Page 7 - 1976 State of the Plymouth Rotary Club

PlymouthRotary Club

History and Highlights

Plymouth's Rotary Club was sponsored by the Wayne Rotary Club w_ith Dr. Edward
Lee, of Wayne, being appointed the Governor's representative in the formation of our club.
Dr. Lee met with a number of Plymouth businessmen on the night of March 6, 1924
when it was decided to organize a club. Twenty-three men signed up and Rotary
International accepted the application on March 10, 1924.
Four nights later District Governor Paul King presented t he charter to the club. Judge
Arthur Tuttle, deceased, made the principal address.
George A. Sm ith was selected as the first president with Edward C. Hough vice
president; William Wood, secretary; Sidney Strong, treasurer; and Frank Rambo,
sergeant-at-arms.
The charter members of the new club were: President George A. Smith, Vice President
Edward C. Hough, Secretary William Wood, Treasurer Sidney Strong, Sergeant-at-Arms
Frank Rambo, Fred D. Schrader, Edgar K. Bennett, Fred Dibble, Charles W. Mather, Otto
Beyer, Jesse Hake, Carl G. Shear, Harry S. Lee, Calvin Whipple, Dr. R.E. Cooper, Roy R.
Parrott, Dr. Brick Champe, Lawrence B. Samsen, Paul J. Wiedman, Harry Lush, John S.
Dayton, Harry C. Robinson and William T . Pettingill.
The first meetings were held in the basement of the Penniman-Allen building, then
moved to the old Masonic Club dining room, in the new Masonic Temple, to the auditorium
of the high school and then to the Lutheran Church where it met weekly until the
Mayflower Hotel was completed in 1927. It has met at the Mayflower Hotel and the
Mayflower Meeting House since.
Meetings were shifted to the newly refurbished Meeting House, di rectly across Main
Street from the main Mayflower Hotel, in January 1967 when it was apparent the club had
outgrown space available in the hotel.
And would you believe it, the same chef, Curtis Langdon, has served the Rotary Club
meals since the club started meeting in the hotel . Langdon has never been known to have
been late in serving the Rotarians.
The club flouri shed from the beginning with its membership showing steady growth over
the years. From the original 23 in 1924 it grew to 85 in 1962 and now boasts a membership
of 118 on Jul y 1, 1976.
Through the yea rs the club has taken an active part in all community activities and
members have made an honest effort to carry out the true spirit of Rotary and its motto
"Service above Self."
One of the club's ea rly activities was that of making a house-to-house canvass of the
community and surrounding area to find cripp led children and arrange for their proper care.
Since that early campaign a county and state organization has been brought about and many
of the club members are still busy in the work and have donated liberally of their time and
money for this cause.
Another early activity was sponsoring a Boy Scout troop, something that is carried on
today. T he late Sidney Strong was the first to lead the movement and was still active at the
time of his death . During his years of service Sid received the Silver Beaver award for his
outstanding work w ith the Boy Scouts.
Later many of the chores were taken over by the late Brick Champe and Elmore Carney
Through the leadership of George A. Smith, the club established and financed a Student
Loan Fund which assisted many students in getting a college degree through the use of the
revolving fund. This fund has now been enlarged and incorporated into the Plymouth
Rotary Foundation.