Regular Rotary Meeting Feb 15, 2022

President Brandon opened the meeting at 12:20pm and Tammy Miller led the Pledge and Prayer.

 

ATTENDANCE: 30 members were in attendance which represents 37.50% of our membership.  

                             9 guests were in attendance including: Pat Gerken, guest of John Gerken; Diane Stahl, guest of Bert Elsner; 7 students of the month for February.

 

There were no announcements this week.

 

John gave an interesting, at times amusing, delightful talk as only John can do!  John gave us an encapsulated history of our Club and told stories that very few of us could remember or identify with.  Some things John shared include:

- How our CLub got started in 1935 by a small group of men and the York Club was our sponsor.  John's father became an early member of the Club.  The group wanted the Club number, assigned by RI, to be #4000 but it did not happen.  That first Club met at Trinity Church on York St and was an evening Club.  At the time RI only accepted males as members.  John told us that there was something known as the 5:30 Club which meant that members met at 5:30pm before the official meeting for "beverages" then the real Rotary Meting began at 6:00pm or so.
- Over the years our Club at a variety of locations - Trinity, Lyric Band Bldg, Richard McAllister Bldg, Red Barn(Patty & John's) on Westminster Rd. , Elks, BayCity, La Cucina, Bay City again and now The Markets on Broadway.
- Our Club supported many projects over the years like Bldg on Moul Field, Gazebo on the Square, hndkcp ramp and heart monitors at the library, Camp Tuckahoe docks, donation of books to kids, Rotarians reading to school kids, and tours through area Businesses
- Some of the fundraisers included an auction in Harrisburg of items collected from the Hanover Area, Travelogue, Sports Nite, Hole-in-one Golf Tournament, and more recently TasteFest.

- Our CLub used to be a very social Club as well sporting 2 Bowling Teams - Rotary #1 and #2., organizing trips to family events like baseball games, plays, race course, wine tastings, ladies nights, fashion shows, Christmas parties for the kids & grandkids complete with presents.  There were also occasional meetings with the Littlestown and Gettysburg Clubs.

- In 1959 RI relaxed the rules regarding admitting females as Rotarians and John feels that was one of the best things that Rotary ever did.  Women have brought new perspectives, new ideas,& new visions to Rotary.  Katherine Gault, an attorney from Gettysburg was our first female member and Chris Neri was our first female President.
- Throughout his presentation, John told funny stories Ken March, 50th Anniversary Celeb at the Elks and 52 ties, Irving Hostetler and his 5 sons, and Bowling league shirts for Rotary #1 inscribed with "Arrogant In Vicory - Insufferable In Defeat".  

John ended with a message for our students in attendance which was to give back to their communities no matter where they live and no matter what vocational field they end up in.
 

At the end John received a well - deserved standing ovation from the Club!!!  WELL DONE JOHN!