Our History

1925 to 1999-2000 Rotary Year

December 17,1925: Ardmore Rotary Club receives charter dated November 21, 1925 from Rotary International at a banquet in the Brookline Square Club. District Governor Gilbert J. Palen presides at the presentation. Club IS welcomed by Rotary International President Glenn C. Mead who was first president of Rotary Club of Philadelphia. President J. Elmer Watts accepts the Charter for the Club of 27 members. Club is 2162nd Rotary Club in the world. George Smith of the Philadelphia Club was organizer and was elected an Honorary Member… Weekly meetings are in “Den” in Ardmore National Bank Building (1925-1931), Woman’s Club of Ardmore (February 1931 to February, 1932), and  Square Café (from 1932 to 1939)’. 

1926: Gene Baldwin organizes Ardmore Public School Harmonica Orchestra with 40 boys participating. Ardmore Rotary Club provides instruments and tutor.

1928: Ardmore Rotary Club sponsors Darby-Lansdowne Rotary Club.

1930: Membership totals 32 men… Ardmore Rotary Club sponsors Paoli-Malvern-Berwyn Rotary Club.

1933: Weekly bulletin is named RIARD.

1938: Work by members of Ardmore Rotary Club enables reopening of YMCA on Lancaster Avenue in Ardmore, opposite the Autocar site.

1938-39: Past President Ralph Springer is District Governor.

1939:Twenty-nine Ardmore Rotarians help Bryn Mawr Hospital’s Million Dollar Capital Fund Campaign… Club provides Carlson Memorial First Aid Station at Boy Scout Camp Delmont in memory of Rotarian Edwin A. Carlson…Club donates flag pole for South Ardmore Playground.

1942: Ardmore Rotarians invited to dinner with Knox Home residents during the holidays.

1955:  Ardmore Rotarian George D. Elwell composes “Ardmore Rotary Welcome Song”. George spent much of his free time at Haverford Township Playground on Ardmore Avenue. Later the playground was renamed the George D. Elwell Playground.

1965-66:   George Uhlig, Club president during 1956-57, is Distirct 745 Governor and started the District 745 Rotarian Magazine.

1971: Ardmore Rotary Club donates 100 dogwood trees to the Tokyo Rotary Club to be planted in Japan’s Imperial Gardens. The trees are replacements for dogwood trees  sent to Japan as a sign of goodwill by United States 50 years ago. The gift follows a visit to the Tokyo Club by Past President George Uhlig at a time the Tokyo Club was discussing how to replace the trees which had to be removed in the garden.

1972-73: Past District Governor and Past President George Uhlig is elected to the Rotary International Board of Trustees. The following year he is elected first vice-president of Rotary International…Ardmore Rotary Club collects and ships supplies to Hurricane Hazel relief effort.

1973-74: Ardmore Rotary Club joins with Lower Merion Township in the creation of the  “Garden for the Blind” adjacent to Wynnewood Valley Park. Garden has sensory plantings and Braille signs to enable sighted people to enjoy the garden… Rotary Club of Tokyo sends cherry trees which are planted in the Garden as a token of friendship and in gratitude for Ardmore Rotary Club’s earlier shipment of dogwood trees for the Imperial Gardens…  Club initiates the Ardmore Rotary Holiday Girls’ Basketball Tourney during the Christmas Holidays. The Tourney, which eventually includes Boys’ Division, is a popular holiday event until local schools begin participating in regional tourneys in the early 90s. Games are played at Lower Merion High School thanks to the support from LMHS Principal Robert Ruoff, who was Club president in 1975-76… Bob Ruoff is named leader of the Group Study Exchange summer program to Australia.

1975-76:  George Uhlig is re-elected member of Rotary International Board of Trustees. Club celebrates 50th anniversary in November and is featured in eight-page supplement in the Main Line Times. 

1976-77: Club formally dedicates “Garden for the Blind” in Wynnewood Valley Park and partners with Men’s Garden Club of Delaware Valley to maintain the site.

