Laura Jennings Pitt, ARC of Morris, Director of Development, Marketing and Public Relations provided us with an indepth presentation regarding the services and opportunities offered by ARC.  Laura was accompanied by Doug, a resident and participant of the College Program.  The Morris County Chapter was founded in 1953, dedicated to the care, support and advancement of people with I/DD and related disabilites.  Just a few of their programs are Day Hab Without Walls, traditional day program, McARP recreation program, college program, summer camp, prevocational program, residential housing and more.  Their upcoming events include the Annual Awards Gala, Walktoberfest, and Autum Fest Golf Outing.  Volunteers, annual members and donations are always needed!  Visit https://arcmorris.org/  to learn more about this amazing organization.

 

 

Pictured from left, Laura Jennings Pitt, President Diane Vezzuto, Resident Doug, President Elect Kristan VanDerMeer

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Co-Presidents Mary Radicsh and Betsy Roberts began an exciting new program this year, The Prestigious Coveted Pen Award, which we present to a very deserving individual for whatever we see fit   This past week brought us two recipients.  Past President Patricia Agliata for her very enthusiastic attitude being the first Rotarian to sign-up for every possible volunteer position and making a monetary donation to our inaugural End Hunger 3.6 program.  Thank you, Patricia, for a job well done and a special thank you to all who volunteered their time and muscle.  Pictured with Patricia and Rick are Co-Presidents Betsy Roberts and Mary Radicsh.

 

Additionally, Past President Rick Rafferty was presented with this sought after award, not only for his nine years of dedication chairing our monthly blood drive, but also because we reached a wonderful milestone of collecting 6,000 units of blood.  That's quite an accomplishment!  Congratulations Rick!

 

 

Denville Rotary sends out a heartfelt thank you to all the many visitors from near and far who enjoyed our iconic Santa Land.  We wouldn't be here without you!  To the many Santa helpers, Rotarians and students from the Morris Knolls High School Interact Club, we appreciate you so much!  The lights are off the tree, all adornments are tucked away and Santa Land is all buttoned up until next time.  See you December 2025!  Thank you Andy Smith and Bill Roberts for being at the helm and leading us though another joyous holiday!

 

   

Santa's helpers have been putting in a lot of time working hard to make Santa Land just perfect as we await Santa's arrival.  He'll be with us in Santa's House on Sunday, December 1st, following the Denville Holiday Parade.  But before Santa arrives, we'll be celebrating our Annual Tree Lighting on Saturday, November 30th at 6:00 p.m.  Mark your calendar for this joyous occasion which always includes town dignitaries, carolers, the official countdown to lighting our beautiful tree and of course, hot chocolate and cookies for the children.  Come and join us as we kick off the holiday season!

 

Scoop, fill, weigh, seal, count, box up. Cowbells ringing with every filled box! Lots of that happening at Denville Rotary's End Hunger 3.6 event to the tune of 20,000 meals packaged and donated. Local food banks and community outreach programs will distribute the goods to those in need. Thank you to the amazing 95 community volunteers who got the job done, to our generous sponsors, to St. Mary's Church for hosting us and to Ray Freaney who was the backbone of this event. See you all next time! (To get the true picture, take a look at the event in the Photo Album section.)

 

 

 

 

If you are looking for a surefire way to help relieve the awful distress of Hurricane Helen victims, McCarter's Towing is filling a trailer with much needed items as listed on the flyer below.  They are working in conjunction with America's 911 Foundation (501c3), an all volunteer organization.  Please help fill the trailer so it can be on it's way to aid those in Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee.  Every little bit helps!

 

Denville's first ever Feast of San Gennaro is just a couple of days away.  You won't want to miss it!  Come visit over sixty vendors, bocce ball, activities for kids, wine/beer garden, lots of Italian food, Denville Rotary will run a 50/50 and where else can you go and find a strolling accoridan player.  See you on Sunday, September 22nd, 12-6pm. Presented by Two Girls Media and Denville Rotary Club.  For more information visit sangennarodenville.com.

