For more than 70 years, the Rotary Club of Glastonbury has been building playgrounds for children, helping to send local students to college, buying essential goods for low-income mothers and children during the holidays, and providing or renovating homes for veterans.
That’s just a brief list of some of the ways local Rotarians have worked to give back to their community since the Glastonbury chapter was formed in 1948 to carry out the Rotary International’s motto “Service Above Self.”
During those years, the local Rotary club has raised millions of dollars for local charities and nonprofit organizations and helped build some of the most iconic local public spaces or buildings - including the pavilion and brick walk at Riverfront Park, the Field of Dreams Concession House and the Glastonbury High School Concession Stand.
Besides providing more than a half million dollars in scholarships to local high school seniors over the past 25 years, the Rotary also has funded numerous local projects, including the thermal imaging equipment for the fire department, the display units at the Connecticut Audubon Center, the High Street School softball field, the GLAD Parenting Seminar Program and the renovation at the Glastonbury Art Guild Building.
The club sponsors and helps lead Glastonbury High School’s Interact Club, which promotes leadership skills and community service among local teenagers.
Rotary members donate their time and energy toward “hands- on” projects as well. Whether it’s building softball dugouts at the high school, refurbishing playgrounds at the Maria Sanchez School in Hartford, or putting up “Welcome to Glastonbury” signs in town, Rotarians welcome the opportunity to work together and get the job done.
The club is currently partnering with the town on the installation of a new splash pad feature at Addison Park, which should be completed by the spring of 2022, said Jason Hoeppner, the Glastonbury Rotary’s current president. The club also more recently has undertaken several local and state-wide Covid relief efforts.
“We take our mission - service above self - seriously,” Jason said. “It’s not just a great club for fellowship, it’s really about finding ways to give back to our community and undertaking projects where we can get our hands dirty doing it and financially support them as well.”
The Glastonbury Rotary also seeks to assist in international situations, such as providing safe water sources in impoverished countries, raising money for overseas groups when natural disasters strike, providing temporary housing, or ShelterBoxes, in some cases or donating money to Red Cross organizations in other countries.
Rotary raises money through donations and fundraisers, but as a result of the pandemic was forced to cancel its major annual fundraiser, the Rotary Lobsterfest, this year and in 2020. The Lobsterfest will be back on June 11, 2022, and the group also has organized another major fundraiser for this year, a First Annual Golf Outing that was held on Oct. 11 at Glastonbury Hills Country Club.
For more information on those fundraisers, how to donate, or to become a member visit the Rotary’s website, glastonburyrotaryclub.org, or on its Facebook page, @rotaryclubofglastonbury.
About 80 men and women representing numerous trades and professions are members of The Glastonbury Rotary Club and Jason said the group is always looking for new members.
“We are always looking for leaders in business and in the community, who want to give back, to become members.”
