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Rotary Club of Twin Valley |
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Club History The Beginning During Spring 1996 Debbie McDowell, a former member of the Rotary Club of Ardmore, contacted local business people in order to stimulate interest in a Rotary Club of Twin Valley. On June 30, 1997 the club had met the membership requirements and was officially chartered. The Charter Night celebration was held on October 24, 1997 at the Wayne Brook Inn in Honey Brook. Members of the new club received their plaques and the officers were installed by the current President of Rotary International - James Lacy. Mr. Lacy presented Debbie McDowell with a Paul Harris Fellowship on behalf of the Twin Valley club and some generous members of the Ardmore club. 1996-97 Provisional Year This was the Provisional Year for our club. The first Spring Wine Celebration was held. The celebration was
held at the French Creek We also sponsored, with the support of Dr. Tom Stevenson, a rabies vaccination clinic. 1997-98 Charter Year Debbie McDowell continued as president. Rainbow Home of Berks County is a
personal care home for people living with AIDS. Our Our Second Annual Spring Wine Celebration was held with the addition
of a silent auction. The Russian guests were hosted through the Productivity
Enhancement Program, which links Russian As part of the World Community Service, we began to collect stamps. 1998-99 Year Two Bob Hagenow assumed the position of president. In conjunction with the Morgantown Library we sponsored a Used Art Auction. The Gift of Life Program benefited. Once again, we hosted the Spring Wine Celebration to benefit
Elverson Fire Company and provided Christmas gift bags to Rainbow Home of Berks County. Under the leadership of Bob Bradford, we
joined the "Adopt a Highway Program" and assumed
responsibility for trash removal on the main street of Elverson Borough. 1999-00 The Millennium Ron Moyer took over as president. As a part of our focus on literacy, we established "Rotary Buddies" to tutor Twin Valley Elementary Center kindergarten students. The focus is on reading and writing skills. Over 30 volunteers are scheduled through May, 2000. Proceeds from events such as a "Day In New York" bus trip and a "Millennium Masquerade Ball" helped fund a $1,000 donation to Principle Bob Pleise, of Twin Valley Elementary Center for the purchase of books. We welcomed Pilar Izquierdo from Cali, Columbia as our second Exchange Student. Once again we will support Rainbow Home of Berks County, host the Spring Wine Celebration, maintain our Adopted Highway and collect stamps for World Community Service. 2000-02 The Next Century Patti Buckwalter assumed the presidency. After several months as president, Patti changed career and work location. Rick Berger became president and completed both Patti's term and his own term. Meeting time and location were changed from a Lunch/Honey Brook club to a Breakfast/Morgantown club. Now located in the center of our service area, the breakfast meeting attracted local business people. Debbie McDowell led a membership drive and the club doubled in size. During this period the club contributed $1,500 to Honey Brook Library, established a Twin Valley High School Rotary Scholarship, teamed with the Rotary Club of Barraquero, Argentina on a center for children, participated in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, presented local student Erin Mast with a $2,500 Gundaker Grant, supported Rotaplast International's cleft lip & palate medical missions to Peru. Member Rick Berger and his wife Vickie were Rotaplast team volunteers to Peru. The club agreed to replace the Tri-County Friends of the Arts as host of the annual Tri-County Art Show & Sale. Under the leadership of Ron Moyer, committees were formed to plan the event. This project will be the primary fundraiser for the club. 2002-03 The Next Steps Pat Eck served as president. Member Deb McDowell served as Assistant District Governor. The Eighth Annual Tri County Art Show & Sale, the club's first, was received well by both the art and local communities. Over 100 members of the public attended and bought. Member Bob Bradford led a fundraising "Grocery Shopping Spree" that raised over $1,500. Club members assisted the Twin Valley Education Foundation with their annual Stone Wall Golf Club Wine Tasting & Silent Auction. The club sponsored two local students who received Gundaker College Grants - Jeffrey Showalter received a $4,500 scholarship and Jennifer Weaver from Morgantown received a $3,000 scholarship. The club sponsored Nina Castillo from Venezuela as an inbound exchange student and Bill Bednaruk, Jr. of Elverson as an outbound exchange student to Chile. Nina attended Twin Valley High School. 2003-04 Dave Ballantyne became the seventh club president. Sponsored by our club, Rebecca Bergey of Morgantown received a $25,000 Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship. The club donated $750 to Tammy Jacob, Director of Adult Day Care Services at Tel Hai Retirement Community. The funds will purchase furnishings. The club doubled it support for Rotaplast cleft lip and palate surgery in third world countries. In addition the club successfully obtained matching funds from the Gundaker Foundation raising the total donation to $2,000. During the Tri County Art Show & Sale, Vickie Berger sold "eyelash scarves" which she had created. 