

I love the programming through the club that Jack (Rozance) provides for us. We have great speakers. I love that we're helping organizations around the world and organizations in need. 

For me, Rotary means communicating and doing good in the area. It gives people the opportunity to either donate or do good for the area. I’m more of a doer but a lot of people are happier giving. It's the perfect combination of that. 

How are you feeling about becoming the Rotary Club president?

My husband’s late wife started this Rotary Club. So when nobody else stepped up, the most recent President Ellen (Greenberger) said that we would have to merge with another club if we didn’t get anyone. I knew how much this club meant to my husband and how much Sydelle did for the club and community.

Photo by Petra Rivera

A couple of people asked me about doing it. I don’t know why. Maybe it was because they were used to seeing me on stage. So I asked my husband and he said to go for it.

I'm feeling a bit nervous because my experience in Rotary is limited, but I am lucky as we have so many past presidents still involved and they're all going to back me up. 

What are your goals as president?

My main goal is to keep these members we have active. If we can bring in a few more on the way, that will be very nice. I hope that at every meeting we have as many people as possible attend. I just want everybody to come early to our meetings to mingle, feel the camaraderie and just give a lot of energy. 

I’m looking forward to continue making a difference with this club. Just this year, we raised so much money and were so involved so I'm happy that people have trusted me with this. I just hope I live up to their expectations and that people want to come out and be a part of the organization and continue doing what they are doing.