 

 

WOW!  Our first 2024 evening meeting, fully packed with club members, visiting Rotarians, guests and friends, was filled with high energy and lots of laughs, but the highlight of the evening was our very adorable guest speaker, Ally Harrison, a sophomore at Morris Catholic High School.  At the end of June, Ally departed for a three week stay in Japan through Rotary's Japan and American Youth Exchange Program where she visited three major cities (Osaka, Nara and Kyoto) staying with a new host family in each location. Ally enjoyed the opportunity to meet many new people and immerse herself in the culture.  It was such a pleasure to have her as our guest sharing details of her experiences, both culturally educational and fun loving.  Ally is the daughter of Denville, Rotarian Vicki Harrison (proud mama) and her husband Mark, who hosted two Japanese students in their home while Ally was abroad.  A win win situation for all involved!

 

Pictured are Denville Rotarian Vicki Harrison (left) and Ally Harrison (right).

 

Congratulations District Govenor Jeannie Tsukamoto!  As you hold that gavel high and proud, we're looking forward to a very impactful year!

 

 

The Rotary Clubs of Denville were well represented at the "Celebrate 7475 Dinner."  Seated right to left are Carmine DeMaio and Bill Roberts (Denville Rotary Honorary Members), Mary Radicsh and Betsy Roberts (Co-Presidents of Denville Rotary), Patricia Agliata (Past President of Denville Rotary), Maureen Dempsey (Member of Denville Sunrise Rotary) and Jim Harp (President of Denville Sunrise Rotary).

 

Bruno is a sophomore at Morris Knolls High School, plays soccor and basketball, has many accomplishments to his credit including three consecutive years on high honor roll in middle school and Denville Junior Volunteer of the Year 2022-2023.  Bruno is a Life Scout with Troup 118 Denville and is working on his Eagle Scout project.  Denville Rotary is proud to support him in is Fishing Line Recycler installations at Gardner Field, Riverside Drive, Cooks Pond, Muriel Hepner Park, McCarter Memorial Park, Hollstein Lake and the Recycle Center.  Bruno is an avid fisherman at our local parks who is conservation minded and has a strong drive to give back to the community.  His project will help keep marine mamals safe from injesting or becoming entangled in lines that, without his project, may otherwise end up in the waters.  Good luck, Bruno and much success with your project!

 

 

  

On June 29, 2024, we ushered in the new Rotary year with our traditional celebration of saying a heartfelt thank you to our outgoing President, Rick Rafferty, and welcome with good wishes and happy vibes to our incoming Board.  Meet our team:  Co-Presidents Betsy Roberts and Mary Radicsh (pictured with DG Jeannie Tsukomoto), President Elect Diane Vezzuto, Secretary Diane Grabowski, Asst. Secretary Patricia Agliata, Treasurer Yasmin Pareti-Boudway, Sergeant-At-Arms Tom Vitiello, Parliamentarian Tony Toriello and our Directors Michael Boudway, Brigitte Carruci, George Hrobuchak, Bill Kader,  Joe Paci and Rick Rafferty.  (Missing from the photo are Brigitte Carruci and Bill Kader.)  Thank you to Tony Toriello for serving as Master of Ceremonies and thank you to Mayor Tom Andes and Mrs. Sharon Andes for your continuing support!  Lastly, congratulations to Andrew Crawford for receiving a Paul Harris Recognition for his many contributions to Denville Rotary!  (Take a look at the album under the Photo Album Tab.)

 

 

The Denville Police Department and the Office of Emergency Management designed a custom "box" to house the drone, batteries and accompanying equipment used when responding to emergency situations.  This custom box will be fitted to an emergency vehicle so it's always ready to jump into action at a moments notice saving valuable time in reaching an emergency location.  Wesley Sharples, Coordinator of the Office of Emergency Management and the Denville Community Emergency Response Team, accepted our donation of $1,000 as presented by President Rick Rafferty.  We are always happy to support Denville's emergency responders.

