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ROTARY MEETING RAIDED BY POLICE
Presented to the club 10/30/13

What a group and history we have.

I found an article in the 4/11/29 NJ Herald that is very interesting. Don’t forget, prohibition was still in effect, then.

The Newton Exchange Club was honoring our Rotary Club at a joint dinner, held at the Cochran House. Following a toast to Dr Blasé Cole, the crowd was startled by the appearance of Proprietor Charles Hendershot and several members of the State and local police.

They announced that the party was being raided. When club members inquired about what it was about,  the police   pointed to Harvey Snook , President of the Rotary Club. Further examination revealed   two whisky bottles, under the table, by his chair.

At first they tried to raise some bail money so the party could continue, the paper reported. However, none was raised . Then Harvey Snook denied any knowledge of how the whisky got into the room.

There were then suggestions that Rev Ford of Sparta and Rev Myers of Newton had brought the bottles to the dinner. They vigorously protested and declared their innocence.

Finally, a suggestion was made to “sample” the whisky. The officers did and discovered only ginger ale. They then said that their information had been wrong and they left.

No one ever admitted culpability to this practical joke, but it was obvious that most Rotary members believed it was a real raid.  

After the police left, the dinner continued. Several Rotarians were presented with gifts.  Dr Whitfield Gray was presented with a toy elephant with instructions to properly care for it. Dr Gray was a veterinarian

Louis Dalryple received a well wrapped parcel containing a check book from Sussex & Merchants Bank. Louis was VP of the Newton Trust Co.

 Harvey Snook then received his gift. It was a dozen “proposed members” for the Rotary Club. Actually they were paper dolls with the names of the proposed members on them. Harvey was the County engineer.

It’s obvious that we have  great traditions and a history of having fun at meetings.