More than 50 contestants pour their all into Hammonton Rotary Club’s 12th Homemade Wine Event

People’s Choice Best of Show was a 2016 semi-sweet New Jersey pomegranate, blueberry, blackberry by Michelle and Megan Storey. Accepting is Mike Storey, left, from Jerry Daunoras, co-chairman of the 2017 Hammonton Rotary Club Homemade Wine Event held April 1 at Hammonton Fire House No. 2.

HAMMONTON – More than 50 talented amateur wine makers went head to head at the 12th annual Hammonton Rotary Club Homemade Wine Event, held April 1 at Hammonton Independent Fire Company No. 2.

Elvins Hall was filled to capacity as wine makers, wine enthusiasts, friends, family and Rotary Club supporters came together to taste the creations, and find out whose wine would be judged the best.

This year’s event featured a record number of entries, with 109 being submitted.

Wines were judged the week before by a panel of 13 wine experts and sommeliers organized by Gary Pavlis, Ph.D., Rutgers University agricultural agent for Atlantic County, who has participated in the every year since it began.

The experts organized the entries into categories or “flights” based on such criteria as dry vs sweet, type of grape or fruit, year of vintage, or the region in which the grape was grown.

Home care expert addresses Hammonton Rotary

Leslie Baruffi, regional manager for Griswold Home Care, is welcomed by Hammonton Rotary Club President Joseph Brown during the club’s weekly meeting Monday, Feb. 6 at Rocco’s Townhouse.

Leslie Baruffi, regional manager for Griswold Home Care, was the guest speaker during the Hammonton Rotary Club’s weekly meeting Monday, Feb. 6 at Rocco’s Townhouse.

Griswold is a national caregiver agency helping people live independently in their home as a less expensive and more comfortable alternative to nursing home care.

Baruffi explained that Griswold’s network of non-medical home care providers offers customized personal care including homemaking and companionship with services that support every level of care from cooking, bathing, and transportation to medical appointments, to 24-hour live-in care supervised by a nurse.

New Interact Club chartered at Hammonton High School

The Hammonton Rotary Club held a chartering ceremony to celebrate the establishment of a new Interact Club at Hammonton High School Jan. 23 in the cafeteria. Pictured from left are Joseph Brown, Hammonton Rotary Club president; Phyllis Mazzeo, Hammonton Rotary’s Interact Club adviser; Ulysses James, Rotary District 7640 governor; Alexandra Guillot, Interact Club president; Teah Daniels, teacher and Interact Club adviser; Mary Crawford, District 7640 Interact chair, and Melanie Druziako, District 7640 youth service director.

HAMMONTON – The Hammonton Rotary Club held a chartering ceremony celebrating the establishment of the Hammonton High School Interact Club Monday, Jan. 23 in the high school cafeteria, opening a new avenue of community service and global perspective to local students.

Sponsored by the Hammonton Rotary Club and Rotary District 7640, The Hammonton High School Interact Club is part of Rotary International’s global network of Interact youth service clubs.  Emphasizing leadership, integrity, helpfulness and respect for others, its members advance goodwill and international understanding by following the motto, “service above self.”

“Interact, the Interact organization and the Rotaract organization (Rotary’s college service club) and Rotary are in the business of making a difference,” said Ulysses James, Rotary District 7640 governor. “These organizations have like-minded people who have all come together for the purpose of making a difference in the world, a positive difference. And when you join Interact you join together with us, and as a group we can make a huge difference.”

Hammonton Rotary announces second annual Gravy vs Sauce Competition

The Hammonton Rotary Club has announced plans for its second annual Gravy vs. Sauce competition set for 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26 at Hammonton Fire House No. 2, 51 N. White Horse Pike in Hammonton.

HAMMONTON – The Hammonton Rotary Club has announced its second annual Gravy vs. Sauce competition set for 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26 at Hammonton Fire House No. 2, 51 N. White Horse Pike in Hammonton.

Gravy, sauce, whatever you want to call it, we’re judging it in a friendly competition to find the best of the best. So break out your grandmother’s old recipe because this one’s gonna be big.

This is a gravy/sauce tasting event and competition. Your ticket includes tasting of all the entries, a salad bar, unlimited spaghetti, dessert bar, and soft drinks and coffee. Also, this is a BYOB event. Admission is $20 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under. It costs $10 to enter.

