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Thanks for coming out to make this another successful event!!!

Meet Vince Raffeo and learn about the history of Collegeville. He has one simple message to share in his 87 years: Be kind to one another, both strangers and friends.

Vince is featured on the May 2019 cover of Upper Providence Living Magazine. Thank you Julie Kovaleski (jkovaleski@bestversionmedia.com) for publishing this article.

Vince has been an active member of this club for 59 years (since 1960) and continues to actively serve our community.

Click here to download the full article

Past Speakers

April Jankowski

May 08, 2019

DeStress for Success

Jon Costanza

May 01, 2019

Explosive Growth in the Solar Industry

Robert Prachar

Apr 10, 2019

Leadership

View entire list...

World Environment Day - June 5, 2019

Ganesh's Green Army

World Environment Day movement started more than 40 years ago. The annual day of action embraces smaller and less-developed nations while tackling even bigger topics: from sustainable consumption to the illegal trade in wildlife. Since its beginning in 1974, World Environment Day has developed into a global platform for raising awareness and taking action on urgent issues from marine pollution and global warming to sustainable consumption and wildlife crime. Millions of people have taken part over the years, helping drive change in our consumption habits as well as in national and international environmental policy.

This year Ganesh Balaga, a friend of our club, created a "Green Army" in his hometown in India. Ganesh enlisted his friends and local children to plant trees in the community to help the air quality.

About Ganesh:

We were fortunate to have met Ganesh in Vizianagaram India during our club's visit to India in Jan 2017. He is a teacher at a small one room school (MPP Primary School) with 19 students in grades 1 through 5. Ganesh teaches all 5 of these grades single handedly. He has been partnering with us to execute a range of projects from planting trees to renovating the school. Ganesh continues to inspire his students with extracurricular activities to teach them good moral values and involves them in activities to develop as great citizens in the community.

Congratulations to the Collegeville Fire Company

Members of the Collegeville Rotary Club would like to congratulate the dedicated men and women of the Collegeville Fire Company on their newly built firehouse. This has taken many years of effort and is finally completed. This new firehouse is a tremendous asset to the community and serves to ensure the safety of the citizens of this community.

An open house was held on Saturday, June 1, 2019 to allow the community members to visit the new firehouse. Several Rotarians from our club lent a helping hand at the new building dedication celebration. You can see photos and read more about the event at:

http://www.collegevillefire.org/apps/public/news/newsView.cfm?News_ID=358

Getting Dirty For the Environment...

April 6, 2019: On this fine Saturday, the stream cleanup on Perkiomen Creek in Collegeville was a great success. Eleven volunteers, which included Rotarians, Ursinus Rotaractors and friends of Rotary, collected 17 bags of trash, 13 tires and large debris such as inflatable rafts, tarps, rugs and construction material. This was part of a larger annual effort which included approximately 1,200 people in 80 sites across the Perkiomen Watershed.

Click here for photos by Giuseppe Scillia

Another Successful Pancake Breakfast !!!

March 17, 2019: Rotary Club of Collegeville held its annual Pancake Breakfast event to bring the community together to have loads of fun and to raise money for the The Daily Bread Community Food Pantry.

Hundreds of families, kids and individuals joined on Sunday to enjoy St. Patrick's Day with us and to make this another successful event. We would like to thank the numerous volunteers from the community and our club without whom this event would not have been possible.

Click here for the photos

About The Daily Bread Food Pantry:

We are humbled by the work the Steevers family and volunteers of the food pantry do, and extend our gratitude and support for taking on this role.

To find our more or to volunteer please visit their web site at: http://dailybreadcommunityfoodpantry.org/

OUR FIRST TURKEY DINNER TROT 5K ... LOADS OF FUN!

Saturday, Nov 17,2018: Rotary Club of Collegeville held its first inaugural 5k to raise funding for Turkey Dinners was a great success. We had a warm sunny fall day with more than 40 runners participating. We were able to raise funds while having lots of fun. We received generous donations to provide Thanks giving dinners for more than 40 local area families in need through The Daily Bread Community Food Pantry.

Photos of the fun: Click here for the photos

Finish line photos: Click here for the photos

Save the date for next year: Sat 11/23/19

Halloween Parade 2018

Rotary Club of Collegeville hosted the 62nd annual parade to bring the community together to celebrate Halloween. We had thousands of people participate in their costumes. There was fun for all ages. There were also many pets and groups dressed in their favorite scary or fun costumes.

Click here for photos: Halloween Parade 2018 Photos.

Click here for parade video: Halloween Parade 2018 Video.

Click here for a Thank You letter to all the participants that made this a such a success

Annual Golf Tournament - Mon July 9, 2018

Here is an opportunity to enjoy the exclusive Bellwood Country Club and help the environment. Collegeville Rotary Club is partnering with the Perkiomen Valley Watershed Conservancy to make this wonderful opportunity available to you.

