Murrysville-Export Rotary marks 75 years of 'Service Above Self'

Lane Neff can remember making orchid corsages for her father and his fellow Murrysville-Export Rotarians during the Easter season. She remembers her father buying buckets worth of golf balls for its hole-in-one fundraisers, and she remembers when several club members took out personal loans to create Haymaker Park in the 1950s.

Neff, a former president, has been a member for the past decade and helped the club mark its 75th anniversary in 2020.

“I was taking my dad to the Rotary meetings all the time because he never wanted to miss one,” Neff said. “And, when my (Rotarian) husband started leaning on me, I said all right. Then my sister joined, too, so it’s kind of a family thing for us.”

Family and community go hand in hand for members of the club, which held its first meeting Aug. 15, 1945. The club’s original charter dates to Aug. 27 of that year, when it was the Murrysville-Export-Delmont Rotary Club.

The club’s original membership of 16 shrank to four until servicemen began returning home from World War II.

As the club slowly began to grow, members started meeting at what was then Franklin Senior High School, today Newlonsburg Elementary School. Eventually, the club was renamed, dropping the Delmont so other Rotar­ians could establish the Delmont-Salem Rotary Club.

Pat Shaffer of Murrysville has been a dues-paying member for nine years but has been involved with club events since 1985.

“I enjoy doing good in the world for those less fortunate,” said Shaffer, who has participated in two national immunization days to help eradicate polio in India and has worked 11 medical missions to the Dominican Republic and a 12th mission to help install water filters in the Caribbean nation.

The recent announcement that wild polio virus is no longer present on the African continent is just one of the myriad ways Rotary members live out their motto of “Service Above Self.”

Club member and former president Tony Pauly said being part of a worldwide charitable organization working to improve life for needy families and children is a big part of why he is a member.

“I saw many friends doing volunteer work and supporting charity efforts in the community,” Pauly said.

The club’s biggest undertaking was raising money for the Bill Mazeroski Miracle Field complex at Murrysville Community Park, a $1.8 million project to create a place where people of all abilities can enjoy a day of recreation and fun.

“On paper, we estimated it was a $1 million project — it ended up at $1.8 million. Trust me, it was a challenge,” said former Rotary Assistant District Governor and former club President Gene Ciafre of Hempfield, who has been a Rotarian for more than three decades. “It’s an opportunity to give back, especially to your local community. I’ve been fortunate to have prospered over the years, and it does feel good to think that you are able to give back some of your own good fortune.”

The club broke ground on the Miracle Field project during Neff’s tenure as president.

“My husband says there are no challenges, only opportunities,” Neff said.

One “opportunity” members consistently mentioned was retention and recruitment of club members.

“It’s getting volunteers, and then keeping them with the club,” Neff said.

Ciafre agreed.

“Rotary, like all service clubs, is experiencing a real challenge to recruit — and especially younger members,” he said. “We all need to stabilize our club memberships so that we can continue to do the good things that we do.”

The Murrysville-Export Rotary Club meets at 6:45 p.m. Wednesdays. For more, see www.murrysville-Export Rotary.org.