Hammonton Rotary donation to buy turkeys for needy families this Christmas

Pictured from left are Rotarians Anthony Pagano, Mike Hitman, Frank Bartolone, and Micky Doto, food pantry volunteer Meredith Lambertino, food pantry director Ed Muller, Rotarian and pantry volunteer Hugh LaMonaca, and Rotarian Jerry Daunoras. Muller is accepting a $500 donation from Rotary on behalf of the food pantry for the purchase of turkeys for needy families this Christmas.

HAMMONTON – The Hammonton Rotary Club presented a $500 donation to the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry during the club’s monthly volunteer evening at the pantry Thursday, Dec. 1.

The money will be used to help buy Christmas turkeys for the hundreds of families that depend on the food pantry each month and is a follow-up to a donation made by the club last month for Thanksgiving food baskets.

On hand to make the donation were Rotarians Anthony Pagano, Mike Hitman, Frank Bartolone, Micky Doto, and Jerry Daunoras. Accepting were food pantry director Ed Muller, Rotarian and pantry volunteer Hugh LaMonaca, and food pantry volunteer Meredith Lambertino.  

The St. Vincent de Paul Society Food Pantry, which has operated for the past decade from the basement of St. Lucy Hall (the St. Joseph Convent) on French Street, supports more than 300 families of all faiths, races and backgrounds. The service is provided with the support of the Mary of Mt. Carmel Parish, donations from civic groups like the Hammonton Rotary Club and others, individual contributions, donations by local businesses plus state and federal sources.

Donations may be made to the St. Vincent de Paul Society Food Pantry, c/o St. Mary of Mt. Carmel Parish, 226 French Street, Hammonton, NJ 08037. To find out how you can help call food pantry director Ed Muller at 609 412 4604.

For those in need of food assistance, the food pantry is open from 2:30 to 4 p.m. and from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursdays.

Hammonton Rotary making Thanksgiving more joyous for those in need

 

Pictured from left are Ed Muller, director of the St. Vincent de Paul Society Food Pantry, accepting $700 in donations from Rotarians Donald DeFiccio, Bill Donahue, Hugh LaMonaca, club President Joe Brown, and Frank Bartolone.

HAMMONTON – The Hammonton Rotary Club presented two donations to the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry Thursday, Nov. 3, to help brighten Thanksgiving for local families in need.

A donation of $500 will support the purchase of turkeys for Thanksgiving food baskets. The club also made a second donation of $200 in memory of Phyllis DiDonato, mother of Mayor Steve DiDonoto, who passed away Oct. 12.

The St. Vincent de Paul Society Food Pantry, which has operated for the past decade from the basement of St. Lucy Hall (the St. Joseph Convent) on French Street, supports about 300 to 350 families (800 to 1,000 people) each month, according to its director, Ed Muller.

Hammonton Rotary supports orphanage

The Hammonton Rotary Club at its weekly meeting Monday, Oct. 24 at Rocco’s Townhouse, voted to make a $1,000 contribution to support the Hogar Escuela Armando Rosenberg Orphanage, located in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
The donation brings to $3,000 the club’s total combined contributions to the project to date.

Since the mid 1980s in conjunction with Rotary District 4060 in Santo Domingo, Rotary clubs in southern New Jersey (District 7640) have been supporting the orphanage and school with donations of money, materials and time.

Located in Sabana Perdida, the largest barrio in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, the orphanage currently houses 140 children from throughout the Dominican Republic. In addition, there are 700 students who walk to the school from surrounding areas to attend high school with a daily occupancy of 1,200.

Hogar Escuela Armando Rosenberg has grown to a complex on 15 acres that provides a Christian education, a free, fully staffed medical clinic, a pharmacy, lab, and a dental facility. A new church provides moral and psychological guidance.

The orphanage is also a place where youth leaders who participate in Rotary’s Interact program travel to provide direct assistance.

Learn more at 

http://www.orchidfoundation.org

The Hammonton Rotary Club at its weekly meeting Monday, Oct. 24 at Rocco’s Townhouse, voted to make a $1,000 contribution to support the Hogar Escuela Armando Rosenberg Orphanage, located in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.