Montclair Rotary Club
100th Anniversary
Club History: 1922 – 2022
During our 100-year history, The Montclair Rotary Club has been a continuous force for good.
Rotary’s broad network and deep expertise allows us to be part of current and emerging challenges. We stay committed to eradicating polio around the globe while coordinating response to the Covid pandemic.
We promote practices to create a lasting peace, and Rotarians also take action to help people in need. We are providing humanitarian relief to Ukrainian refugees and people around the world.
Rotary makes a difference. Together we look beyond ourselves to imagine what we can do to improve peoples’ lives.
We present an overview of our positive actions throughout the last century in the club’s history. The list of past Montclair Rotary Club presidents is in Appendix 1, which begins on page 11.
2020 – 2022
Montclair Rotary Club marked its 100th anniversary with a celebration planned and presented by the Rotarians from the Montclair and Nutley clubs. Nutley has also served its community and the wider world for over a century.
- Each club’s service was honored in proclamations presented by U.S. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, N.J. Senator and Former Governor Richard J. Codey, and Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. Rep. Sherrill also provided each club with an American flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol building.
- Montclair Rotarians also received tributes from N.J. Assemblyman Thomas P. Giblin and the Montclair Township Council and Mayor Sean Spiller.
- Rotary District 7475 presented each club with the Century of Service honor.
- Rotarian Paul E. Metcalfe became the first and only member of Montclair Rotary Club to serve as president three separate times.
- Paul Blodgett and Stephen Hutton of the USS New Jersey Commissioning Committee recently met with our club. They discussed how the committee is preparing for the commissioning of the SSN-796 New Jersey. The vessel is a Virginia class nuclear-powered fast-track submarine which is scheduled to join the U.S. Navy fleet during 2023.
- The committee has been raising funds for events that will occur during the commissioning ceremonies.
2020 – 2022, continued
Recent Club Milestones
- Our club marked its 18th year distributing dictionaries, as part of a literacy project, to third-grade students who attend public, private, and parochial schools in Montclair and Verona.
- In 2004, Rotarian Georgia Brown introduced the Dictionary Project to our club.
- Rotarians have donated more than 15,000 dictionaries to pupils.
- Funds to purchase dictionaries were provided by the Montclair Rotary Foundation, grant from Rotary District 7475 Foundation, and individual donations.
2010 – 2019
- The Miller Family, the Montclair Public Library, and our Club formed an alliance to provide a permanent display for artist Don Miller’s historic painting called the Dr. Martin Luther King Freedom Mural. The original artwork is a smaller-scale version of the 56-foot-long and 7-foot-high mural that Miller painted in his studio on Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair.
- Miller’s mural depicts major events in Dr. King’s life and shows the people who influenced the civil rights movement in the United States.
- The National Library in Washington, D.C. commissioned the large mural, which was presented to the public during the first official observance of Dr. King’s birthday in January 1986.
- The Miller family donated the 12-foot-long mural to the library and the Montclair Rotary donated funds for the archival preservation and framing of the artwork.
- The Freedom Mural is located on the library’s second floor and the placement of mural was facilitated by Rotarian Peter Coyle, who was director of the Montclair Library.
- Local Historian Frank Gerard Godlewski researched and prepared a presentation about Miller’s mural and presented the program to Rotarians and the public at the library.
- The club and U.S. Congress helped sponsor a visit to Northern New Jersey and New York City by healthcare professionals from Cherepovets, Russia. Montclair and Cherepovets became sister cities during the 1990s.
- A healthcare team from Cherepovets assists Russian children with special needs as well as youngsters with autism.
2010 – 2019, continued
- Rotarian Juliana G. Belcsak arranged the visitors’ air travel and lodging and scheduled visits to healthcare facilities, including Caldwell University’s Center for Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis as well as the Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC.
- Our guests met with leaders from Montclair Township, attended a New Jersey Devils hockey game and Broadway performance and were honored at Rotary-sponsored events.
- Rotarian Linda Cranston organized the Club’s efforts to raise more than $6,500 to purchase a large, stainless steel dog bath for the Montclair Animal Shelter.
- The Club’s fundraising program included a Jazz Brunch at Trumpets Jazz Club, a Go Fund Me website, and a raffle with prizes
- In addition to a grant, we received for District 7475, there was an outpouring of donations from animal lovers too.
- Rotary President Alicia Robinson, Rotarians, and young men from Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity volunteered to scrape and paint the outdoor porch at The Montclair Inn, an affordable residence for seniors.
