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CELEBRATING 91 YEARS

THE ROTARY CLUB OF NEWTON NEW JERSEY

2014

This year the Newton Rotary Club is celebrating its 91th anniversary.

We’ve been around since May 15, 1923.

As you know, the club, currently has over 100 members. .

That original club  had 18 charter members and  were drawn from a wide circle of industries. Those early categories included:   silk merchant,  shoe manufacturer, hotel owner as well as lawyers.

New clubs must be sponsored by an existing club. In the early 1920’s, a Denville club member, working for Standard Oil, had many business activities in this area.

As a result, he met many local business people. On several of these trips, he mentioned the possibility of forming  a Newton club.

When the club was established, they met in the main dining room, and later in the Log Cabin Room of the largest hotel in Newton, the Cochran House.

The hotel/restaurant was owned by Charles Hendershot, one of the charter members. It’s  not coincidental, then, that the club continued to meet there for 33 years.

Lunch, in those early days was $ .50

In 1957, the club moved to Wilber’s Newtonian Inn on Route 206, north of Newton. This restaurant is now the Hampton Diner. Luncheons were held there for 34 years until the club moved to the Lafayette House, in 1991.

The Club went on to sponsor several other clubs, in the area. These clubs, in turn, sponsored other local clubs. Currently, there are six clubs in the county. Newton Rotary is proud of the fact that it was the seed for many of them.

Over the years, there have been many memorable events and local people connected and associated with the Club.

· Newman Drake purchased and donated land, in 1928, that eventually became Memory Park. He was the founder of the Drake Baking Co- you know DRAKES CAKE.

· Harry Jones made substantial gifts for the establishment of the Newton Municipal Pool.

· George Condit donated the land for Newton Medical Center

The club  has supported or sponsored a large number of important events or projects over the years, including:

 - a performance of the US Navy band, in 1978

-  the Woody Herman Band in 1985

-  the US Marine Band in 1979 and 1983

The Club has since been  very instrumental in the continuing  success of The Newton Medical Center. Besides the land. early members also  provided the initial capital for its establishment.

Subsequent other contributions have also been significant. Major projects have included  the nurse’s lounge as well as  major emergency room upgrades.

Various types of equipment were also donated over the years. Among them was a 1937 La Salle ambulance that was used until 1951. In fact, this vehicle was later used in several scenes of the GODFATHER.

You may remember the scene , when Don Corleone was transported to the hospital. That ambulance was our 1937 LaSalle.

Since 2000, over $200,000 has been donated to the hospital with another $100,000 having been pledged for the future.

Our other significant local contributions include:

1)   Established a Boy Scout troop, as its first community project in 1923

2)   Donated a tractor to Ecuador in 1962

3)   Donated a used fire truck to The Bahamas in 1965

4)   Donated a rest room to Ft Dix in 1943

5)   Published the book Sussex County – A History

6)   Donated school buses to Chiapas, Mexico

 

Since 2000 we have
donated $75,000 for scholarships to local students.

In fact, all community donations, since 2000, have exceeded $500,000.

Total contributions since 1923 are estimated to be at least $1,000,000)