Lancaster Rotary Club Fun Facts

The Lancaster Rotary Club pioneered the concept of making up meetings in 1924.

The Club opened and operated the Rotary Boys Home in cooperation with the County Court from 1919 to 1963.

The Lancaster Club sponsored and started the Lititz and Mt. Joy Clubs in 1926.

The Club opened the Crippled Children's Clinic in 1925.  In 1932, the County took over the Clinic.

The tradition of the monthly birthday table started in the 1937-8 Rotary year.

In 1938, the District Conference was in Lancaster in the beautiful auditorium at McCaskey High School and at the Hotel Brunswick Ballroom.

The Club's weekly newsletter, The Transmitter, began publication in the 1923 year.

The Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic was established in the 1942-43 year.

In 1948, the Club received the first Benjamin Rush Award of the Pennsylvania Medical Society for its Cleft Palate Clinic.

The Club began Wednesday meetings on January 1, 1951.

In 1952, the Club toured the brand new Lancaster General Hospital.

In 1953, the Club program was Snakes Alive with live snakes.

In 1954, The Club established the Association for Retired Citizens.

In 1954, the Wellers completed their 35th and final year as "Dad and Mother" at the Rotary Boys' Home.

In 1960, the Club had a Wild Vest Contest.

In 1962, The Club held its Valentine's Day meeting in the Jail.  Lunch cost one dollar.

In 1962, the Club allowed four members in one classification, Protestant Ministers.

The November 20, 1963, Club program created much emotion and mixed feelings; the speaker was Mitsuo Fuchido, the commander of the squadron that bombed Pearl Harbor 22 years to the day earlier.

The Rotary Boys Home closed in 1963, due to mandated safety regulations the Club was unable to fund.

More than 2,000 boys passed through the Rotary Boys Home.

After 50 years meeting in the Brunswick Hotel, the Club moved to Odd Fellows Hall and then to the Holiday Inn on the Lititz Pike in 1965.

In 1965, the Club's golden anniversary celebration was held at F&M's Mayser Gymnasium.

In 1965, the former Boys Home was sold for $56,000.

In June 24, 1970 the Club moved from the Holiday Inn to the Farm & Home Center.

In 1970, Rotarian Ray Horning informed the Club that the "world's second oldest" profession is brick-making.

The first Club Community Service Award was presented in 1974, to Rotarian Tom Lehmier for his excellent work as Chief Boy Scout Executive of the Lancaster-Lebanon Council.

In 1975, the Club adopted the Oral History Project in conjunction with the Lancaster Library as its bicentennial project.

In 1977, the Club organized the F&M Rotaract Club.  It was chartered in September, 1978.

In 1979, the Club contributed to build a horse barn for Lancaster Mounted Police at Long Park.

In 1980, the Club started funding the Graduate House to accommodate boys ages 17-19 for a maximum of one year.  The boys did charity work and were provided help in finding jobs.

In 1981, the first Ah Variety show featured some with talent and some with guts but raised $8,100.

In 1982, the Club hosted the District Conference in Williamsburg, VA. Ninety people attended from Lancaster.

In 1985, the Club recognized Michael "Mike" Moore for 50 years of perfect attendance, all in Lancaster.

In 1987, the Club raised $260,000 for RI's new Polio program, enough money to immunize two million children.

In 1988, the "membership looked better and smelled better." Women were admitted to Rotary Clubs.

In 1990, the Club raised $80,000 for the Boys & Girls Club and pledged another $50,000.

In 1990, the Club's Roger Groce received the Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service for his Nigerian Neurosurgery Mission. (see Rotarian article)

In 1992, there was a luncheon on the stage at the Fulton Opera House.

The Club's first Annual Rotary Amateur Bicycle Race occurred in 1992. The last race was in 1997.

In 1992, the Club adopted the "Faces of Lancaster" project for Lancaster's Sestercentennial (250th).

In 1993, Bill Marshall chaired the Tip-Off basketball tournament at F&M College; it became an annual event until 2019.

In September of 1997, a Chicken Barbecue was successfully added to the annual Family Fun Day at County Park.

In 1998, Kathy McElliott became the first woman president of the Club.

In 1999, Hess's became the Club's caterer. In 2001, Club members started served as Salvation Army bell ringers at Christmas.

In 2002, the Club attended the World's Largest Crab Feast held by the Annapolis Rotary Club.

In 2002, the Club started the Book Challenge for the Lancaster School District by donating a book each week signed by the meeting's speaker.

In 2005, the Club established Rotary Park as part of Rotary's Centennial.

In 2005, the Club started sponsoring the annual Lancaster School District's Teacher Impact Awards.  WGAL-TV is also a sponsor.

Beginning in 2005, the Club started giving $10,000 each year to the United Way Summer Activities Initiative. The United Way matches this amount each year.

In 2006, reciting the Rotary "Four-Way Test" at the beginning of each Club meeting was initiated.

In 2006, the Club published its website.

In 2008, the Interact Club at McCaskey restarted.

In 2010, the Club canceled the annual Chicken Barbecue to better focus on the fall F&M Basketball Extravaganza. By concentrating on one fall event, the Club was able to exceed the combined total income of those two events in previous years.

In 2011, the Tip-Off Tournament at F&M was named the Basketball Extravaganza and earned $44,029 in its 19th year.  One third of the proceeds went to F&M's athletic department.

In 2011, the Club was introduced to the Rotary Club's ShelterBox program of dispensing shelter and cooking supplies in disaster areas.

In 2015, the Club's Centennial Year was highlighted with a visit by RI President Ravindran from Sri Lanka.

The Club's 2015 Centennial Project was The Refugee Center and Community School.

In 2017, Rotary Rendezvous began with two evening meetings each month.

In 2017, the Club announced the first annual Wheels, Wings and 5K Festival at Lancaster Airport.

Although the 2019 Charitable Basketball Extravaganza was a huge success, it was the last after a 27-year run. Bill "Doc" Marshall was moving out of state.

In early-2020, after 50 years of meeting at the Farm & Home Center, the Club was forced to cancel in-person meetings because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2020, the Club held stay-at-home live video, videotaped, and Zoom meetings during the pandemic.

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