Oneonta Rotary Club marks 100th year
May 13—A century ago, Oneonta had the Camel Club — a gentlemen's club of business owners and community leaders who would meet for lunch and, apparently, smoke Camel cigarettes. The Camels are long gone now, but not the lunches: on April 20, 1922, the club formally became the Oneonta chapter of the Rotary Club, and they've been meeting ever since.
A crowd of 67 Rotarians and guests convened Thursday evening, May 12, to observe the chapter's centennial — honoring their history, celebrating their present and planning for the future, said Lynne Sessions, who led the committee that coordinated a year of volunteer projects.
"Our guiding principle was service above self, which is why we do all this. And what better way to celebrate 100 years of service than to go above and beyond what you have done before?," she said.
For the year, a centennial steering committee arranged monthly service projects "organized around the theme of 100," Sessions said — although every month the club exceeded their goals.
In September, the group planned to plant 100 daffodil bulbs at Huntington Park; in reality, they donated 100 bulbs and helped plant 600 more. For December, they donated winter hats and mittens to schools in Oneonta and Laurens. February's project was to write 100 Valentine's Day cards to residents of two nursing homes.
They ended up writing personalized 400 personalized cards and thank you notes to the staff. On Saturday, the club will plant 100 tree seedlings on city water protection land near Oneonta's lower reservoir.
"It's a group of people who care deeply about the community, and care about each other," said chapter co-president Rosalie Higgins.
After the dinner, Oneonta Mayor Mark Drnek recognized the organization for its years of public service. "Members of the Oneonta Rotary have, through their example and deeds, been exemplars of the principle 'Service Above Self," he read in an official resolution, and proclaimed April 20 as official Oneonta Rotary Day in the city, "for the coming year and into perpetuity."
Member Bob Davidson presented Drnek with a list generated by the Rotarians containing over 100 ideas for improving the city of Oneonta, and an offer to help implement them.
A copy of the idea list provided to The Daily Star included 109 items, many focused on public infrastructure and public events. Some were small and specific, such as "wheelchair-accessible picnic tables in our parks," while other ideas were ambitious and ambiguous. "Develop a plan to decrease our carbon footprint," one read.
"The mayor said 'give me ideas' so we gave 100. I hope he calls and asks us 'can somebody help bring this to fruition?'," Higgins said later in the evening. "We want to be part of it. That's what I love about Rotary, there's always people who step up and say 'I'll do it'." Many of the ideas have been previously listed on the city's comprehensive plan but never implemented.
"Service clubs can help," Higgins said.
Higgins called joining the Rotary Club 16 years ago "the best thing I could have done." At the time, she had recently retired and moved from Delhi to Oneonta. It was lonely, she said.
"I knew two people here," and one of them invited her to a Rotary meeting. "It gave me a kind of home. You talk about commitment to community — people have been members 51, 53, 59 years," she said.
Higgins read a list of highlights from the organization's history.
The club has been one of the organizers of the city's Halloween celebration for over 80 years, and started taking local children shopping for Christmas gifts in the 1940s. During one meeting in 1944, members raised over $50,000 for war bonds. The Rotary Club has run international youth exchanges for over 50 years.
"Here's the best part: women were admitted to membership in 1989," Higgins said, two years after a Supreme Court decision mandated it. "And since then, Oneonta Rotary has had 10 female presidents. Get a good woman and get out of her way!"
Today the Oneonta Rotary has 74 members, about one third of them women.
Member Susan Patterson read excerpts from an Oneonta Star newspaper article about the founding meeting on April 20, 1922.
That initial event included "a succession of the gustatory delights" and the Rotarians "indulged in their favorite sport of community singing." It sounded quite similar to the meeting on Thursday, "with an abundance of the true spirit of Rotary displayed in both fun making and serious speeches."
Mike Forster Rothbart, staff writer, can be reached at mforsterrothbart@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7213.
