April 23 gala to honor six members who represent a spoke on the Rotary wheel
The Rotary Club of Haddonfield will honor six of its members — each representing a spoke on the Rotary wheel — in honor of the Club’s 90 years of community service, at a gala evening on April 23 at Tavistock Country Club. The six individuals to be honored are George Cox, Pamela Fisk, Bill Lane, Nick Nicolay, Bill Reynolds and Charles Sayre.
George Cox, “One First Responder,” was most recently named “Citizen of the Year.” A Haddonfield native, he is a 56-year member and former chief of Haddonfield Fire Company №1. In addition to Rotary, he has held leadership positions with the Haddonfield Ambulance Association board, Camden Co. Firemen’s Association, Camden County Fire Chiefs Association, Hero Scholarship Fund, NJ State Fire Chiefs Association as member and board member, National Association of Fire Chiefs Eastern Division, and American Legion Post 38, to list just a few. He is currently in his sixth year as a crossing guard at Central Middle School and of course he is our local Santa Claus. Cox and his wife Carol celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last year and have three children and five grandchildren.
Pamela Fisk, “One Teacher,” had the privilege to teach for four decades in the United Kingdom, the United States and West Africa, and in the process of interacting with thousands of students and hundreds of teachers, she has as Chaucer noted in the 14th Century, “gladly learned.” She learned (to borrow from Roland Barth, Director of the Principal’s Center at Harvard University) that successful schools are communities of learners, incorporating both teachers and students, where collegiality is of the utmost importance; where there is a respect for diversity and an element of risk taking; where there is commitment accompanied by a sense of humor; where there are high standards with low anxiety and where there is a safety net for those who stumble. As the Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz noted, “if you train your young people to be intellectually independent, to be thinkers and to have vision, you can throw them into any culture.” In the 21st Century, with the “shrinking” of the world produced by modern communications, nothing could be more appropriate. Teachers owe their students no less. Fisk serves on the Rotary Club of Haddonfield Board as Director of International Service, and is a Paul Harris Fellow. She spearheaded a multi-year project to bring a fresh water well to a school in Ghana several years ago.
Bill Lane, “One Rotarian of the World,” is a Haddonfield dentist. Lane has been a member of the Rotary Club of Haddonfield since 1978 and served on the board as Vocational Director prior to becoming president in 1984–85. He served as an at-large board member from 2006–2008 as Liaison to Rotary International. He is currently Foundation Chair for Rotary District 7640 and participated with his wife, Janet, on Rotary teams in 2009 and 2011 in India, immunizing children against polio; and is a Paul Harris Fellow Major Donor. In addition to his Rotary activities he was president and served on the board of the now defunct Haddonfield Geographical Society as program chair, is president of the Haddonfield Adult School Board, member of Christ the King Church Choir, and supports Cathedral Kitchen in Camden both financially as well as donating time in their Smiles Dental Clinic. Lane and Janet have three sons and seven grandchildren.
Nick Nicolay, “One Volunteer,” leads several Camden-based initiatives for Rotary including working with Respond’s Auto Tech program with Subaru to help youth develop skills that will lead to employment; persuading local contractors and distributors to donate and use equipment in Camden (through his past role as Sales Director for The Tennant Company); and “Pedals for Progress,” collecting bicycles and sewing machines for reconditioning and distribution to deserving people in Third World countries. A native Hollywood, Calif., Nicolay and his wife Carolyn reside in Haddonfield where Carolyn worked at the Haddonfield Library for 17 years. Daughter Andrea is Library Director in Arlington, Mass.; and Claire is a defense attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y. Nicolay joined the Haddonfield Rotary Club in 1991 and has served on the Board as Community Director, Membership Director, Vice President and was Club President in 2008–09 and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Club’s Foundation. He has served on Municipal Alliance Board, is a member of American Legion Post 38 and was a member of the Civic Association.
Bill Reynolds, “One Community Leader,” is a native of South Jersey. He served as a teacher and administrator in public and private schools and at the University of Pennsylvania prior to a more than 20-year career as founder and senior partner in Reynolds & Schaeffer Associates, a management consulting firm. After retiring in 1997 he returned to academia to start the Center for Management and Entrepreneurship at Rutgers School of Business in Camden. He served as the Center’s Executive Director until his retirement from Rutgers in 2010. During 2006–07, he served as Interim Dean of the School of Business while the University conducted the search for a permanent successor. Reynolds holds a doctorate in management from the University of Pennsylvania, a masters from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree from Lafayette College. A lifelong resident of Haddonfield, he has been heavily involved in public service, serving on nearly every elected and appointed body including mayor, director of public works, library board of trustees chair, and co-founder of the local community foundation. Within Rotary he is a two-time Paul Harris Fellow, has served on almost every committee, and has been editor of The Rotary Observer since 2010 where his weekly news and opinion emails are a Sunday highlight.
Charles Sayre, “One Spiritual Leader,” is a South Jersey icon who served as senior minister for the Haddonfield United Methodist Church from 1965 until his retirement in 1990. During his early years at that church, he became aware of the desperate needs of families in Camden and mobilized members of churches throughout the region to support churches in Camden, leading to the formation of Respond, Inc., a nonprofit organization that sought, initially, to provide proper childcare in Camden for children of working parents. He remains a board member of that organization to this day. Since 1991, Dr. Sayre has been chairman of the board of the State Street Housing Corporation in Camden, which has provided hundreds of residents with safe and affordable rental housing, rehabilitated more than 100 homes, and runs a 12-week home-ownership program. He has been a leader for more than 40 years with Fellowship House, an oasis of hope with child care, guidance and mentoring. He has partnered with hotel management and unions in Atlantic City to lead efforts to provide culinary arts training for the youth of Camden. He recently enlisted Holman Enterprises and Campbell’s Soup to provide training facilities that would enable Camden youth to become auto mechanics. Sayre has been a member of Rotary International since 1953 and a member of the Haddonfield Club since 1965, serving as 1983–84 president. In 2009 he was honored with the regional Rotary District’s Outstanding Vocational Service.
“These extraordinary role models — who also represent our many other Club members — each exemplify Rotary International’s ‘Service Above Self’ creed,” said Kathy Ross, president of the club. “We are very fortunate and proud they have brought their talents and passions to Rotary, where all of our members make significant and meaningful civic and charitable contributions to our community, our region and our world.”
In addition to honoring these six, the evening will include the awarding of college scholarships by the Rotary Club of Haddonfield Foundation, and a drawing for a 2017 BMW 320xi.
Learn more and buy gala tickets at www.haddonfieldrotary.org.
