By Steve Baker

At the December 1st meeting of the Denver Lake Norman Rotary, the club's very own Rotarian Bill Baker spoke about his experiences living on Ellis Island.

Bill and his family moved to Ellis Island when he was 5-1/2 years old. Bill’s father was assigned to a post on Ellis Island in the Psychiatric Hospital. To get to Ellis Island, they had to ferry from Manhattan over to the Island. Bill's family shared a large two-story house with another doctor and his family. A good view of The Statue of Liberty could be seen from one of the windows in the house. Many photos of this view appear in Ellis Island history books.

Bill shared a story about going to school while he was on the Island. The school he attended was located on Governors Island. To get there, he had to take the ferry to Manhattan, walk a few blocks to another dock to take another ferry over to Governors Island and then walk to the other side of the island to get to his school. After school, he would reverse the process. His father, unable to take Bill to and from school each day, assigned one of his mental patients to be Bill’s escort. Each day the patient would wait for Bill at his house, walk him to the ferry for the ride across to Manhattan, followed by the ride to Governors Island and then walk him across the island to his school. Bill said each day the patient would be waiting for him outside of the school and they would reverse the trip to come home. Bill shared a few more stories and concluded by taking questions from the Rotary audience.

It was great to have a fellow Rotarian who was a part of an event that shaped the future of the United States of America speak to the club. Hopefully there are other Denver Lake Norman Rotarians that would be willing share some of their life experiences. Just let us know - the club would be excited to listen.