Page 11 - Gears and Ears October 2014

Gears and Ears

Journal of the Rotary Club of Lake BuenaVista
Page 11

Bill Kesselring

Each year, my wife and I drive north to visit our friends and relatives in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
This was my first trip north as a Rotarian and my first opportunity to visit another club to make-up for
meetings missed while I was traveling.

While I found three clubs in close proximity to where I was staying in Pennsylvania, I was unable to
attend a make-up meeting because all meetings were scheduled on travel days.

I had considerably more success while visiting New Jersey and attended a breakfast make-up meeting
at the Whippany Club located in northern New Jersey. Twenty-six Whippany Club members were in
attendance.

I was greeted by Jim Colavito, Club President, and sat at his table. Everyone was extremely nice and
absolutely loved our Lake Buena Vista Rotary Pin and Banner. I was quite happy that I attended the RLI
several weeks ago because there were quite a few questions about our Club and District activities.

The big fundraisers for the Whippany Club are an annual Duck Race and a
Casino Night. It cost $10 to enter a duck in the race. With 1500 ducks
sold each year, it has been a successful fundraiser for the past 23 years.
The Duck Race is an all-day affair in a park setting with children’s games,
horse and buggy rides, games or chance and food stands.

The most recent Casino night netted $10,000 to be donated to local organizations.

The Club has two on-going 50-50’s. One is for members, and one for non-members. When asked
‘Why?’, Jim told me that they split the 50-50 because, at one time, a non-member visitor bought one
ticket and won $1800.

I had a great time; made new friends, and expect to see several of them visit our Club in the near future.