The Rotary Club of Dennison has a new home for its weekly dinner meetings and service projects. The 28-member organization bought a building at 431 Center St. from the Dennison Railroad Festival for $65,000 in June. “We just wanted to make sure we had a good owner,” said Greg DiDonato, who has served as festival chairman for the past 15 years, along with being a village councilman and immediate past president of the Rotary Club. He said the railroad festival bought the Center Street property, and another at 1 N. Second St., to clean up the neighborhood around the museum. Located across the street from the Dennison Railroad Depot Museum, the building formerly housed the museum’s Dreamland ice cream shop and offices. The club is inviting the public to view its new headquarters at a grand opening planned for 6 p.m. Oct. 1. The group holds dinner meetings at 6 p.m. Tuesdays. The first was held at the new site last week. The inaugural dinner drew visiting Rotary leaders including District 6650 Governor Dan Morgan, past District Governor Meena Patel, District Governor Elect Linda Henderson and her husband, New Philadelphia Club President JJ Boroski and District Assistant Governor Tom Brown, representing the Sugarcreek Club. Members had to find a new place to meet after the women of Dennison Presbyterian Church found themselves unable to continue to host Rotarians as they had done since the club’s founding in 1924. The Center Street property has a galley kitchen with a refrigerator and sinks. Cooking for the group in the compact space would be a challenge; three’s a crowd this apartment-size space. Members are expected to use the roughly 1,600-square-foot handicap-accessible building as a home base for projects that grow from the club’s motto of “service above self,” such as the flag project that involves planting Old Glory in 250 locations. The group also sponsors a kids’ tractor pull, car show, and photography contest. The future includes the possibility of establishing a chapter of Rotaract, a Rotary organization for young people. Claymont High School students already help with the flags and a separate project to make blankets for foster children. Rotarians will be able to use their new headquarters to meet when selecting recipients of two $1,000 scholarships awarded annually. DiDonato said the Rotary expects to field requests from other groups that would like to use the space for programs that benefit the community. Rotary Club President Wendy Mann may use the building for the Twin Cities Kids’ Coalition, which is looking to establish a teen center here or in Uhrichsville. The move from the Presbyterian church basement has brought other benefits. Club members no longer need to negotiate stairs to get to meetings. The group now has a place to display memorabilia from its 95-year history, which includes founding the Easter Seals chapter that has become the Rainbow Connection. Funds for the real estate purchase came largely from the Dennison Rotary Health Check-up, conducted twice a year since 1992 at Trinity Hospital Twin City, according to longtime Rotarian Bob Michels. The screenings have drawn crowds and are credited with saving lives by detecting potentially fatal medical conditions. This year’s screenings will be held Oct. 12 and Oct. 26. Registration is required at www.trinitytwincity.org.
Sincerely,
Wendy Mann
Dennison Rotary Club President
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