Honesdale Rotary Club Blog

If you bought a root beer from the Honesdale Rotary at last summer’s Roots & Rhythm Festival, you helped both the Rotary and the Festival. Rotary members today presented a portion of the proceeds to the festival’s sponsor, the Greater Honesdale Partnership.

“Honesdale Rotary supports projects around the world, such as the eradication of polio,” said Rotarian Brian Fulp, “but some of our most meaningful projects are right here at home in Honesdale.”

“Our Fun Family Root-Beer Stand at the Festival was created to raise money and awareness within Honesdale about all our projects,” explained John Van Horn, Treasurer for Honesdale Rotary.

The Roots & Rhythm Music and Arts Festival, approaching its third year, is a free event in Honesdale’s Central Park.  The Rotary club welcomed getting involved, said Van Horn.

“Our members were very fond of the Festival and could easily see the positive impact it has on our community, so we worked with the R&R committee to license the Festival’s logo for our root beer mugs. We enjoy being a part of it.”

Honesdale Rotary is dedicated to community and worldwide service. The members live the motto “Service Above Self” by volunteering and supporting projects locally such as Amba Wellness, an affordable blood screening program; Dorflinger Days; Little League and more. Its most recent project may be the boldest in the local club’s 80-year history. Working with the Himalayan Institute, the Honesdale Rotary club is spearheading a fundraising effort to help launch a public library in Kumbo,Cameroon, Africa—a community of 50,000 residents.

“Honesdale Rotary’s strength is its members and its network of friends that spans the globe,” said Rotarian Lisa Champeau. “We like to think we can accomplish anything we put our minds to—and in June, that will be selling root beer for a good cause. Stop by and enjoy one!”

The Rotary is open to all. To see how you can become a member or for more information about its projects, visit HonesdaleRotary.com or call Brian Fulp at 570-647-1514.

From left: Kumbo Council Members, Ishan Tigunait, HI Humanitarian Projects Director,

Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Spiritual Head, Himalayan Institute and Honesdale Rotarian Blair Lewis

At a presentation by the Himalayan Institute on Friday, November 30, Honesdale Rotary agreed to support a campaign to raise funds for the Institute’s Global Humanitarian Project in Cameroon, West Africa—the Kumbo Public Library Project. Honesdale Rotarians are calling on clubs from around their district and the world to join hands with them to collect funds to establish the first public library in Kumbo serving a population of 50,000. In association with the Himalayan Institute and the Kumbo City Council, the library is targeted for completion by summer 2008. 

“The work has already begun and the Institute has gathered more than 20,000 titles to date. By working closely with the Kumbo City Council and local librarians, they’ve been able to identify categories that are important to that region. The Institute is also donating industrial-grade library shelving. Climate control equipment will be installed in the library to help protect the books from the elements,” said Brian Fulp, Vice-President of Honesdale Rotary. “The Himalayan Institute Community Center in Cameroon launched a new Carpentry and Construction School now in operation in Kumbo. The school will oversee renovation of an existing building. Currently, the building is not much more than a shell with no utilities or furnishings,” continued Fulp. “Honesdale Rotary has agreed to spearhead the project and do what it does best–use its network to help raise funds within the Rotary family to make this library a reality.” 

John Van Horn, Treasurer of Honesdale Rotary says, “With the success of phase one of this project, it makes sense that we move forward with phase II and support the library campaign. Working with the Himalayan Institute, whose track record for successful humanitarian efforts has spanned more than 35 years, we can quickly see the benefits of Rotarian funds in action. Honesdale Rotary was instrumental in sponsoring the creation of the first Rotary Club of Kumbo, Cameroon. Honesdale Rotarians, Kumbo Rotarians and the Himalayan Institute are working side-by-side on this worthwhile endeavor.”  

If you’d like to get involved, call Brian Fulp at 570-647-1514, to see how you can help. For more information about the Himalayan Institute’s Global Humanitarian projects visit HimalayanInstitute.org.

2007 held great things for Honesdale Rotary. Our plan to increase membership and  support more projects locally and abroad was a success. See an excerpt from January 2007’s Honesdale Rotary Newsletter:

Honesdale Rotary Created “Map to Success” for 2007
“Honesdale Rotary has been working hard to create a 3 year plan that will increase membership as well as financial strength. These two combined will allow the club to support many more activities both locally and around the globe.” 

Additional Fundraisers:
Our 2007 calendar included additional fundraisers. Using our flagship “Fun Family Root Beer Stand”, we licensed the Honesdale Roots & Rhythm Music & Arts Festival logo and placed it on Honesdale Rotary mugs that were then sold throughout the year. Setting up at the following events gave a nice boost to our visabilty and fundraising efforts:

June 9, 2007 Little Engine that Could
June 23  Honesdale Roots & Rhythm Music & Arts Festival
July 19, 20, 21 Street Festival and Sidewalk Sale
August 25^th Dorflinger Family Day

New Members Welcomed!
Seven new members joined Honesdale Rotary as a result of our efforts to expand the club. A big welcome goes out to:
Blair Lewis, Michelle Head, Rolf Molton, Al Kobe, John Lawson, Jayne Bliss, Mark Messersmith.