CAZENOVIA — On Wednesday, Oct. 30, New York State Senator Joseph Griffo visited Cazenovia to present the local Rotary Club with a State of New York Legislative Resolution recognizing the organization’s 75th Anniversary.

The club plans to celebrate this milestone on Friday, Dec. 13, at the Lincklaen House.

The event will begin at 5 p.m., with dinner served at 6 p.m. The evening will include a cash bar, popovers, salad, filet mignon, garlic potatoes, a vegetable, coffee, tea, and apple crisp à la mode. Non-members and the community are invited to attend the celebration for $35. Reservations can be made by calling 315-439-6791 or emailing [email protected].

Since its founding, the Cazenovia Rotary Club has proudly lived the Rotary International motto, “Service Above Self.”

Today, the club is led by the following officers: Joe Gugino, president; Fred Palmer, vice president; Bob Conway, sergeant at arms; Sandra Patrizio, secretary; Anna Marie Neuland, treasurer and immediate past president; and Chris DiFulvio, president-elect for 2025-26.

“The success of the Cazenovia Rotary Club is in direct correlation to the efforts of its [board] and dedicated members, whose involvement [is], and alwavs [has] been, characterized by an impressive commitment, an unbridled enthusiasm, and an uncompromising standard of excellence in all endeavors on behalf of the organization and the community it serves,” the Legislative Resolution states.

Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world.

“Rotary was the world’s first service club,” said Neuland. “[Today, there are] over a million members.”

According to its website, Rotary International’s mission is to “provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through [the] fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.”

The non-political and non-religious organization has 46,000-plus member clubs that work together to promote peace, fight illiteracy and poverty, help people access clean water and sanitation, fight disease, and protect Earth and its resources.

“Seventy-five years ago, on May 9, 1949, the Syracuse Rotary Club presented our club with their Charter, Bell, and Gavel to open our first meeting with 22 members at the Lincklaen House with President John Ledyard,” said Neuland. “Our official charter was dated May 19, 1949. It had been a men-only organization until 1990 when Rotary International opened membership to women. In 1994, Betsy Kennedy became the first woman member of the Cazenovia [Rotary] Club. Debbie Schafer, Joan Keilen, Lisa Tormey, Sandy Diefendorf, and Susan Clancy became members soon after that. Having women Rotarians was a major change for old members steeped in an all-male environment. [However], we learned very quickly that our women members brought in sorely needed ideas, enthusiasm, and commitment [that] continues today.”

The Cazenovia Rotary Club gathers at noon at the Lincklaen House on the second Friday of every month for lunch meetings.

According to Neuland, the “Rotary Four-Way Test” is recited at the close of every meeting.

It asks the following four questions about “the things we think, say, or do.”
1. Is it the truth?
2. Is it fair to all concerned?
3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

During Griffo’s recent visit to Cazenovia, the Rotary presented him with a copy of the club’s 2025-26 Cazenovia area phone book.

Over the past 50 years, the Rotary has typically compiled and distributed a new phone book with updated community information every two years. However, because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the last phone book to be released was the 2018-19 edition.

The Rotary phone book covers the towns of Cazenovia and Nelson and parts of the hamlet of Perryville and contains white and yellow pages.

There is no charge to be added to the white pages, which include personal listings and contact information for clubs, local organizations, and churches.

The Rotary sells advertisements for the yellow pages business directory and the inside and back covers. The phone books also have some free advertising space.

The money raised through yellow page ad sales covers the cost of printing the phone books and advertising their release in local papers. The remaining funds and donations support local organizations and initiatives and serve as seed money for the club’s next phone book publication.

The phone books always featured fonts large enough to be read without a magnifying glass.

The Cazenovia Rotary printed 2,500 copies of its 2025-26 phone book. They are available at Neuland’s office at 95 Albany St. Suite C, Cazenovia; the Cazenovia and New Woodstock libraries; and the Cazenovia Town Office. They will soon be available in the Town of Fenner, the Town of Nelson, and the Hamlet of Erieville.

“I have no doubt that the Cazenovia Rotary will continue to be an active, engaged, and important part of the community for many more years to come,” Griffo said in a Nov. 2 Facebook post documenting his visit.

To learn more about Rotary International, visit rotary.org/en.

For updates on the Cazenovia Rotary Club, visit the club’s Facebook page.