Club History

A Condensed History of the Alliance Rotary Club

On January 11, 1917, a small group of business men met in the Chamber of Commerce rooms in the City Hall to hear the story of Rotary. Bill Rose called the meeting to order and on motion by Speedy Swift, Bill Rose was chosen as temporary chairman. Rose then explained the principals of Rotary. Hi Henry and other members read excerpts from the Rotary pamphlets. From the Rotary literature at hand, the group became convinced of the advisability of associating together in a club whose motto, "Service Above Self," had enriched so many communities. The group decided to limit initial membership to 25. Members were appointed to serve on the committees for Constitution and Bylaws, Membership, and Permanent Organization. It was agreed to invite Mr. Edwin B. Lord of the sponsoring Massillon club to the next meeting

Those in attendance at the meeting were: Guy Allott, Frank Baughman, Robert Bleich, Frank Cassaday, Arthur Cooey, Howard Hazzard, F. E. Henry, Jr., Issie Koch, William Rose, Frank Rennels, Charley Swift and Edgar Turkle.

Another meeting was held in the same rooms January 17, at which the Rotary story was told by Edwin B. Lord, secretary of the Massillon club. At this meeting, the group decided to form a Rotary Club in Alliance. The Club Constitution and Bylaws were approved. The Committee on Permanent Organization nominated directors.

All that remained was to perfect the organization and elect its officers and directors. This was done at a meeting on January 25. Those elected to the board of directors were Baughman, Bleich, Hoover, Rennels, Swift and Turkle. This board then chose William Rose as president, F.E. Henry Jr., as vice president, Guy Allott as treasurer, and Jack Rogers as secretary. Speedy Swift and Stogie Allott were assigned the task of locating a place for noon luncheons.

The first noon luncheon was held at the Lexington Hotel on Friday, February 2, 1917. At that luncheon a meeting was called for Thursday noon at the Brunner. The Club meetings were held at Thursday noon for the first few years. For several years each regular luncheon meeting was chaired by a different member.

At that February 8th meeting, Edgar Turkle made a motion which was passed that each late member be fined 5¢ for each minute late to a maximum of 50¢. This fine procedure was used for a number of years. At the next meeting on the 15th of Feb. - a motion was passed that fined each absent member, the cost of the meal if he did not notify the Secretary by 3 PM the previous day. This was later relaxed to 10am of the meeting day and was eventually dropped entirely.

Weekly meetings were continued except that the March 22 meeting was canceled so that members could attend the District Convention in Wheeling.

The club was officially inducted into Rotary International and the charter presented at the Lexington Hotel on the evening of Thursday, April 5, 1917. Rotarians were present not only from the sponsoring club, Massillon, but also from Akron, Canton, Cleveland and Toledo. Ed Kelsey of the Toledo Club delivered the principal address. Thus, the official birthday of the club is April 5.

The young service club immediately began its first Community Service project by distributing garden seed in Alliance at the request of the Rotary International President Klump. "Hi" Henry began Vocational Service activity by speaking to the high school students and enlisting them for work on farms. The first club delegate to an international convention was Bill Rose, who attended in Atlanta.

Projects this first year included seed distribution, Big Brother movement, a picnic for poor boys, (forty were entertained at the Country Club), advertising for the Second Liberty Loan Drive, participation in the Army YMCA Fund Campaign, raising potatoes as a fund raising project, and participation in the $750,000 Mount Union College Educational Jubilee Fund.

At the April 19 meeting, the first major Alliance Rotary Club project was started. The Potato Project. The "Spuds" committee was retained and empowered to offer George Oyster, seed, fertilizer, and germicide for 21 acres, provided that he would plant, care for and dig same for 50% of the gross crop. At the April 26th meeting the club endorsed a resolution supporting Eastern Time.

At the May 14, 1917 directors meeting - C. Bleich was instructed to have a picture taken of the car of potatoes obtained by the Rotary Club and forwarded to the "Rotarian" magazine.

The June 7, 14, and 21st meeting were put at the disposal of the "Spuds" committee, for the purpose of assisting the farmers in planting the Rotary Potato Patch.

On July 17, 1917 a banquet was held in honor of a member, Col. C. C. Weybrecht, who was called to military service. He was presented a watch as a token of their esteem and good wishes. For Christmas 1917, a Rotary smoking pipe was sent to Col. Weybrecht. Later the Club had a Regimental Flag made and sent to Col. Weybrecht for his use.

Further revelations from meeting minutes of the first several years:

Aug. 1 - A joint meeting with Canton, Akron, and Massillon Clubs was held at Congress Lake.

Aug. 30 - President Rose's resignation was accepted with no reason given. He did not leave town but he is mentioned in later minutes as being with the Alliance Red Cross committee

Meetings for October were discontinued in order that the Rotary Club might act as a Committee in charge of the advertising of a second Liberty Loan (for the war effort).

