The Lebanon Valley Sertoma Club prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary
The Lebanon Valley Sertoma Club is preparing to celebrate its 50th anniversary as a chapter with an invitation-only picnic at Stoever’s Dam Park on Thursday, June 27.
Vicki DeLoatch, 60, of Lebanon County, is chief financial officer of Lebanon Family Health Services and president of the Lebanon Valley Sertoma Club. She spoke with LebTown about the chapter and its service-oriented mission.
“I got involved when I started here at Lebanon Family Health Services,” DeLoatch said. “One of the things we’re committed to here as an organization is having our employees involved in the community. … So I was introduced to the Lebanon Valley Sertoma Club and thought it was a good fit for me.
“And as employees at Lebanon Family Health Services, we benefit both ways. We have the opportunity to meet other people in the community, offer services and share information about the work we do.”
J. Robert Ladd was the first president of the local Sertoma Club, founded in July 1974, and remained an active member of the club until his death in October 2022. During his tenure as president, Ladd also helped found the Hershey-Palmyra Sertoma Club in June 1975.
The Lebanon Valley Sertoma Club, a branch of Sertoma International, serves the Lebanon Valley community with a special focus on serving the hard of hearing and deaf. The branch has maintained its mission throughout the years and obstacles such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was difficult when we couldn’t get together as a service club because when we meet, which we do twice a month, we can talk about the things that our community is facing and what we can and want to do as a service club to help the community. So that was definitely impacted,” DeLoatch said. “But I’m really proud and happy to say that despite everything, we were able to persevere and survive.
“During and since the pandemic, we have had a number of new members join us. We are always looking for new members who believe in what we do and would like to join us.”
The local Sertoma Club has expanded its service to the community using funds from its membership dues, year-round fundraising events, and grants from Sertoma International.
The chapter volunteers and donates to local organizations including Developmental & Disability Services of Lebanon Valley, Jubilee Ministries, Lebanon Community Concert Band, Lebanon County Commission for Women, Lebanon Family Health Services, Lebanon Rescue Mission, Lebanon Valley YMCA, Quest, Stoever’s Dam Park, and the audiology department of WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital.
The chapter has worked with Cub Scout units and the Boy Scout Troop in Lebanon County to provide hundreds of girls and boys with the opportunity to attend Boy Scout summer camp. It has also helped facilitate hearing screenings for local youth and distributed amplified hearing aids.
Read more: Lebanon Valley Sertoma Club awards $2,000 to PA Dutch Boy Scout Council
“One of our current projects is the bed shaker, which helps the hard of hearing or deaf … who has a fire alarm go off while they are sleeping, not hear the fire alarm,” DeLoatch said. The local group purchases bed shakers, which in the event of a fire will shake the person’s bed to wake them up and potentially save their life.
In addition, the chapter has undertaken several community-related projects over the years as part of its mission. Most notably, these projects have included a skate park at the YMCA and a gazebo at Stoever’s Dam Park, where the chapter holds its annual picnic.
“Because of my personal impact over the years, when we have the opportunity to hear from the people we’ve been able to help – for example, when we’re supposed to greet a guest at the picnic who gets one of the bed shakers I talked about – when we hear stories about how we’ve helped someone who is deaf or has hearing loss, it’s really very moving to know that we’ve done that, that we’ve helped make a difference in their life,” DeLoatch said.
The association is expanding the guest list for the 50th anniversary celebration to include lawmakers as well as current and former association members and “some friends of the organization,” she said, including past recipients of the Service to Mankind award.
“It will be a great celebration for the people who have been part of Sertoma and have been impacted by the work we do in our community,” DeLoatch said.
“We try to organize some social events a few times a year so we can invite former members and let them know what’s happening now and they have a chance to talk to each other,” she said. “And sometimes someone decides to come back and join us again.”
The chapter will host its annual golf tournament on Friday, Sept. 20, and its first dance on Friday, Oct. 18, featuring live music from Flamin’ Dick and the Hot Rods. DeLoatch said depending on turnout, the dance could become an annual fundraiser like the golf tournament.
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