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THE FOUR WAY TEST

Is it the truth?

Is it fair to all concerned?

Will it build good will and better friendships?

Will it be beneficial for all concerned?

SANTA'S HOUSE IS READY AND WAITING!

THIS IS YOUR REMINDER ...

Don't miss out on the festivities at Denville Rotary's Annual Tree Lighting Event this Saturday, November 25th, at 6pm. Santa Land is all decked out and ready for Santa's arrival on Sunday, November 26th, following the Holiday Parade. On December 2nd and 3rd and then December 9th through the 23rd, Santa will be sitting in his chair waiting for all the children to visit him on weekdays from 4-7pm and weekends 1-6pm. Happy Holidays To All!

JOJO STEALS THE SHOW!

Jojo may look like a big mush as she's loving it up to Detective Travis Dean, but she is so much more. Jojo is Detective Dean's partner in the duties he performs for the Morris County Sheriff's Department. She is extensively trained and very disciplined in her response to commands. Detective Dean is also extensively trained as he is a member of an elite group in the State of New Jersey on call for bomb threats. Earlier this year Detective Dean was honored by Sheriff James Gannon at the 2023 Annual Medal Day Ceremony for outstanding achievement and life-saving measures. It was a real treat to have Jojo and Detective Dean join us at our weekly luncheon!

TIS THE SEASON TO GET READY

It's that time of year already! We're only two weeks away from the formal opening of Denville Rotary's iconic Santa Land so Santa's helpers are hard at work. Mark your calender for Saturday, November 25th, 6:00pm and join us for our traditional Tree Lighting ceremony with carollers, hot chocolate for the children, local dignitaries, Morris Knolls Academy of Performing Arts Vocal Group and of course the count down and tree illuminaton. See you all there! (Here's a special thank you to the Morris Knolls High School Interact Club for lending a helping hand with our preparation.)

SHERIFF GANNON PACKS THE HOUSE

There wasn't a seat to be had when Morris County Sheriff James Gannon spent time filling us in on his extensive perosnal background as well as the many incredible initiatives and responsibilities of the Sheriff's Department. Sheriff Gannon was entertaining, informative and is a true leader. We are grateful for his many years of service to Morris County.

MKHS INTERACT TRUNK OR TREAT

This past weekend was a spooky fun time at the Morris Knolls High School Interact Club's Trunk or Treat event. President Rick Rafferty and Rotarians Bernadette Lindsay and Jessica Lindsay participated handing out treats to little ones from Rick's spidery trunk.

MEDICAL EQUIPMENT DRIVE

Rotary is all about sharing and caring and giving. There is such waste as billions of dollars worth of medical supplies sit unused or are thrown away every year. Mission MediGive is working with MedShare and Denville Rotary to collect medical equipment and supplies that will be donated and re-used where they are needed. The Medical Equipment Drive is being held on Saturday, October 21, 2003 at Morris Knolls High School 10am - 2pm. For more information please contact Brooke Ogilvie at bogilvie44@gmail.com.

BREAST CANCER MONTH BLOOD DRIVE

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Your very thoughtful donation can play an important role to women receiving breast cancer therapy. Please give if you can on October 18th at Denville Municipal Building. See details on the flyer. Appoints are preferred but walk-ins are welcome!

DENVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

We just love the occasional off premise meetings. This past Thursday brought us to a wonderful culinary delight at Cafe Metro on Diamond Spring Road. Friends gathered and learned so many interesting facts about the history of Denville from Vito Bianco, Director of the Denville Historical Society. Stop in the Denville Museum and take a look around and, if you'd like, you can arrange for a private tour. Thank you, Vito, for a very interesting presentation.

Pictured is Vito Bianco.

