<<return to table of contents>>
EARLY GREELEY ROTARY HISTORY
As
many of you know, Rotary forged its beginnings in 1905.
Living in the city of Chicago, Paul Harris and a small group of friends
began a weekly evening meeting in each other’s offices.
Because they rotated where they held meetings, they decided to call their
group the Rotary Club. From that
humble beginning Rotary has flourished through out the entire world.
The
Greeley Rotary Club was born almost one month to the day after the United States
entered World War I. Paul Darrow
convinced Lloyd Neill to read a few editions of the Rotary Magazine.
Lloyd, who eventually became Greeley Rotary’s first president, was very
intrigued with Rotary and began the pursuit to bring Rotary to Greeley.
Jack Zahn was a member of the Denver
Rotary Club and a close personal friend of Lloyd Neill.
The two men had several conversations about starting a Rotary Club in
Greeley. They had quite a hill to
climb because Greeley was a very small community with a population of
approximately 8,000 people. At that
time, it was against Rotary’s policy to establish clubs in cities as small as
Greeley.
On May 9, 1917 a group of 21 men held
a dinner meeting and made a formal application for charter to Rotary. The official charter night was held July 2, 1917.
The Denver Rotary Club, as sponsor, was invited to Greeley for an evening
of food and entertainment. In all,
55 members of the Denver Rotary Club made the trek from Denver to Greeley.
Quite a feat seeing how this was before the age of the automobile and
interstate highways.
Even though the Greeley Rotary Club
was very new, the charter members did not hesitate getting involved in issues of
the day. An original Western Union
telegram dated June 29, 1917 stated how the Greeley Rotary Club was,
“unhesitatingly and unqualifiedly in favor of the prohibition feature of the
bill now pending before Congress….”
The first weekly meetings were held
at the Camfield Hotel, but that fall meetings were moved to the Knights of
Pythias Hall. There have been four
other meeting places over the years. They
include the Masonic Hall, Park Church, the Community Building, and finally the
Greeley Recreation Center.
One of the early highlights of the
Greeley Rotary Club was hosting the District Conference.
This was held during the week of March 21, 1922.
Every single member of the Greeley Rotary Club was on a committee and the
conference was a huge success. Attendance
that year was 435 men and 261 women. A
testament to sound management, the Conference fund had $200 left when it was all
said and done.
Anyone who has studied the history of
northern Colorado remembers the fall and winter of 1929-30.
Not only were economic conditions very volatile, but that year “the
beets froze in.” For a small
community that relied primarily on agriculture this was a heavy blow to already
poor conditions. Many members were
forced to make a choice and relinquished their membership. Greeley Rotary was not the only club affected during these
times. The Greeley Lions Club
experienced a similar scenario. With
a few members of each club promoting the same idea, the Greeley Rotary Club and
the Greeley Lions Club merged. The
District Governor, Charlie McMillan, approved of the merger and the first
luncheon meeting of the combined clubs (56 Rotarians, 46 Lions) was held
December 11, 1929.
Always in tune with the Rotary creed
of “Service Above Self,” the Greeley Rotary Club established a Student Loan
Fund to help local students attend the college here in Greeley.
Funded entirely from donations by the Greeley Rotary Club, the $1,100
Student Loan Fund was administered by various members and committees.
As a result, accomplishments of the Student Loan Fund were mixed and in
1935 control the fund was turned over to the college.
In 1935, under the direction of
President Jim Milne, the Past President’s Dinner became an annual event. The Past Presidents would gather for dinner and then proceed
to have a short business meeting. The
purpose of this meeting was to discuss possible candidates for the Board of
Directors. Nominees would be
selected and then presented to the club as a slate for election.
This tradition of selecting Board Members continues to this day.
A new school had been completed in
1936. The school, now Greeley
Central High School, was located on the outskirts of town at Fourteenth Avenue
and Sixteenth Street. Many members
of the community, and members of Greeley Rotary for that matter, criticized the
school board for locating the new school on the edge of town.
In December of 1936, the club was invited to have lunch and tour the new
school. After seeing the facility
many critics were quieted.
Rotary’s International Convention
was held in Denver in June of 1941. Because
of the proximity, almost all members attended at least one session with many
attending the entire conference. The
President at that time was none other than W.D. Farr.
Without his efforts and encouragement, the Greeley Rotary Club would not
have had this incredible showing.
Another program that Greeley Rotary
helped sponsor was the creation of a Summer Recreation Program.
The year was 1943 and the program offered many activities including
swimming, tennis, baseball, softball, dancing, and horseshoe pitching.
The director of the program was Jim Baggot, the Greeley High School
basketball coach. Not long after
this, Jim was offered a similar position that carried a much larger salary.
The Greeley Summer Recreation Program could not match the funds and
Greeley Rotary came to the rescue. Greeley
Rotary along with the Elks, Kiwanis, Lions and other clubs guarantee
approximately $4,450 in salary to keep Jim as director.
This program is still running strong today and is now administered by the
city of Greeley.
In June of 1966 Denver was chosen
again to host the Rotary International Convention.
Like the convention held 25 years prior many members of the Greeley
Rotary Club jumped at the chance to meet Rotarians from all over the world.
It was a great chance to hear world-renowned speakers and be inspired by
the accomplishments of Rotary across the globe.
Times have changed dramatically in
the 87-year history of Greeley Rotary. We
have experienced two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, two Gulf Wars, the advent of
the automobile, the computer, and the Internet.
What has not changed is the commitment of nearly 200 Greeley Rotary
members to “Service Above Self.” Our
community and world have grown and so have the problems that many confront.
The faces of the Greeley Rotary Club may change, but Greeley Rotary will
continue serve in our community and throughout the world.
Written
by Ken Dyer