On Nov. 5 - Howard Hazzard was elected president to fill the vacancy of Bill Rose. On Nov. 12th, Secretary J.D. Rogers was given an indefinite leave of absence (he also was called to service - nothing more is mentioned of him) and Arthur Morris was appointed as "temporary" Secretary. Two officers and one director had resigned, leaving only 22 members. A rocky start for a new club.

At a meeting on Nov. 28, 14 members agreed to hire one or two Boy Scouts at 15¢/hr so that they could each earn $10 pledges towards a national goal of $1 million for the Army YMCA fund. Also the "Spuds" committee reported that all of the potatoes had been marketed and that there was a small profit of $78.80. The Potato Patch was never resurrected probably for similar reasons that the Great Oktober Fest in 1988 became the Oktober Bust.

At the first meeting of 1918, a discussion was held on buying Savings Stamps for the war effort. A motion was passed that the Club take full responsibility for the publicity campaign for War Savings Stamps and that 25¢ be added to each member's lunch price which would then be used to buy Thrift stamps.

Jan. 17, 1917 - Bishop Williams of Detroit, who was sent by the American Red Cross to France for the purpose of investigating conditions in France and in the trenches was the guest of the Club and gave a very instructive, interesting and graphic talk on the conditions in France and discussed in detail the great problem which is facing our country in handling the great menace of venereal diseases.

June 5, 1918 - The club moved and seconded that the Federal authorities be advised of the fact that the Alliance-Salem Road and the Westville-Salem Road is apparently being held up by the Federal Authorities. Shades of US 62 at the end of the century; or in other words; things just never change!

Oct. 2 - Just what happened at this meeting, the Secretary is unable to say, or if anything did happen there is apparently no record of it, except that C. L. Sebring promptly paid his fine of 50¢ for his last unexcused absence. Very likely the promptness of this member in stepping forward to pay his fine put the secretary in sort of a comatose condition, from which he apparently did not recover until the meeting was over.

Oct. 10-31 - no meeting were held because of a request of the board of Health concerning the epidemic of influenza sweeping the country.

Nov. 7, 1918 - This was a very exciting and momentous meeting of the Rotary Club, and was ended by the greatest celebration in the history of the Country.

Dec. 19, 1918 - Mr. Coy of Cleveland, Ohio, an expert accountant, who had spent a number of months at Washington, helping the Government out on their tax problems, gave a most interesting and instructive talk on the Income Tax. Mr. Coy held his listeners spell-bound for one hour.

April 24, 1919 - Walter McCullough spoke of his experiences in finding the Tank which was exhibited here Tuesday evening but failed to mention his experiences in finding the girls which he promised the men for coming on to Alliance that night.

July 10 - Contest for best looking and homeliest man at table resulted as follows: Turkle, by a large majority, was voted by far the best looking man and was given a box of cigars. Turkle was so pleased with his present that he set up smokes to the bunch. Koch had the honor of being voted the homeliest and was presented with the order for ice cream.

July 20 - All members went to the train station to meet Col. C. C. Weybrecht, who was returning from military service,

Aug. 13 - A meeting was held at Congress Lake Country Club to honor Col. Chas. C. Weybrecht, who had just returned from service in France. Dr. McMaster was Toastmaster of the evening and the Colonel gave a very interesting talk.

Aug. 27 - NO MEETING HELD ON THIS DATE ACCOUNT OF THE DEATH OF OUR BELOVED BROTHER ROTARIAN COL. CHAS. C. WEYBRECHT WHO JUST RETURNED FROM FRANCE ONLY TO BE STRICKEN DOWN BY POISONING AT A DINNER PARTY GIVEN IN HIS HONOR. (It was not the Rotary banquet!)

Feb. 26, 1920 - Stogie tells about his trip East and imbibing in what ever he could find, in fact his whole conversation was on the booze question. Stogie is considering moving to NJ. Bonner's talk was very encouraging in that there is a possibility of getting natural gas for the city. What we need is more gas and not so much hot air. - adjourned.

Oct. 13 - 1920 - meeting moved to Wed. noon (remained as Wed. noon meeting ever since)

President Henry named the first Crippled Children's Committee May 12, 1920. Dr. Perry F. King was named chairman, assisted by Dr. C. S. Hoover and Dr. F. R. Stamp. A discussion regarding the work of this committee was led by Edgar Turkle. Dr. King reported on May 13, 1920 that twenty-four children had been transported to Canton for treatment. The first artificial limb was purchased in 1921.

Rotary's interest in public playgrounds began in 1920 and has continued to the present. Playgrounds throughout the city had their origin from the original "Playground" Committee of Rotary.

