September and October have been very busy for our club. Our meetings have been a several places in our community: the Suffern Free Library, Garden of Hope at Good Samaritan Hospital, and back at The Salvation Army Officer's College for regularly scheduled meetings.
This Thursday November 10th we will meet at The Ramapo Challenger Center at the far end of the Walgreen's/Starbucks Plaza on the corner of Route 59 and Airmont Road. Lunch will be catered by Airmont Eats again for $20 per person.
The Annual Spaghetti Dinner at Suffern High School was well attended. The students serenaded with music and song as we dined. The profit calculated at this time is $4,281. Please pay your $120 commitment if you have not already. Thank you to all for making this a great success.
We are excited to be attending the Rotary Foundation Dinner at the Wallkill Country Club this Friday November 11th. Our club is being awarded several distinguished awards. Next event is preparing our Rotary Float for the Suffern Christmas Parade on December 3. Keep and eye out for more details to come about the date of decorating.
Read below about some of our recent events and celebrations!
Happy Birthday to:
Reimer, Melissa Nov 01
Krantz, Sam Nov 11
Etelson, Arnold Nov 13
Gundersen, P. Erik Nov 20
Happy Rotary Anniversaries to these Members:
John Wickes 36 years October 16th, 1986
Brian Brooker 35 years October 15, 1987
Berard, Donalee 34 years Nov 01 1988
Gundersen, P. Erik 1 year Nov 04 2021
Reinmuth, William 13 years Nov 04 2009
Schmincke, Patrick 1 year Nov 04 2021
Syrek, Richard 25 years Nov 06 1997
Wilen, Howard 5 years Nov 09 2017
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Peace Pole Dedication
One of the Rotary objectives is to promote "the advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship 0f ...persons united in the ideal of service. Our Rotary club is fortunate to have an Interact Club at SHS where these ideals can be planted, much like the Peace Pole we have installed at the front of the School. The dedication of the Peace Pole was held on the International Day of Peace September 21, 2022. Students from the Interact Club & the Model UN Club made oral presentations and other students made individually decorated pinwheels which are a symbol of joy & optimism.
Donalee arranged a tour of the changes at Suffern Free Library by director Darlene Alessi. Darlene's vision was to bring the outside in to the library, so new & larger spaces for groups to meet were created within the library as well as outdoors. There is a new path that connects the back of the library to two of the back doors of the library. Library visitors will be able to sit in an oval gazebo just outside the children's library donated by the Suffern Women's Club. There is a new patio and seating just outside the lower foyer where the cafe run by BRIDGES not-for-profit organization soon. Rotary members made a $100 donation to the library.
Little Free Library in Gazebo Park in Honor of Grover Foster
Grover Foster is a legend in the Suffern Rotary Club. I did not know Grover, but I know of his reputation as a generous, humorous, spiritual & dedicated humanitarian which is spoken by anyone who served as a Rotarian with him. Grover was a very educated man, a scientist that worked in toxicology. He was a musician & well-versed in the bible. Grover mentored many in the Rotary Club. His passing in May of 2019 has left many fond memories of his many years as a member of the Rotary Club of Suffern.
The senior members of the club unanimously agreed that the new bulletin should be named in Grover's name: The Grover Gazette. Grover was a dedicated Rotarian and wrote a weekly newsletter on Clubrunner which club members enjoyed reading. He kept the club informed, connected, motivated, & focused. His wit & humor also spread joy to reading the newsletter. The club found it very fitting to dedicate the Little Free Library in his honor. Rotarian Ira Rappaport constructed the Little Free Library in 2021 and it was installed with the help of numerous handy Rotarians last October.
The finishing touch to the Little Free Library is securing the bronze engraved plaque which was saved for the dedication ceremony. The dedication took place on Saturday October 8th, 2022 in the Gazebo Park in the heart of the Village of Suffern. The dedication was led by the club president, Amany Dgheim with memorial comments by longtime member of Suffern Rotary and District Governor of District 7210, Larry Palant. Fellow Rotarian Bob Nachbaur was friends with Grover and has stayed in contact with his family. Mayor Michael Curley also attended the dedication to honor Grover Foster.
