Rotary Day in Quesnel - 20 February
Paul P. Harris, an attorney, wanted to create a professional group with the same friendly spirit he felt in the small towns of his youth. On 23 February 1905, Harris, Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, and Hiram Shorey gathered at Loehr’s office in Room 711 of the Unity Building in downtown Chicago. This was the first Rotary club meeting. They decided to call the new club “Rotary” after the practice of rotating meeting locations.
Within five years clubs had formed across the country, from San Francisco to New York.
110 years later, Rotary International consists of 1.2million members of 34,500 clubs across the world, including the 45 Active and 2 Honorary members of Rotary Club of Quesnel which itself celebrates a landmark 60th anniversary this year, having been chartered on 2 November 1955. Click here to learn more about the history of Rotary.
To celebrate, Quesnel Rotarians defied the weather and handed out commemorative cookies (we were worried a layer cake might freeze!) while Savala's Steak House provided a marvellous burger service.
Click here to see the full "Rotary Week in Quesnel" supplement created by Quesnel-Cariboo Observer.