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The SPOKE

The SPOKE

Rotary Club holds Oktoberfest at Good Samaritan Church

Rotary+Club+holds+Oktoberfest+at+Good+Samaritan+Church

By Brooke Deasy, Staff Reporter

On Oct. 8, the Upper Main Line Rotary Club held an Oktoberfest featured
at Good Samaritan Church in Paoli. Rotary is an international service organization that brings together businesses and professional leaders in order to provide humanitarian services. Proceeds from ticket sales funded local neighborhoods and research for fighting polio.  

From 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., children and adults entertained themselves with games, live music, singing, German dances, food concessions, beverages and strudel. An area was set aside for children’s activities, including two bounce houses, pumpkin decorations, face painting, cup stacking and miniature golf.

This was the fourth Oktoberfest held by the Upper Main Line cupsRotary Club, which is its biggest fundraiser every year.

“We had the first just as a happy hour, and then we decided that we wanted to expand it,” said Amy Anderson, a founding member of the club and Class of ’77 ’Stoga alum. “Three years ago we were able to contact Good Samaritan Church and we started having it here.”

In 2013 and 2014, the club held between 300 and 350 events. However, last year it organized over 700. This year, because of the weather, it is back down to about 400.dancers

Still, even with the weather inconvenience, members “do a good amount of fundraising, and it is all fundraising within the Rotary,” Anderson said.

In addition to the German dancers, Betsy Daily School of Performing Arts, a local dance company from Berwyn, performed. This was its third year participating. After they took the stage, the performers joined the event.  

“After we perform, (the dancers) always get to spend time with friends and family which is really fun, and there is so many activities
 that you can do,” dancer Reagan Gerrity said.  “ It really gets you ready for fall.”

Mary Lou Stockton has been with the club for one and one-half years and this was her second Oktoberfest.
music1“Rotary is just my favorite club,” Stockton said. “I love it the most of anything.”

Sponsors of the event are local businesses, such as ITA, Service Mark and Still Water Advisors.

“This particular event is special because a lot of the community really participates,” Anderson said. Every year, the club tries to find ways to increase the number of events they hold and profits they produce for charity. Out of all the fundraisers they organize, this is their biggest event, with the most people coming out to support the cause.

Brooke Deasy can be reached at [email protected].

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