 1978-1979:  Club sends dogwood trees to Turkey… Ardmore Rotary Golden Oldies is organized to provide transportation for  members, and to collect slightly used clothing and shoes for patients at Haverford State Hospital. The group receives 1979 Volunteer Service Award.

1984: William Walsh, who was 1976-77 Club president,  is District 745 Governor…Club  co-sponsors Wane Phari, 35-year old teacher from Malawi, South Africa, to attend school in Boston to  learn how to help blind people in his home country… Club raises $1500, which is matched by Gundaker Foundation, to send a Braille machine to Malawi…  Pancake Breakfast raises $3400 at the Main Line ‘Y’ in Ardmore for the benefit of the Merion Fire Company of Ardmore… Bob Cram, president for 1977-78 Rotary year, and an orthopedic surgeon, makes first of several annual trips to Malawi to perform surgery on children who had polio and to teach the doctors up-to-date surgical procedures.

1985-86: Club hosts exchange students from Germany and Spain… Club sponsors Interact Club which was chartered at Lower Merion High School…  Club sends funds to help Columbia and Mexico City following natural disasters.

1987-1988: Club delivers first van to New Employment for Women in Logan West Virginia. The van will transport women and children to medical visits and enable the organization to help families in need…  Club provides holiday gifts for patients at Haverford State Hospital based on wish list provided to the Club…  A high school Boys’ Division is added to the Rotary Holiday Basketball Tourney… Club pledges $200,000 to Kickoff  PolioPlus Campaign in preparation for the Rotary International Convention in Philadelphia. After the final tally, the Club surpassed the goal by over $2000…Over 30 members participate in the Home Hospitality Night during the 1988 Rotary International Convention in Philadelphia. Rotarians from around the world sign up to participate in the special hospitality evening…  Annual Silent Auction and Picnic at David Kelso’s farm raises $3600 for Rotary’s World Service projects…  Club sponsors St. Katherine’s Day School Girl Scout Troop…  Holiday Auction raises $6,000….Silent Auction and Picnic at Dave Kelso’s farm raised $11,095 

1989-1990: Club celebrates the 100th birthday of Walter Rosengarten, who joined the Club in 1932.. The Club presents a Paul Harris Fellowship in memory of Walter’s late wife, Margaret… Ardmore Rotary Golf Team wins Rotary District 745 Golf Championship. The team includes Bill and Matt Walsh, Jim Whelan, Bill Wilson, Dave Shihadeh, Fred Schrader and Norm Rothenheber, who accepted the trophy… Club continues to collect used stamps which are sent to Japan where they are processed and sold with the proceeds going to help medical programs in the Far East…  Club inducts first three women members March 8 and April1… Club’s weekly meetings move from Conestoga Mill in Bryn Mawr to Al E Gators Restaurant in Bryn Mawr after the Mill was sold April 1…Ardmore Rotarians Tom Hayden and Bob Dolan, along with Main Line Times photographer Bill Harris, a member of Wayne Rotary Club, spearhead drive to collect a truckload of food and needed supplies for victims of  October’s Hurricane Hugo which damaged Charlestown, South Carolina. Hayden contacts Charleston Fire Chief for a list of most needed items. The trio drives 15 hours to deliver the items, helps unload the truck, and returns home. A second trip, takes place the next week to Summerville, South Carolina with the help of a truck and drivers provided by Dave Kelso.  Both trips are aided by contributions from local businesses and residents… Club sponsors 14th annual Holiday High School Basketball Tourney… Holiday auction raises $7.600.