Thomas Vitiello Vocational Presentation

Tom Vitiello is President of Sphere Construction Group, founded in 1986, located right here in Denville on East Main Street. It was very impressive learning about their multifaceted commercial projects which span Southern New York, Eastern Pennsyvania and New Jersey. A recently completed project is the four story Carrino Plaza located in Newark. It is beautifully constructed and landscaped, houses sixty senior apartments and ground floor retail space. To learn more about Sphere Construction Group you can reach out to Tom here, tom@sphereconstructioncorp.com. In addition to being a dedicated professional, as you can see, he brings a special fun loving element to Denville Rotary!

WELCOME TO ROTARY DENNIS!

Let's give a warm welcome to Denville Rotary's newest member, Dennis Ng. Dennis is a co-owner and consultant for Chuang Tzu Journey Data located in downtown Denville. Now that Dennis is a member of our Rotary family, we look forward to his active participation in our many events and fundraisers. Pictured is Dennis and his sponsor and Membership Chair Tony Toriello.

DENVILLE TWP SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS

What a pleasure it was to have Dr. Steven Forte, Superintendent of Schools, join us for an afternoon meeting! Dr. Forte has served as Superintendent of Denville Township Schools since 2014 and he has much to be proud of. Our schools rank in the top 20% of NJ schools for math and reading proficiency with a student/teacher ratio of 10:1. Dr. Forte spoke about the updated curriculum, woodworking program, building improvements, the operating budget and reserve funds, maintaining faculty and staff and recruiting new hires, class three resource officers, how the district is planning for the possible increase of students as a result of the new housing developments currently under construction and those planned. This is just a sampling of Dr. Forte's discussion. If you missed this meeting, you missed a lot. Thank you Dr. Forte! (To sign up for the school newsletter email sforte@denville.org. Please click on Read More to view Denville Public Schools Fact Sheet.)

ROTARY'S ANNUAL DICTIONARY PROJECT

Denville Rotary and Denville Sunrise Rotary once again joined forces for our Annual Dictionary Project. We were greeted with lots of smiles and enthusiasm at both Riverview School and Lakeview School where dictionaries were distributed to every third grade student. It's so heartwarming to know that in this age of a constant on-line existence, the students are still very excited to receive a dictionary in hand. This is always one of our favorite projects!

WELL THAT WAS FUN!

The weather could not have been better with a clear blue sky and mild temperatures. It was the perfect day for an off-site outdoor meeting at Diamond Spring Brewing Company (thank you for hosting us)! It's nice to spice it up a bit and do something a little different. Pizza and salad were ordered from Denville Pizzeria and of course individual beverages from the brewery were a real treat! We love supporting our local businesses. Thank you to new members Bernadette Lindsay and Jesse Lindsay for introducing us to their business, North Capital Funding.

BUGLES ACROSS AMERICA

Bugles Across America was founded in the year 2000 by Retired Marine, Tom Day. The mission of this organization is to sound a live rendition of "Taps" for verterans by a bugler. BAA provides this honorary service at no cost to the verteran's family. It is strictly a volunteer organization. Larry Schillings, BAA NJ State Director, explained the details of the ceremonious presentation of "Taps" and the presentation of our country's flag to the family. For more information and to request a bugler, visit their website www.buglesacrossamerica.org. Pictured below is Larry Schillings, BAA NJ Director.

DENVILLE'S MUSIC IN THE PARK

The newely formed Denville Arts Council (DAC) presented it's first Music In the Park concert with Denville Rotary and Sheeran Real Estate Group serving as sponsors. There was full cooperation from the weather setting the stage for a beautiful evening at Gardner Field. Headliner, Eric DeLauro of the Rat Pack Band, sang Frank Sinatra songs and encouraged the audience to display their own vocal abilities. Other young performers included the Lakeland Youth Symphony and students of Bach to Rock. Concessions were available in the snack stand and Denville Public Library provided games and crafts for the kids. Thank you DAC for this wonderful community event. A good time was had by all! Pictured from left are Rotarians Michael Boudway, Joe Paci, Nurys Paci, Patricia Agliata (singing), Betsy Roberts, Bill Roberts, Yasmin Pareti-Boudway and headliner Eric DeLauro. Click on read more for additional photos.

