If you think in terms of 1 year, plant a seed; if in terms of 10 years, plant trees; 
if in terms of 100 years, teach the people.
-Confucius

Our club history, 100 Years of Service Above Self: Allentown Rotary Club 1914-2014 by Club Historian Frank Whelan, is now available for purchase. This beautiful, 76-page retrospective includes history and stories from the past 100 years of the Allentown Rotary Club - Click here to order this special retrospective of our club today!

Highlights include chapters on:

Attorney Richard Iobst takes a Trolley Ride through Allentown

“One of history’s ironies is that the Allentown Rotary Club began from a concept first put forward by a resident of Emmaus. RIchard W. Iobst was descended from one of the borough’s leading Moravian families…”

A Service of Hope: Founding the first Lehigh Valley Hospice

“It was 1976, and past Club President Abram Samuels (1955-1956) proposed the establishment of a hospice: a place where people who were terminally ill could go and spend the last days of their lives in comfort and with dignity. The idea struck a chord with Edward Donley, the president of Air Products and Chemicals…”

Highlights of the Allentown Rotary Club at 100 Years Old

“July 25, 1913: Emmaus attorney Richard Iobst calls for a dinner meeting at the Hotel Allen in Allentown to discuss establishment of an Allentown Rotary Club. Eighteen of the 40 men who attend express an interest…”

Rotary and Women

“We must face up to the fact that we are Americans first and Rotarians Second and that the law of the land prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex… We had better climb out of Paul Harris’ dusty Victorian closet and face the world as it is today” – Allentown Rotarian Don DeLorenzo in a letter to Rotary International’s Membership Secretary, April 11, 1985 (before Rotary International permitted women members to join).

The Jolly Boys

“The Rotarians who convened on Friday in the Americus Hotel for drinks and laughs prior to the regular meeting… There was not stated purpose of the Jolly Boys club… it was just to have a good time for a half hour or so, but it was a controversial issue… “

Casa de Jesus

“Eunice Ojeda, president of the Morelia-Camelinas Rotary Club wrote: God bless you and God Bless the Rotary Club of Allentown… The girls and the religious sisters who are in charge of the residence are so happy and thankful because of your noble donation!”

The Roger and Louise Mullin Scholarship, and much, much more!

Copies are available for $10.00 at most club meetings, and can be shipped to you for $2.50.  Inscriptions are free!

Send us an email to request a copy be shipped to you.