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Amityville Rotary ClubÑbuilding community and saving lives for 6 decades
"It was a fun night to celebrate 60 years of being in the community and accomplishing some great things," said the club's president, Joanne Goodman. Attorney Paul Harris organized the first Rotary Club in 1905. He founded the organization in Chicago in an effort to develop a club that captured the friendliness of the small towns he grew up in. From those beginnings, Rotary International has grown into a worldwide organization with more than one million members known as "Rotarians". According to its website, Rotary International "provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world". One of the club's most well known mottos is "service above self". By 1946, information about Rotary International had spread to Amityville, and a group of locals known as the Amityville's Business Men's Club felt the need for a service club in their community. They contacted the Bay Shore Rotary Club and before long, the Amityville Rotary Club was admitted into Rotary International.
"Being a Rotarian is a chance to have an impact on local issues but is also a chance to impact on a global scale," said Goodman. "Rotarians make things happen. Everybody in the club supports each other and works together to get things done." Among the club's contributions to Amityville is its sponsorship of the Interact Club at Amityville High School and the Early Act Club at the Edmund Miles Middle School. Both programs teach students the benefits of community service. The Rotary Club of Amityville also sponsors the annual Apple Festival, which raises money for local causes. In addition, the club has sponsored the annual Gift of Life Gala to support Suffolk County's Gift of Life program, which helps bring children to Long Island from all over the world to receive life saving heart operations. Many of these children are from countries that are unable to treat their conditions and they would otherwise die without the intervention of the program.
In addition, the club has recently donated stethoscopes and watches to the North Amityville Community Economic Council and is devoted to the Student Exchange Program, which allows Amityville students the chance to study around the world while also allowing students from foreign places, the chance to study in Amityville. Amityville Mayor Peter Imbert, Town of Babylon Supervisor Steve Bellone and Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy were on hand to congratulate Amityville club members on the anniversary. In addition to celebrating the anniversary, the club also honored long-time member Charlie deQuillfeldt and his wife, Sandy, both of whom have been active in the Student Exchange Program for decades, and who have been instrumental in arranging room and board for incoming students. A former president of the club, Charlie has lent his support to many Amityville activities. He was introduced at the event by his longtime friend and fellow Rotarian Donald Auperin, who gave a nostalgic speech about deQuillfeldt and his passion for boating, the Great South BayÑand Rotary.
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