1990-1991: Club marked 65th birthday November 21… Club allocates $14,000 raised from two  previous Silent Auctions to purchase new Plymouth van which is presented  to representatives of American Friends Service Committee for the use of New Employment for Women program in Logan, West Virginia. Tom Hayden and Bill Kennedy drive the 612 miles to deliver van,  the second such gift from the Rotary Club…October 6 is Ardmore Clean-Up Day and October 7 is Ardmore Rotary Pancake Breakfast Day at Merion Fire Company. Club presents check for $3400 to Fire Company to purchase protective clothing for the firefighters, thanks to the proceeds from the breakfast…Tokyo Rotary Club celebrates 20th anniversary of  the planting of  dogwood trees in the Imperial Gardens. The trees were a gift from the Ardmore Club 1971,.. Members donate over 200 gifts to Haverford State Hospital Holiday Gift Program… Holiday Auction and Sport Coat Raffle raises $7400 for grants for community groups…. Holiday Basketball Tourney raises $750… 

1991-1992: Matt Walsh, at 33, becomes the youngest president in the Club’s history… Past President Bob Cram receives District 745 Meritorious Service Award in recognition of volunteering  his medical services in Malawi, Africa… Eight members honored for 25 years or more of perfect attendance… Community Service and Vocational Service Committees recruit volunteers for the Special Olympics in May in Radnor… Club collects school supplies, books, food  and clothing for young people in Logan, West Virginia and Tom Hayden  delivers the donations… Past District Governor/Past President George Uhlig receives crystal bowl for his years of service to Rotary during the District Conference in Washington, D.C… Record number (733) attend Pancake Breakfast which raised over $6,000 for Merion Fire Company of Ardmore….. Holiday Auction and Sport Coat Raffle raises over $5900 for community organizations. 

1992-1993: Past District Governor Tom McCarthy installs the 1992-1993 Leadership Team and praises the “quality” of the membership as a major consideration in the selection of Hogie Hansen for the next District Governor…  Club Service Committee works with Logan West Virginia Rotary Club to organize a community library… Club joins effort to beautify Ardmore Train Station… Membership passes 100… Club participates in “Books for the World”, an international Rotary English-learning project to collect and distribute English-language books..… Club hosts fist annual Ardmore Rotary Golf Tourney to benefit Main Line YMCA…Tom Hayden and Jim Bishop organize local all-out response to Hurricane Andrew which devastated South Florida and Louisiana the end of August. Almost immediately, donations of money, food, clothing and household supplies began pouring into the Ardmore Firehouse. Six tractor-trailer rigs were filled and sent quickly to the local Rotary Club Disaster Centers in Florida and Louisiana. Drivers of the trucks were given free plane tickets home by the airlines… Lower Merion Commissioners present “Commendation for Outstanding Service” to Tom Hayden and Jim Bishop for their leadership in the effort… Bob Cram makes fourth trip to Malawi to perform much-needed surgical procedures on children who had polio… Annual Pancake Breakfast serves over 700 persons and raises $5000 for Merion Fire Company…. Holiday Auction and Sport Coat Raffle  raises $7,750 for community organizations….Rotary District 7450 honors Club’s “Shadow” program as Best Vocational Service Club project.  The program is sponsored by Main Line Chamber of Commerce and pairs high school students with business and professional persons, including members of Ardmore Rotary  Club… With addition of four new Paul Harris Fellows, Club has 123 Fellows and has contributed  $248,000 to the Rotary Foundation….Club continues to collect used glasses for Student Optometric Service to Humanity (SOSH) which repairs and distributes glasses in South America  to persons with vision problems…Ongoing collection of used stamps which are sent to Japan and sold, has raised $350,000 to purchase medical supplies…Club members participate in first Rotary-YMCA Golf Tourney which raises $2,888.70 for the Main Line YMCA…. Holiday Basketball Tourney  drew  $2,063 at the gate with a profit of $1,508….Club presents grants totaling $10,000 to 10 community organizations….Bob Cram receives certificate from Rotary Foundation in recognition of his fourth trip to perform surgeries. He also received a multiple Paul Harris pin with two sapphires for the $1000 sent to the Rotary Foundation in Bob’s name from the Club’s Silent Auction Fund….Golden Oldies collects  clothing and shoes for Haverford State Hospital and also provides transportation for members….Past President Hogie Hansen is installed as 1993-1994 Rotary District 7450 District Governor at  dinner at Haverdord College  June 29. 

