Brief History of Madison-Mayodan Rotary (1925-2006)
On March 27, 1925 a charter was granted for the Madison Rotary Club,
which 73 years later would merge with the Mayodan Club to form the
Madison-Mayodan Rotary
Club. The Madison Club was organized with 16 charter members, receiving its
charter on Mar. 27, 1925.
The organizational meeting had been held in the Jones Hotel, on March 17 with
Junius Brown being elected first club President. The club would meet at the
Jones Hotel for the first 13 years. The sponsoring club was the
Leaksville-Spray Club who sent Mr. Luther Hodges, one of their members, as
their representative. Mr. Hodges would later become Governor of N.C., as well as
President of Rotary International.
Rotary was founded in Chicago in 1905 by Paul Harris, an atterney, who was
born in Wisconsin, raised by his grandparents in Vermont, and who would
eventually earn his law degree from the University of Iowa. It was thus, only
20 years, after Rotary came into existence that the Madison Club was
organized. It was the 1,961st club chartered by Rotary International, which in
March 1925 had only 100,000 Rotary members worldwide, compared to nearly 1.2
million members in over 32,000 clubs today.
The Madison Club sponsored the Mayodan Club in 1942, receiving its charter on
August 7, 1942. Rev. Oswald Stimpson was installed as its first President with 20
charter members. The Madison Club later sponsored the Walnut Cove Rotary Club
while the Mayodan Club would sponsor the club in Stoneville.
On July 1, 1998 the Madison and Mayodan Rotary Clubs, after 73 and 56 year
histories respectively, merged to form the Madison-Mayodan Rotary Club. The
club began its new year with 47 members and a new meeting place-- the Libby
Hill restaurant.
Over the years various fund raisers, including music festivals, pancake
suppers, flea markets, and softball games, were used by both the Madison and
Mayodan Clubs to assist in carrying out club projects. Since 1977, our main
source of funds has been The Rotary Invitational Golf Tournament played at
Deep Springs Country Club. Some of the Clubs' major projects include:
- High School Scholarships,
- Camp Carefree support,
- Shadow Day for local students,
- Interact Club at High School,
- Best Friends,
- Katrina Relief,
- support to eliminate Polio,
- sending youth to Youth Leadership Camp,
- Rotary Foundation Fund,
- help to maintain local park,
- and much more.
Rotary, in the 1980's, received a boost of energy and enthusiasm, when it
opened its doors to female members. Our club inducted its first female
member in 1987, and our club and Rotary International haven't been the same
since-all good.
During the past 81 years, the members of the M-M Rotary Club and the two prior
clubs have enjoued approx. 6,800 programs at Rotary meetings. Among these many
programs were talks by Carl Goerch (founder of Our State Magazine) on our 25th
Anniversary, Dr. Ed Wilson (Wake Forest University) on our 75th, an
entertaining evening with Jean Swanner Robertson, a visit by William Nutt, and
Bones McKinney. Although these were excellent programs, it is generally agreed
that the best programs, undoubtedly, come from within our own membership.
Club Historian
Lloyd Baird