END HUNGER PROGRAM

Rotarians Doug Cook of Pequannock and Ray Freeney of Madison joined us for lunch and gave a presentation on the End Hunger Program which provides packaged food for those in need not only in New Jersey but well beyond our borders. Volunteers from churches, scouts, corporations, service organizations, families, friends and more gather to work in an assembly line set-up to measure, package, weigh, seal and box up for shipping dry food pouches each meant to feed a family of four. The food is shipped to preselected organizations/charities where it is distributed to families. The Grains of Hope in Pequannock is one such program, having already packaged more than a million meals, they have two million in their sights. Stay tuned for more to come on End Hunger. Pictured from left, Ray Freeney and Doug Cook.

WELCOME TO ROTARY TOM AND GAY!

Denville Rotary extends a warm welcome to our two newest members. Tom Vitiello and Gay Hotalen. Tom is the Owner/President of Sphere Construction Group LLC and Gay is Therapist and Board President of Sun Valley Wellness Center of NJ. We look forward to your participation in our many service events and fellowship activities. Pictured from left are Tom, Gay and Tony Toriello, Membership Chair.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES DONATION

Members and friends of Denville Rotary are donating school supplies for local families in need of support as the new school year is just around the corner. Steve Dublanica of Denville Social Services will be hosting a parent/child visitation day where families can secure the items they need. We wish all students a very sucessfull and fun-filled 2023-2024 school year! Pictured from left are Rotarians Betsy Roberts, Mary Radicsh and Diane Grabowski.

Welcome Flags and Jewelery

Denville Rotary welcomes and supports new businesses to our community. Andrew Abdul, sole onwer of Flags and Jewelery, gave a presentation to us at our weekly luncheon meeting. He shared some details of his background, including community service projects, and gave a history of his business which he began in 1987. You can visit Abdul at his new location at 123 East Main Street. Welcome to Denville Andrew!

JOINT MONTHLY BLOOD DRIVE

Denville Rotary and Sunrise Rotary are having their monthly Blood Drive on Wednesday, August 16th. This drive is a special celebration of the life of Allison Sillence who passed away following a courageous battle against ovarian cancer. Please see the flyer for details and donate if you are able to. Thank you!

SAVE THE DREW FOREST!

Last Thursday's meeting brought us a very informative presentation by Judy Kroll and Colette Crescas of Friends of The Drew Forest. Drew Forest is a 53 acre parcel located on Drew University property in Madison and was in desperate need of restoration. Since 2008, numerous regional and national organizations joined forces to take on the challenge of restoring store this land to what is now a beautiful natural habitat. Not only is it a beautiful landscape, but is a biodiversity hot spot and is home to Buried Valley aquifer wells which four towns soley rely on for their drinking water. Drew University is offering this parcel of land for sale. Please visit their website to view before and after photos, read the story of its restoration and learn how you can help 'Save the Drew Forest' www.friendsofthedrewforest.org. Pictured from left, Collette Crescas and Judy Kroll

Welcome To Rotary Bernadette and Jessie

Welcome to our two newest members! Meet our first mother/daughter team, Bernadette Lindsay and Jessica "Jessie" Lindsay. Bernadette transferred to us from Patterson Rotary after moving to Denville. She relocated her business, North Capital Funding, downtown on Second Avenue. Welcome to Denville Township!

We also extend a warm welcome to Bernadette's daughter, Jessie. Jessie is back from Columbia following her tenure as a teacher and is now working as a Mortgage Processor with North Capital Funding. We look forward your friendship and service as active members to our club and our community.

Pictured from left are Denville Rotary President Rick Rafferty, Bernadette Lindsay, Jessica Lindsay and Membeship Chairperson Tony Toriello.

