T
he Rotary Club of Morgan Hill celebrated its 60th anni-
versary on May 13. The club has come a long way from
the small group of 20 in 1955. The Gilroy Rotary spon-
sored the original Morgan Hill club. The first president was Vince
LaClair. In the early days, the club focused its philanthropy efforts
on local issues such as high school band uniforms, park improve-
ments and Cub Scout Pack 223. Today the club has over 120
members and is an active contributor to local and international
issues.
The 2014-15 out-going Rotary president Peter Anderson
summed up the “service above self ” activities with a report that
covered thirteen local projects including local schools, community
projects, a van for Martha’s Kitchen, RYLA, bocce ball courts at
the senior center, 25 years of senior dinners and the RotaCare
clinic in Gilroy. On the international scene the club supported
projects in Ghana, Ameca Mexico, Kabul Afghanistan, shelter
boxes for refugees, and worldwide polio immunization.
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
The Rotary Cub is also about fellowship. In addition to regular
weekly meetings, the club sponsored 22 fun events and raised over
$80,000 to support all the their activities.
The May 13th event was hosted by Theresa Kiernan and Lisa
deSilva. Lisa summed up the evening with,
‘Sixty years - wow! What a treat it was to look out on
the crowd to a sea of smiling faces - current Rotarians,
new Rotarians, former Rotarians, past presidents, fam-
ily members...all of them having fun and celebrating the
essence of Rotary - service above self. The generosity of
spirit that filled the room that night embodies who we are
as a club, whether we are raising money for philanthropic
needs, rolling up our sleeves on a work project, or enjoy-
ing the fun and fellowship of each other. Our community
is much richer thanks to the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill,
and so is my life.”
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015
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