History

The first real seeds in the formation of the Michigan City Rotary Club were planted on September 15, 1915, when Walter H. Mellor, a local jeweler, was appointed chairman of a local organizing committee by national Rotary president, Allen D. Albert, and received his commission on the same day from the district governor, C. Angster, of Chicago. Later on September 5, 1916, Mellor created a secret committee of five men who passed judgement on 40 local retail trade men, professional men, and manufacturers in different categories of vocations. Of these 40 nominees, 23 received a unanimous vote from the committee of five.

Two subsequent meetings of elected members produced 38 more nominees and the stage was set for the official organizational meeting. This meeting was convened at the Vreeland Hotel on October 19, 1916, with 53 of the 59 members at that time attending. Committee Chairman L.W. Keeler, then Superintendent of Schools, read the constitution, and by laws in the form submitted by the International Association and they were adopted with the following additions:

• The entrance fee was to be $5.00 and the annual dues $10.00, which would include the subscription price of the national publication, The Rotarian.

• The meetings were to be conducted at noon on Thursdays, with the exception of one meeting each month, which was to be conducted on Thursday evening.

• The limit of absence from meetings was placed at three times.

Officers elected at that organizational meeting were: Walter H. Mellor, President; H.V. Armstrong, Vice- President; Samuel J. Taylor, Secretary; John R. Abbott, Sergeant at Arms; Carter H. Manney, Treasurer; and Fred E. Bartholomew, R.M. Cox, Dr. E.G. Blinks, M.A. Cushman, James H. Orr, C.A. Liddle, and Marvin Karpen, Directors. Karpen, whose family operated a furniture factory here, then introduced the following motion:

"That the Rotary Club of Michigan City make application for affiliation as a member of the International Association of Rotary Clubs and then immediately upon their election the President and Secretary are authorized to prepare and forward the necessary papers for such application."

The motion was seconded and carried.

Guests at that organizational meeting included Angster, the District Governor; Frank P. Manley, 8th District Governor; and 14 Rotarians from South Bend.

As is indicated by the names of the first officers elected, the eventual 65 charter members of Rotary -- like other members who have followed -- were civic and governmental leaders of the community. Among those charter members, in addition to the officers, were Charles E. Arndt, E.C. Calvert, Albert M. Cartens, J.B. Faulknor, William J. Feallock, O.S. Glidden, J.J. Glasscott, R.F. Garrettson, A.J. Henry, A.C. Heitschmidt, August Korn, Leon Kramer, M. Moritz, Henry Miller, W.B. Manny, C.J. Robb, Dr. J.C. Sawyer, George J. Staiger, Ralph W. Tuthill, George T. Vail, and A.A. Wolf.

On the date of that meeting -- October 19, 1916 -- Michigan City's Evening Dispatch, in writing of the forthcoming organizational session carried the following objectives of a Rotary Club:

• "To promote recognition of the worthiness of all legitimate occupations and to dignify each member's occupation as affording him an opportunity to serve society."

• "To encourage high ethical standards in business and professions."

• "To increase the efficiency of each member by the exchange of ideas and business methods."

• "To promote the scientizing of acquaintance as an opportunity for service and an aid to success."

• "To quicken the interest of each member in public welfare and to cooperate with others in civic development."

Today, the object of Rotary is carried in different works, but the ideas embodied in that early recital of its object still are the same in spirit.

The quality and interests of the membership in the fledgling Michigan City Rotary organization quickly established it as a strong and valuable force in the community. Before a month had passed, for instance, the group, on November 2, 1916, heard speakers discuss the possibilities of a national park in the sand dunes -- the beginning of a movement that reached fruition 50 years later with the establishment of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

The Club also conducted a community-wide contest in 1917 to adopt a slogan for Michigan City, with the winner to receive a $10.00 award. The winning slogan was "The Hoosier Seaport".

With World War I coming closely after the founding of the organization, much of the activity in the years 1917- 1918 were related to it. One of the largest of these activities, sponsorship of a potato growing and vegetable growing project in an effort to meet the shortage of food problem resulting from the war effort, resulted in a financial loss because of an early frost, but it also showed the lengths to which the club was willing to go on the patriotic level.

The great Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918 accounted for the discontinuance of meetings of the club for a number of weeks.

Then, when the Armistice came in November, 1918, the readjustment to local needs was made, and activities once again took on a civic flavor.

A story on the front page of Michigan City's Evening News on April 8, 1921, reported that Rotarians, at their meeting the evening before, had appropriated $50.00 for the benefit fund being raised for the families of two Michigan City policemen, officers Simmerman and Spencer, who had been slain in the line of duty.

