Celebrating Geneva Community Milestones

Geneva, N.Y.: The Geneva Historical Society's 2019 Fall Lecture Series continues on Wednesday, October 30, at 7 p.m. with a celebration of several Geneva community organizations. The Historical Society will welcome representatives of five groups marking significant milestones in 2019: Geneva Rotary Club, the League of Women Voters, the Seneca Lake Yacht Club, Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church, and the Community Lunch Program. 
 
Each representative will speak about the history of their community group and its work today. The League of Women Voters marks its birth with the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1919, giving women the right to vote. The League emerged across the country to educate newly enfranchised women on their rights and the electoral process. The organization continues to encourage informed and active participation in elections and public policy development today. Geneva’s Rotary is also 100-years-old this year. Chicago attorney Paul Harris started Rotary International in 1905 as a club of professionals from diverse backgrounds who would provide important service to their communities. Twenty five Geneva professionals founded the local club in 1919 and it has raised funds and supported a wide variety of Geneva needs ever since. In 1929, the Seneca Lake Yacht Club completed its clubhouse on Boody Hill Road. For 90 years the club has been supporting  racing and recreation, sailing instruction, and water safety for the public on Seneca Lake. Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church built their church building on Clark Street in 1954. The congregation has served the community ever since. The church was an early participant in planning Geneva's Martin Luther King Celebration service. Throughout its history it has provided space and support for many community activities, including social justice meetings and civil rights activism.  The Community Lunch Program is celebrating 35 years of providing nutritious hot meals five days a week to those in need. It is a project supported by many of the community's churches to combat hunger in the city. Learn more about these organizations and their contributions to Geneva’s stories on October 30.
 
The final lecture in the fall series will be "The Auburn Road: A History of the Rail Line" by Paul Shinal on November 12. The lecture series is supported in part by the Samuel B. Williams fund for programs in the Humanities and is free and open to the public. For more information about the program, call the Geneva Historical Society office at 315-789-5151. The Geneva History Museum is located in the Prouty-Chew House at 543 South Main Street, Geneva, NY. Parking is on the street or in the Trinity Episcopal Church lot across the street.