Installation Luncheon 2023

Exciting things happened at Denville Rotary on June 24, 2023. We joined together at Navona Restaurant celebrating the installation of incoming President Rick Rafferty and his Board of Directors serving the 2023-2024 Rotary year with PP Diane Vezzuto serving as Master of Ceremonies. As tradition holds, this is a very special time for us! That's not all though. Denville Rotary awarded Rotarian Dr. Andy Smith with the prestigous Paul Harris Recognition for his contributions and service to Rotary and to our community. A second Paul Harris Recognition was awarded to Dave Sipple, Chairman of the Denville Beautification Committee, for his nonstop efforts to keep Denville "flowering" season after season. A special thank you to Dave and his volunteers for literally getting down and dirty so our community remains bright and beautiful! To show our appreciation, we presented the DBC with a $1,000 donation to help with their ongoing plans. As things wind down, we offer a very special thank you to President Joe Paci and his Board for their leadership and dedication as we continued to grow and prosper. Looking forward, we wish the best to incoming President Rick and his Board of Directors in keeping the momentum going for another prosperous year!

(Please take a look at the Installation Photos under the Photo Album tab below.)

Celebrate the Flag of the United States of America

On this day in 1777 the United States approved the design of its first national flag. Today we honor its beauty and its glory!

AND THAT'S A WRAP!

Our 40th Anniversary Street Festival was a huge success! We had perfect festival weather, thousands of visitors, over a hundred vendors, numerous sponsors, a very lucrative 50/50 raffle, live music all day long, dancing in the street, a very busy beer garden, a variety of yummy food and treats, rides for the kiddies, and balloons, cotton candy and zeppoles. All this topped off with lots of smiles, laughter and the joy of children of all ages! Thank you to all who visited and enjoyed the day with us. Your support contributes to the many Denville Rotary community projects and donations delivered over the course of the year. Also, a special thank you to our club members, club families, club friends and all volunteers who worked so hard for many months. We want to give a very special thank you to Mayor Andes, Denville Police Department, Denville Fire Department and the Denville Department of Public Works. Please visit the Photo Album area below and click on Sreet Festival 40th Anniversary 2023 to view the photos.

Rotary Scholarship Recipients

Rotary's A. R. Spinola Scholarships were recently awarded to seven very deserving students for use in pursuing their higher education goals. We want to thank the Spinola family for their continued support in honoring "Spinny," who was a beloved Denville Township school administrator and devoted member of this club for many years. The scholarship recipients are Jessica Russo and Braden Loeffler of Morris Knolls High School; Meredith Hollister and Christian Barnard of Morris County School of Technology; Paulina Castaneda, Olivia Kelson and Benjamin Reinhart of Morris Catholic High School. Congratulations to all!

40TH ANNUAL DENVILLE ROTARY STREET FESTIVAL

Turn back the calendar to1983 and you'll find Ronald Reagan was President, the final episode of M*A*S*H aired on TV, "The Right Stuff" won four Academy Awards, Cabbage Patch Kids were the most popular toy, Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was the best-selling album, and the very first Denville Rotary Street Festival was held. Forty years later and we're still going strong!

Join us for good food and good fun on Sunday, June 4th, from 11a.m. to 6p.m. on Broadway in downtown Denville. Enjoy all-day live entertainment, fabulous food trucks, beer garden, unique merchandise for sale as well as professional vendors, 50/50 raffle, and lots of rides and inflatables for the kids, see your neighbors and meet new friends! Proceeds support Denville Rotary charity efforts locally, nationally and worldwide.

GUEST SPEAKER DETECTIVE SCOTT WELSH

Denville Rotary would like to give a special thank you to Detective Scott Welsh for presenting a very informative program at our May 11th lunch meeting. He spoke about current events within the police department, the growth of Denville Township as seven parcels of land are being developed for residential living spaces and how this growth will effect the department, he spoke about school safety and discussed the requirements regarding the new conceal carry law in New Jersey. Detective Walsh answered many questions from those in attendance. It was such a pleasure to have one of Denville's finest join us for the afternoon! Pictured are Detective Welsh and President Joe Paci.

