Newtown Rotary Installs New Officers

Scott Senate was recently installed as president of the Rotary Club of Newtown, by Win Allen, governor of Rotary District 7980, which covers the four lower counties of Connecticut and consists of 64 Rotary Clubs and over 3,000 Rotarians.

The installation was well attended with spouses, friends, and fellow Rotarians at the Inn at Newtown.

Mr Senate succeeds Nick Borrello as Rotary President.

Installed as club officers were president-elect Duane Baumert, Secretary Dan Honan, and Treasurer Robert Mazzella. The following directors of service were then installed by Governor Allen: Don Gaberil, club service; Bill Watts, vocational service; Bill Weimels, community service; and Mark Woods, international service.

The highest honor that can be bestowed on a Rotarian by a Rotary Club is a Paul Harris Fellowship. This honor was bestowed upon Nick Borrello, DDS, in honor of his dedication to Rotary and his Leadership this past year as president of Newtown Rotary. His dedication to “Service Above Self” has been vividly demonstrated by his two week-long trips to the Haitian Health Foundation in Jeremy, Haiti, where he dedicated a week each time relieving the local people of some of their extraordinary dental problems.

Dave Kaufmann was also awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship for his constant, quiet dedication to Newtown Rotary. For the first time, many Rotarians learned that Dave earned his degree at MIT and his MS and PhD at Harvard, worked on the Manhattan Project and, after World War II, while at MIT, worked as chief chemist under contract with the US Atomic Energy Commission. Since 1968 he has held many key positions at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn.

A final Paul Harris Fellowship was awarded posthumously to John “Jack” Deegan. Jack became a member of the Danbury Rotary in 1973. He worked as facilities engineer at WestConn University until his retirement. After the death of his wife, Mary Jane “M.J.,” he retired and physically became somewhat impaired. He wanted to continue in Rotary so he joined Newtown Rotary, where a neighbor Rotarian was able to bring him to the club meeting every week.

Rotary is an organization devoted to “Service Above Self.” There are four areas in each club with a director heading up each, and each has a very different agenda although all follow the motto already mentioned. The first, Club Service, is devoted to the well-being and running of the club as well as to conducting social events to foster camaraderie between members and their families. Another deals with community service devoted to developing projects for the benefit of the people of the community whether it be the youth, senior citizens, the disabled, or just those people who need help at the moment.

Vocation Service is dedicated to recognizing and maintaining high ethical standards in business and sharing professional experience in practical ways through mentoring, or job-training. The fourth is International Service, wherein active support is given to programs and projects that make the world a better place to live. Newtown Rotary has just shipped a large ocean container to Ghana, Africa, with 150 water purifying units, 80 computers, 20 cartons of books, and some medical equipment to help the people have a better life both medically and educationally.

At the present time, Newtown Rotary is seeking young business or professional people between 25 and 40 years of age to take part in a free four-week vocational study and travel trip to London, England, commencing September 24. Previous Newtown residents having taken part in this Rotary Group Study Exchange Program have been Rev Steve Gordon, India; Steve Bigham, England; Michael Meyer, Germany; Linda Vitrella, Germany; and Ed Osterman, South Africa. For further information please call Brian Barrett at 203/264-7983 or Michael Gordon at 860/885-1099.

Newtown Rotary meets every Monday evening at 6:10 and anyone wishing to know more about the organization is welcome to come and partake of their supper meeting.