New Rotary president brings strong volunteer commitment

By KATIE WORRALL

Bill Shumaker, an Oreland resident who is active in several organizations, was installed as president of the Rotary Club of Chestnut Hill in a ceremony last month.  Conducting the installation ceremony was Andrew Pendleton, a former club member who is now district governor for Rotary’s district 7580.

Shumaker’s goals for his one-year term are to increase membership in the service organization from its present 50-plus to 65 and to continue the work of the club’s committees, which include ones on fundraising, and on the club’s project to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Rotary International in 2005.
As its centennial project, the club selected the restoration of the pergola and adjacent water trough at the intersection of Germantown Avenue and Cresheim Valley Drive. Because the pergola, an arbor, is on Fairmount Park land, the project must be approved by the Fairmount Park Commission, which okayed the concept several months ago. Although Rotary is coordinating the project, other groups, such as the Chestnut Hill Community Association, are also working on the plans.

Shumaker is a strong advocate of Rotary, its philosophy of “Service Above Self” and its four-way test that asks members four questions when considering an issue: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendship? And will it be beneficial to all concerned?

Activities of the Chestnut Hill club, in addition to its weekly breakfast meetings, include a golf outing, co-sponsored with the First Presbyterian Church in Springfield, which attracted 50 golfers to its May event; a recent lobster dinner, and assistance with the Run For the Hill of It.

The golf outing and the lobster dinner are fundraisers for the Rotary Club of Chestnut Hill foundation, which assists projects such as the pergola restoration and providing small grants to organizations in the Chestnut Hill/Mt. Airy/Germantown area. The foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, holds money raised at the Run For the Hill of It, a fundraiser for a medically-needy child, so that donors can make tax-deductible contributions.

Shumaker follows the “Service Above Self” motto outside Rotary, as well.  A retired human resources/personnel manager, Shumaker is on the board at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, is a volunteer at Chestnut Hill Hospital and is an active member at St. Thomas’ Church, Whitemarsh.

A native of Indianapolis, Shumaker graduated from DePauw University with a degree in economics. Transferred to Philadelphia from Columbus, Ohio by ARCO in 1971, he later worked for Turner Construction. He had been member and secretary of a Rotary club while living in the Chicago suburb of Franklin Park in the early 1960s. It was that experience that made him interested in joining the Chestnut Hill Rotary Club.

Shumaker’s wife, Joyce, a retired administrator in the Chestnut Hill Hospital’s utilization department, is co-chair of the Auxiliary of Chestnut Hill HealthCare. The couple has two daughters, Sarah Grady and Cathy Shumaker, and a grandson, Brian William Grady.

Other officers of the Rotary Club of Chestnut Hill are Moss Disston, president-elect; Ned Mitinger, treasurer; and Maxine Dornemann, secretary.