U.S. flags fly along the streets of downtown Mt. Pleasant Borough on Memorial Day and other national holidays.

A clock keeps time at the town’s Veterans Park and local Little League players take a swing at a home run at restored Willows Park Field.

The common denominator in those community assets is the Mt. Pleasant Rotary Club, which is celebrating a century of service this year.

“We put 100 flags up in town by contract with the local businesses and some private property owners,” said George Wood, a longtime member of the Mt. Pleasant club and a previous district governor in the Rotary organization.

It’s a project the club has been faithfully carrying out since the mid-1970s, when it took over the effort from the community’s former Jaycees group.

At the same time, the Mt. Pleasant Rotary also raises about 60 flags at the Middle Presbyterian Cemetery, near Mt. Pleasant Area Junior-Senior High School.

The Mt. Pleasant club was formed with 19 members on March 21, 1924, through an outreach by the Scottdale Rotary Club.

“That’s the way Rotary spreads,” said Wood. “One club will see a need or opportunity in another community and try to extend the organization. They get it started, and then the new club is running on its own.

“One of the first community projects was to invite local farmers for dinner and entertainment, to foster better relationships between the town and the outlying areas.”

Mt. Pleasant Rotary has contributed funds and manpower to many other community causes over the years.

Twice annually, the club partners with the Westmoreland County Food Bank to sponsor a pop-up, drive-thru Fresh Express distribution of produce and perishable items for local residents in need.

“They set it up, and we help put the food in the cars,” said Wood. “We support if financially and with volunteers.”

Rotary members help ring bells and man kettles to collect donations for the Salvation Army during the holiday season.

The club has helped obtain computers for the Mt. Pleasant Public Library and has provided benches along the borough’s Main Street.

In addition to improvements at the town’s Veterans Park, the club has supported installation of a large pavilion and lighting for the Little League field at Willows Park as well as a water fountain, concession stand and boccie court at Mt. Pleasant’s Frick Park.

Club donations have made possible a speaker system for the local senior center, fencing for the Mt. Pleasant Area Historical Society, a bulletin board at the entrance to the Coke and Coal bike trail and a canoe launch along Jacobs Creek near Bridgeport.

The Regional Family YMCA has benefited from club donations, including installation of a pavilion for its pickleball courts.

The club has helped provide needed equipment for the Mt. Pleasant Fire Department and for the local ambulance service. It made a $5,000 donation to the fire department for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, split between the local club’s efforts and a matching nonprofit grant through The Rotary Foundation.

“We bought a (thermal) imaging camera and some ropes for them to get up and down hills,” Wood said.

The Mt. Pleasant club has raised money toward international Rotary efforts, including furnishing a school in Haiti, building a shelter in Thailand following the 2004 tsunami and supporting polio immunizations and water improvement projects in developing countries.

“For several years, we donated money to purchase sand filters to purity water in the Dominican Republic,” Wood said. “Some of our club members went to help install them.”

Closer to home, the local Rotary club has had ongoing involvement with the Mt. Pleasant Area School District. It donates dictionaries for third graders and created a shaded area at the Norvelt Elementary playground. At the high school, it sponsors a Vocation Day event, scholarships and a banquet for the top 10% of each graduating class, as well as related youth Interact clubs at both the local school district and at Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center in New Stanton, which a number of district students attend.

“Since the early 1980s, we’ve sent students on (foreign) exchange trips and also hosted students, about 40 kids each way,” Wood said. “There’s a long-term stay of 10 months for our students, and there’s a short term of four weeks. Then they would return with a host brother or sister to stay with them here for four weeks.

“We’ve had students from Thailand, Japan, France, Germany and Italy. It goes on and on. Many of our Rotarians have hosted, but you don’t have to be a Rotarian to host a student.”

The Rotary club’s food booth has become a favorite stop for many at the annual Mt. Pleasant Glass & Ethnic Festival, held each fall. In recent years, that has included a unique pumpkin chili dish.

The club holds a luncheon meeting every Wednesday at noon in a room at the rear of Mt. Pleasant’s Main Street Deli and Cafe. Guest speakers range have included high-achieving students and area government representatives.

“It’s a good time for fellowship,” said Wood. “We don’t get into politics and we don’t get into religion. It’s a way to find out different things that are going on in the community.”

“There have been a lot of positive things our club has done for Mt. Pleasant over the past 100 years,” said Mt. Pleasant Rotary President John Campbell, who is the Mt. Pleasant Area Junior High principal. “We are a vibrant club with 15 members.”

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