At the same meeting, Judge James A. Collins, of the criminal court of Indianapolis, the speaker, prefaced his talk on pending criminal legislation with this compliment for Rotary, "Rotary is something that draws men together; there is nothing like it in any other organization. The wonderful spirit of 'service, not self' is going to rise throughout America. The spirit of service will carry the flag and make the music for the universe."

Later that same year, on November 3, Michigan City Rotarians sponsored a "Ladies Night", with the principal speakers Professor Thrasher of the University of Chicagoand Lincoln Steffins, the noted magazine writer and publicist. Another feature of the evening was a songfest, which featured such songs as:

"My Bonnie leaned over the gas tank, The depth of its contents to see. She lighted a match to assist her. Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me."

The next year, on December 28, 1922, Michigan City Rotarians also made front page news when they passed resolutions at their meeting urging the Indiana legislature to pass legislation for the establishment of "a state park in the dunes region of Michigan City."

In a talk given at a Rotary meeting on June 23, 1977, the late city historian, Miss Edna P. Kitchell, told of other activities and achievements during the first ten years of the Michigan City Rotary Club.

"The many excellent addressed by outstanding leaders of this country and other nations (at Rotary meetings) proved to be an effective tool to attaining new goals," she said. "Out of these came the inspiration and guidance to establish a local Chamber of Commerce, the development of an athletic field for use of the boys' work leaders in the city, now Ames Field. It was first developed by the Rotary Club but later turned over to the City of Michigan City. Then came the laying of the foundation for city planning and zoning, to which Charles Arndt gave much leadership, along with many other Rotarians, until it, too, was channeled to the city.

"Leadership in the bringing of an Art Festival to this city by the Chicago Art Institute; support given to the culture and entertainment areas during the great Chautauqua era; the bringing of the world-famed dramatist Cornelia Otis Skinner here to entertain the school children and the club; and the renowned John Phillip Sousa and his band for citywide appearances, as well as before the club; all were the result of Rotary initiative.

"Addresses by Boy Scout leaders inspired the formation of that organization in the city, with Rotarian Dr. J.B. Rogers becoming an outstanding leader in Scout work, and the final selection of full time health officer in the city, because the need was revealed by speakers to the club. These and many other needs were met through the inspiration and help of Rotarians. Always, the purpose was to promote the welfare and growth of the city and the betterment of mankind.

"One of the closing acts of the club in this particular historical period was the appointment on September 16, 1926, by (Rotary) President Dr. J.B. Rogers of Phillip T. Sprague as a chairman of a historical committee for the purpose of organizing an historical association for Michigan City. This appointment resulted in the formation of the Michigan City Historical Society, chartered in 1927. . ."

The Foundations of Rotary principles, which the Michigan City club built during its first decade of service to the community, have continued in the years since then. Of the years since then and 1950, Michigan City's News-Dispatch wrote on September 13, 1950:

"When Riley Hospital was built in Indianapolis for the care of crippled children, the local (Rotary) club contributed $4,000."

"The Robert Grafton mural at the Isaac C. Elson Senior High School is a rotary contribution, too."

"One year 50 children from needy families were fitted with glasses. One child was fitted with an artificial eye and given follow-up care. Artificial limbs have been secured for crippled children."

"Career day, featured at the high school this year was a Rotary project . . ."

In 1945, local Rotarians took time from their own civic activities to sponsor a new Rotary club in LaPorte. This, in recent years, has become a popular place for make-up meetings.

Then in May, 1950, the Michigan City Rotary Club played host to the 36th annual conference of the 224th district of Rotary International. Approximately 500 Rotarians attended the sessions at the Spaulding Hotel, since razed.

The three-year Korean War, which also began in 1950, developed another need for relief money and on October 7, 1953, more than $1,300 collected in a local Rotary- sponsored campaign was sent to the war-ravaged Korean people. Scientific advances following World War II led to better airplane travel and this, in turn, produced a foreign exchange program for high school students. On a number of occasions in the 1950s, responding to national Rotary requests, the local Rotary club played host to these groups as they toured the United States following the end of their school year here.

The 1950's also saw the beginning of an annual speech contest for high school students. Following competition in Michigan City's two high schools at that time, St. Mary's (later Marquette) and Elston Senior High School, winning students gave their speeches at Rotary meetings and then continued in regional, district, and state Rotary-sponsored contests. Contestants from Rogers High School also joined in the contest when that school came into being in the early 1970's. The tradition continues today with students from the recently merged Michigan City Area High School, the Michigan City Alternative School and Marquette.

