Welcome to Our Melfort Rotary Club Website
Posted
on June 16, 2014
History of the Rotary Club Of Melfort
Our Melfort Rotary Club has a long history- 70 years and growing.
On June 26, 1947. the Rotary Club of Melfort was officially chartered. Members of the Prince Albert Rotary Club were in attendance.
There were 20 members who chartered the Rotary Club of Melfort. Within the year, the club had grown to 30 members. On May 2nd and 3rd 1997, the club celebrated its 50th anniversary. The club was exclusively all male until 1992 when Marlene Bittner became Melfort's first female Rotarian.
The club's devotion to enhancing life in Melfort and district has continued uninterrupted for over 70 years. The club has sponsored a number of major projects-both for fun and for fundraising-through the past seven decades. These have included the Rotary Carol Festival, now in its 63rd year. Other projects have involved fundraising through auction sales, the growing of potatoes, musicals and theatrical productions, corn roasts, bike-a-thons, Rural-Urban Night, the Sweetheart Ball, the Rotary Direct Seeding Project.
Among other local initiatives, our fundraising projects have helped to support the Rotary Youth Summer Program, Melfort Memorial Garden, Parkland Place, and the Kerry Vickar Centre. Within the last four years, our club has contributed over $47,000 to the Shelter Box program as well as continued our support of Polio Plus.
Our club has hosted inbound exchange students since 1977 and has also sent an outbound exchange student to a number of different countries since 1978.
Our club has the distinction of having two District Governors from our Charter members: Jeff Orchard from 1993-1964 and John Egnatoff from 1973-1974. John Egnatoff was residing in Saskatoon when he accepted the nomination. The District Governor for 1999-2000, Peter Peters, was a member of the Melfort Rotary Club and served as our club president from 1976-1977. Brian Cocks served as our Club President from 1994-1996 and as District Governor from 2002-2003.
Many members of our club have served on District committees in the past and Melfort has hosted numerous District Assembles. In 1974, our club hosted the District Conference when John Egnatoff was District Governor and again in 2003 when Brian Cocks was District Governor. In 2009, Gailmarie Anderson led a Group Study Exchange to Finland.
