Hackensack Rotary History
History Hackensack Rotary - From Then to Now Hackensack Rotary did not, like Minerva, "spring fully-armed from the brow of Jove." It grew little by little, took its first steps falteringly, and only through the years attained its present stature.
Here we seek to recapture the atmosphere of those early days, when the Hackensack Golf Club was actually located in Hackensack, when the Elks were housed in their old frame building on State Street near Gamewell, and when our club had to send a resolution to the Improvement Commission and urge them to "find out who owns Main Street so it can be put in passable condition."
The War-to-End-All-Wars had just drawn to a close, and Prohibition-to-end-all drinking was the "scofflaw" of the land. First Steps Early in 1919, Andrew Stertzer, whose name in Hackensack had long been synonymous with shoes, attended an Odd Fellows convention in Newton, NJ. As the train chugged slowly homeward, he sat talking with a prominent Passiac Rotarian, Judge G.H. Dalrymple - a distant relative of our own "Dal." "Why hasn't Hackensack a Rotary Club?" the judge asked. The suggestion fell on fertile soil. Shortly after his return, Stertzer enlisted the support of the tow Freds, Fountain and Stillwell, and of C.M. Dalrymple. Things began to move.
A preliminary meeting was held at the Elks on March 18th, followed by other meetings until some fifty prospective members had been lined up. Then the bombshell burst! For it was learned that Rotary rules limited the number of Charter Members to twenty-five. There were headaches and heartaches, resentments and recriminations. Finally, things were smoothed over, the organization set up and the following officers elected: Andrew Stertzer, President: Frederick Stillwell, Vice-president; C.M. Dalrymple, Secretary; Willard Burdett, Treasurer; and Martin Toolen, Sergeant-at-Arms.
We were ready for our Charter. Charter Night At 7 pm, May 6, 1920, 140 Rotarians and guest sat down to one of Steward Wally's Gastronomical treats at the old Hackensack Golf Club. Dammes Orchestra dispense sweet music, and a representative of Ziegfeld's Follies furnished the entertainment. Our sponsoring club, Passaic, sent a delegation of 22: Jersey City 40: Rutherford 14; Newark 13; Paterson 9; and 24 of our own Charter Members were on hand - one member, New Jersey's Governor, Edward I. Edwards, honored us with his presence, as did Hackensack Mayor Milton Demarest, Rev. Harry L. Everitt of Jersey City, Rotarian Jim Herron of New York and a host of others. Rotary District Governor Thomas Sheean presented our Charter to President Stertzer amidst a flood of postprandial oratory. The Governor, Mayor and apparently everyone else present spoke, not forgetting that Passaic Rotarian who had first inspired the Rotary glint in Andrew Stertzer's eye- Judge Dalrymple. Hackensack's two newpapers, from whose yellowing pages some of these gems have been garnered, gave the affair their journalistic all. But conclusive proof of the dinner's success is found in the minutes of a subsequent meeting: "Cost of dinner, $617.80; 136 tickets sold at $3 each, $408.00; deficit $209.80." Dates and Data Certain dates and events in our early years merit repeating.
At the start, our meetings were held at the Hackensack Golf Club, but in October of 1921, we moved to the Union League. There we remained until March of 1928, when we made our move to the Hackensack YMCA. After many enjoyable years at the Y, the lunch facility was closed during 1956 and our meeting place was moved to the Elks Club on Union Street. The Elks Club closed during 1959 and our luncheon was move to Perillo's Restaurant on Essex Street and from there to Continental Towers in 1984. As no restaurant in Hackensack was large enough for our meeting, we move to Teaneck at the Innwood Manor, then to the Sheraton (now Hilton) in Hasbrouck Height, then to Waterloo Sue's on Main Street. This was followed by a short time at Donn Pomodoro on River Street, Hackensack. Then our meeting was held at Hilton in Hasbrouck Heights. Currently the club meets at Cheers Bar & Restaurant of Hackensack.
Here we seek to recapture the atmosphere of those early days, when the Hackensack Golf Club was actually located in Hackensack, when the Elks were housed in their old frame building on State Street near Gamewell, and when our club had to send a resolution to the Improvement Commission and urge them to "find out who owns Main Street so it can be put in passable condition."
The War-to-End-All-Wars had just drawn to a close, and Prohibition-to-end-all drinking was the "scofflaw" of the land. First Steps Early in 1919, Andrew Stertzer, whose name in Hackensack had long been synonymous with shoes, attended an Odd Fellows convention in Newton, NJ. As the train chugged slowly homeward, he sat talking with a prominent Passiac Rotarian, Judge G.H. Dalrymple - a distant relative of our own "Dal." "Why hasn't Hackensack a Rotary Club?" the judge asked. The suggestion fell on fertile soil. Shortly after his return, Stertzer enlisted the support of the tow Freds, Fountain and Stillwell, and of C.M. Dalrymple. Things began to move.
A preliminary meeting was held at the Elks on March 18th, followed by other meetings until some fifty prospective members had been lined up. Then the bombshell burst! For it was learned that Rotary rules limited the number of Charter Members to twenty-five. There were headaches and heartaches, resentments and recriminations. Finally, things were smoothed over, the organization set up and the following officers elected: Andrew Stertzer, President: Frederick Stillwell, Vice-president; C.M. Dalrymple, Secretary; Willard Burdett, Treasurer; and Martin Toolen, Sergeant-at-Arms.
We were ready for our Charter. Charter Night At 7 pm, May 6, 1920, 140 Rotarians and guest sat down to one of Steward Wally's Gastronomical treats at the old Hackensack Golf Club. Dammes Orchestra dispense sweet music, and a representative of Ziegfeld's Follies furnished the entertainment. Our sponsoring club, Passaic, sent a delegation of 22: Jersey City 40: Rutherford 14; Newark 13; Paterson 9; and 24 of our own Charter Members were on hand - one member, New Jersey's Governor, Edward I. Edwards, honored us with his presence, as did Hackensack Mayor Milton Demarest, Rev. Harry L. Everitt of Jersey City, Rotarian Jim Herron of New York and a host of others. Rotary District Governor Thomas Sheean presented our Charter to President Stertzer amidst a flood of postprandial oratory. The Governor, Mayor and apparently everyone else present spoke, not forgetting that Passaic Rotarian who had first inspired the Rotary glint in Andrew Stertzer's eye- Judge Dalrymple. Hackensack's two newpapers, from whose yellowing pages some of these gems have been garnered, gave the affair their journalistic all. But conclusive proof of the dinner's success is found in the minutes of a subsequent meeting: "Cost of dinner, $617.80; 136 tickets sold at $3 each, $408.00; deficit $209.80." Dates and Data Certain dates and events in our early years merit repeating.
At the start, our meetings were held at the Hackensack Golf Club, but in October of 1921, we moved to the Union League. There we remained until March of 1928, when we made our move to the Hackensack YMCA. After many enjoyable years at the Y, the lunch facility was closed during 1956 and our meeting place was moved to the Elks Club on Union Street. The Elks Club closed during 1959 and our luncheon was move to Perillo's Restaurant on Essex Street and from there to Continental Towers in 1984. As no restaurant in Hackensack was large enough for our meeting, we move to Teaneck at the Innwood Manor, then to the Sheraton (now Hilton) in Hasbrouck Height, then to Waterloo Sue's on Main Street. This was followed by a short time at Donn Pomodoro on River Street, Hackensack. Then our meeting was held at Hilton in Hasbrouck Heights. Currently the club meets at Cheers Bar & Restaurant of Hackensack.