One of the more unusual activities sponsored by the Michigan City Rotary Club took place on April 1, 1957, when local members placed a sealed steel container in what they called the Rotary Century Monument, located on a 30' by 30' plot north of Lake Shore Drive near the Washington Park Zoo. The container, designed to be opened in the year 2057, holds newspapers and messages from prominent figures in 1957. In a ceremony timed to take place during a three day District 224 convention here, District President J.L. Brenn suggested that people think of the monument as a link between the past and the future:

"We hope Michigan City will be here 100 years from now, and we wonder if the messages in this monument will be here and who will read them," he continued.

While at that time the Michigan City Rotary Club was in District 224, by 1992 it was designated as Club 257 in District 654. Since then the district has been renumbered and the Michigan City Rotary Club is Club 257 in District 6540.

A year after the monument was dedicated, in 1958, the Washington Park Zoo Board raffled off a new Plymouth automobile as a fund-raising effort. The Rotary club purchased 50 tickets to assist the project.

One of the tickets purchased by the club was the winning ticket. The Rotarians sold the car and, on November 19, divided the $1,650 the sale brought among the student scholarship fund ($500), The Therapy Center ($400), the crippled children's camp ($400), and the Elite Youth Center ($350) with the stipulation that the funds be used for needed equipment and not for operating expenses, which the United Fund provided.

Also in 1958, the Rotary Club, along with the Boy Scouts sponsored a safety slogan contest among the city's high schools. The winning slogan was, "Practice safety today; be alive tomorrow." Nancy Sadenwater, a 15 year old Elston High School sophomore who had entered it, received a $25.00 savings bond as her award.

The continuing thread of charitable activities in the Rotary Club program was highlighted again on December 4, 1975, when members celebrated the group's 59th birthday. In a recital of Rotary projects taking place, committee members pointed out:

1. More than 36 pairs of eyeglasses had been furnished to deserving students at a cost of more than $1400.

2. More than $33,000 had been spent for YMCA memberships for underprivileged children over the past 20 years with 50 memberships given each year, and that $5,000 had been contributed to the YMCA's summer day camp.

3. Rotarians had raised $1,004 manning the Salvation Army Christmas kettle the year before, a sum that was more than the $441 raised by all service clubs manning the kettle in 1965.

By way of update, Rotarian's "day at the kettle" during the 1986 Christmas season, brought $3,526.74 in donations for Michigan City's Salvation Army Christmas program of food and toys for the community's needy families.

One of the local Rotary Club's finest "shining hours" occurred in 1977 when members undertook the responsibility and cost of completing in the Washington Park Zoo what has become known as the Rotary Children's Castle. The idea had started with this suggestion from the community: "Why not convert the under-used Engineers Castle (constructed in the zoo in the 1930's by the WPA and called that because its design had been taken from the US Army Corps of Engineers insignia) into a facility where children could come to see reptiles, animals, rodents and birds, all of a size they could associate with as "pets". Zoo officials told the community that an 80%/20% federal/municipal grant could take care of part of the cost of renovation, but more money would be needed to provide the interior furnishings, including temperature- controlled rooms and areas, counters for special cages, aquariums, planters, a storage room and special equipment for inhabitants and visitors. At that point, Rotarians stepped forward with an offer of assistance. They obtained bids and learned the project would cost $14,230.64.

Club members approved the project on September 22, 1977 and the contract was signed on October 20, 1977.

Of the $14,230.64 figure the Rotary Club donated $10,230.64 in cash and secured service, discount and gift donations amounting to $4,000.00 from the general contractor, engineering firms and subcontractors on the job. To meet the project's cash cost of $10,230.64, the club agreed to pay $7,230.64 with member assessments and borrowed the remaining $3,000 so that the entire construction and equipment bill could be met in August 1978. The new Rotary Children's Castle opened on May 28, 1978, with an all day celebration in the zoo, and still is a prime attraction there. Later, the Rotarian, Rotary International's monthly magazine, carried a picture of the project.

In 1997, the Club Board of Directors, voted to provide funds for repairs to the roof of the structure.

In 1983, Rotarians staged a variety show at the Elston Performing Arts Center using both Rotary and other local talent to tickle the fancy of local citizens.

Rotarians also continued to send physically disabled youngsters to Camp Riley, the 2,300 acre southern Indiana outdoor recreation center operated by Indiana University's School of Health. The Club, in 1984, also purchased billboard space to bring the motoring public news of Michigan City, "America's No. 1 City", which was, at that time the home of Marquette High School Dean Christakis and Rogers High School's basketball star, Delray Brooks. Christakis was named Teacher of the Year by the Thomas A. Edison Foundation and the High School Science Teacher of the Year by Discover Magazine, while Brooks, Indiana's Co-Mr. Basketball, was one of two high school players who tried out for the U.S. Olympic basketball team.

