Last week the Collegeville Club began what will be a year long celebration its 65 years. Initially named the Lower Perkiomen chapter, the club was chartered on July 27, 1949 and sponsored by the Phoenixville Rotary club. The event was held at Spring Mount hotel in Schwenksville where some 300 people listened to guest speaker Supreme Court Justice Owen J. Roberts discuss the ideals of Rotary. This week we honored our 20 charter members, among them the club's first president, Clarence A. Warden Jr. Other charter members were Henry Brown Jr., Clement Bean, Anthony Chiccarine, William Coburn, Raymond Fishlock, Dr. Ivan Hess, Clay Hess, Robert Johnston, Dr. Herbert Kaplan, Louis Krug, William Philip, W.B. Rawlings, Alves Raynor, Harvey Richards, Andy Rihl, Chester Sellers, Harvey Vanderslice, Clyde Whitman, and W. Russell Zimmerman.
Our celebration took place at Waterworks park in Trappe, where a picnic was held and we discussed the lives of these community leaders and all that they brought to Rotary. Rotarians Jim Lorah, Jim Sachs and Vince Raffeo were able to provide personal memories of some of the charter members. It was an informative and nostalgic evening where the club was able to recognize properly our "founding fathers." We are grateful to these men for establishing our club and giving us the opportunity to better serve our community.
Throughout the year the Collegeville Rotary club will continue this celebration. We are eager to connect with former Rotarians and their families. If you are one of these folks, or know of someone who is, please contact our club at collegevillerotary@gmail.com. We would like to include these people in future celebrations.
