[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 94 (Wednesday, July 15, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1302]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CONGRATULATING THE PARK RIDGE ROTARY CLUB

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                           HON. MARGE ROUKEMA

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 15, 1998

  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the Park Ridge (New 
Jersey) Rotary Club on its 70th anniversary. This group of business men 
and women is a cornerstone of public service in our community. Their 
dedication and hard work have helped groups ranging from the Boy Scouts 
to the handicapped. They help keep alive the old-fashioned value of 
neighbor helping neighbor--the type of value that makes a community a 
community.
  The Park Ridge Rotary Club was chartered November 19, 1928, and held 
its first meeting December 14, 1928, at the Masonic Hall in Park Ridge. 
Of the 25 charter members present at that meeting, one--Charlie Grey--
is still active at age 96. There are 63 members in today's club, which 
serves the Tri-Boro area of Park Ridge, Montvale and Woodcliff Lake.
  The Rotary had its beginnings in February 1905, when Chicago attorney 
Paul P. Harris called three businessmen friends to a meeting. He 
proposed a club that would kindle fellowship among members of the 
business community and by the end of the year, the club had 30 members. 
The name Rotary was adopted because meetings were rotated among the 
members' place of business. Rotary Clubs were formed in San Francisco, 
Seattle, Washington, Los Angeles and New York in the next few years. By 
1921, the organization was represented on every continent and the name 
Rotary International was adopted in 1922. Today, there are more than 
24,000 Rotary Clubs with a membership of 1.1 million in 167 countries.
  At the international level, Rotary is involved in many humanitarian 
projects, including educational grants for overseas study, a $200 
million program to eradicate polio worldwide, youth and group exchanges 
between nations to foster international understanding, hunger and 
health programs in developing countries, and financial aid to disaster 
relief programs.
  At the local level, the Park Ridge Rotary is involved in a wide 
variety of community service programs. The Rotary distributes annual 
holiday food baskets to the handicapped, sponsors a holiday party for 
the handicapped, sponsors the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards and an 
exchange student program. It supports the Tri-Boro Ambulance, Meals on 
Wheels, the Park Ridge High School and Pascack Valley High School 
Interact Clubs, the Park Ridge and Montvale Eagle Scout Awards, the 
Park Ridge Public Library and many other organizations, events and 
programs.
  The Park Ridge Rotary Club has helped make Park Ridge--along with 
Montvale and Woodcliff Lake--a better place to live, work and raise a 
family for 70 years. I join with my colleagues in the House of 
Representatives to wish the Club and its members many more years of 
continued success.

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