Newark Rotary Club Hits a Milestone

It’s been 50 years since its inception, and the Newark Rotary Club continues to give to the City of Newark.

While the Newark Rotary Club was officially created in 1961, its origins really go back as far as 1937 when the formation of the Niles Rotary Club. 

Twelve of its members were generally active in business in the Newark area and because of that, they along with an additional 12 people later got together and created a new rotary club.  It’s been going strong ever since.

The ultimate purpose of the members of the Newark Rotary Club is to serve the needs of the community.  They provide food and toiletries for the , turkeys for the Tri-City League of Volunteers’ annual Thanksgiving dinners, help senior citizens and even hold crab feeds every year.

In addition, they sponsor several of the youth groups here in Newark, including the Boy Scouts of America, the D.A.R.E. program and even the Newark Memorial High School Athletic Program.

Despite all the contributions the rotary club makes to its beloved city, they also make contributions to other countries as part of Rotary International.  Every year, the Newark Rotary Club donates more than $6,000 to the Rotary International Foundation, $1,000 to Rotary’s Polio Eradication Program and supports the Coaniquem Burn Center in Chile.

It was a day of memories and acknowledgements as the club kicked off their 50th anniversary celebration on Sept. 9, hosted by club member Sohan Sharma. 

Both the Past District Governor Roger Hassler and Mayor David Smith were present to give special recognitions to the club for its anniversary (one of them in connection to its contributions to Rotary International).  Club President Nancy Thomas got up at one point to give out Honorary Member Awards and Member Awards to those most deserving of them. 

In well accordance with a dinner from , the club also took time to acknowledge two past presidents who really made a difference to the club; Alberto Huezo (otherwise comically known to the rotary club as “El Supremo”) and Mike Jay.

When taking time to reflect upon various memories of the club, Frank Haas made it clear that doing all the good deeds to the community not only builds character as a member of the club but also makes a member a better human being in the process.