1993-1994:  Past President Hogie Hansen is 1993-1994 District Governor…Club collects and ships surgical instruments to Neurosurgical Unit at Bir Hospital in Katmandu, Nepal… Pennsylvania Department of Transportation designates Ardmore Rotary Club a member of the “Adopt a Highway” program. The Club commits to clean up Lancaster Avenue from Chatham Road to Haverford Station Road and Ardmore Avenue from County Line Road four times a year…  Community Service grants totaling over $10,000 were distributed to 20 organizations… Pancake Breakfast raises $5,000 for Merion Fire Company to help with building renovations… Holiday Auction raises $5,000 and the raffle for sport coat made by Joseph Centofanti raises $1500. …Club finishes first  and earns  $5,000 for the Rotary Foundation at Macy’s Day fundraiser… District Governor Hogie Hansen and his wife, Anne, are honored at the  Governor’s Ball January 29th. in Norristown…  A most successful District Conference took place April 15 to 17 at Adams Mark Hotel on City Line Avenue. With Hogie Hansen the District Governor, Ardmore Rotarians coordinated the event which was held within the District for the first time…  Club sponsors  two local students who will be outbound Rotary Exchange students this year and will host two incoming students during the year…  Club inducted its 11th woman member in June….. 

1994-1995: Ardmore Rotary Club allocates $3,000 for the Japanese Earthquake Relief Fund and seeks a matching grant from Gundaker Foundation… World Community Service Committee collects and sends hospital equipment to Romania….Club sponsors “Night at the Ballgame” excursion to Reading Phillies which was attended by 67 Rotarians and guests… Club continues to collect old reading glasses for repair and distribution to Third World countries….. Ardmore Rotary Board approves $500 for medical supplies for Bob Cram who will make another trip to Malawi, Africa in September… Ardmore Rotary Club’s per member contribution to PolioPlus campaign is $2000… Holiday Basketball Tourney raises $2500 thanks to record attendance during the three nights… .Holiday Auction raises $6500 plus $1500 from Joe Centofanti Sport Coat Raffle… Pancake Breakfast raises $5200 for Merion Fire Company…. Ardmore Rotary’s “Gift of Life” program gives a seven-month-old girl from Latvia a chance for a healthy future as the result of a successful heart operation at St. Christopher’s Hospital March 9. The girl was born with a hole in her heart and without the surgery, doctors say she would not have lived through adolescence. Club donates $2,000 which was matched by District 745 Gundaker Foundation toward the operation.  St. Christopher’s Hospital and the surgeon agreed to accept $5000 for the operation which normally would cost over $40,000. Before returning home, the girl and her mother attends  Club meeting to thank the Club for the support which also included funds for the trip… Lower Merion High School Interact Club, sponsored by Ardmore Rotary Club, makes regular visits to Inglis House residents and distributes gift baskets to senior citizens.

1995-1996: Ardmore Rotarian and TV Weatherman Herb Clarke receives District 7450 and Ardmore Rotary Vocational Service Awards..…Bob Cram leaves for two-week trip to Malawi to operate on children who had polio… Ardmore Rotarian Gordon Rose, chairman of District Concern for Aging Committee, announces Ardmore Rotarians will distribute 2000 Personal Planners to seniors. The free planners can store phone numbers for relatives, caregivers, doctors, insurance information, and helpful organizations…. Holiday Auction  raises $10,000 and the Sport Coat Raffle raises $1,300, both of which will fund grants for community non-profit organizations..…Macy’s Day participation earned $900 for Rotary Foundation…  Holiday High School Girls’ Basketball Tourney raises $1,263 for youth activities..…Membership reaches 103 at start of January……Board approves $500 grant for seeds to reseed areas of environmental destruction in Mexico..…Club provides $1,000 to fund for Ardmore family whose home was damaged by a fire… Lower Merion Interact Club joins Rotarians at the very successful spring Ardmore Clean-up..… Herb Clarke hosts the Interact students on a tour of WCAU TV in April.… Club presents plaque to Lower Merion High School’s State Championship basketball team, which wins its first state title  in 43 years. The team manager and backup point guard for Kobe Bryant accept the plaque and a $100 check to the Lower Merion Scholarship Fund in recognition of the championship… Club distributes $12,000 to 20 non-profit community organizations. 

