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About Honesdale Rotary
For the past 80 years the
Honesdale Rotary Club has dedicated its time and resources to
improving our community and the world. The Rotary motto "Service
Above Self" teaches us that what we do for others is more important
than what we do for ourselves.
At the recent Installation Dinner- incoming President Brian Fulp
said, "Last year we talked about the past and how far Honesdale
Rotary has reached over the years, today we will look to the
future."
Since 1927 great members from the Honesdale community have laid the
foundation that we work with today. Legends like Art Fasshauer left
large shoes for us to fill. I'd like 2008-09 to focus on filling
these shoes from the great Rotarians who came before us, AND using
them to lead the way for those who come after us.
In the coming year we'll focus on membership, local and worldwide
projects that make a difference and fundraising.
Membership:
Having added 8 new members in this past year, we've seen an increase
in club energy and an influx of talent that we'd not had before.
Projects:
Along with our Africa '08 Project we'll add a local community
project. Collaborating with the Hawley Rotary Club we hope that a
walking and picnic park (code named "Rotary Park") will be
established. This project will span the next 3 years and enlist the
help of not only Rotarians but everyone from within our
Honesdale/Hawley community.
Fundraising:
Each year we have budgeted programs from around the community that
we fund on a regular basis. I'm suggesting that the membership work
hard to raise enough money so when there is a need, we are can
donate to their cause. A stellar fundraising team has been created
and their goals with one project are more than we've seen in a whole
year. Let's stand behind them to make this fundraiser a reality.
Among all other things, Honesdale Rotary is committed to seeing the
charter of the Kumbo Rotary Club located in Cameroon, West Africa.
We now have a leader for an Interact Club located at the Honesdale
High School. This fall we'll guide them in the creation of their own
projects and fundraisers. We will embrace the requests from the
Government Practices School and the Family as One women's initiative
of Kumbo, Cameroon to help them form a cultural exchange between
their organizations in Kumbo and ours here in Honesdale.
Let's leave a lasting impression on this community, both local and
global for the next generation to work with. Let's work hard and
keep in mind that what we create today will leave a foundation for
our children and future Honesdale Rotarians to build upon for
decades to come.
History of Honesdale Rotary 1927- Present
Eighty
Years of Rotary in Honesdale
By John Diefenderfer, President 2007-2008
As in-coming president for 2007-8, succeeding Bob Tenewitz, it is an
honor to present to you a small slice of the history of our club.
The sources of this information are the minutes of the first ten
years. Because an eighty- year history means the activities of some
4,000 meetings, which would induce mass comas in this audience, I
have reduced the scope to excerpts from the March 25, 1927
Organizational meeting, and some of the subsequent February and
March meetings of the first ten years, in an effort at a random
selection of the activity of these early years, involving persons
who are all dead, and who are not expected to appear at this
meeting.
It may be interesting to reflect on what they tell us of Rotary as a
positive organization, as contrasted with those with negative
agendas, which have fallen by the wayside. Rotary history is the
story of countless projects helping those in local communities, as
well as large projects on the national and international level. One
of the most celebrated is the effort to eradicate Poliomyelitis,
which started as the Rotary’s ‘March of Dimes’ and continues as
Polio Plus, which has almost wiped out the disease from planet
earth.
The organizational meeting minutes tell us there were 25 members. It
was organized largely because local Rotarians who belonged to the
Scranton Club wished to reduce the demands of travel. Homer Greene,
Esquire was its first President. Well- written minutes of the first
several years survive. In fact the first meeting’s minutes while
terse, are so well written, I wondered who wrote these. It turns out
that it was a Dr. Louis B. Neilsen. Here are some highlights:
March 27th, 1927....The meeting was called to order....at the
Hotel Allen by President Homer..... At the request of the President,
Charles J. Smith read telegrams, congratulatory and otherwise, from
the President of the United States, the President of the Scranton
Rotary Club, Chief of Police, Steve Bauer, The Wayne County
Conclave, The Ku-Klux Klan and the Rock Lake Rotary Club.......
After the luncheon President Homer thanked the Club for his
election...and after a few Homeresque [sic!] called upon Charles
Smith who referred to various Rotary customs and explained
them.....”
The March 11th 1929 Meeting Minutes are faded and difficult to read.
I was able to decipher some of it.
“The meeting was turned over to Edgar Burchfield who in turn
introduced Otto Douglas. His subject was “From Mash to Hooch, or
the making of alcohol.” He gave a very fine descriptive talk.
Charlie Bently just having returned from Florida, was introduced as
giving a talk on “How the Idle Rich consume that Hooch”, however he
talked about the “Ringing Tower.” Firman Freed of Pottsville,
Pa., wore out his brake linings coming from Pottsville, and was so
late in arriving at the meeting that no time was left to present his
talk about the coming District Conference. He urged the boys to try
to attend.”
