History: a study of the club archives

“While I Was Away”
a report given by Ellsworth Steele

Examining the “Reports to the Governor” prepared by the Auburn Rotary Club for the 1986-1990 period I find much of great interest.  Although I had been a Rotarian for 25 years, I was not in the club during this time. Some of the changes from the “old days” that I see in our current practices originated during these years . Some others, like new TV shows, were proposed or even launched, but soon yanked from the fall schedule.

In 1987, President H.C. Morgan could proudly claim that the Auburn Rotary Club had recent launched the successful Sunrise Rotary Club and inaugurated an annual recognition of “Outstanding Citizens” of the community.

The same year, Ed Bagwell, as chairman of the Community Needs Committee, won approval of a weekly football pool, with 50 percent going to the winner and 50 percent to club community needs, as our weekly Community Needs Drawing does today.

About this time, the club started celebrating birthdays and anniversaries. In 1987, the birthday honoree was expected to contribute a cent for each year of age. Spouses received a carnation on anniversaries.

Gerald Johnson proposed that the club appoint a club historian and now we have a History Committee.

A few other proposals and trials did not fare so well.  In the summer of 1986, the club held the first of what were to be quarterly evening meetings or “Mini-Ladies Nights," but seems not to have had many more.

In 1987, the club struggled over buying equipment for “Santa Canning”" a labor-intensive program that would be operated in Decembers at the mall, with profits going to community needs.  Some of the older members will know exactly what was involved, but the program soon died out.

After a survey of club members, a plan was considered to designate a “Nut of the Week Award.”   A nominator would take 30 seconds to present a candidate and his qualifications.  The poor nominee would have an equal time to defend himself.  If the nominee lost the ensuing club vote, he was to receive a desk trophy and a lapel pin to be worn to meetings until a successor was selected, or pay a $1 fine.  The proposal mercifully died.

In 1989, the club began to send “red cards” to members who had missed three consecutive meetings.  That year an energetic committee inaugurated an “Adopt-a-Mile” trash clean up program with members responsible to recruit volunteers to work assigned weeks.

In 1988, without fanfare recorded in the governor’s reports, the club embraced women!   Leah Rawls Atkins, the historian, joined our ranks to be followed soon by Lyndal Simpson and Gail Alsobrook.  Gerald Johnson discreetly suggested that the name for “Ladies Night” be changed so the gender-neutral and current “Sweetheart Night.”

One of our Bulletin editors in these years sagely warned, “It is always the best policy to speak the truth, unless of course you are an exceptionally good liar.”

Report of the History Committee for June 2007