The family of Grover Foster gathered with members of Rotary to turn the screws to secure the plaque to the Little Free Library. Those that pass by the Little Free Library are encouraged to take a book or place a used book in the library. The purpose of a Little Free Library is to promote sharing, repurposing, and neighborliness--all of which are positive qualities for kids to see and action and adopt. They help broaden horizons. Little Free Libraries have the potential to create and strengthen community connections...Here's to your Rotarian spirit & Memory Grover Foster!
Suffern Rotarians enjoyed a beautiful Friday afternoon while posting 50 Flags for Heroes, in front of Ramapo Town Hall, dedicated by Rotarians, friends and community organizations to honor heroes past and present. Big thanks to all who helped to install the flags. Supervisor Michael Specht stopped by offering support.
Flags are still available for dedication while supplies last!
Email order to SRCFlags@gmail.com Venmo Rotary Club of Suffern Thank you to Angus MacKenzie and Tom Reilly for chairing this new project.
Suffern Rotarian team lead by Bob Nachbaur walked at Clover Stadium on Sunday October 16, 2022. Total monies raised by this event was $180,845 with the Rotary Club of Suffern being in third place of highest team earnings at $11,496. The highest earning Rockland participant was our new member, David Handler who earned $8,663. Past Rotary District 7210 Governor Carol Tjoia attended the event and current Rotary District 7210 Larry Palant walked on his Suffern Team.
Suffern Rotary has a new fundraising project is also a tribute to our local heroes. When a flag is sponsored for a hero, the flag will be placed on the lawn in front of Ramapo Town Hall for 3 weeks in October into November. Angus Mackenzie and Thomas Reilly are the contacts for the project.
Please share with your friends, family and neighbors.
Forms are in the downloads file for you to print or email.
Good Samaritan Hosts Rotary Club of Suffern Meeting
The Rotary Club of Suffern's meeting of October 6th was hosted by Good Samaritan staff. This meeting was the first official community organization hosted in the Garden of Hope in over 10 years! The smiling faces of volunteers and the director of the garden greeted the club members with a beautiful garden set with Rotary blue table cloths and buffet lunch under a clear blue sky. Anne Meore demonstrated the preparation of a Mexican Corn Salad with numerous ingredients from the garden. The garden has provided hundreds of pounds of fresh produce over the years to local organizations as well as providing s place of refuge & joy for employees, patients and volunteers.
Good Samaritan Hospital is one of the corporate members of the Rotary Club of Suffern. Several of our club members are employed at or associated with Good Samaritan Hospital. Club member Helene Guss was instrumental in organizing the meeting for this day. The club has sponsored several projects for the Garden of Hope over the years: a fountain, a bench and a handcrafted stone patio.
After lunch & the cooking demonstration, club members were given a tour of the renovated Radiology Department lead by site manager Dan Dipaola. The new equipment is designed to be more comfortable for the patient as well as being more up to date in efficiency. The CT scan room and MRI rooms have screens that show the patient soothing pictures to view while on the table as well as a feature that shows what stage of the test they are at. The Suites for injections have mood lighting, screens with soothing pictures to look at as well as privacy curtains & lounge chairs to provide more comfort for relaxation. Rotarian Mark Dollman helped to organize this portion of our meeting.
Please visit the photo album for more views of the garden & the Radiology Department.
The Rotary Club members of Suffern learned a great deal about what the hospital has to offer the community. We thank our Rotarian members that give so much to the community as well as to our Rotary Club of Suffern!
As part of the Rotary Initiative to clean the environment, Judy and Evelyn organized a Fall clean up of a section of Route 202 on Saturday October 15th. The weather was spectacular for being out of doors. Twelve large bags of trash were collected from this strip of 202. The most interesting find was a child's slipper. We pondered what story went with that item! Take a look at the photos of the clean up crew at work.
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