Stories

Our own Hazleton Rotarian Rossanna Gabriel, Executive Director of the Hazleton Integration Project, was presented the Diversity Leadership Award from the Luzerne County Branch of the NAACP. The event was held Saturday at the Hayden Family Center for the Arts in Hazleton. Congratulations, Rossanna, on this well deserved honor! 

The Rotary Club of Hazleton is again seeking applicants for scholarships in two categories.
 

1. Hazleton Rotary will offer four Memorial Scholarships for the first time in 2026. 

First Place: $6,000 annually for four years ($24,000 total)

Second Place: $3,500 annually for four years ($14,000 total) 

Third Place: $2,000 annually for four years ($8,000 total)

Fourth Place: $1,000 annually for four years ($4,000 total)

2. The 2025 Arthur and Eileen Whitaker Memorial Trade Scholarships are a one-time award of $2,000, coordinated by Hazleton Rotary. There will be two recipients for the first time in 2026.

The Arthur and Eileen Whitaker Memorial Trade Scholarships were established in 2023 to further area students’ formal training and education in a bona fide trade school or similar training/educational program, including but not limited to, plumbing, welding, electrical, HVAC, masonry, truck and automotive maintenance, automotive repair, CDL licensure, beauty school, barber school, massage therapy, and licensed practical nurse programs, but excluding education and training for which a baccalaureate or higher degree may be awarded.   

Applicants must reside within the boundaries of the Hazleton Area School District and must be under the age of 30 years old. Dependents of Hazleton Rotary members are not eligible.

The applications with further details can be downloaded on the column on the right of this page.

RYLA is held at Keystone College in Northeastern PA. It is a 5-day, 4-night leadership program for high school sophomores who have shown leadership potential in their home, school, and community.  The conference is designed to introduce participants to thoughts and ideas which will strengthen and develop their leadership skills. It also provides an environment where participants may discuss and exchange their ideas with other students from NEPA.. 

Ryan Schofield, Executive Director of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Wyoming Valley was our speaker.

The Hazleton Rotary Club and Rotary District 7410 are again sponsoring an essay contest with a cash prize for students in who are juniors or seniors in high schools in the Hazleton Rotary area.
 

1. Essays are submitted individually by the student via email to Kim McNulty, Hazleton Rotary Essay Contest Chair, at kmcnulty@mmiprep.org no later than Friday, February 27, 2026.

2. Essays are reviewed locally by a Committee and a local winner is selected. The local essay winner will receive a prize of $100 and will be invited to a Hazleton Rotary Club meeting in the spring to read his/her winning essay to the Club’s members.

3. The local winner’s essay will be submitted to Rotary District 7410 to compete at the District level against local winners from all over Northeastern Pennsylvania.

4. District readers will evaluate all local winner essays and the top three in the District will be awarded prizes of $1,000 (first place), $500 (second place), and $250 (third place).

Jessica Cronauer, CEO of Leadership Northeast was our speaker. The mission of Leadership Northeast is to develop informed and committed leaders from all segments of the community who will serve, strengthen and improve Northeastern Pennsylvania. Hundreds of people connect with LNE every year through our six Leadership programs, community impact project initiatives and active alumni network. There are multiple entry points into the organization offering varying degrees of opportunity to explore your potential, widen your sphere of influence, engage in authentic relationships with other leaders, and ultimately impact the quality of life in our region.

 Two Hazleton Rotarians Assist with Junior Achievement Program

At the Hazleton Middle School, aka “The Castle”, two Hazleton Rotarians, Anne Frey and Jessica Spare, gave their volunteer time to teach breakout sessions with 7th and 8th grade students as part of the Y.E.S. (Your Economic Success) Program sponsored by Junior Achievement. This program would not be possible without community volunteers, such as Jessica and Anne. 30 volunteers were needed  in order to make the program happen in Hazleton.

Hazleton Rotary has partnered with the Hazleton Integration Project and the Hazleton Park and Recreation Department to establish The Hazleton Basketball League. Our club donated $3,000 to help startup the youth program in our community. President Joan Buffington made the presentation to HIP’s Bob Curry.

LEXI LA REGINA, PARTNER, DEVELOPMENT Manager of Adventure EXP was our speaker.

Their mission is to guide young people on an adventure of transformative change. Choosing a destination work experience is a choice to be independent, to be courageous and to discover your passion. The destination is important to help you decide where you want to go but the real learning comes in the journey and the skills you gain along the way.

Congratulations to Hazleton Rotarian Eileen Perchak for being named the 2025 Charitable Organization of the Year recipient through her work at the Collaborative Autism Movement.

