A large group of West Chester Rotarians were among the 500 Rotarians in District 7450 to attend the Phillies versus Milwaukee Brewers baseball game on Tuesday. An annual event of District 7450, some Rotarians made it a family affair. The Schwabs attended with son Matt and their grandchildren, the Sammarone family was there, and Paul Woodruff brought his grandson.  Among others spotted in the crowd were Doug Meis, Melissa Baxter, Corey Cahill, and Kate  Diffendorf.

 

Melissa Baxter turned over the club presidency to Rich Murray at a memorable presidential induction, like hundreds of Rotary clubs across the country and the world. Melissa accomplished so much in her year as our leader, notably bringing together other West Chester Rotary clubs in joint events. Apparently we did not overtax her, because she has now stepped up to join Jeff Cantwell in heading up the Chili Cook-off on October 8^th! Talk about going “from the frying pan into the fire!” Fortunately she and Jeff have over 100 Rotarians and many other volunteers beside them as they venture forth, including Melissa’s supportive husband, Aaron.

 

Continuing the excellent leadership of his predecessors, Rich commented “we have the friendliest club in the district, and I am happy to be your meeting host for the next 52 weeks!” Keeping leadership in perspective, Rich had to explain to his 5-year- old son, Logan, that he is NOT president of the United States, but only of this club at which he will use a gavel and ring a bell at each meeting.

 

After the induction of Rich and his board members by District 7450 Governor Renee DeCoskey of the Conshohocken Plymouth Whitemarsh Rotary Club, she announced the new RI theme Create Hope in the World. “We need to become more visible in our communities and think about how we are perceived,” she said.

 

President Melissa gave a Rotary welcome in front of our RI banner to two of the three Chester County Commissioners, Marian Moskowitz and Josh Maxwell. They in turn gave inspiring comments on the state of our county and work of the commissioners.

 

Moskowitz said the skills she learned along the way as a businesswoman have been helpful in her job as commissioner. “These skills came in handy when I took office, and we were immediately faced with the challenges presented by COVID, and storm Ida. Despite those, we continued to work to move the county forward.”

Charles Streitwieser and Melissa Baxter represented our West Chester Club at the recent District 7450 District Conference, which Melissa described as a “relaxed format – people came and went throughout.”

 

Charles had a chance to catch up with the keynote speaker, Drew Kessler, Past District Governor (PDG 2013-14), who is now a Rotary International Director. The 2023 Conference was themed “Imagination Action,” building on the theme of our RI International leader. About 100 Rotarians gathered at The Alloy Hotel in King of Prussia on Friday evening to kick off the annual conference. Saturday the gathering at Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown was environmentally focused, and the Sunday gathering at Waynesborough Country Club in Paoli, featured the 4-Way Speech Contestants and guest speaker.

 

The Philadelphia Eagles may have come up short on their bid to win the Super Bowl last weekend, but West Chester Rotarians were winners. Carol Hanson and new member Lona Pangia were among the four winners of the Super Bowl fundraiser conducted by Mac Neilon. Carol won $200 for her 2nd  quarter pick, Lona won $200 for her third quarter pick, Fran Curtin (on a bucket list trip to Egypt with wife Judy) won $200 for his first quarter pick, and Rob Malone's grandmother won the fourth quarter pick and the $650 prize!

Mac reports that 77 individuals participated, Rotarians, their families and friends, in this fun(draiser) for our club. The remainder of the winning funds, representing half of the betted dollars, $1,250, goes to our club's good works. Fun, fellowship and winners all around!

Arriving in a holiday mood, about 75 individuals, Rotarians and their spouses, gathered for a festive holiday party at the gorgeous home of Doreen and Bill Winters. Although elegant on its own, Doreen embellished the large Victorian style home with numerous decorated trees that she started putting up in October!

 

Through the years, Doreen and Bill have graciously hosted our club at picnics on the large, wide porch that surrounds their home. Not only is it beautiful to look out at the immaculately manicured lawn, flowers and bushes, but some partygoers would take their plates of food poolside to enjoy the weather and beauty of the rear yard.

 

As usual, Rotarians filled the dining table with an amazing spread of delicious holiday foods. Among the most notable was the scalloped potatoes dish from the Roots Café.

 

All partygoers were dressed in festive holiday garb. Skip Brion and Dan Dunn showed up in sweaters of the same design. Red crabs were featured on a holiday motif background, and known as “crabby Christmas” sweaters. They obviously have good taste in clothes - no ugly sweaters at this holiday party!

 

We thank Jeff Cantwell for snapping the photos of partygoers, and Phyllis Dunn for filling us in on some details of another popular Rotary fellowship event.

 

Hoping all had a Merry Christmas with family and friends, are looking forward to an upcoming year of service that makes a difference, improved physical and mental health, and more civil discourse.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A casual, social gathering of Rotary members on the "Tuesday Before Thanksgiving" has been a longstanding tradition of the Rotary Club of West Chester. Over two dozen club members joined in keeping the tradition alive this year.

 

Several years ago, two sergeant at arms (Katie Martin and Mac Neilon?) started the tradition by scheduling an informal  happy hour at a borough bar on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. In addition to socializing, they presented "awards"  to fellow members for the funniest, most outlandish reasons they could come up with.

