Early History - Greeley Rotary Club

Rotary forged its beginnings in 1905. Living in the city of Chicago, Paul Harris and a small group of friends began a weekly evening meeting in each other’s offices. Because they rotated where they held meetings, they decided to call their group the Rotary Club. From that humble beginning Rotary has flourished through out the entire world.
The Greeley Rotary Club was born almost one month to the day after the United States entered World War I. Paul Darrow convinced Lloyd Neill to read a few editions of the Rotary Magazine. Lloyd, who eventually became Greeley Rotary’s first president, was very intrigued with Rotary and began the pursuit to bring Rotary to Greeley.
Jack Zahn was a member of the Denver Rotary Club and a close personal friend of Lloyd Neill. The two men had several conversations about starting a Rotary Club in Greeley. They had quite a hill to climb because Greeley was a very small community with a population of approximately 8,000 people. At that time, it was against Rotary’s policy to establish clubs in cities as small as Greeley.
On May 9, 1917 a group of 21 men held a dinner meeting and made a formal application for charter to Rotary. The official charter night was held July 2, 1917. The Denver Rotary Club, as sponsor, was invited to Greeley for an evening of food and entertainment. In all, 55 members of the Denver Rotary Club made the trek from Denver to Greeley. Quite a feat seeing how this was before the age of the automobile and interstate highways.
Even though the Greeley Rotary Club was very new, the charter members did not hesitate getting involved in issues of the day. An original Western Union telegram dated June 29, 1917 stated how the Greeley Rotary Club was, “unhesitatingly and unqualifiedly in favor of the prohibition feature of the bill now pending before Congress….”
The first weekly meetings were held at the Camfield Hotel, but that fall meetings were moved to the Knights of Pythias Hall. There have been four other meeting places over the years. They include the Masonic Hall, Park Church, the Community Building, and finally the Greeley Recreation Center.
One of the early highlights of the Greeley Rotary Club was hosting the District Conference. This was held during the week of March 21, 1922. Every single member of the Greeley Rotary Club was on a committee and the conference was a huge success. Attendance that year was 435 men and 261 women. A testament to sound management, the Conference fund had $200 left when it was all said and done.
Anyone who has studied the history of northern Colorado remembers the fall and winter of 1929-30. Not only were economic conditions very volatile, but that year “the beets froze in.” For a small community that relied primarily on agriculture this was a heavy blow to already poor conditions. Many members were forced to make a choice and relinquished their membership. Greeley Rotary was not the only club affected during these times. The Greeley Lions Club experienced a similar scenario. With a few members of each club promoting the same idea, the Greeley Rotary Club and the Greeley Lions Club merged. The District Governor, Charlie McMillan, approved of the merger and the first luncheon meeting of the combined clubs (56 Rotarians, 46 Lions) was held December 11, 1929.
Always in tune with the Rotary creed of “Service Above Self,” the Greeley Rotary Club established a Student Loan Fund to help local students attend the college here in Greeley. Funded entirely from donations by the Greeley Rotary Club, the $1,100 Student Loan Fund was administered by various members and committees. As a result, accomplishments of the Student Loan Fund were mixed and in 1935 control the fund was turned over to the college.
In 1935, under the direction of President Jim Milne, the Past President’s Dinner became an annual event. The Past Presidents would gather for dinner and then proceed to have a short business meeting. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss possible candidates for the Board of Directors. Nominees would be selected and then presented to the club as a slate for election. This tradition of selecting Board Members continues to this day.
A new school had been completed in 1936. The school, now Greeley Central High School, was located on the outskirts of town at Fourteenth Avenue and Sixteenth Street. Many members of the community, and members of Greeley Rotary for that matter, criticized the school board for locating the new school on the edge of town. In December of 1936, the club was invited to have lunch and tour the new school. After seeing the facility many critics were quieted.
Rotary’s International Convention was held in Denver in June of 1941. Because of the proximity, almost all members attended at least one session with many attending the entire conference. The President at that time was none other than W.D. Farr. Without his efforts and encouragement, the Greeley Rotary Club would not have had this incredible showing.
Another program that Greeley Rotary helped sponsor was the creation of a Summer Recreation Program. The year was 1943 and the program offered many activities including swimming, tennis, baseball, softball, dancing, and horseshoe pitching. The director of the program was Jim Baggot, the Greeley High School basketball coach. Not long after this, Jim was offered a similar position that carried a much larger salary. The Greeley Summer Recreation Program could not match the funds and Greeley Rotary came to the rescue. Greeley Rotary along with the Elks, Kiwanis, Lions and other clubs guarantee approximately $4,450 in salary to keep Jim as director. This program is still running strong today and is now administered by the city of Greeley.
In June of 1966 Denver was chosen again to host the Rotary International Convention. Like the convention held 25 years prior many members of the Greeley Rotary Club jumped at the chance to meet Rotarians from all over the world. It was a great chance to hear world-renowned speakers and be inspired by the accomplishments of Rotary across the globe.
Times have changed dramatically in the 87-year history of Greeley Rotary. We have experienced two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, two Gulf Wars, the advent of the automobile, the computer, and the Internet. What has not changed is the commitment of nearly 200 Greeley Rotary members to “Service Above Self.” Our community and world have grown and so have the problems that many confront. The faces of the Greeley Rotary Club may change, but Greeley Rotary will continue serve in our community and throughout the world.
Written by Ken Dyer