Please also consider one of the many sponsorship options to benefit our community and the environment.

The event is on Monday July 9, 2018 at Bellwood Country Club in Pottstown, PA

Click here to Register to play or to become a Sponsor

or contact: Mark Million at mam1102@aol.com 610-630-4633

PV Watershed Clean Up

Several members of our club along with two students from PV High School Interact Club spent several hours on Saturday morning removing hundreds of pounds of trash and more than a dozen tires and other large items from a field alongside the creek near First Avenue across from Kimberton Whole Foods store. Thanks for all that participated.

Click here for more photos.

The Winner Is... Mr. Vince Raffeo

Posted on Apr 05, 2018

Collegeville Rotary club is proud to congratulate its own Vince Raffeo as the 2018 recipient of the Marvin J. Lewis Community Service Award.

4 Way Speech Contest 2018

Our club level speech contest was held on March 11, 2018. The first place winner will be going on to the regional competition on April 14, 2018.

Ashley Liu of Methacton High School has won first place at our annual speech contest with a gripping speech about over emphasis on class ranking during high school. Erin Quinn of Perkiomen Valley High School was awarded second place.

1st Place: Ashley Liu of Methacton HS (click of video)

2nd Place: Erin Quinn of Perkiomen Valley HS (click for video)

Annual Pancake Breakfast Held on 3/18/18

We have been hosting a Pancake Breakfast in the Collegeville/Trappe community for nearly 60 years. This year again was a grand success. The money we raised today will be a used to help The Daily Bread Food Pantry in their mission to help the people in need in our community. We had nearly 400 people join us for great food and fun. There were many familiar faces as well as many new faces.

We would like to thank all the people that attended to make this successful. This event could not be possible if were not for the effort of the many volunteers especially from the Central Perkiomen Valley Rotary Club and Perkiomen Valley High School Interact Club. Thank you all for your eager help. Special thanks goes to our own Joy Miksic for coordinating the whole event. We would also like to thank Bob Imperial for hosting the event at his facility in Trappe, PA

Click Here for Photo Album

(Thank you Pat Webster for the wonderful photography)

Collegeville's 61st Annual Halloween Parade, Oct 25, 2017

Join the Rotary once again on Collegeville's Main Street to mark the 61st year for the parade. Parade starts at Dusk. Pre-parade activities start at 5PM. Costume judging starts at 6 PM

There is no need to register for costume judging or the parade - just bring your costumed children (or pet), and meet in the parking lot behind the AmeriGreen Gas Station and Chow Bistro (454 E. Main) at 6 pm. This year the Rotary is expanding the Halloween dress up contest beyond dogs to all pets. Judging is from 6 to 6:25 p.m. in the parking lot. The parade begins its walk down Main St. at 6:30 p.m.

Eagle Scout Project-Sahas Kurumety

Archiving of Club's Historical Documents

Sahas Kurumety is a member of BSA Troop 133 in Worcester, PA. He is currently a candidate for Eagle Scout which is the highest rank for Boy scouts. One of the requirements for this rank advancement is to plan and execute a project that benefits the community or an organization that serves the community. Sahas chose to do a project for our club.

Our club has collected many interesting historical documents since our inception in 1949. These documents have been stored haphazardly and have been difficult to access. We also collected over 100 flags from other clubs all over the world. These too have been difficult to access. Sahas took the challenge to organize the documents into transportable file boxes. He also created 8 banners that allow us to display all of the club flags we collected in an organized manner.

See pictures by clicking below

Meet our New President - Mark Million

We are pleased to welcome Mark Million as our new club president effective on 7/1/17. Mark has been a very active and dedicated member of our club for the past 3 years. We are looking forward to implementing his many new initiatives to continue the club rejuvenation that has started with Mary Cook. Thank you very much Mary for getting us through the transition phase and putting us on a sound footing with several new members and a new meeting location at Ursinus College.

Third Annual Golf Tournament (on July 10, 2017)

Posted by Eileen Million on Apr 19, 2017

The Collegeville Rotary Club in cooperation with the Collegeville Fire Company is holding our 3rd annual Golf Tournament at the prestigious Bellewood Country Club on Monday, July 10, 2017.

Rotary Youth Exchange Ambassador from Collegeville Rotary Club

Posted on Aug 28, 2017

Sahas Kurumety has been selected by the Collegeville Club to participate in the Rotary Youth Exchange program for school year 2017/18. Sahas just completed 11^th grade at Methacton High School. He is very excited to have been given this life changing opportunity to spend the year abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina to immerse himself in the culture and become fluent in Spanish. He will be departing in August 2017 and returning in June 2018.

Club Member Trip to India - Jan 2017

Six of our Rotarians returned from an exciting 2 week trip to India in January 2017.