 

Although awards are no longer given out, the tradition of gathering before Thanksgiving continues. As this group of Rotarians gathered at the Side Bar and Restaurant on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, they carried on the wonderful tradition of Rotarians gathering for fun and fellowship - thankful for each other's friendship! Thanks to  President Mellissa for arranging for this photo.

Several club presidents and members of the four West Chester Rotary Clubs met recently at Timothy’s for an All West Chester Member Prospect and Networking Social. One group of Rotarians who were having fun together included (from left) our own West Chester President Melissa Baxter, Debi Friedmann, president of the Passport  Club, Russ DiFuria, a past president and member of the WEGO (West  Goshen) Club, Bob Eaves, president of the Sunrise Club, and (front) Judy Curtin, immediate past president of the Sunrise Club.

 

According to Melissa, “the social gathering was an opportunity to strengthen Rotary through fellowship, networking, and fun." Guests learned about each club, and “connected with our greatest assets – our club members,” explained Melissa. “It was a chance to have fun, as well as build your personal and professional networks,” she added.

According to Chili King Bill Friedman, an estimated record crowd of about 10,000 people flooded the streets of West Chester Borough Sunday, October 9^th, when the annual Chili Cook-off returned for its 20^th year!^. Lines of chili lovers  formed prior to noon, and booths remained busy until the awards presentations at 3:30, although many booths had run out of chili by then.

 

Sponsors helping Rotary host the popular event, which is 100% volunteer driven, included Stoltfus RV’s & Marine, Christ Community Church, Lorgus Flower Shop, West, Arthur Hall Insurance, Blue Dog Printing & Design, Chester County Eye Care, Greystone, A. Martinelli & Sons, A Storage Depot, WAWA, and 1^st Resource Bank. Sixteen other businesses and organizations also supported the event.

 

The first place winner in the People’s Choice Division was Parrot Troopers, who have participated for many years, and won in most divisions nearly every year. Ryan’s Pub took first place in the Restaurant Division, a first time cooking Arthur Hall Insurance won in the Business Division, Church Farm School, which has won in many categories for several years, won in the Non-profit Division, and Hammacher & Schlemmer won in the Hometown/Volunteer Division. Go to the Chili Cook-off link on our website for the complete listing of the first through third place winners in all divisions.

Anne Driscoll and Club President Melissa Baxter were among the several Rotarians who volunteered to staff  our Rotary table at the recent Restaurant Festival in the Borough of West Chester to promote our upcoming Chili Cook-off. They sold wristbands so folks don't have to stand in long lines the day of the cook-off on October 9th,  handed out updated brochures, and answered questions about Rotary. Meanwhile, John Schwab was busy "planting" Chili Cook-off signs in the borough. Many Rotarians have "planted" the bright red and yellow signs outside the borough, on corners, heavily trafficked streets, in their yards, and intersections. This will be the 20th year of our cook-off, which seems to grow in popularity each year, and even attracts folks from, other states, in addition to thousands of local individuals and families. Our cook-off returns after a two year hiatus due to COVID, and  is widely anticipated. If you haven't signed up to volunteer that day, it's not too late to get in on the fun! See you on Sunday, October 9th!

John Schwab (left) and Mac Neilon recently put up the first of several new road signs to provide additional visibility for Rotary clubs, and encourage individuals to look up and find a club, and learn about Rotary. The URL will direct individuals to all four Rotary clubs in the greater West Chester area. New and replacement road signage is one of the new projects of our club's Communications Committee. There will be additional signage  to follow at all road entrances to West Chester, so keep watching for them!

Our new club president, Melissa Baxter, had the pleasure of meeting the new Mayor of the Borough of West Chester Lillian DeBaptiste, when the mayor was our recent guest speaker.

Mayor DeBaptiste is the daughter of former mayor, Clifford DeBaptiste, who at age 98, has been a member of our club for 49 years!

 

Mayor DeBaptiste said she hadn’t really thought about running for office until about two years ago, when she felt she had something to offer, her ABCD list: Arts, Balance, Clean and Green, and Diversity. She was sworn in exactly 20 years to the day after her father was sworn in as mayor! “It’s been an amazing, you might even say 'divine' journey,” she said. ”I’ve enjoyed the job for the past eight months,” she added, explaining that she has helped open stores with ribbon cuttings, interviewed and hired four outstanding new police officers in conjunction with Police  Chief Jim Moreland,  and even performed the wedding of a couple she knows!

Steve Brown, our outgoing president, received accolades for his leadership in the second half of the 2021-2022 Rotary year, our 100^th anniversary, for his outstanding leadership during the (still circulating) pandemic. In addition to keeping club members engaged, Steve gave us brief looks back at our country’s history, and provided humorous moments at every club meeting to lighten the challenging times.

 

After walking us down memory lane, he turned the gavel over to Melissa Baxter. Melissa has been busy on the board and as president-elect, and chairperson of the Community Philanthropic Committee (CPC), helping seek/review applications from non-profits vying for grants. What a challenge to select from about 30 agencies narrowing that down to about a dozen to whom we can award a total of $30,000!