Paul Harris, Attorney and Rotary Founder

Rotary would not be in existence today if not for the vision of one man, Paul Harris, born April 19, 1868, he died on January 27, 1947. Paul was born in Wisconsin, grew up in Vermont, attended the University of Vermont, Princeton University and the University of Iowa where he received his law degree. He ultimately settled in Chicago where he opened his law practice. During a walk along the streets of Chicago's North Side with a fellow attorney, Paul was very impressed by the comaraderie among businessmen and wanted to find a way to channel it. He had a vision and on February 23, 1905 Paul met with three business associates to discuss forming a networking organization for local professionals. This became known as the first Rotary meeting. To learn more about the history of Rotary and it's evolution, seach rotary.org/history. You'll find Rotary's very first service project very interesting! Thank you Paul Harris! (Graphic credit Debbie Vance, Graphic Designer)

Denville Rotary Hosts Senior Luncheon

It was such a pleasure to be back (post Covid) at the Denville Senior Center hosting our Annual Senior Luncheon. Denville Rotarians were delighted to cook up and serve a delicious pasta, meatballs and fresh bread lunch with ice cream and fruit cup for dessert. We want to give a special shout-out to Denville Dairy and Anthony's Bakery for their generous donations. Mayor Andes and Assemblyman Brian Bergen joined us with a warm welcome from the sixty plus senior residents who enjoyed a fun afternoon with good food and lots of comradery.

JOINT SERVICE CLUB MEETING

Denville Rotary's annual Joint Service Club Meeting is being held on April 20, 2023 at the Village Restaurant in Morris Plains. Our featured speaker is Lt. Col. Alexander Burgos who is second in command at Picatinny Arsenal. This meeting is open to members of local service organizations with limited seating. Respond by April 7th to claim your seats.

76th Anniversary Presidents' Highlights

In recognition of Denville Rotary's 76th Anniversary, several Past Presidents addressed our club highlighting the events of their year (or in some cases years) serving as president. What an enjoyable walk down memory lane! We were reminded of some historical events and shared lots of laughs revisiting the many fun times! Past Presidents pictured left to right are Bill Kader (1982-83), George Hrobuchak (2009-10), Betsy Roberts (1998-99), Mary Radicsh (2017-2018), Diane Vezutto (2018-19) and Rick Rafferty (2014-15). Missing from the photo are Patricia Agliata (2001-02 and 2020-22) and Tony Toriello (2007-08).

DIAMOND SPRING BREWERY

A warm welcome to Craig and Chrissy, owners of Diamond Spring Brewery! They delighted us with a very interesting introduction to their new business venture as well as a history of how it came to be. They have some fun events planned for the outdoor seating area which will accommodate about 100 patrons. Opening soon at the corner of Diamond Spring Road and First Avenue. Be sure to check them out!

Guest Speaker Dana Foreman

Dana Foreman, Associate Director of Denville Community Media, presented a very informative program at our luncheon meeting. Dana is immersed in our community creating videos documenting the interesting present and historic highlights of Denville Township, including a video on the history of our iconic Santa Land. Find him on Facebook and view his videos on YouTube. *Notice the clock tower in their logo.

ROTARY PEACE DOVE

Credit: Debbie Vance, Graphic Designer

FEBRUARY BLOOD DRIVE

Please give if you are able to!