The Alliance Rotary Club sponsored the East Liverpool Rotary Club, which was chartered December 28, 1920. A large group of Rotarians traveled on a chartered train to attend the first meeting of the East Liverpool Rotary Club.

Alliance Rotarians have always demonstrated their motto, "Service Above Self" in their many endeavors over the past seventy-six years. The work of the Crippled Children's Committee led to providing a completely equipped Physical Therapy Department in the Alliance City Hospital.

The twenty-fifth anniversary of the Rotary Club was celebrated May 5-6, 1942, as Alliance Rotarians and their Rotary-Ann's entertained over eight hundred visitors from District #158 (now 6650), representing forty-six clubs in northeastern Ohio. Speaker for the occasion was Dr. Bruce Baxter, Bishop of the Methodist Church and past President (1924-25) of the Alliance Rotary Club.

Past President and Past District Governor Dillon Crist was chairman of the Conference. Honorary Rotarian Clarence D. Steffy was Conference Secretary. Dr. J. M. Scott was President of the Club.

The annual Easter Seal project to raise funds for Crippled Children work was begun in 1933.

Our Club has provided leadership to Rotary International. Two Alliance Rotarians, Dillon Crist (1936-37) and Arthur Sayles (1953-54) served as District Governors.

Other randomly selected highlights found in the minutes:

July 18, 1923 - the All. Rot. club honored member William L. Hart who had been elected President of the Ohio Bar Assoc. he later became a Ohio Supreme Court Justice.

1923 Project - The Alliance Rotary Club sponsored two concerts by the US Marine Corps Band - net profit $1515. The crippled children committee was authorized to purchase necessary equipment for a crippled children's ward at the hospital.

Aug. 1923 - President Baxter, professor of English Bible at Mount Union College, resigned to accept a position at USC - he later became a Bishop of the Methodist Church.

In the 1930's, the Alliance Rotary Club gave loans to a number of needy college students.

The 1939-’40 - budget approved for $1,520 - '93-94 Budget $33,000

As of 1941 - meetings were still held at the Lexington Hotel

June 1942 - meal prices raised 75¢ to 85¢.

Dec. 1942 - leave of absence granted to Leroy Zang since he was called to serve in the armed services.

Apr. 1943 - Pres. Bill Corry resigned to enter the armed services

July 1943 - Alliance Rotary Club went on record as endorsing the proposed Stark-Summit Memorial Airport

Jan 1944 - Pres. CC Crawford, seeking to prove once again that he is a marksman in the field and not a patron of the black market - invited the board of directors to a pheasant dinner at his home.

Dec. 1944 - The board approved establishment of the Jerry Crawford Rotary Foundation for Crippled Children - with Fred Rauth as the financial consultant and eventually was elected to the office of President of the Foundation.

During the 50's the Club held contests for 4H members - the first prize was a dairy heifer.

Nov. 5, 1970 - The Club bought a Railroad Car Caboose for the Iron Horse Trail - price $850.

A historic event occurred in 1974 - the first application for membership from a woman was received and denied. On Nov. 2, 1988 Debra Able, Barb Graf, and Paula Goldman, Carole Reed, and Mary Lou Plavka were inducted as the first women in the Alliance Rotary Club.

March 1975 – The first Antique Auction was held. This became an annual fundraising event.

June 10, 1992 - The Alliance Rotary Club celebrated the Seventy Fifth Anniversary of the founding of the Club. The meeting was held at the Alliance Country Club. The speaker was the Honorable Thomas Moyer, Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court.

Since its earliest days, the Club has been a benefactor to the youth of Alliance. In more recent years, this support has included the YMCA and the Alliance Area Youth Center, now known as the Robertson Youth Center.

The Alliance Rotary Club is constantly fulfilling its purpose of unselfish service, the ideal of "doing something for somebody else." Over the years Alliance Rotarians have stood shoulder to shoulder, each member carrying a share of the work that needs to be done. So long as there is a single handicapped child who might be restored to a life of happy usefulness; so long as there is need for public institutions; so long as practices in business and professions remain ethically questionable--there exists the need for Rotary service.

Sept. 1994 - Phillip Francis chairs the first annual Chicken Barbecue. It was very successful.

May. 1995 - Scott Robertson chairs the first annual Las Vegas Night. It also was very successful.

Dec 17, 1997 As president of the Alliance Rotary Club, Michael A. Ogline presides over the longest club meeting in the Club’s history. The meeting length required pillows

Spring 2000 – The Alliance Rotary Club begins a project to restore the landscaping of the grounds at Glamorgan Castle.

Spring 2004 – The Alliance Rotary Club begins the “Fly the Flag” project. Arnie Hirvela conceived the project and chaired the project. The project takes subscriptions to put the flag out on five National Holidays.

Spring 2004 – President Shafer becomes President Williamson (a first for the club!). Note: She married!