- Our club continued to host the Taste of Montclair fundraising events and the proceeds were donated to local food insecurity programs.
- Rotarians completed one of many food drives with the cooperation of Kings Supermarket.
- Residents donated tons of non-perishable food items were collected and donated to local hunger-relief programs
- Rotarian Robbie Furman, entrepreneur and balloon artist, organized a fun project, which involved making food sculptures using boxes, cans, and containers of donated items.
- Rotarian Diane Lilli, author, journalist, publisher, and communications professional, connects our club with social media by launching our Facebook page and producing regular posts.
2000 – 2009
The Montclair Rotarians significantly increased the club’s support of the local hunger relief efforts during this decade and the next. Many local families and individuals face food insecurity issues. These families turn to organizations such as the Human Needs Food Pantry, Montclair
Salvation Army Citadel and Toni’s Kitchen to feed themselves, their children, or people they were assisting.
2000 – 2009, continued
Past Presidents John Deermount, Rev. Beverly Sulllivant, Diana Pombo-Gonzalez, and Paul E. Metcalfe as well as Rotarians Linda Cranston, Dalton Chandler, Diane Lilli, and John Lee created and managed The Taste of Montclair fundraising events. Deermount explained that The Taste grew out of Montclair Restaurant Week, which was launched by the township’s former Economic Development Corporation.
The Taste started in 2006 with a sold-out event at The Grove in Cedar Grove. The Rotary also hosted The Taste in University Hall at Montclair State University. For years, The Taste kicked off Montclair’s Restaurant Week, which was supported by 30 or more local eateries.
From its inception, our club’s non-profit foundation has raised $150,000 in proceeds from The Taste events. The funds were donated to the community-based, non-profit hunger relief and food insecurity programs listed above.
- Rotarian Preston Harrington and his wife Nancy, who died in 2008, often hosted Gift of Life children. These children and a parent traveled from foreign countries to Northern New Jersey for heart surgeries that were unavailable to them in their home nation. These children received the life-extending surgeries at Children’s Hospital at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.
- Our club helped raise funds for and hosted Gift of Life children and their families for over 30 years.
- The club’s Foundation provided funds to the Rotary International project in Kosovo. Rotary contributions were used to drill wells, install piping, and equip schools with plumbing fixtures that provided drinking water and toilets to eight
schools in the Kosovo municipalities of Ferizaj and Gjilan. The schools serve 4,500 students ages 6 to 15.
- The school’s water systems were destroyed during the War in Kosovo.
- Rotarians built and installed a ramp for easier access to the non-profit HOME Corp.’s offices that were located on Maple Avenue in Montclair.
- Annually, our club recognized and honored local first responders who showed courage and bravery “above and beyond the call of duty” while serving the Montclair community and its residents. The first responders include police, fire, and emergency medical officers.
- Rotarians Meg Banitch and Paul E. Metcalfe organized the Montclair Rotary Golf Challenge Cup, which became a successful fundraising event for our club.
1990 – 1999, continued
- Our club’s golfers often won the challenge cup while competing with teams from nearby Rotary clubs.
- Golf outings continued into the 21st century.
1990 – 1999
- Montclair Rotarian Stuart Keil was selected to serve as Rotary District 7470’s District Governor (DG) during 1991–1992. A member of our club accompanied DG Keil as he visited each club in the district during the year.
- During this decade Montclair Rotarians selected their first female club President. The first women to serve as Club Presidents are the following:
- Madeline J. Brown, 1993 – 1994
- Juliana G. Belcsak, 1995 – 1996
- Margaret Banitch, 1996 – 1997
- Margie Leather, 1998 – 1999
- Judith Zinn, 1999 – 2000.
- Annually, our club hosted one or more high school students from a foreign country as part of the Rotary International Youth Exchange Program. Also, we sponsored high school students from Montclair who traveled overseas to live and go to school in foreign countries in just about every continent.
- Rotarians who hosted inbound international students in their homes often formed long-lasting relationships which continue to the present.
- Montclair Rotarians led by Juliana G. Belcsak formed a sister-city alliance with Cherepovets, Russia.
- A group of high school students from Cherepovets visited Montclair and were hosted by Rotarians and our club’s friends.
- Our club provided funds and guidance to business and community leaders in Cherepovets who formed one of the first Rotary Clubs in Russia.