We Welcome Suzanne Freeney of Gift of Life

Suzanne Freeney visited Denville Rotary to enlighten us about Gift of Life International and Gift of Life NJ. The mission of Gift of Life NJ is "to provide resources to treat children with congenital heard defects from anywhere in the world where our assistance is needed." Every 2 hours and 18 minutes the global network provides lifesaving cardiac care to a child in need. Over 4,000 children are treated annually. At its inception in 1975, Gift of Life brought one child at a time from emerging countries to the United States for cardiac treatment. In 2009 the network created a new strategy to focus on developing sustainable pediatric cardiac surgery and aftercare programs in select countries. Suzanne spoke to us from her first hand knowledge as she herself has been on several Gift of Life missions and had the experience of being in the operating room to witness a child's cardiac surgery. Thank you Suzanne for reminding us of the important work of Gift of Life. We presented Suzanne with a generous donation to help support their mission. For more information visit www.giftoflifenj.org.

DENVILLE ROTARY - 2022 HERO

Denville Rotary has proudly been recognized by Mikie Sherrill, Member of Congress, as a 2022 HERO for making a meaningul difference through our compassion and dedication to community service. Service Above Self! A special thank you goes out to Matthew Higgins (aka Santa) for nominating our organization.

SOUP MAKING EVENT

Denville Rotary and Denville Sunrise Rotary joinded forces for a soup making event at Healthy Italia in Madison. What could be better than a service project combined with great fun, fellowship and lots of laughs. After making and packaging 64 quarts of soup under the direction of owner, Cristina Bossini, we all sat together and enjoyed a delicious meal expertly prepared and served by Cristina and her staff. Roots and Wings and St. Peter's Village were the beneficiaries of this service project. Well done Rotarians! (Take a look at the slide show under the photo albums tab.)

Happy New Year 2023!

May your new year be filled with much happiness, achievements, accomplished goals, service to others and many, many blessings. Denville Rotary wishes you all the best for the new year as we highlight some of our 2022 achievements and events. After a two year absence it was wonderful to bring back our annual events kicking off the summer with the Rotary Street Festival and ringing in the holidays with the Tree Lighting Ceremony and the opening of our iconic Santa Land. We continued our monthly blood drives collecting 669 units for the year, ran the Dictionary Project for third graders, we awarded A R Spinola Scholorships, conducted our annual drives for food, paper products and school supplies all distributed through Denville Social Services, we presented the prestigous Vocational Award, Citizen of the Year Award, Claude Dickerson Award and several Paul Harris Awards. What a great time we had assisting Habitat for Humanity with the final construction stage of a home build. We conducted our holiday raffel, donated to various local organizations, we support MKHS Interact students, we celebrated our new officers at the Installation Luncheon and also held our annual Holiday Party as well as a myriad of fellowship events. It was a very busy and productive year! For more information about Denville Rotary, contact Tony Toriello at ttoriello@yahoo.com

Service Above Self

We meet In Person

Thursdays at 12:15 PM

Denville Pizzeria

20 Diamond Spring Rd
Denville, NJ 07834
United States of America

Guests are always welcome! If you would like to join us, please contact Tony Toriello at ttoriello@yahoo.com

District Site

Denville Rotary Holiday Party at Ravello
Dec 10, 2023

Rotary Links

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RI President Home

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Joining Rotary

Rotary History

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For New Members

Upcoming Speakers

The Academy for Performaning Arts (Vocal)
Dec 14, 2023

Holiday Music

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Club Executives & Directors

President

Rick Rafferty

Co-President-elect

Betsy Roberts

Co-President-elect

Mary Radicsh

Secretary

Diane Grabowski

Treasurer

Yasmin Pareti-Boudway

Membership

Tony Toriello

Rotary Foundation

George Hrobuchak

Sergeant-at-Arms

Diane Vezzuto

Photo Albums

Installation Luncheon 2023

Street Festival 40th Anniversary 2023

Soup Making Service Project 2022

Santa Land Tree Lighting 2022

Installation Luncheon 2022

Habitat For Humanity 2022

Street Festival 2022

75th Anniversary Gala

Holiday Party 2021

Installation Luncheon 2021-2022

Annual Awards Event 2021

Dictionary Project 2020

Bill Conways 100th Bday Celebration

SantaLand 2017

70th Anniversary Gala

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