Alhambra Rotary Club Celebrates 100 Years of “Transcendence”

By Gary Frueholz, Engel & Volkers Real Estate

Transcendence allows a person to extend themselves beyond what they normally could experience as an individual. Transcendence transports an individual to a place where they can be part of something greater than one’s self. Rotary allows Alhambrans to experience transcendence. And the Rotary Club of Alhambra is celebrating its Centennial Anniversary this June.

“We are celebrating 100 years of service above self,” said Greg Cheng, President of the Rotary Club of Alhambra. Rotary is a global network of 1.2 million neighbors, business leaders, and problem-solvers who unite to create lasting change on the international and local levels. Rotary International groups clubs into districts throughout 160 countries with a range of 45 to 60 clubs in each district. There are nearly 27,000 clubs worldwide.

Rotary takes action on persistent global issues such as eradicating polio, water purification projects with lasting maintenance and logistical support, and treatment of children with cleft lips. On the international stage, Rotary partners with state of art institutions such as UNICEF, the International Red Cross, and the Stanford University Medical School.

The Rotary Club of Alhambra was chartered in 1924 and has organized hundreds of local projects to benefit our city and the San Gabriel Valley. Alhambra’s Rotary Club has touched lives with projects that provided scholarships for local aspiring students, wheelchairs and crutches for polio victims in foreign countries, eyeglasses for Haiti, teacher mini-grants for teachers in the Alhambra

Unified School District, and Christmas and Thanksgiving food baskets and gift cards for needy Alhambra residents. Our city’s Rotary Club has teamed up with organizations such as Target, the Ratkovich Company, the Children’s Hospital, Alhambra Fire Department, Alhambra Police Department, YMCA, the Ronald McDonald House, and the Doctor Tim Siu family on various service projects. And the club has sponsored international student programs along with projects in Thailand, Mexico, Ghana, Ukraine, and Turkey.

To commemorate this centennial event and service to the community, the Rotary Club of Alhambra has dedicated a brass sculpture depicting two children sitting on a bench reading a book by the entrance to the Alhambra Library. Also, to celebrate Alhambra Rotary’s 100 years of service, the club is having a banquet at Almansor Court on June 28 at 6:00 p.m. to honor its century of service, the demotion of Cheng, installation of new president Ayla Jefferson, and the upcoming merger with the Rotary Club of Monterey Park. The event is open to the public and tickets for $100 can be purchased by contacting Cheng at 626757-1274. The theme for the banquet is Polynesian with casual dress. Weekly meetings are held the first, second, and third Tuesdays of each month at noon in Vino’s Back Alley, 10 N. 1st Street here in Alhambra. Everyone is welcome to these luncheons.

Rotary allows its members to reach for a higher level of fulfillment and happiness through their service to others. And as Cheng said, “Service above self, fuels our minds, bodies, and souls.”