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McHenry Rotary's annual ham dinner has become a model fund raising event in this area. Other Rotary clubs periodically send observers to this culinary epic set in October of each year since 1962 to see how it is done.. The entire proceeds from this massive effort by all club members are set aside in a special fund to finance civic projects, and has resulted in the Mac- Cracken Field building, the city park shelter , the city flagpole, and to help pur­ chase playground equipment for Peterson Park. Members decide each year to what purpose the funds will be directed. Over the years the location of the dinner has "been changed three different times due to the increasing number of diners. Members engage in an intensive ticket sales campaign days prior to the event and everybody pitches in on Dinner Day. All the labor is performed by Eotarians, peeling potatoes, making cole slaw, setting up, serving and the clean up. However, due to the size of the task children of Rotarians have recently been included in the work force. A separate story could be written to describe the work and ingenuity that has gone into the ham-cooking process by the Rotarians. In order to attain the distinc­ tive flavor for which the hams are noted, Rotarians grill them all outside over charcoal fires in a specially designed cooker. Moe Buch, who was in charge of the dinners for several years and' now supervises the operation of the cooker, recalls some of the early problems with the dinner. At first the club prepared^ the hams by wrapping them in rye dough and then putting them in the oven aV Dick Jager's bakery. Later, a cooker was borrowed Iran another club whicn had their own. One year the cooker was received in bad condition from another borrowing club and McHenry decided to make its own and reserve it for the exclusive use of this club. Buch said he at first made one from 2 oil drums and a gear box to turn the spits which worked for awhile but it had small capacity. Later, using parts bought by the Rotary, Buch engineered a larger cook­ er on trailer wheels. This portable 12 by 5 foot marvel had three large compartments each with 4 charcoal trays and 4 dam­ pers. In each compartment were 4 electric motors each of which drove a spit that would handle a number of hams. Except for the motors, all the parts were made by Buch or other club members. Besides the spits made of a special metal the members fashioned 137 hooks to use on them and all were chromed in order to keep them serviceable and clean over a period of years. Buch still retains control of the kitchen and is aided in his cooker operations by his sons, one of whom also is a Rotarian. The first ham dinner in 1962 served over 500 hungry persons according to Rotary records and the number has been increasing each year as the word spread. Minutes of the McHenry Rotary Club Meeting of April 28, 1955; Meeting was called to order at 12:25 p.m. Six­ teen members and four guests were present. Joseph Steacy, Robert Johnson, Dr. Louis Rich- berg of Glencoe and Jake Hunter of Highland Park were the guests. Dr. Howard Fike and Herb Reihansperger performed the dirty work, following which the guests were introduced and the meeting bell presented. Dr. Nye and Dr. Rich- berg gave an informative Salk Vaccine discussion, including the discussion of the inoculation program which has been instituted in McHenry. A general discussion followed. F o l l o w i n g t h e discussion, the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Classification System Insures Diverse Members Why can't everybody get into the Rotary Club? The answer is not that anyone is blackballed, but a system for m e m b e r s h i p c a l l e d classification. One of the principles used in the for­ mation of Rotary Clubs is to try to get a representative from each type of business or profession or walk of life in the community and only one of each. The reason behind this principle is to limit shop talk or business conversations between persons all in the same profession. This prevents cliques and restores the emphasis of the club on fellowship and community and civic work. In recruiting new mem­ bers, existing members will propose someone for membership and a com­ mittee reviews his ap­ plication and determines if there is an opening in his classification (everyone is classified.) If accepted the new member is assigned a general classification such as doctor, lawyer, clothing store manager, school superintendent, insurance, lumber dealer or whatever is applicable. In cases of larger clubs i^ is sometimes necessary to break down a general classification even more such as insurance into life, automobile, home; and doctors and lawyers into their specialities. Also after a certain period of mem­ bership, 15 years presently , or when a member reaches the age of 60, he is classified as senior active and his former classification of insuranceman or lawyer is again open for a new member. The forced diversification is used to maintain the differences of points of view in the club. New members also must meet the test of appropriate ethics also when being considered for ad­ mission. Successful ap­ plicants are usually in management position in their particular trade or profession. The use of Rotary mem­ bership or any of its insignia on letterheads or in ad­ vertising is forbidden and business talk is prohibited in meetings. However, a meeting each year is devoted to members talking in general about their business problems. The original or "charter" members of the club were: A1 Barbian Ralph Bennett *A1 Blake Edward Bruchhauser 'Jerome Buch Bill Burfeindt Gerald Carey, Walter Carey Chauncey Duker Howard Fike Joe Gausden John Herdrich Dick Hester Walter Hojnacki Dick Jager Dan Jus ten George Justen Richard Justen Jim Lennon ( John Looze Ray McGee .... Jim McMahon William Nye •Charles Peterson •Herb Reihansperger Harold Stephen Hank Tonyan John Torrence Ernie Useman •Still active members of the club. Officers were elected and the first offical meeting or Charter Night was held on May 12,1955 at the McHenry Country Club. Officers elected were: President-Dr. William Nye; Vice- President-Ralph Bennett; Secretary-John Torrence; Treasurer-Gerald Carey. The Rotary Reel Most clubs find a need for communication between members ojher than at meetings and establish a "house organ" for this purpose. While the "Rotarian" serves this purpose at the International level, the McHenry Club adopted the "Rotary Reel", a weekly mimeograph, sheet to detail local activities and remind members of things important to the club, besides adding a few old jokes of general circulation and humor between mem­ bers. A copy in the file dated March, 1956, contains a ballot sheet for officers which resulted in John Looze being elected president that year. A letter also from the Rotary International in the file congratulates William Nuber as new editor of the Reel in 1957 and offers him any assistance he might need. The publications continues to this date and is an ef­ fective force in maintaining the activities of the 'ub. _ McHenry Rotary'* 29th Year - Pag* 5 ̂ Ham Dinner In 19th Year Early in 1955, Dr. Rich- berg met with Dr. Nye, John Looze, A1 Blake and Ralph Bennett. It was determined there would be sufficient interest to form a club and additional persons were contacted as prospective new members. First Meetings Held Fall, 1954 The Preliminary meeting to organize a Rotary club in McHenry were held in the Fall of 1954. Dr. Louis Rich- berg, a member of the Rotary Club of Glencoe, Illinois was a friend of the late Dr. William Nye of McHenry. Dr. Richberg encouraged Dr. Nye to look into the possibility of for­ ming a Rotary club in McHenry.