Jay Zwynenburg - Jay's Art Shop and Frame Gallery

December 1, 2019

Joe Parks brought Jay into Rotary in1973. The biggest change that Jay has seen and that he is grateful for is accepting women into Rotary. It makes the club much more interesting. Another change is that the meetings used to be more formal. We have the same rituals, but it is more informal now, more laughs and more exchanging information and in Jay's opinion, more fun.

Another change is the size of the club. It was 121 members when he was president in 1980-81, Before that he was on a number of committees, working closely with many key people in the community.

Jay remembers when he and Jim Ross built a replica of the Bennington Monument and put it on a float for Bennington Battle Day.

In the early days the meetings were mostly at the Paradise Restaurant. They made a change one year and moved to the Country Club and were there for several years. Jay Jerome had given the club two weeks notice citing the heating bills in the winter. However, the restaurant reconsidered and was happy when the club returned.

One of the highlights of Jay's presidency was when he approved funds to do research into the history of the four Hessians who had fought and died in Bennington, to find their date of birth in Germany, as well as some background for a project that the club took on for the Old Bennington Cemetery. When they received the information it was inscribed on their headstones which are still in the middle of the cemetery.

Jay was happy when his son, Dan, was proposed for membership in the club and when John Kennedy proposed his wife, Joan as one of the first members of the Catamount Club. Between the three of them, they have four Paul Harris fellowships. All of them continue to contribute to the vitality of Rotary.

Author: Sally Sugarman (Club Member & Windmill Editor)
Windmill