Thank you to all our Rotarians who came together to help put on another successful event!
UPCOMING EVENTS: Watch your email for notifications of upcoming events and service opportunities.
If you have any announcements you would like to share, please email me at chuck.gore@stahlinsurance.com and I will include it in the bulletin.
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We have several open dates coming up. Please be aware if these are programs you are responsible for and reach out to Steve Solomon or Kayla Drawdy to let them know what you have planned.
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If you have an announcement that you would like to share with the club, please email me the details by Thursday afternoon so it can be included in this weeks bulletin!
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Famous Rotarians
James Cash Penney Jr. (September 16, 1875 – February 12, 1971) was an American businessman and entrepreneur who founded the JCPenney stores in 1902.[1]
Penney was born on September 16, 1875, on a farm outside of Hamilton, Missouri, the seventh of twelve children, only six of whom lived to adulthood, born to James Cash Penney and Mary Frances (born Paxton) Penney. Penney's father was a Baptist preacher and farmer whose strict discipline included making his son pay for his own clothing once he reached eight years of age.[2]
After graduation from Hamilton High School, Penney intended to attend college with hopes of becoming a lawyer. His father's untimely death, however, forced a change in plans, and Penney was forced to work as a store clerk to help support the family. Penney's tuberculosis caused him to venture west to Longmont, Colorado.[2]
In 1898, Penney began working for a small chain of stores in the Western United States, called the Golden Rule stores. In 1902, owners Guy Johnson and Thomas Callahan, impressed by his work ethic and salesmanship, offered him a one-third partnership in a new store he would open. Penney invested $2,000 and moved to Kemmerer, Wyoming, to open a store there. He participated in opening two more stores, and when Callahan and Johnson dissolved their partnership in 1907 he purchased full interest in all three stores.[3]
By 1912, there were 34 stores in the Rocky Mountain States. In 1913, he moved the company to the Kearns Building in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. The company was incorporated under the new name, J. C. Penney Company.
In 1916, he began to expand the chain east of the Mississippi River, and during the 1920s, the Penney company expanded nationwide, with 120 stores in 1920, most of which were still in the west. By 1924, Penney reported income of more than $1 million annually.[4] The number of stores reached 1,400 by 1929.
The large income allowed him to be heavily involved in many philanthropic causes during the 1920s. By 1921, he had a home on Belle Isle in Miami Beach, Florida. Penney and partner Ralph W. Gwinn invested heavily in Florida real estate, including 120,000 acres (490 km2) in Clay County. Some of this land became Penney Farms. This was also the start of Foremost Dairy Products Inc. Penney later recruited Paul E. Reinhold to run the dairy. Most of this work was halted with the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression left Penney in financial ruin.[3]
After the crash, Penney lost virtually all his personal wealth and borrowed against his life insurance policies to help the company meet its payroll. The financial setbacks took a toll on his health, and he checked himself into the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, for treatment.
After hearing the hymn "God Will Take Care of You", written by Civilla D. Martin, sung at a service in the hospital's chapel, he became a born againChristian.[5]
Even after relinquishing daily operating management of the company, Penney continued his active involvement in managing the company and its stores. In 1940, during a visit to a store in Des Moines, Iowa, he trained a young Sam Walton on how to wrap packages with a minimal amount of paper and ribbon.[6] He remained chairman of the board until 1946, and after that, as honorary chairman until his death in 1971. He never found a way to truly retire; he regularly visited his offices until his death. Penney directed his stores to be closed on Sunday so employees could attend church.[3]
James was an active member of the Rotary Club of New York, NY.
Rotary is committing US$500,000 to bolster the initiative, channeling these funds through a dedicated Polio Outbreak Response Fund. This contribution represents Rotary's sustained support to the World Health Organization in combating polio globally.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, to host 2028 Rotary International ConventionRotary has announced that Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, will host its convention in 2028.The Rotary International Convention welcomes tens of thousands of