All the meetings, the planning, coordinating and cooperation, ordering, mental excerices, checks and balances, advertising, registering vendors, the physical labor and all that is takes behind the scenes for eight months in the works has culminated in another very successful Denville Rotary Street Festival.  Thank you Mother Nature for a beautiful day and a very special thank you to Mayor Andes, Denville Police Department, Denville DPW, McCarter's Towing, friends of Rotary and family members for volunteering their time and of course a very special thank you to all of our sponsors.  We couldn't do it without you!  Thank you to PP Joe Paci and Michael Boudway for being at the helm and leading us through another spectacular annual festival!  Take a look at the two Street Festival slide shows under the Photo Album section.   Hope to see everyone again next year on June 1, 2025.  Mark you calendar!

 

One of our favorite days of the year is our Annual April Senior Luncheon where we serve up a delicious pasta lunch at the Denville Senior Center.   We just love puting a smile on the faces of this beautiful population!  In fact, we probably have more fun than they do!  Here's a shout out to Anthony and Sons Bakery for donating the rolls, to Denville Dairy for donating the pretty ice cream cake and to Denville Pizzeria for cooking the pasta and meatballs to perfection.  Mayor Tom Andes always joins us to hang out with our senior friends (and pull the lucky 50/50 ticket) and we were very happy to have Township Council President Glen Buie join us.  We would be remiss if we didn't give a special shout out to Past President Joe Paci for organizing this event again this year.  Thanks Joe, well done!  (Click on Read More to see a few photos and take a look at the fulll album under the Photo Album tab.)

 

Gay Holaten, Jesus Menendez and Diane Grabowski...Let's Go!

 

Rotarians At Work Serving Up Pasta and Meatballs

 

It was a very exciting day at Denville Rotary!  We couldn't be happier to present two prestigous awards to three very deserving individuals.  On the left, Past President Betsy Roberts presented Susan Banks, owner of Faith and Begorra, with the Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award.  Susan's contributions to the community are way too numerous to list here, but if you know Denville, you know Susan Banks!

 

On the right, Vicki Harrison and Brigitte Carucci, owners of Two Girls Media, were presented with our coveted Claude Dickerson Award which is given only during the first five years of membership to an individual (or team) who has made exemplary contributions to the community and exemplifies the ideals of Rotary.  Just like Susan, their contributions are great and too numerous to list here, but if you know Denville, you know Vicki and Brigitte!  Presented by past recipeint Diane Grabowski. 

 

 

Congratulations to John DiMaggio for becoming Denville Rotary's newest member!  John is the owner of Denville Pizzeria and has a long history of always being willing to lend a helping hand and give back to the community.  He lives by Rotary's motto of Service Above Self.  Welcome, John, and thank you for your service and for your support of Denville Rotary!   Pictured from left are Tony Toriello, John DiMaggio and John's sponsor Patricia Agliata.

 

 

GOOD LUCK FOR THE 2023-2024 SEASON!

 

Congratulations and thank you to Emile Ayil!  President Rick Rafferty presented Emile with his latest Paul Harris Recognition.  For his generous contributions to the Rotary Foundation, Emile is now a Paul Harris Plus Five Member.  Wear your pin proudly Emile!

 

A very big heartfelt thank you goes out to the Academy of Perfoming Arts Vocal Group located at Morris Knolls High School.  This very talented group of vocalists joined us for lunch at the Village Restaurant and treated us to some festive tunes. What a wonderful way to ring in the holidays!

 

Hundreds of enthusiastic visitors came from near and far to enjoy the annual Tree Lighting Ceremony at Denville Rotary's iconic Santa Land and Santa is now awaiting wide eyed happy children to share their wish list.  Dignitaries welcomed the crowd, holiday songs were sung, the tree was lit, hot chocolate and cookies were served and all is merry and bright! Everyone is welcome to visit Santa Land anytime of day, but to chat with Santa, come weekdays from 4-7pm and weekends from 1-6pm. (Take a look at the pictures in the Photo Album section below.)