1996-1997: Ardmore Rotary’s $400 donation to Thai Youth Aids Education project is matched by Gundaker Foundation…Club receives thank you letter from Angel Flight for $100 gift sent last month..…Meeting on Halloween proves a winner as more members came wearing some form of costume than did not, Quiz about geography and members who made donations because they did not wear a costume  raised over $250 for Logan West Virginia Van Fund which totals $800….The Logan, West Virginia Van Committee invites members to endow a few miles on the van’s trip to Logan or give $50 or  more. for a lug-nut, dip-stick, an air bag  or  $500 for each seat in honor of a loved one. .. Sport Coat Raffle  raises $1700 and the Holiday Auction raises $7,000 for community non-profit grants.…Board presents $6000 check from Pancake Breakfast  proceeds to Merion Fire Company…Club meets $2,000 Logan Van Fund goal, and with financial help from Bryn Mawr, Bala Cynwynd/Narberth and Haverford Rotary Clubs, the van is ready to be loaded with books and delivered to New Empowerment for Women in Logan, West Virginia. … . One key to the van is presented to Jack Maranpowki, representing the American Friends Service Committee, and the other key was waiting for Jim Bishop and Joan Toenniessen. to deliver the van to Logan, West Virginia. They are greeted by  residents who were most appreciative not only of the van but also of the boxes of books packed in the van… .Club relocates to Masonic Lodge in Ardmore for catered luncheon meetings beginning March 27..…Club allocates $1,000 to Patro nato Pro Ninos in Mexico, for medical equipment and school supplies for children, and $200 for  Ardmore Senior Citizens Center Community Fair for pony rides for children…..Club presents $14,000 in Community Service Grants to 28 organizations… .District 7450 Governor Dick Knauff  presents  Karl Schauffele with Outstanding Service Award…..Ardmore Rotarians and Lower Merion High School Interactors take care of Spring Cleanup behind businesses in Ardmore  and area along the railroad tracks……The 12th Sizzle and Live Auction at Dave Kelso’s Farm raises $6000 for International Service projects,

1997-1998: Annual Pancake Breakfast draws 580 persons and raises $6,000 for Merion Fire Company… ..Past District Governor/Past President Hogie Hansen represents District 7450 at Rotary International Council on Legislation in New Delhi, India in January. While there, Hogie and his wife, Anne, participate in the National Immunization Day during which 130,000,000 children were immunized against polio worldwide. A reported 70,000 Rotarians participated in the Day. ..  Club earns $448 from sale of Phillies tickets for “Rotary Night at Phillies”..…Holiday Auction raises $8,800 and the Sport Coat Raffle raises $1,200 for Community Service Allocations….The 22nd  Annual  Rotary Holiday Basketball Tournament raises $1,000… .Club sells enough tickets to the Temple/LaSalle “Gift of Life” Basketball game to send 45 young people from Ardmore Community Center to a Phillies game and raises $1,045 for” Gift of Life” program…. A social “Hoedown” for the benefit of the Logan Van Fund featuring western band and dance lessons was a social success..…  Joan Hariston, project director of New employment for Women in Logan, West Virginia, attends June 11 meeting to say thank you for the second van.. She reports the van has  recorded 19,000 miles and transported 550 clients for job interviews, workshops and doctor’s visits…..Allocations Committee distributes $10,000 to 21 community organizations…  1998 Sizzle at Kelso Farm raises over $10,000 for World Service Committee. 

