In the fall of 2003 the information as presented below was typed by Bob Crouch and Mary Beth Revels, and stored in electronic form. It had previously been printed in 1986 upon the occasion of the club’s 75^th anniversary. There were only a few copies of that document left. Information from the Preface through 1987 is the result of that project, for which I give great thanks to Mary Beth and Bob. They have re-typed exactly as it appeared in the 1986 document, and have made no changes nor comments. It should be noted that much information regarding the temporal events in St. Joseph, Missouri and the world are included. This document may well serve as another reference point for those wishing to verify events in our history.

Certainly of interest is the listing of activities of St. Joseph’s Rotary Club #32, its members and officers through the years. We are an old and proud club and need to respect the past as we continually engage in creating the events of the present. 

This document will be presented in electronic format on our website www.RotaryClub32.org organized in segments by each decade.

Wally Bloss

President 2003-2004

Interpretation and Thumbnail History of Rotary

PREFACE

            On February 23, 1955 Rotary International celebrated its 50^th birthday.  During the period February 23 to June 2, 1955, Rotary Clubs all over the world were urged to commemorate Rotary’s 50^th Anniversary with special projects so that the activities of Rotary will reach to every community in the world.  As a special project all clubs were asked to write a history of their club.

             John Crowe, President of the St. Joseph Rotary Club 1919 – 1920, was appointed Chairman of the Historical Committee and his Rotary Ann Lenora agreed to write a history of our club.  Unfortunately, many of the early records of our club were either lost or destroyed which made the task of writing our history very difficult.  Mrs. Crowe spent countless hours sorting and reading all available past records of the club and also received many items of historical importance from our past presidents in order to have an authentic history of our club.

             Each and every one of us as Rotarians of the St. Joseph Club extend our thanks to Mrs. Crowe for the very fine service rendered to our club in writing this history.  Our expression of thanks would not be complete without acknowledging the many hours of work contributed by our Assistant Secretary Bernice M. Johnson who typed and assembled the history in its final form.  We are sure that every Rotarian in our club will be able to spend many pleasant hours reading our history.

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            The above text was written as the preface to the original club history that was published in 1955 in celebration of Rotary International’s 50^th birthday celebration.

             In recognition of Club 32’s 75^th Anniversary, this new edition of the Downtown St. Joseph Rotary Club History has been updated by each president of the club from 1956 through 1986.

             Special recognition should be given to Rotarians Dr. Tim Curry, Mel McLean and Barent Springsted for organizing and assembling the yearly histories from the various club presidents.  The retyping of the old text and typing and assembling of the new annual reports was done by Rotarian Jack Carmody and his Rotary Ann Dorothy Carmody.

             The cover was designed by Rotarian Al Kost, a member of Club 32 and one of Northwest Missouri’s finest artists.

             A conclusion has been written by Dr. Charles A. Bayer, Minister of the First Christian Church in St. Joseph, Missouri and a member of Club 32.

             The appendices were donated by Rotarian Frank Gee, Past President of Club 32 and Past District 603 Governor, who has accumulated this information through his many years of service and activity with the district.

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