The History of Rotary Club of Ventura

 

 

The Rotary Club of Ventura was chartered by Rotary International on May 1, 1919. The club was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara.

 

But that date is not really the beginning of the story. A meeting of Ventura business people and Santa Barbara Club Rotarians took place almost a whole year earlier in the week of June 3, 1918, where the seeds were sown for the establishment, immediately, of an unchartered Ventura Rotary Club.

 

The first meeting of the Ventura Rotary Club took place on Wednesday, June 12, 1918 at the Hotel De Leon in downtown Ventura. James Briscoe, retiring President of the Santa Barbara Rotary Club, which had received its charter in January, 1918, and Byron Terry, a charter member of Rotary Club Number One, (Chicago Rotary Club, Mr. Terry actually knew Paul Harris), were present and explained the purposes of Rotary.

 

Twenty prominent Ventura members of different professions joined that day, electing J. Hyde Chaffee President and L. P. Hathaway Secretary. A committee was formed and instructed to formulate a Constitution and By Laws. Wednesday at noon was fixed as the date and time of the weekly meeting, which, of course, holds to this day.

 

Before receiving it’s charter our club was very active, recruiting more members and working for Rotary International approval.

 

On January 2, 1919, the Club speaker was William Dalliba, an American in Paris that organized the great American Ambulance during World War I and received the highest honor of the French Republic, the Chevalier Legion of Honor.

 

On February 12, 1919, by unanimous vote, our club voted to affiliate with the International Association of Rotary Clubs. At the time Rotary International had 429 Clubs and a membership of 38,800, located in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Cuba, China and Uruguay. Through this affiliation our club had to raise its annual dues from $5.00 to a whopping $10.00.

 

The Ventura Star reported on April 1, 1919, that Dr. F. F. Nalder of the University of California gave a talk on the popular Rotary idea of “Pulling Together.” Club singing was a preferred method.

 

“If any Rotarian knows another Rotarian who has nerve enough to sing in that bunch of highbinders, an opportunity may be given at an early meeting.”

 

Our Club received its Charter from Rotary International on May 16, 1919, and appropriately celebrated together in song.

 

Our Club heritage and its activities today truly reflect the history of our County, the events that have shaped the lives of many generations, the individual and cooperative contributions of our many members and the purposes of Rotary International.

 

 

 

 

John “Hyde” Chaffee was the Rotary Club of Ventura’s first president when the club was officially chartered on May 1, 1919. At the time of the charter, membership numbered only about twenty men.

         

Chaffee was born in Ventura on January 29, 1869. He spent many years with the National Bank of Ventura (started by his father), and later with the Bank of America. In 1891 he was a teller at the Bank of Ventura. He spent two and a half years as Chief Deputy Auditor and became the Chief County Auditor from 1936 to 1950. He also the President of the W.S. Chaffee Estate Company (office at the Bank of Ventura) along with W.G Wilde, Vice-President, W.S. Chaffee, Secretary, A.L. Chaffee and F.E. Woods.

         

Chaffee was also a member of the Masonic Lodge in Ventura, the Elks Lodge and VFW-Honorary. He attended the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Ventura.

 

He died in Ventura on January 25, 1950 at age 80.