1998-1999: Joan Connor Toenniessen is sworn in as (first woman) president by Past District Governor/Past President Hogie Hansen. Also sworn in is the leadership team of President-Elect Jim Taylor, Vice-President Jane Williams, Secretary Gerry Zinnes and Treasurer Jim Bishop and board members Tom Burke, David Dillon, Mordy Gerson, Mark Hiscock, Wilk Miller and Past President Hank Heisey..…Club membership of 110 includes 25 past presidents who are George Uhlin (56-57), David Shihadeh (62-63), Parry Scott Parry Scott (65-66), Justin Duryea(  67-68), Norm Rothenheimer (68-69), John Eppinger (69-70) , David Kelso (70-71), Bill Wilson (72-73) Bob Ruoff (75-76), Bill Walsh 76-77), Bob Cram (77-78), Jim Shilcock (80-81), Howard West (81-82), Jim Whelan (82-83), Davd Tarditi (85-86), Dave Endy (87-88), Ed Hariitunian (88-89), Jim Bishop (89-90), Hogie Hansen (90-91), Matt Walsh (91-92), Norman Robinson (92-93), Gordon Rose (93-94), Darrell Johnson (94-95), Bruce Eppinger (95-96), Jim Kohl (96-97), and Hank Heisey (97-98)…. ..President Joan T., David Dillon and Bob Ruoff drive vans holding 57 members and guests to dinner and Reading Phillies game in Reading……District Round Robin Tennis Tournament takes place at Merion Cricket Club in Haverford. …Members weed and trim bushes at Paul Harris Monument in Valley Forge Park prior to District 7450 Conference ceremony in September……Singing reintroduced at meetings..…During District Conference,  Club makes $11,000 pledge to Rotary Foundation’s PolioPlus campaign. The total raised is $15,000……Club initiates a partnership with the George Meade School in Philadelphia to sponsor the 100-Book Challenge  and Adopt-A Classroom program in which members visit the school on a regular basis to assist students with reading skills. Rotarians President Joan, Past Presidents Hogie Hansen, Dave Endy and Hank Heisey and Jim Shilcock and Tom Stuart attend  Reading Program assembly at which the Club presents a $1,000 check to adopt the second-grade classroom of Debbie Hansen (daughter of Hogie) for the purchase of books for the program. Members prepare to travel to the school twice a month to read with students in second and third grades. Gundaker Foundation matches the $1,000 to add the third-grade class The Club expands the program after two years to include a musical program after collecting unused instruments from members and repairing the instruments with the help of Musicopia, before distributing them to Meade School students. String and brass groups. present concerts at Club luncheons and several students participate in all-city school music programs. Partnership with Meade ends as result of City budget cuts after nine years……Ardmore Rotarians participate in Clean-Up and Beautification Day at the Meade School in April….Annual Pancake Breakfast raises $6,000 for Merion Fire Company. Chief Glen McClelland accepts the check and receives the Merion Firefighters’ Community Service Award from Rotarian Tom Hayden, a member of the Fire Company. … Holiday Auction raises $8,890,  including $1300 from the Sport Coat Raffle.…Annual Holiday Basketball Tournament raises $1,700… ..Club begins to explore plans to celebrate 75th anniversary of Club in 2000..…Club joins with Merion Fire Company to help the refugee children in Kosovo by collecting baby diapers and blankets which are shipped to American Friends Service for distribution. Two truckloads of supplies were delivered to American Friends Service Philadelphia headquarters after two weeks.…. 12 Rotarians turn out for Ardmore Cleanup Day in late March… ..Club sells 158 tickets for the Rotary Circus Night which raises funds for Gundaker Foundation ..….Club allocates $1,000 to Kosovo Relief Fund, $500 to Rhinoplastic Project in Argentina, and $500 for Rabies Eradication Program in India…Dedication of the Karl Schauffele Pocket Park at the Busway on Lancaster Avenue in Ardmore includes a special plaque designating Karl  as a “Rotary Statesman”…. Club distributes $12,000 in grants to 15 community organizations thanks to proceeds from Holiday auction and Sport Coat Raffle..  Club votes to relocate its meetings to Narberth Boro Hall Community room in Narberth, beginning in July …Ardmore Rotary Club receives President’s Citation from Rotary International at the District Governor’s Ball in May. At the ball, George Uhlig gave a $10,000 donation so the District would meet the $200,000 Philadelphia Challenge. At last fall’s District Conference, George donated $25,000 to the Challenge…Proceeds from Silent Auction and Sizzle  at Dave Kelso’s Farm raises $8,200 for International Projects….Patro nato Oro Ninos thanks Club for $1500  which was used as part payment for a cochlear implant for a 12 year-old boy who had not heard sound since he was two. The device cost $20,000 most of which was raised by the boy’s family and community in Mexico.… 