- A young girl from Cherepovets and her parents came to Montclair through the Gift of Life program
- Rotarians Tom and Patti Conk hosted the family.
- The young patient was scheduled to have surgery to repair serious heart problems.
1990 – 1999, continued
- Former ABC News Correspondent Dave Marash was covering the War in Kosovo in 1998-1999.
- At a Kosovo hospital, Marash met Ibadete Thaqi, a young woman who lost both of her legs during the war.
- Thaqi was flown to New York City by the U.S. Air Force.
- Surgeons and medical teams at the Hospital for Special Surgery performed miraculous procedures and created prosthetic implants, enabling Thaqi to walk again.
- Following her surgery and recovery, Thaqi shared her dream of wanting to attend an American high school.
- Our club, President Andrew Keil, and Rotarian Belcsak arranged for Thaqi to attend Montclair High School.
- Juliana and her husband, Hans Belcsak, opened their home to Thaqi who graduated from Montclair High and then received her bachelor’s degree from Georgian Court University in New Jersey.
1980 -1989
- Our club and its Rotarians became active supporters of the Short-Term Youth Exchange Program in Japan, which was renamed the Ross Redmond Short Term Youth Exchange Program. We have had an active role in this cultural exchange program for over 35 years.
- Our club recruited students who traveled on three-week trips to major cities in southern Japan including Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara.
- Montclair Rotarians have served as chaperones for these students while Rotarians in New Jersey hosted students and chaperones visiting from Japan.
- Our club began active support and fundraising for Rotary International’s Polio Plus initiative to wipe out this deadly virus around the world.
- Annually, our Rotarians contributed resources to help Polio Plus achieve this goal, which was completed in the 21st century.
- Our club sponsored the Montclair Rotary Run and fundraiser that drew more than 600 runners.
1980 – 1989, continued
- Our club and its Rotarians hosted more than 30 visitors from its sister club, Bourg-en-Bresse in France, plus 10 families from nearby Châtillon-sur-Charlaronne.
- French Rotarians and their families were given a grand tour of Northern N.J. and New York City.
- Realtor and entrepreneur Judith Zinn was the first woman selected to join the Montclair Rotary Club.
- Rotarian Zinn served as club President.
- Hosted Rotary International Youth Exchange students.
- Organized annual food drives that served local hunger relief programs.
1970 – 1979
Montclair Rotary marked its 50th anniversary in May 1972.
- The Club increased its support of and involvement in the Rotary International Youth Exchange Program. The program strives to give each student as wide an experience as possible in the host country and community.
- During the 1973-1974 school year, for example, the Club hosted Maria Therese Montemayor of Davao City in the Philippines.
- Outbound student Katherine A. Minden, a recent graduate of Montclair High School, studied aboard in Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
- In 1976, Mary Ellin Donan, who attended Lacordaire Academy, spent her senior year as a Rotary Exchange student in Bulls, New Zealand, living with four different Rotary families during her stay.
- The club welcomed the first Rotary Exchange Student to receive a scholarship for college study at Montclair State. Vincent Peskins of Holland resided with Dr. Ann Sharp, who was a professor in the college’s education department.
- The club donated funds to assist the Montclair Ambulance Unit’s efforts to raise $300,000 to build a new headquarters building.
- Montclair Rotary and District 747 announced an opportunity for six, non-Rotarian business executives to take a six-week, all-expense-paid trip to India and Bangladesh beginning in January 1979.
- During the decade, the club sponsored fundraising events, including the following:
- Antique car show and flea market at Montclair State College.
1970 – 1979, continued
- 10-mile Rotary Run Sunday that drew more than 600 registrants.
- Our Club named a record seven Rotarians as Rotary International Paul Harris Fellows. We contributed $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation for each Paul Harris recipient. The donations funded scholarships, fellowships for international exchange of students and business executives, and club-sponsored relief projects.
1960 – 1969
- Montclair Rotary honored Col. Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. by placing a bronze plaque embedded in a boulder that honors the Apollo 11 astronaut. The tribute recognized Aldrin as “Montclair’s Man on the Moon,” and the commemorative plaque was placed in front of the hero’s childhood home on Princeton Place.
- The Rotary’s action was part of the township’s “Buzz Aldrin Day” that was held on Sept. 6, 1969, just weeks after the successful Apollo 11 moon landing.
- Buzz’s father, Edwin E. Aldrin, was elected to serve as Montclair Rotary’s president in 1962-1963.
- Aldrin Sr. saw extensive service in the United States Air Force.
