The Birth of a New Rotary Club

Authored by: James Henry Pitt-Payne on Tuesday, February 26 2008, 12:15 PM EST

[ Reply to This | # ]

Authored by: Ray Wells on Wednesday, February 27 2008, 05:09 PM EST

Mel,

Read the article distributed by Bob Allison about your new Paramus AM Club. I was as you know the founder of the first Paramus AM Club which we started on June 30, 1975. We started with 25 members and the count went up to 50 or thereabouts when ,my son Jeff and Jay Fowler were presidents. When DG Joe advised me you were planning on starting a new morning or breakfast club a back while, I advised him that I have always thought that Paramus could well afford a breakfast club, as I did in 1975 . Unfortunately the old AM Club went through as period of very bad leadership for a period of three or four years with only Jeff and Jay bringing in new members. The club in turn made the decision to merge with the Ridgewood AM Club, which in some respects was good in that it did salvage the ten or so remaining members as Rotarians in the merged club, but to me it was a mistake in that I would have rather seen them make an effort to rebuilt their club like other clubs like the Oradell Emerson Club is trying to do at this time.

In turn I am really happy to see you making the effort to create a new breakfast club in a town that can very well support such a club. As you know the Sunset Club, which I helped to form four or five years ago is in a sense an evening Paramus Club as the territory it covers is Paramus, Ridgewood,Glen Rock, and Hohiokus.This we can potentially have three clubs covering Paramus, and possibly even a fourth with Lois Marshall's effort to start a seniors's club at the college, which is I think is great Rotarywise...

As soon as I head back North in May I will try to attend a few of your meetings and try to add some additional members to your club.

I tried to write a note to the Post, but even thought Sam had given me a password, etc. my limited computer ability did not appear to let me send a message, so the following is my note of supporting your effort, if you wish to use it in the paper.

Dear__________

The story of the forming of a new Paramus Breakfast Rotary Club was read by this writer with great interest. Paramus had a very active morning club for a number of years that unfortunately went through a period where the membership became less active and the club chose to merge with the Ridgewood AM Club. Paramus continues, however, to have the great potential for more than just the present large afternoon club and the regional evening Rotary clubs covering the borough, and as a forty five year member of the afternoon club I applaud your efforts to offer to additional residents and business people from Paramus an opportunity to serve as members at a time of the day more suitable for them to become members of Rotary.
In this day and age, active service clubs have never been more needed in meeting the needs of our community which are needs service clubs are best suited to meet, and I would encourage anyone with a potential interest in becoming Rotarian to seek information about this newly forming club or the existing clubs in our area. ..............................Ray Wells

[ Reply to This | # ]