The Formation of the Sunset Club
On November 6, 1996, with the permission of the District Governor, and cooperation of the Hilton Head Island and Van Landingham Clubs, Ed Dowaschinski, Alan Coyne and others began the process of forming the Sunset Rotary Club. After four months of Rotary documentation and oversight, Rotary International granted the new club its charter on March 20th, 1997. The Sunset Club rounded out the options available to island Rotarians with a Monday dinner meeting choice to complement the Thursday lunch schedule of the Hilton Head Island, and the Tuesday morning timing of the Van Landingham club. Three Charter Members of the original club (all officers at the time) are pictured below. (Left to right: Morris Young (Sergeant-at-Arms), Ed Dowaschinski(President), and Alan Coyne (President-Elect) are still active in the "Sunset Club".
The founding members universally agreed that Community Service was the life blood of a new club. The motto "Service above Self" was adopted to reflect this value. Topics from initial speakers included Community in Schools, discussions on the Gullah Festival building plans for the Boys & Girls Club and learning more about the Paul Harris Fellow program, Paul Harris Society and the Rotary Foundation.