- He also managed Newark Airport and served as aviation manager for the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey.
1950 - 1959
Rotary International and Montclair Rotary Club initiated programs that focus on the promotion of international goodwill and understanding. The backdrop for these policies was the increasing intensity of the Cold War.
- Our club announced the availability of fellowships for advanced study abroad for young men and women from Montclair. For the first time, these fellowships were open to young people who had earned a bachelor’s degree or were in their senior year of college.
- Fellowship recipients received resources to cover travel, tuition and living costs for one school year in a foreign country.
- The club supported and participated in a program sponsored by the Montclair Area Displaced Persons Committee to help find employment for displaced people who emigrated to America.
- The club launched a successful campaign to collect used clothing to help the thousands of refugees streaming into West Berlin from East Germany and other Communist-controlled countries in Eastern Europe.
1950 – 1959, continued
- The club invited Professor N.A. Nikam, the noted Indian philosopher and visiting lecturer at Montclair State College to speak with Rotarians.
- Professor Nikam said, “Although India has a culture over 2,000 years old, it is only 10 years old politically.”
- He also explained that India today owes a tremendous debt to Mahatma Gandhi, whose teachings brought sanity to the country and prevented anarchy.
1940 -1949
The United States entered World War II on Dec. 7, 1941, following the surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Naval Air Service on America’s naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
- Momentarily, the Rotarians put aside wartime cares to mark the club’s 20th anniversary.
- The club participated in Montclair Library’s Furlough Register by inviting servicemembers to attend lunch meetings as guests. The invitation was open to any person who returned home while on leave from active military duty.
- The club generously donated resources to the Send-A-Child-to-Camp Fund, which was managed by the Council of Social Agencies and The Montclair Times.
- In a newspaper story, Mrs. W.H. Areson, the organization’s chair, said, “We are deeply indebted to the Rotary Club for their splendid generous action. The Club has proven again that it has the welfare of youth at heart.”
- The Club donated funds to the Community Hospital to purchase an oxygen tent.
- In receiving the gift, Mrs. Alfred H. Skogsberg, superintendent of the hospital, explained the increased use of oxygen therapy by the medical staff. During the past year, the tent was used 206 days. The machine that had been available broke down and the facility needed to rent an apparatus at considerable expense.
1930 - 1939
America’s Great Depression cast dark shadows of distress over the lives of millions of people in the United States.
- During that decade, the Montclair Rotary Club sponsored simple contests to entertain families and award prizes to children. The competitions were free and open to every family and included the following events:
- Kite flying – which drew a record-breaking 54 entries – and the event was viewed by more than 300 people.
1930 – 1939, continued
- Additional contests included model glider flying and horseshoe pitching competitions.
- The club launched a project to build a first aid station at Camp Glen Gray, which was the Montclair Boy Scout Camp in Bergen County.
- The club hosted a series of events to raise funds for the construction and completion of the project.
- During Rotary Year 1939-1940, Walter D. Head, past club president in 1927-28 and former principal of The Kimberly School, became the President of Rotary International.
1922 - 1929
In June 1922, the Montclair Rotary Club held its charter night. The founding Rotarians represented a diversity of business and professional interests. The club was focused on serving the community and the nearby region by hosting programs, taking on community-based projects, and encouraging young people to achieve their highest potential.
Rotary Projects included the following:
- Club Band and vocalists performed at one of the community’s summer concerts.
- Invited Colonel H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the first superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, to discuss current trends in law enforcement.
- Colonel Schwarzkopf graduated from the West Point Military Academy and served in World War I
- Decades later, Schwarzkopf’s son, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., commanded international armed forces, including U.S. troops.
- The club researched and developed programs for Montclair youth designed to nurture hobbies, encourage hiking and fishing plus building interest in organized sports and scouting
- Rotarians raised funds to create a trust fund for family of local man who was a homicide victim.
- The club’s leaders assisted in the organization of Rotary Clubs in Bloomfield and Verona.
- Montclair Rotarians supported the Y.M.C.A. branch on Glenridge Avenue by donating a radio. Interest in this innovative technology attracted many youths to the association.
Note: The Montclair Times’ archives are the key resource for our Club’s history over the last century.
