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The Faribault Rotary Club
In the last 100 years the Faribault Rotary Club has celebrated 40th, 50th, and 75th anniversaries. Today we celebrate our 100th.
The Faribault Rotary Club was officially charted 101 years ago at noon on May 1, 1920 as Rotary's 596th club with 22 charter members and by the end of the first-year membership had reached a total of 35.
E.B. Johnson, representing the district governor of the International Rotary Clubs, and three other members of the Minneapolis Rotary Club met with our charter members on Thursday April 29, 1920 to draw up the charter documents. The first President of the Faribault Rotary Club was Frank W. McKellip.
Meetings were held at noon on the first and third Monday of each month and on the evening of the fourth Monday. By 1927 the weekly meeting time was moved to noon on Wednesdays and remains there to this day. Over the years the club has held its meetings at Episcopal Guild House, the Elks Club, Harvey Hotel, Bluebird Inn, Hotel Faribault, Evergreen Knoll, Faribault Country Club, the Lavender Inn, Bernie’s Vintage Ballroom and now and currently at the Inn at Shattuck.
On this 100th anniversary, our club has had approximately 5000 weekly meetings with our longest serving 63-year member, Rod Mahler, attending over 2900 of those meetings. Rod was our 53rd president in 1972-73 and has connections back to the first year of our club when the original 35 first year members were added during 1920-21. Nuba Pletcher, our 4th president and Dr. Donald Chathum our 22nd president joined that first year and were still members after Rod joined in 1958.
Faribault Rotary has sponsored four other clubs: Owatonna in 1922, Northfield in 1925, Cannon Falls in 1954 and the Rotaract club at South Central College in 2019.
Youth service whether local or international has been one of our objectives over the last 100 years. Some examples include:
- A picnic for 290 boys at Roberds Lake in 1924.
- The Youth Camp on Cedar Lake was dedicated in 1963 and has stayed an important part of our club legacy providing service and enjoyment for youth organizations, families and other groups to this day.
- The club sponsored a shelter for the street children of Santarem, Brazil which provided a place for them to meet in groups and participate in life improvement activities in 1994.
- We sponsored the Rotary youth soccer fields at the Faribault Soccer Complex in 2010 and continue to provide shirts every year through the “Little Feat” program.
- The Faribault Club has hosted many exchange students here and sent local students abroad to increase unity and understanding.
- Rotary’s focus on youth has also resulted in programs like STRIVE, STAY, Rotary Readers, the school buddy benches, youth Respect Retreats, aquatic wheelchairs for disabled children and many more programs benefiting local youth.
- Over $350,000 have been given to local students by Rotary through music, arts and academic scholarships.
The Faribault Rotary Club has been part of international programs to improve farming processes in Sierra Leone, sending books to schools in Africa, and inoculating children against polio around the world, most recently in Pakistan.
In 2016 we were instrumental in the renovation of an historic clock downtown long in disrepair, and the placement of a mural honoring that clock in downtown Faribault.
We honor the motto of “Service Above Self” by sponsoring blood drives, ringing Salvation Army Bells, delivering meals on wheels, participating in clothing drives, community beautification projects, selling roses and conducting raffles to fund youth programing.
We have established a number of traditions that are still an important part of the Faribault Rotary Club. In 1939 the Faribault High School Choir started an annual Christmas Concert. This December will be the 81st Rotary Concert.
In 1965, the Faribault Senior High Band, Choir and Orchestra performed with all proceeds used to benefit Faribault Youth Services Inc. and the Rotary Camp which continues to this day.
During Rotary luncheon programs we have had Governor’s, Senators, congressman, state and local politicians express their views. Programs over the years included topics such as:
- Does Faribault need an airport? (1941)
- A program on Direct Dialing telephones and the new Highway 35 progress. (1961)
- Over the last 10 years we have had historically informational and international adventure programs from our own Rotarians George Wickstrom and Dick Huston.
-We award multiple Paul Harris Fellows every year.
- As a club we started a new tradition 5 years ago of honoring past presidents who are no longer members by inviting them every year at the end of June to join us for the installation of our next president.
Six district governors have come from the Faribault Rotary Club. The last one, Layton Hoysler, served in 1974.
Rotary was a men’s organization until 1987 when Rotary International authorized the induction of women as Rotarians.
Janine Sahagian was the first women to join the Faribault club and served as the first female president in 1999-2000 and in our 100th year, Amy Amundson became our 100th President.
Just 26 years ago I was fortunate enough to be part of the 75-year anniversary celebration. As I look back at my picture at the far left I realize that my necktie has always been better than Dick Huston’s.
With the current Covid-19 pandemic crisis and the government stay at home order along with the cancellation of all group meetings and events, we were unable to hold our 100-year celebration banquet on May 2, 2020. Ironically our club’s founders started this club 100 years ago during the Spanish flu pandemic. Hopefully this will not be the case on our 200-year anniversary.
As we look to the future, we will continue to live and promote the ideals of the “Four Way Test” adopted by Rotary International in 1943:
- Is it the Truth?
- Is it fair to all concerned?
- Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
- Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
So, today after 100-years, the men and women of the Faribault Rotary Club will continue to honor the legacy of “Service Above Self” to our community and the world for the next 100 years and beyond.