In 1985, another call for assistance went out from the Washington Park Zoo, and the Michigan City Rotary Club again responded, pledging $10,0 00 to be paid over three years. Part of the sum went for additional renovation of the Rotary Children's Castle, the remainder for other projects in the zoo. Rotarians paid for the new pledge with member assessments.

In 1986, Rotarians mounted a bumper sticker campaign to promote an "I buy Michigan City" movement and helped the Sinai Temple in a letter writing campaign to bring freedom to Russian "refusniks" Soviet citizens who objected to that government's efforts to reduce human rights.

In 1987, with a "Letter for Peace" contest, the winning letter, written by Kris Kubik of Marquette High School, carried this message to the Kremlin:

"In this nuclear age, fraught with the potential for global destruction, every chance must be seized to avert a direct confrontation between the nuclear powers. The world must reject the idea that war must be forever a part of man's destiny."

Sage advice from a high school girl to the leader of one of the world's great powers . . . .

Also in 1987, in answer to a request from Rotary International, Michigan City Rotarians entered enthusiastically into a program called Polio Plus. Rotary International's goal for the program is the complete elimination of Polio from the world. Local donations came from an innovative raffle each week, with half of the money given to the Polio Plus program and half going to the raffle winner. Rotary International President Caparas commented: "During the past Rotary year alone, more than 65 million doses of polio vaccine were shipped to 14 countries. In all, there are now 26 Polio Plus projects in operation which will immunize more than 87 million children at a cost of $12 million. These achievements are truly remarkable."

Interspersed with the forgoing Rotary activities, as the years passed, were what might be called "field trips" -- to see how others lived and how neighbors made their living. Among the more memorable destinations in recent years were the Indiana State Prison, The US Steel Gary Works, the Northern Indiana Public Service Company's Michigan City Generating Station, the communities International Friendship Gardens and the Port of Indiana at Burns Harbor.

In Mid-1987, the Michigan City Rotary Club had more than 100 members on its rolls. Of this number, 21 had been members for 25 or more years. Two of these members, Robert C. Averitt and Gaylen Frey, had joined the Michigan City Rotary club in 1943, gave many years of leadership to a prominent lumber business, Frey Brothers Lumber Co., and aided in writing this history. Averitt also gave many years of leadership to Michigan City's daily newspaper, the News-Dispatch, and put with it a long record of civic service.

In 1989, during the Salvation Army's Kettle Drive the members of our club rang the bells all day and broke a record of over $6,000 collected.

In 1990, our club established the Michigan City Rotary Club Foundation, a tax exempt foundation to receive Rotarian contributions and award educational scholarships. The first contributions were the proceeds from a bequest from Jack Ruby of over $12,000.

In 1991, the club celebrated its 75th anniversary with a formal dinner at Pottawatomie Country Club. The members contributed cash and tremendous volunteer time to repair and renovate and elderly couple's home as part of the first "Christmas in April" project. 30+ hard working Rotary Sailors built and rowed a 15' cardboard boat and won 2nd place in the first Michigan City Cardboard Boat Regatta.

An unidentified Rotarian once wrote:

"The responsibility of a Rotarian is not to become a 'mere club member,' but to be a leader in his chosen vocation. . . . Every Rotarian has the opportunity of making for himself and his business, a perfect record. When this is done, Rotary has accomplished its mission."

To be continued

1987 First 2 women joined Rotary
Student of the month Program begun

1990 Todd Zubler - Exchange Student to Oxford
Ambassador's Scholarship

1993 Denise Holmes 1st Female President
STRIVE program begun by Ron Kniola

1994 Paul Alinsky served a second term as President - no other Rotarian ever has

1995 - It only took voting 3 times to move from the Holiday Inn to Basil's for Rotary Lunch - a process that took 6 months. Basil's won every vote.

1996 we had our first meeting at Basil's. Then Basil's burned and we ate at the Elks Club until Basil's re-opened.
Science and Technology Fair re-entered (had been discontinued in the 1970s)
Christmas in April - Rotary's first participation - painted houses

1996 STRIVE program managed by Suzy Vance

1998 Rotary committed to the Long Term Exchange Student Program

1998 - Priscilla Scondelae - Long term Exchange Student from Brazil
Christina Hale - second student sent to France on Ambassadors Scholarship (only Rotary in Indiana to have 2)

1999 - Jess Staussbaum Long-term Exchange Student from Denmark

1999 1st STRIVE Olympics

1/6/2000 Announcement of the Michigan City Rotary Club web site