While in India, our Rotarians visited Bangalore, Several towns in Andra Pradesh and New Delhi. They made many connections with Rotarians and other active philanthropists. They also visited several health care and education facilities to see first hand how these facilities operate and what their current needs are. The highlight of their trip was the connections made in Vizianagaram in Andra Pradesh. They returned with a good understanding of how we can make a positive lasting impact on improving their health and education. As a follow up from this trip, we were successful in getting a District Grant approved to work on 5 worthy projects with a positive impact on several hundred of people.

Musical Concert & Dinner with The B Street Band

Collegeville Rotary Club is hosting a night to celebrate with Bruce Springsteen Music by the B-Street Band at Imperial Catering in Collegeville, PA.

Please come to enjoy the music and a wonderful dinner with your friends. Proceeds will benefit local causes.

Eat Like The Boss: NY Strip Steak or Broiled Tilapia, Baked Potato, Salad, Veggies, Desert and Assorted Drinks

Tickets are $40 per person which includes full dinner. (BYOB Beer & Wine)

Collegeville Rotary Pancake Breakfast

Collegeville and Trappe celebrate Saint Patrick's Day on 19 March at our annual Rotary Pancake Breakfast. This is our special fundraiser for the Daily Bread Community Food Pantry. We welcome everyone to join us at Imperials Catering, 40 E. 1st Avenue in Trappe from 8:30 to 1 pm. We've been sponsoring this event for more than 60 years for the community! It's a great time to meet your neighbors and support an important local cause.

Ryan Costello

Posted on Nov 10, 2015

US Congressman Ryan Costello will speak at our club on Wed 11/11/15

Meaning of UBUNTU

This story was contributed by Rao Kancherla, a friend of the Collegeville Rotary Club.

An Anthropologist proposed a game to a group of African tribal children. He placed a basket of treats and candy near a tree. And made them stand 100 meters away. And announced that who ever reaches first would get all the treats in the basket.

When he said ready steady go... Do you know what these small children did?

They all held each other's hands and ran towards the tree together, divided the treats among them and ate them together and enjoyed it.

When the Anthropologist asked them why you did so?    They said 'Ubuntu'.

Which meant - 'How can one be happy when all the others are sad?'

Ubuntu in their language means - 'I am because, we are!'

This is a great message for all generations.

Let all of us always carry this attitude within us and spread happiness, wherever we go...
Let's have an Ubuntu Life.   I am because we are

Ubuntu (/ʊˈbuːntʊ/uu-boon-tuu; Zulu pronunciation: [ùɓúntʼú]) is a Nguni Bantu term roughly translating to "human kindness."
It is an idea from the Southern African region which means literally "human-ness," and is
often translated as "humanity toward others," but is often used in a more philosophical sense to mean "the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity".

The Collegeville Rotary Club Halloween Parade

Posted by Joy Miksic on Oct 22, 2015

Rotary at the Halloween Parade! - * Cancelled *

**** Parade canceled due to inclement weather ****

For more than 50 years, the Collegeville Rotary Club has sponsored the Halloween Parade. Join us, once again, on October 28 on Main Street for this event. There is no need to register for costume judging or the parade - just bring your children (or pet), and meet behind CHOWs (454 E. Main) at 6 pm. If you prefer to just watch, pull out a chair and line the street from CHOW to the Pretzel Factory. The parade starts at 6:30 'drizzle or shine'. Stay through the parade - a special guest has promised to arrive.

Rao Kancherla to speak about his projects in India

Posted by Joy Miksic on Sep 08, 2015

The Collegeville Rotary Club will be hosting a very special presenter at our meeting on September 9, 2015. Please join us to hear Kameswar “Rao” Kancherla explain numerous effective social projects he has been doing in India over the last 10+ years. He is an expert ! on how far a dollar can be stretched by having a thorough understanding of the local needs and implementing the project first hand.

First Annual Golf Tournament

The Collegeville Rotary and the Collegeville Fire Company are working together to serve our community. We are announcing our First Annual Golf Outing on May 18, 2015 to support our Fire Company.The venue is the breathtaking Bellewood Country Club (400 E. Schuylkill Road, Pottstown, PA), known for its outstanding golf course and fine dining. The day will include full access to the course and facilities, lunch, prizes, raffles and a buffet dinner at the elegant club house. The format will be a 4-person scramble with prizes awarded for the first three places. Skills events will also be included. Registration and Lunch start at 11:00am; Shotgun start at 1:00pm; Reception and Dinner at 5:30pm

Rotary Annual Pancake Breakfast

Posted by Joy Miksic on Dec 29, 2014

We welcome everyone in the community to join us at the Collegeville Rotary's Pancake Breakfast - February 22 from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm at Moorehead's Catering. The PV and Methacton Interact Clubs and the Collegeville Rotary Club invite you to our hearty breakfast buffet, where your donation will raise funds for our local food pantry, The Daily Bread Community Food Pantry.