1999-2000: Assistant District Governor Peter Quinn inducts President Jim Taylor and his leadership team which includes President-Elect Jane Williams, Vice-President Marty Phillips, Secretary David Muir and Treasurer Jack DelPizzo and Board members Mark Hiscock, Mordecai Gerson, Wilbert Miller, John Klotz, Kevin Murphy, Will Sandvik, Sergeant-At Arms John Klotz ans Past President James Taylor.….Tom Stuart organizes a group of members for a summer reading program at Meade School Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings through first week in August..….American Friends Service Committee sends a thank you for donation of $1,375 for Kosovo Relief Project. The funds went to children’s programs and food and shelter….Club hosts 10 visitors from Russia for a tour of Lower Merion government and points of interest as part of an international program. Rotary International was asked by the U.S. Government to participate in the program..In addition to the government visits, the group will lunch at Merion Cricket Club and visit Haverford College… Bob Ruoff  leads another successful fellowship event to Reading for dinner and bingo and Reading  Phillies game…. Board purchases a brick for Ardmore 2000 Pocket Park and designates it as Ardmore Rotary Club memorial to the late  Karl Schauffele..…Past District Governor/Past President Hogie Hansen presents $1,000 check to Meade School Adopt-A- School literacy program and receives a thank you poem from Meade School second-graders  ….Hogie Hansen and Bob Cram participate in Rotary Immunization Day in Madagasacar as part of PolioPlus campaign during which 2.7 million children receive the vaccine…  .1999 Pancake Breakfast raises $6,000 for Merion Fire Company of Ardmore….Club welcomes five Rotary Group Study Exchange members from Thailand and hosts the team at lunch in Narberth Borough Hall…. This is the first time in 15 years that the Club participates in the program which offers team members an inside look at operation of businesses, education,  and government…..Club allocates $250 toward cost of Rotary entry in 2000 Rose Bowl Parade..…Malvern Prep defeated Overbrook High School while Lower Merion High School girls’ team defeated North Penn High School in the  25th annual Rotary Holiday Basketball Tourney. The Club allocates $1,000 of the $2600 proceeds from the tourney toward a scholarship for a Lower Merion High School student in memory late Lower Merion High School basketball coach Fritz Brennan…….Club joins Ardmore Senior Center program to purchase $10 holiday gifts for area children. Gifts  are delivered to the Ardmore Firehouse where they were wrapped and delivered to the Senior Center for distribution….  Club approves cost for seven holiday food baskets  for Tom Lyons’ annual Holiday Gift Basket Program for needy families in Ardmore….Holiday Auction and Sport Coat Raffle raises $9500 for community service grants….Rotary Adopt-A-Highway  Committee works with Lower Merion Centennial Parade Committee on pre parade cleanup needs for Ardmore..….Jami Whelan is inducted as a member by her father, Past President Jim Whelan, thus becoming the first father-daughter combo and the third member with three generations in Ardmore Rotary. Jami’s maternal grandfather, J. Harold Watt, was president in 1952-53 Rotary year. .Jami, who has volunteered to work at a number of Pancake Breakfasts, was elected  president for the 2010-2011 Rotary year… ”Pitch in a glove for Rotary” collects new or useable used baseball gloves for inner city schools and other countries. Those who don’t have a glove to donate are asked to donate $20 for new gloves.. Club decides on “100-Book Challenge” theme for float in the April 30 Lower Merion Centennial Parade. Members also serve as marshals and participate in       pre-parade Ardmore cleanup efforts…. VP Jane Williams hosts new members for dessert and conversation at a “Fireside Chat” at her Gladwyne home and Past President Marty Phillips hosts members and spouses for “Dessert and Fellowship” at the Oak Hill Condo Clubhouse… Board votes to sponsor Narberth and Ardmore Avenue Community Center Summer Basketball Leagues… Club hosts Meade School students at May 25 luncheon…. Community Development Committee presents $10,000 in grants to 20 community organizations thanks to the 1999 Holiday Auction and Sport Coat Raffle… Silent Auction and Sizzle raises $9,000 for International programs… Club sends $400 to the Rotary Rotaplast Project in La Oroya, Peru, to pay for cleft palate operation for child… Club receives RI Presidential Citation in recognition of Club’s accomplishments during the Rotary year….

