Brief histories of the "First 100" Clubs

Rotary Club of Salt Lake City #24

Rotary International District 5420

Tenth Annual Rotary Convention 1919

98th RI Convention Host 2007

Now, more than ever Rotarians had an opportunity to show the world what we stand for.

 

Clubs 24 History

 

The Rotary Club of Salt Lake City (Club 24) received its charter on January 31, 1911. It was then the only Intermountain Club between Chicago and the West Coast. From then until the Tenth Annual Rotary Convention held in Salt Lake City in June 1919, a number of new clubs in the area were organized and delegates for and members of them attending it were from Billings, Butte, Great Falls, Helena and Missoula in Montana: Boise, Idaho Falls and Pocatello in Idaho, and Logan and Ogden, besides Salt Lake in Utah. All of these Clubs had been organized by, or with the help of the Salt Lake Club and were then in District 20, consisting of Montana, Idaho, Utah and Western Wyoming.

 

The Tenth Annual Rotary Convention was the high point of our early days in Rotary. The registrations showed 395 Rotarians and Ladies from Salt Lake City and 2,643 visiting Rotarians and their ladies, a grand total of 3, 038. Incidentally, our own Richard L. Evans, Club 24 past president, District Governor 1956-57, and Rotary International President 1966-67, attended this Convention as a Boy Scout on Duty. Among his ushering and other jobs was pushing the push-carts brought to Salt Lake by Atlantic City Rotarians as a bid to the next Convention! His duties made him think of Rotary as something different and significant; which thought continued with him throughout his life. Richard L Evans was a member, & chair of the Rotary International Foundation from 1967 until his passing in November 1971. 

 

No forms were available for our Constitution and By-Laws in 1911, so we drafted our own which provided for control from the floor, rather than by a Board of Directors. Although amended from time to time to conform with the Standard Documents, this control from the floor has been maintained. (Club 24 is one of the very few "Granddaddy" clubs throughout the world, who maintain their own Constitution and By-Laws.

 

Because our Club is "vive la voice", and our constitution requires that the Club members themselves must authorize the projects, this has helped the selection of our numerous community service projects will be permanent and worthwhile.

 

More History (click here)

 

Read about the 2001 Rotary Play Park

See our delegation at Rotary's 2nd convention in Portland, Oregon, USA in 1911. A rare, early Rotary history photo.