- Compiled and prepared by Bob Rinklin, Montclair Rotary Club Recording Secretary & Public Image
- Research by Eric A. Rinklin
- Editing and proofreading Ron Leir, Eric Rinklin and Bob Rinklin
Appendix 1
Rotary Club of Montclair, New Jersey, USA
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List of Past Presidents
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Organized: 17 April 1922
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Admitted to RI: 1 May 1922
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Merton L. Beebe
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1922-23
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Albert J. Nugent
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1973-74
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Harry N. Reeves
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1923-24
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Allan Morehead
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1974-75
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John J. Blondel
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1924-25
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Richard N. Heale
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1975-76
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E. Melville Wylie
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1925-26
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Andrew Buchan
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1976-77
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T. Kirtley Gardner
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1926-27
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Paul A. Newsom
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1977-78
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Walter D. Head
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1927-28
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Dr. Houston G. Elam
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1978-79
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Edward H. Holmes
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1928-29
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Daniel B. Gilbreth
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1979-80
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Frank G. Pickell
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1929-30
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Stuart Keil
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1980-81
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Arthur B. Holmes
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1930-31
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John Samson
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1981-82
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Harry A. Sprague
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1931-32
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James Johnson
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1982-83
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Jacob F. Weber
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1932-33
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Robert Kapp
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1983-84
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George S. Harris
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1933-34
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Michael Dickerson
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1984-85
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William McLean
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1934-35
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Ernest L. Fogg
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1985-86
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William H. Massman
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1935-36
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Barney Martin
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1986-87
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Crosby J. McGiffert
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1936-37
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Robert W. Brown
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1987-88
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Gilbert L. Morse
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1937-38
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Odell Archer
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1988-89
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John H. Faber
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1938-39
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Michael Vovakes
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1989-90
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Alfred T. Gibbs
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1939-40
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Paul E. Metcalfe
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1990-91
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Frank J. Hutchinson
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1940-41
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Paul Leggett
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1991-92
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Mercer C. MacPherson
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1941-42
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John O'Toole
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1992-93
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George Biggs
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1942-43
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Madeline J. Brown
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1993-94
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Henry D. Silverman
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1943-44
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Dean Boorman
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1994-95
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Charles W. Perdue
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1944-45
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Juliana G. Belcsak
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1995-96
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Ralph Lounsbury
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1945-46
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Margaret Banitch
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1996-97
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Paul Pearse
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1946-47
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Thomas Conk
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1997-98
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Francis Geigle
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1947-48
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Margie Leather
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1998-99
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Dr. William Giblin
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1948-49
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Judith A. Zinn
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1999-00
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William Sieger
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1949-50
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Geff F. Sanford IV
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2000-01
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Dr. Ethan T. Colton Jr.
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1950-51
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Georgia M. Brown
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2001-02
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Charles G. Bourgin
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1951-52
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Brien Delp
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2002-03
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C. Wright MacMillan
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1952-53
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Andrew Keil
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2003-04
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E. DeAlton Partridge
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1953-54
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Thomas Ross
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2004-05
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Gunnar T. Soderberg
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1954-55
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Gail Stone
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2005-06
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Keith Atkinson
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1955-56
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John Deermount
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2006-07
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Rev. Paul Yinger
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1956-57
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Preston Harrington
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2007-08
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Lester Lieb
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1957-58
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Rev. Beverly B. Sullivant
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2008-09
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John D. Bundage
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1958-59
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Michael Chapman
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2009-10
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George C. Bond
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1959-60
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Diana Pombo-Gonzalez
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2010-11
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Dr. Clarence E. Hinchey
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1960-61
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Thomas Conk
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2011-12
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Edwin E. Aldrin
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1961-62
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Margaret Banitch
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2012-13
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Richard M. Carlisle
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1962-63
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Eddie Maxie
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2013-14
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Charles W. Hamilton
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1963-64
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Robert Rinklin
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2014-15
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Donald M. Littlefield
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1964-65
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Paul Metcalfe
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2015-16
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Donald Mulford
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1965-66
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Alicia N. Robinson
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2016-17
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Raymond F. Conover
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1966-67
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Kevin Stoops
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2017-18
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Horace M. Bennett
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1967-68
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Dalton Chandler
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2018-19
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Joseph A. Carnevale
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1968-69
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Stuart Keil
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2019-20
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Edward T. O'Brien
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1969-70
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Georgia M. Brown
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2020-21
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James L. Parsons
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1970-71
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Paul Metcalfe
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2021-22
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Edmund T. Mancusi-Ungaro
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1971-72
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Lawrence K. Bogar
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2022-23
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Herbert Linley
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1972-73
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