| Brief History of Rotary in District 7710
On August 1, 1914, Rotary came to North Carolina when the Rotary
Club of Raleigh received its charter as Club Number 124 of the
International Association of Rotary Clubs. The Club owes its
existence to the dedication of Rotarian George W. Harris, the noted
photographer of Washington, D.C., who traveled to
Raleigh on April 29, 1914, to meet with ten interested businessmen.
He made the trip not by a high-flying jet
nor a smooth super-highway, but by railway, taking many hours of his
time. During the week following his visit, five men were added to
the original ten, making fifteen charter members of the first
service club in the state and in the present area of District 7710.
George Harris did not rest on his laurels. On November 9, 1915,
he was back in North Carolina, this time at Durham, where his
enthusiasm led to the formation of the
Rotary Club of Durham,
chartered on January 1, 1916, as Club Number 196 — helping produce a
fifty-eight percent increase in the number of Rotary Clubs worldwide
in a period of seventeen months.
As Rotary grew, there emerged the concept of Rotary Districts,
each presided over by a District Governor. Commencing on July 1,
1915, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina comprised Rotary
District 4, the first District Governor being David P. Sites of
Roanoke, Virginia. This geographic alignment lasted until June 30,
1922, when the increased density of Rotary Clubs made it necessary
to subdivide the district into smaller
segments.
 The first District Governor from what is now District 7710 was M.
Eugene Newsom, of Durham, who served in 1924-1925. Gene Newsom went
on to serve as the President of Rotary International in 1929-1930,
the only native of the present District 7710 to be so honored.
 Much
later (in 1967-1968),
Luther Hodges, then living in
Chapel Hill,
also served as the President of Rotary International, so the
district can claim two distinguished sons of Rotary.
The first district-wide effort of which we have a record occurred
in 1943 -1944, when Robert W. Madry was District Governor. Because
of District Governor Bob’s zeal, every Rotary Club in the district
contributed to the Rotary Foundation — a statistic matched by no
other American Rotary District during that year.
On October 6, 1950, a group of Rotarians met in Rocky Mount to
formulate plans for a District Student Exchange Program. The plans
were accepted by the clubs in the district; and the first foreign
student, Michel Berger, of Besancon, France, was enrolled at
Atlantic Christian College for the year 1951-1952.
Through the years, students from twenty-three different foreign
countries have been awarded scholarships to study at
colleges and universities in the district. On four occasions, funds
have been used to send local students abroad for a year of study.
About this same time, the Rotary Foundation began its program of
awarding scholarships and fellowships to young men and young women
for a year of study in a foreign country. The first recipient of a
Foundation Award from this district was Mary B. Josey, sponsored by
the Rotary Club of Tarboro, who studied at
Reading, England, on 1951-1952. In the years that followed, many
students sponsored by Rotary Clubs in the district have studied in
foreign countries. Not only has the district sent its young people
abroad to study, but due to the widely-known educational centers in
the district, it has received Rotary Foundation Scholars and Fellows
from many parts of the Rotary world.
On July 25, 1965, ground was broken for the $75,000 Rotary
Cottage at the Boys & Girls Home at Lake Waccamaw. The Cottage was
completed and dedicated on May 1, 1966. Funds for this project were
raised through a cooperative effort by the four Rotary districts in
North Carolina. Each year the district encourages individual
Rotarians and Rotary Clubs to make generous contributions in support
of the work of Boys & Girls
Home.
The district has enthusiastically participated in the Group Study
Exchange Program of the Rotary Foundation, starting in the spring of
1969, when a team visited District 265 in Australia. The team from
District 265 visited District 7710 in the fall of 1969.
In the spring of 1974 the Rotary Club of the Research Triangle
Park initiated a Student Intern Program at the Park. The industrial
laboratories at the Park agreed to employ rising high school seniors
for a six week summer period. Because the program was available to
all high schools in the district, District 7710 endorsed the program
and provides some financial support for it.
Between 1974 and 1991, more than 210 young people from towns and
cities in District 7710 have received “hands-on” experience in the
non-academic world.
Initiated in 1982 and chartered in 1983, the District 7710
Foundation provided a new tool for Rotarians to serve their
communities. The first major project provided $7,000 for victims of
a hurricane which struck communities in District 7710 during 1984.
Today, the Foundation includes the Charles and Margaret McCullers
Scholarship Fund for the Boys & Girls Home at Lake Waccamaw and
another fund from which proceeds are used for maintenance of the
Rotary Cottage at Boys & Girls Home.
In 1985, District 7710 conducted its first Rotary Youth
Leadership Awards conference for high school students. Currently, we
invite district 7720 (most of which was formerly part of 7710) to
participate with us in our RYLA event.
Beginning in 1984, District 7710 joined with three other
districts to conduct a President’s-Elect Training Seminar (PETS).
This event has now become known as Carolinas’ PETS and provides
training to the incoming club presidents in all of the clubs in
North Carolina and those in the western half of South Carolina.
These seven districts are: 7670, 7680, 7690, 7710, 7720, 7730,
and 7750.
Since 1914 there have been thousands of Rotary meetings in the
district, stimulating friendships and fellowships among Rotarians
and encouraging service by Rotarians to clubs, communities,
professions, and the world. Fund-raising activities have been
numerous and service projects have filled many needs.
During recent years, an effort has been made to recover Rotary
documents, both old and current, in order that a history of Rotary
might be written. A volume entitled “Rotary in Northeastern North
Carolina” has been produced. Original documents and papers have been
deposited in the Duke University Library for safe-keeping, so that
they may be available in the years to come.
Provided by 7710 PDG Mike Thacker (2003-2004)
|
Subscribe
to RGHF's weekly email features free: