Dear Rotary friends,
Like every year, the 38th Annual Rotary Street Festival is approaching! If you are interested in sponsoring for this year's Street Festival, please see included letter with the information about sponsorships. An attached copy of the document is at the bottom of this page, under HOME PAGE DOWNLOAD FILES. There, you will also find the application for professional/service vendors, the application for Arts and Crafts vendors, and if you are a food vendor, please contact Patricia Agliata directly at 973-265-1242 (FOOD VENDORS ONLY). Thank you.
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I have been a Rotarian for 26 years in two different clubs. I became a Rotarian thr
ough the urging and sponsorship of a friend, who, at that time was a member of the Maplewood, NJ Rotary. Maplewood, at that time was a small club of 14 members, who rendered enormous service to the community and the world through their projects. I was quickly introduced to the enormous tasks and the sometime tragedies that go along with rendering service.
ough the urging and sponsorship of a friend, who, at that time was a member of the Maplewood, NJ Rotary. Maplewood, at that time was a small club of 14 members, who rendered enormous service to the community and the world through their projects. I was quickly introduced to the enormous tasks and the sometime tragedies that go along with rendering service. As I was becoming a member of the club, Maplewood was sponsoring a Gift-of-Life Child from Central America. Unfortunately, the little girl was mis-diagnosed in her native country and doctors here could nothing to save her. She passed while in the hospital in Newark. The club agonized over sponsoring another child, but ultimately decided to do so and since then have sponsored at least ten more children and raised money to save almost 50 more with donations to outgoing missions. I liked this about Rotary, saving one child at a time with Gift of Life, donating medical supplies to Haiti, supplying pajamas to kids in shelters in Newark, buying shoes for young boys in the St. Peter’s Home all contribute to serving.
Over my Rotary years I have been involved in raising nearly $1mm for charitable causes. My years in Maplewood saw the sale, over 20 years of 8000 Christmas trees raising almost $300,000. The “Affair of the Heart” dance for Gift of life always raised $15-25,000 a year translating to $400,000. The house tours and the “Antiques Road Shows” in Maplewood contributed another $30-40,000. As a member of the Denville Club we have raised at least $35,000 per year on average at our Street Festival, adding another $200,000. The greatest part of raising this money is that it has all gone to helping people and beautifying both towns. It has been so gratifying to see the Boy Scout Eagle projects we have helped such as the Electric car Charging station, to hand a check to Camp Merry Heart every year and to work on the painting, building ramps, replacing beds and so many other tasks to help the challenged campers who go there. Rotary in Maplewood adopted a park and worked to clean it out every year, and in Denville we worked to beautify the town with Benches and signage for Gardner Field and honored our Veterans with the Obelisk at Veterans Park. And, of course, to see a child, that your club sponsored for Life Saving Surgery, leave the hospital and get back on a plane with his or her mother, headed home to have a full life, nothing is better.
I could fill pages with the efforts and successes of the two clubs to which I have belonged, but I think you get the idea. I am a Rotarian for life. The motto of “Service Above Self” is not lost on me or my fellow Rotarians. We are here to serve.
Why did I join rotary? That is a great question. I was away from New Jersey 8 years while I was finishing my law degree, and the moved to Maryland to practice law, but I knew that eventually, I would make it back to New Jersey. Finally, when I moved back, I didn’t have many professional acquaintances, so I was looking to join an organization, but giving back was always something important for me, so I wanted to find an organization that could do both things. And it so happened that when I went to open my bank account for my firm, I met my banker, Luke, who was a member of Rotary and had told me that there was another fellow attorney that I should meet, especially since I didn’t really know many professional people and was new to the area. He introduced me to the current President-Elect, Janet. Upon meeting with Janet and her telling me more about Rotary and the Street festival and realizing how much Denville Rotary does, I took an interest in coming to a meeting to check it out. It was from there that I decided that I wanted to get involved. Sadly, I don’t think many people know what Rotarians do, and most think that we are a business organization and that we get paid. But we don’t, all of us are volunteers who donate our time and efforts in trying to help better the world.
Helen Quan
Purchase Unlimited Ride Wristbands for the Denville Rotary Street Festival now until Saturday, June 2, 2018 at midnight for only $18 each. All unlimited ride wristband will cost $25 if purchased on the day of Street Festival. Save money and buy them now at www.Campys.com. The rides available will be the Ferris Wheel, Giant Slide, Dragon Coaster, Berry Ride, Tea Cups, Frog Jump, Toy Town Mini Jungle Gym, Car Ride and Inflatable Bounce House.
*** Rides subject to change. The quantity of rides will remain the same.