Congratulations to Hazleton Rotarian Vianney Castro, owner of Super Gomas, recipient of The 2025 Small Business of the Year Award from the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce. 

Tickets are also available at:

Antonia's Jewelry and Repair

Billig & Helmes-Hazleton

Fyzical Therapy-Hazleton

JC Small Engine-Weatherly

The Beer Stop-West Hazleton

Or any member of Hazleton Rotary

Joan Buffington will be installed as the 105th president of Hazleton Rotary at the annual President’s Party to be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 25, at the Valley Country Club.

Thiswill be a cocktail reception in celebration of Ms. Buffington’s swearing in as president, along with the induction of board members and officers.

Eugene M. Dougherty, 86, of Hazleton, passed away on January 4, 2025 at Advent Health Hospital in Celebration, Florida after a hard-fought battle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). He enjoyed spending time with his children, grandchildren and most especially the love of his life, Ethel. He will surely be remembered as a man who adored and loved his family, loved his community and spent his life working hard for both.

Our new District 7410 Governor Bill Skinner made his official visit to our club with the latest on the district’s goals and plans for Rotary year 2024-25.

We were honored to have CEO Darren Buttle lead us through Muzo Industries. He explained and demonstrated many of the very innovative products. This is a global company that is based here in the Valmont Industrial Park.  Their furniture equips major corporations like Google and Coca-Cola, but can also be found in classrooms and many educational spaces including at MMI, the Hazleton Launchbox and CAN BE  Innovation Center.

Dr. Christine Cabell discussed Skin Cancer Prevention.

Hazleton Rotary will offer three Memorial Scholarships in 2024. The first award will be $3,000 annually for four years ($12,000 scholarship total). The second award will be $2,000 annually for four years ($8,000 scholarship total). The third award will be $1,000 annually foR four years ($4,000 scholarship total). Additionally, The Arthur and Eileen Whitaker Memorial Trade Scholarship was established in 2023 to further area students’ formal training and education in a bona fide trade school or similar training/educational program, including but not limited to, plumbing, welding, electrical, HVAC, masonry, truck and automotive maintenance, automotive repair, CDL licensure, beauty school, barber school, massage therapy, and licensed practical nurse programs, but excluding education and training for which a baccalaureate or higher degree may be awarded. Applicants must reside within the boundaries of the Hazleton Area School District and must be under the age of 30. Additional information and applications can be obtained in the Rotary  Download files section on the right side of this page.

The Greater Hazleton Civic Partnership application and information can also be accessed in that section of this page.

Hazleton Rotary President Alan Whitaker says “This will be the first “Pints for Polio” event the Hazleton Club has held and we want to thank Bottlenecks for agreeing to hold the project at their restaurant and for offering the donation. It’s an easy, fun way for people to help join the battle to end polio.”
Rotary International has been working to eradicate polio for more than 30 years, and has made incredible progress in the fight to rid the world of it forever.
As a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, they’ve helped to reduce polio cases by more than 99.9 percent.
It’s crucial to eliminate polio from the last three countries where it remains endemic and to keep other countries polio-free.
If all eradication efforts stopped today, within 10 years, polio could paralyze as many as 200,000 children each year.
We’re close to eradicating polio, but we’re not done yet. Funds are still needed to continue immunization and surveillance efforts. With your help, Greater Hazleton will get us closer to the finish line.
We’re inviting the community to be a part of history. Join us for pint or two, and bring a friend, or two, to “Pints for Polio.”
Sincere appreciation to Rotary Club Member Mike Cammisa who is the General Manager at Bottlenecks and owner, Jay Misto for their assistance with this project.

The following students have been selected as the Rotary Club Scholarship winners for 2019. 

Coleman Smith, MMI Preparatory, will receive a scholarship of $2000.00 per year for a total of $8000 for four years.  Kaitlyn Beiler and Morgan Long will each receive a scholarship valued at $1250.00 a year for a total of $5000 for four years.

Coleman, MMI Preparatory School, is the son of Laura and Keith Smith.  He plans to attend Pennsylvania State University, University Park with an intended double Major in Nuclear and Electrical Engineering.

The daughter of Keang and James Beiler, Kaitlyn, Hazleton Area High School, will major in Electrical Engineering and/or Computer Science at Cornell University.

Morgan, MMI Preparatory School, is the son of Theresa and David Long.  He will attend Lehigh University as a member of the Computer Science and Business dual degree honors program.

Morgan, Coleman and Kaitlyn will be guest speakers at the Hazleton Rotary Club meeting sometime this summer