Club News September 20 2021

Submitted by PDG Tulsi Maharjan (trmaharjan@gmail.com)

 

The Rotary Club of Branchburg’s Rotary Ride and Fly on September 12 started with kick off from the Raritan Valley Community College and ended at the Central New Jersey Airport took place for four hours under beautiful skies.

 

Typically, the Rotary does four to five fundraising events a year. Much of the money raised by the organization goes to various Veterans organizations and high school graduates in the form of scholarships, while some also goes to help the less fortunate in the area.

At the Bike Run and Fly event, adults and children enjoyed food, raffles and, of course, riding planes at the Central New Jersey Airport.

The event included more than 125 Riders from various Veterans organizations, music and food.

 

 

LINDEN SATELLITE RC DONATES TO HURRICANE VICTIMS
Submitted by Ken Richuso (krichuso86@comcast.net)

 

Linden Satellite RC donated toiletries for Elizabeth residents displaced by the flooding from Hurricane Ida. Sadly, four people perished and 600 were displaced from the flooding at the Oakwood Plaza Apartments.

 

 

MORRISTOWN RC MOURNS THE PASSING OF CHARLIE EGGERT
Submitted by Stephen Ellerman (stevepaulellerman@gmail.com)

 

Charles A Eggert (75) was born on June 24, 1946, in Morristown, New Jersey to Charles Eggert, Sr. and his wife, Dorothy Markuson Eggert. Young Charles was a dedicated student and succeeded with the Benedictine monks of St Mary’s Abbey graduating from Delbarton School and then obtained a BA in accounting from Boston College. Soon after his school years, he took an active role in the family business, Eggert Oil Company, and later ran the company for over 40 years until it was sold in 2012.

While active in his local business, he also found time to be very involved in Rotary for over 53 years. He was a President of the Morristown Club and a Paul Harris Fellow and served their Gift of Life organization providing infant heart operations without cost to children in need from around the world. Mr. Eggert was a life member of the NRA, the Classic Car Club of America, the Antique Automobile Club of America. He was famous for exquisitely restoring classic motor vehicles and showed several of his perfectly restored cars at professional shows across the country and for local interested followers down South Street annually during St Patrick’s Day parades. He maintained his membership in the Florham Park Gun Club, the Model Train Collectors Club, and the Monday Club where he enjoyed provocative discussions with the other members at their weekly lunchtime meetings. Mr. Eggert had a knack for repairing mechanical devices and intuitively could fix any piece of broken machinery and could regularly be found riding his tractor to attend to some portion of his land that needed his special touch.

In 1974, Charles married Cheryl Williams who after 47 loving years survives him together with their two sons, Nicholas, and Christopher. Christopher is married to Carly Lavigne. Charles was a proud and loving grandfather to their son, Brayden. Charles is also survived and will be greatly missed by many friends and extended family.

 

Donations in lieu of flowers may be sent to The Gift of Life at Morristown Rotary Club, c/o Stephen Ellerman, 33 Windmill Drive, Morristown, NJ 07960.

 

 

WESTFIELD RC INDUCTS THREE NEW MEMBERS
Submitted by PDG Mike Hart (drmhart@yahoo.com)

The Rotary Club of Westfield inducted 3 new members on Tuesday, September 14, 2021. Rotary is an international service club in 180 countries throughout the world, with 1.2 million successful businessmen and women who want to give something back to their communities. The Rotary Club of Westfield is celebrating its 100-year anniversary this year.

 

The three people being inducted are: Dr. Raymond Gonzalez, the new Superintendent of Westfield Public Schools, Allen McGinley, the new Director of the Westfield Memorial Library, and Dr. Shruti Shukla, a dentist in town.

 

Dr. Raymond A. González is a dedicated husband, father of three children, and educator with a successful track record of school and district-level administrative experience. He is committed to his life’s work as an educator, a career that began more than 22 years ago.  Most recently, Dr. González was Superintendent of the Westwood Regional School District for the last seven years.  His diverse educational experience also includes time spent in large urban and suburban districts where he has served communities in a variety of instructional and administrative capacities. Dr. González earned his Doctoral and Master’s Degrees in Educational Administration and Supervision from Rutgers University, has a Master’s Degree in Urban Education from New Jersey City University, and received his Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from Princeton University.  He holds New Jersey State Certifications as an Administrator, Supervisor, Principal, and Teacher.

 

Allen McGinley is the newly appointed Director of Westfield Memorial Library. He has worked as a public librarian for more than 15 years in the New Jersey and New York area. Prior to joining Westfield, he was the Director of Teaneck Public Library in Bergen County, and worked for 10 years at the Piscataway Public Library in Middlesex County, and two years at The New York Public Library in Manhattan.  Mr. McGinley collaborated with the Piscataway Rotary Club on several projects (as a guest) including the Memorial Day Family Event, developed in collaboration between the Piscataway Rotary Club and the Library. He officially joined Rotary as a member in Teaneck in 2019, and served as the Club’s secretary 2020 until September 2021. The Teaneck Rotary Club and the Library worked on several collaborative projects including the installation of Together in Teaneck, an inclusive Story Walk™ at a Township Park, for which the Rotary Club received a District Grant. Allen currently lives in Fanwood with his wife Barbara, 5-year-old son Sam, and their 8-month-old puppy Theo. He is a second generation Rotarian, and is very eager to be of service to the Westfield community.

 

Dr. Shruti Shukla has been a resident and business owner in Westfield for over 5 years. She acquired the dental practice on Lenox Ave in Westfield in 2016. She has a family of 5. Sanjay her husband works in the IT field for Sales Force. Her children Raghav and Rhea attend Franklin Elementary school, and they have a 1-year-old puppy, Timmy, who is now the most important member of their family.

Shruti grew up in India, attended Dental School and specialized in Pediatric Dentistry. She moved to the US, attended NYU Dental School and graduated in 2008. She has been in practice since then. Shruti has become a Football fan over the past few years, thanks to her 10-year-old. From September to February, they watch every single game -Monday night/Thursday night/ Sunday night - they watch it all. No loyalty to any of the teams, they just love the sport. The reason Shruti gives for joining Rotary is that she has a lot to be thankful for, and it is also a very gratifying experience to be able to give back. She thinks the Rotary organization worldwide does so much and being a small part of it will be worthwhile.

 

The Rotary Club of Westfield has several projects to help the local community including feeding the hungry, scholarships to college students, grants to the community organizations, providing supplies and clothes to homeless veterans, and sponsoring 5 youth service clubs in the schools. The club was especially active during the pandemic by helping to support and feed the first responders. Recently the club collected supplies for the Afghani refugees being housed at McGuire AFB. International activities include building a medical clinic in Obike, Nigeria, collecting used bicycles to recycle to the third world, and helping the alleviate the crisis in Haiti. Visit the club website at www.westfieldrotary.com; or email Club Secretary Dr. D. Michael Hart at drmhart@yahoo.com

 

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