100% of sale price went to Rotaplast with the total donation of $500. Steve Leydet of Birdsboro and Michelle Hilton of Morgantown were sponsored at a two day Rotary Youth Leadership conference at the Freedom Foundation in Valley Forge. Ashley Austin, Ashley Jennings, and Alyssa Bristol, student artists at Twin Valley High School, received awards from the club for their work which was displayed at the Ninth Annual Tri Count Art Show & Sale. Ron Moyer, club treasurer, was honored by District 7450 for his volunteer activities within our community. In addition to his many Rotary and personal commitments, Ron serves as chairman of the American Cancer Society "Relay For Life." 2004-05 Centennial Year Joe Swartz was selected to lead the club into the Rotary Centennial Year. Ai Shoji, a high school student from Okayama, Japan, was this year's club sponsored exchange student. This was the fourth year that the club sponsored an exchange student. Once again, Rotaplast was recipient of $2,100. The extra $100 was made available by Jill Moyer's sale of pottery at the Tri County Art Show & Sale. Rebecca Bergey of Morgantown traveled to Mexico as our Ambassadorial Scholar. The club entered into an agreement with the Rotary Club of Lima Sunrisers to provide a motor for a water distribution project in Indiana, Peru. The project will provide clean water to 4,000 residents. The First Annual Christmas Luncheon was held at French Creek Golf Club. As a Rotary Centennial Project the club donated park benches to Morgantown, Elverson, and Honey Brook. 2005-06 The Second Century Through a $5,000 contribution by the club and matching grants from the Gundaker Foundation, the District 7450 Rotary Foundation, the Rotary Club of Lima and the International Rotary Foundation the Indiana Water Project was completed. The total cost was $15,000. Read the story Once again, the club sponsored local students for Gundaker Education Grants. Jennifer Lanser from Elverson received an Undergraduate Grant of $6,000 for her senior year at Albright College as a Spanish major. Leah Mast of Elverson received an Graduate Grant of $2,000 for her first year of graduate studies at West Chester University as a Spanish major. The club again supported Rotaplast cleft lip and palate surgery in third world countries. In addition the club successfully obtained matching funds from the Gundaker Foundation raising the total donation to $2,000. The club teamed with the Gundaker and District 7450 Rotary Foundations to fund young adult books and shelving at the Honey Brook Library. The club's contribution of $1,000 was matched by the Gundaker Foundation and District 7450 Rotary Foundation contributed $2,000. Courtney Eby of Twin Valley High School received a $500 scholarship from the club. We were proud participants in the American Cancer Society Twin Valley Relay For Life. 2006-07 The Club's Tenth Year Walt Heppenstall took the lead as Club President. Ron Moyer, Club Treasurer, joined the District 7450 Rotaplast team in a medical mission to La Oroya, Peru. The club again supported Rotaplast cleft lip and palate surgery in third world countries. In addition the club successfully obtained matching funds from the Gundaker Foundation raising the total donation to $2,000. The club sponsored Andy Hartz of Honey Brook as an exchange high school student to Switzerland. Javier Meana from Spain was sponsored at Twin Valley High School. Javier was hosted by Andy's parents, Barry and Pat Hartz. Kyle Mattson of the Twin Valley High School received a $1,000 scholarship from the club. This was our seventh year as participants in the American Cancer Society Relay For Life. The club raised $2,700 and ranked 10th in fund raising. This year the club supported the following local organizations and people:
Chris Doyle became Club President. Ron Moyer and Jim Freeze joined the District 7450 Rotaplast team in a medical mission to Karnataka , India. Visit http://rotary7450.org/rotaplast/ to learn about the trip. 109 children had their lives changed. The club again supported Rotaplast cleft lip and palate surgery in third world countries. In addition the club successfully obtained matching funds from the Gundaker Foundation raising the total donation to $2,500. This was our eighth year as participants in the American Cancer Society Relay For Life. The club raised $2,400. Laura Rigg of the Twin Valley High School received a $1,000 scholarship from the club. The club made a donation to Elverson's Jeb Bland to assist his missions to the House of Hope Orphanage in Haiti. This year the club supported the following local organizations and people:
Alan Haffler accepted the position of President. Twin Valley Rotary partnered with Jeb Bland in two projects to support the House of Hope Orphanage in Haiti. We supported the purchase of a vehicle and installation of a water purification system. This year the club supported the following local organizations and people:
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