History: a study of the club archives

“Golden Anniversary of Rotary and Our Internal Santa Claus— Auburn Rotary in the mid 50s”

The year 1955 was Rotary International’s golden anniversary. The world, RI and the local club celebrated. By 1955 Rotary was in 89 countries, more than the UN. (We are now in 170.)

Twenty-six countries issued special stamps commemorating the event—selling 205 million of them. In the U.S. it was an eight-cent stamp, but no discount to members.

The major project for our local club was a safety check for cars, which was performed on downtown College Street during three days. In all, 2,211 cars were given a 10-point check and 759 defects were uncovered.

In June that year, the local club elected Jim Foy as president

The editor of our club bulletin in the 50s retained his sense of humor: Some of his choice bits include:

“I have always had the greatest respect for the truth—consequently I have used it sparingly,” Mark Twain

“Some folks threw their junk in an alley —others buy a license for it”

“We also have an entry in the Ugly Man contest sponsored by another service club. We are handicapped in this contest by an old bugaboo—lack of material.”

For the part of all of us that still believes in Santa Claus, the editor quoted from the Mobile Club Gilbert Dukes’ parody, “The Gettysburg Address for Income Taxpayers.”

Two score and some years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this Nation a new tax, conceived in desperation and dedicated to the proposition that all men are fair game. Now we are engaged in a great mass of calculations testing whether this taxpayer or any taxpayer so confused and so impoverished, can long endure.

We are met on Form 1040. We have come to dedicate a large portion of our income to a final resting place with those men who have spent their lives that they may spend our money. It is altogether anguish and torture that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot evade, we cannot cheat. We cannot underestimate this tax. The collectors, clever and sly, who compute here, have gone beyond our poor power to add and subtract.

Our creditors will little note nor long remember what we pay here, but the Bureau of Internal of Revenue can never forget what we report here.

It is not for us, the taxpayers, to question the tax which the Government has thus far ignobly spent. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the task remaining before us—that we here highly resolve that the next year will not find us in a higher income bracket, that this taxpayer, underpaid, shall figure out more deductions, and that this tax of the people, by the Congress, for the Government shall not cause solvency to perish from the earth.

Report of the History Committee for December 2006