Rotary Club of Lyndonville, Vermont

 P.O. Box 416, Lyndonville, VT 05851

"Service Above Self"

Chartered March 22, 1951


(above) First meeting of the Provisional Club of  Lyndonville, January 15, 1951
at the Darling Inn.

Traveling Rotarians are welcome to join us for luncheon meetings which are held each Wednesday at 12:15 pm 
at the First Congregational Church on Middle Street in Lyndonville. Our town, known as the "Gem in the Green"
in Vermont's scenic Northeast Kingdom, is located about nine miles north of St. Johnsbury (take Exit 23 from Interstate
91) and 40 miles south of the Canadian border. Lyndonville Rotary is part of Rotary International District 7850 which
includes forty-one clubs; twenty-five of them in Vermont, twelve in New Hampshire, one that straddles the VT - NH border
and three in Quebec, Canada. 

Currently, our club has 39 members...some of them in the 2009 photograph below.


 

Robert E. Whittaker  is our Club's President for 2012-2013

Betty Ann Gwatkin is President-Elect for 2013-2014

      Roni Leach is Club Secretary ->        

Benjie C. Tessier is Club Treasurer

Thomas K. Barrett is Sgt.-at-Arms

Pictorial coverage of the 2012 Changeover event courtesy of Harman Clark

      

      

  

  

< Some Changeovers of prior years >

Wheeler(l.) to Keenan-July 2001...Keenan(r.) to Lavely-July 2002...Lavely(r.) to Sanborn-July 2003

 

Durocher(l.) to Harris-July 2005...Harris(l.) to Bertolini-July 2006...Bertolini(l.) to Riggie-July 2007

    Riggie(r.) to Kvam-July 2008.......Kvam(l.) to Hemond-July 2009*...Gould(r.) to LeClair-July 2011

*Patty Emery succeeded to the presidency upon Marie Hemond's resignation-8/09.

Our popular PENNY SALE, conducted at Lyndon Institute annually each winter for over forty years,
is our principal fund-raising event and benefits dozens of local charities and community activities.
RIVER CLEANUP: When he was club president, Joe Benning spearheaded the club's effort to clean up the Passumpsic River.
His club has now removed over thirty-four tons of metal car parts, over four hundred tires and thousands of pounds of general
trash from a five-mile span of the river. For this effort our club was awarded a presidential citation from Rotary International. 
Other Rotary clubs have now copied Lyndon's initiative and cleaned up rivers in their own communities, including St. Johnsbury,
Montpelier and Hanover, NH.


 
For over 30 years,the club has participated in the annual Lyndonville Stars & Stripes Pageant along with many
other town organizations, businesses, and agencies. In the past, the club entered a float in the festive parade,
but in recent years it has run a popular "McRotary" food tent in Bandstand Park that raises funds for the Lyndon
State College Foundation, original organizer of the event. In 2009, Dick Boera, the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of
Commerce's Citizen-of-the-Year, was honored by being named Parade Grand Marshal by the Lyndon Area Chamber.
     
      
2012 coverage (above) courtesy of Harman Clark


(2009)
An outdoor AUCTION in Bandstand Park, held for many years - generally in
  August - was also a popular community event as well as an additional funding source. Peter Miller
was the indefatigable chair...as he has been for "McRotary" in the Park.

 Photo by Jeanne Miles, courtesy of the Lyndon Independent
Good attendance at meetings has been maintained by the quality of the programs which have been
provided by members serving as weekly program chairmen on a rotating basis.  We have had several
interclub meetings, perhaps the most memorable being a trek to the Sherbrooke Club in Quebec (within our
international district) several years back.  Many of the most interesting programs have been classification talks
by the individual members themselves.  We were honored to have the Chief Justice of the United States, the late
William H. Rehnquist, address us at a well-attended joint meeting with Rotarians from the nearby St. Johnsbury Club.
   
Photo - Jeanne Miles, courtesy of the Lyndon Independent                          Photo - Jan Newpher, courtesy of the Cal-Rec

The Club's Golden Anniversary was observed at a gala dinner meeting, March 22, 2001, held at the Darling
Inn...site of the very first Charter Night.  Even the menu was the same as the offering on the same date in 1951,
with a Roast Vermont Turkey entree. PP Nancy Anastasia arranged the event which was attended by about 70 Rotarians
and their guests, including 19 past presidents of the club. Honored for their long and dedicated service were Charter
Member Raymond Russell and "almost Charter Members" Urban Wakefield and Hazen Russell.

                2001  Photo by Jeanne Miles, courtesy of the Caledonian-Record
At the Lyndonville Rotary Club's 50th Anniversary dinner at the Darling Inn, Lyndonville Rotary
President Paul Wheeler, right, presents a certificate of appreciation to charter member Raymond
Russell.
 

Lyndonville  Rotary Hosts French Visitors
Lyndonville Rotarians Dick Banks, far left, and president Mark Bertolini, far  
          right, escort Rotary International Group Study Exchange visitors. (April 2007)
 
 Dedication of the Rotary Pavilion         
   at Powers Park 9/19/12                     

                                                                                                                         

  If you have comments or questions,
please send e-mail toarbjlb@comcast.net
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   Original web page May 1997
    Last updated 9/25/12...ARB