To Be Continued.

Reverend G. Holger Hansen,  
Ardmore Rotary Club Past President (1990-91)
Rotary District District 7450  Governor (1993-94)

A former member or the Rotary Club of Swarthmore, Hogie Hansen was inducted into the Rotary Club of Ardmore in 1981, while employed as the Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Haverford College. His classification was College Fundraising and Public Relations. Hogie served as president of Ardmore in 1990-91 and as District 7450 Governor in 1993-94. Hogie served as chair of the district’s Rotary Foundation Committee for six years. Hogie was born in Corning, N.Y. and educated in public schools in West Hartford, Connecticut. He earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, and a Bachelor of Divinity Degree and Master of Sacred Theology Degree from Yale Divinity School. He also studied at the Institute for Educational Management of Harvard University and at the Graduate School of Ecumenical Studies at University of Geneva, Switzerland. Reverend Hansen is an ordained clergy member of the New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He served as pastor of United Methodist churches in Seymour and Oxford, Connecticut for five years. From 1968 to 1970 he served as assistant director of “A Christian Ministry in the National Parks,” an interdenominational ministry that provides worship services and activities for park visitors, employees, and permanent residents. Hogie has maintained an association with this program up to the present. Hogie returned to his alma mater, Earlham College, in 1970 as Alumni Director. From 1976 to 1980 he served as Associate Vice-President of Swarthmore College until 1980, when he was appointed Vice-President for Institutional Advancement of Haverford College. After retiring from Haverford in 2002, Hogie accepted a full-time position as manager of the Fund Development Office of The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International in Evanston, Illinois, retiring again in June 2006. Throughout their Rotary years, Hogie and his wife, Anne, (past president of Swarthmore Rotary Club and a past Assistant Governor for the District), have been devoted to Rotary’s efforts to eradicate the wild poliovirus, participating in several National Immunization Days in India and Madagascar. They have also been active in Rotary’s Programs of Peace and Conflict Resolution. Hogie and Anne have also served Rotary in several regional and national volunteer capacities related to fundraising and leadership. Hogie has received the “Service Above Self Award” from Rotary International Board of Directors, and the “Citation for Meritorious Service” and “Distinguished Service Award” from the Rotary Foundation’s Trustees. Hogie is one of five members of Ardmore Rotary Club who served as District Governor. Others are Ralph Springer, (1938-1939), George Uhlig (1965-1966), William T. Walsh (1984-1985), and Martin Phillips (2005-2006). On August 27, 2020, Hogie and Anne celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. They have three children and six grandchildren. Hogie has been called upon for invocations, to induct club officers, to lead the singing, and to keep members informed of programs and events in the Rotary world. By his life, Hogie continues to live Rotary’s Mottos, “Service Above Self” and “He profits most who serves best.”