On April 11, Edgar Burchfield gave the club’s first ‘classification’
talk: “The attitude of a life insurance salesman toward his
work.” - This must have been a real ‘spellbinder.’
The March 3, 1930 Meeting Minutes tell us that:
“Bob Murray, another member of the [Honesdale Borough] Council
was next introduced and showed the difficulties the Council were up
against and especially that it would take years to improve the
dirt streets in the Borough under the present method and
suggested three different plans which might be carried out in the
future by the Council.
Apparently no Rotary money was forthcoming to fund the paving of the
dirt streets. The March 30, 1931 Meeting Minutes tell us that:
“President Joe opened the meeting with the ringing of the new
Rotary Club bell which is a great improvement over the old way of
hitting the table with a gavel.”
This, undoubtedly, is the present bell which President Tenewitz has
viciously abused and damaged during his tenure, so that its handle
is bent out of shape. If the bell breaks during my term, we should
fine him to pay for the damages.
The March meeting of 1932 included a Rotary fund-raiser during very
hard times:
“Tom Clark spoke of the misfortune which had befallen a family at
Tanner’s Falls when a little girl was drowned Saturday and who had
no money to bury her. A voluntary contribution was made by the
members of the Club to help this purpose.”
Other reflections of the hard times was also included:
“The matter of paying Miss Gertrude Krantz for singing at
Ladies’s Night at the Golf Club was again brought up at the
request of Frank Jenkins, and although she was a guest of the Club
at dinner and the card party after, and the Club not being in the
habit of paying local talent for such services, a motion was finally
made and passed to inform Jenkins that if Miss Krantz would send her
bill personally to the Club for such services the Directors
would consider the same.”
The March 27th 1933 Meeting Minutes tell us that:
President Bill Perkins read a letter from the Manager of the
movement in Penna. to promote the campaign to assist the State and
County Babies and Children’s Educational and General training Work
and asking all Rotary Clubs to assist in every way possible. After
this reading a vote was taken and passed unanimously, by the Club,
to lend our assistance, a letter or resolution by the Club to be
written by the Secretary in reply to this request as soon as
possible.
Apparently only a letter was sent, because the treasury held only
$164.00
In 1934, the February19th Meeting Minutes tell us that:
Vice President Clyde then gave the Potato Club some figures
provided by Jim McKeehan relating to the program made in obtaining
Rotary Club Sponsors for the Potato Club and called on county Agent
Mc Keehen to make an effort to obtain about 5 more Club sponsors.
What on earth is a ‘potato club?’ On the 26th:
Chairman Clarence then called on Treasurer Bill Sell who placed
before the Club the proposition of charging the price of our
luncheon to the individual member from 40¢ to 50 ¢. It was also
mentioned that the Board of Directors had already considered and
approved this question and it was them moved, seconded and passed
that it became effective Monday, March 5th.
The March 1st, 1937 Meeting Minutes tell us that:
Next President John called upon Jack Fuller, the Club’s Committee
Chairman working with a group to promote the “Mile of Pennies”
campaign on behalf of Boy Scout work and its financial necessities.
Jack then gave us a short outline of the work being done during the
first week of the Mile of Pennies Bowls in all the various stores.
The March of Dimes evolved from Rotary’s Mile of
Pennies/Dimes efforts in the 1930's to combat Poliomyelitis.
However, in Honesdale, the March 8th minutes inform us that the
bowls for the pennies were indeed duly placed in the various stores,
but that all of the donated pennies had been stolen.
Stung by this setback, on March 8th- ,Rotarians being ever
resourceful:
Chairman Jack first beirfly [sic-typo] announced the proposed
plan for a contribution by Rotarians to the “Mile of Pennies” i.e.,
each member is to contribute the equivalent in pennies of his
weight, or one weighing 160 pounds, his contribution will be $1.60,
to be placed in an envelope at each plate and collected by Treasurer
C W Dein. This is to extend to all absentees.
The March 15th Meeting Minutes tell us that:
.....Jack read a letter from Secretary of the Campaign, Jas
Rutherford, containing thanks to the Rotary Club for its
contribution of $37.33 and Jack displayed Homer Sandercock’s
contribution (Homer having been absent March 8th] which was in the
form of a bag filled with change. This appeared to be a huge sum
probably $2.50, yet to be added to our total of last week.
The March 14th, 1938 Meeting Minutes tell us that times had returned
to a sort of Pre-War normalcy. The Club managed to survive the
Depression. Reminiscent of an early program relating to “Hooch” and
the “Idle Rich:’
President Jack next announced our speaker to be member Mel
Kennedy to tell about his recent trip to Mexico. Melvin had provided
a small glass of OLD MEX LIQUOR which was served at the beginning of
the luncheon. It was grand. Also a package of typical Mexican
cigarettes was distributed among the members. They were fine.
****
Presented by Club President John
Diefenderfer, on July 10, 2007, at Honesdale Rotary Club’s 80th
Anniversary ‘Changeover Dinner.”
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