Club#2811
District #6290
Zone #28
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Our History
In the summer of 1921, Homer Sly, Morgan Curtis, Norman W. Well, George W. McCabe, and Frank Quinn met with Glen W. Power, Dr. Johnson and Adrian Cole from the Traverse City Rotary Club and the District Governor, George Barnes at a luncheon meeting at the Cushman House to discuss forming a Rotary Club in Petoskey.
After a successful meeting, on August 31, 1921, Mr. Sly was appointed chairman of the temporary Organization Committee by the International President, Crawford C. McCullough, to proceed with their plans. Messrs, Curtis, Well, and McCabe completed the committee.
Charter members of the Petoskey Rotary Club included Homer Sly, a tall lanky automobile dealer; George W. McCabe, a hardware store partner; Norman W. Well, a coal dealer; George S. Danser, a wholesale grocer; Morgan Curtis, a stone quarry owner; John L.A. Galster, a cement manufacturer; Charles J. Gray, a dentist; Ralph Engle, a physician; Guy Hankey, a miller; Dana Hinkley, the newspaper owner; Benjamin Halstead, a lawyer; Park Lantz, the Superintendent of Schools; William McCune, an Insurance agent and George Rice, a leather manufacturer.
On October 31st the Charter Members attended a luncheon at Braun’s Restaurant, adopted resolutions, and set up a temporary organization. Homer Sly was elected to be the temporary chairman and Norman Wells temporary secretary. The chairman then named committees for a permanent organization. Curtis, Halstead and Hinkley were to prepare a Constitution and By-Laws. McCabe, Galster and Henry F. Beese were to nominate directors.
Friday evening, 11/4/1921, following dinner at Braun’s the Rotary Club of Petoskey was made a permanent organization. District Governor representative, Glen W. Power, and 16 Traverse City Rotarians attended the meeting. The Constitution was adopted and the following men were put in nomination for directors, Beese, Curtis, Danser, Halstead, McCabe, Wells, and Sly. The first set of officers were elected and installed. President- Homer Sly, Vice President-George McCabe, Secretary- Norman Wells, Treasurer- Morgan Curtis, and Sergeant at Arms- Henry Beese.
Glen W. Power declared the Club regularly organized and instructed the officers to make application for affiliation with the International Association of Rotary Clubs. On 11/17/1921, Secretary General Chesley R. Perry gave notice that the Club had been formally voted into affiliation and that as of 11/1/1921 it would henceforth be known as Club 1026.
The first regular luncheon meeting was held 12/14/1921 at Braun’s and regular committees were appointed. The Charter was presented by District Governor George Barnes on January 9, 1922 at the first Ladies’ night.
February 1, 1922, George Rice and his committee were given the go ahead to proceed with a project to acquire a full time director of boys’ activities in and out of school. In 1923, with Rotary approval, the Petoskey School Board appointed Walter MacMillan physical education director. He also maintained a city-wide recreation program.
In 1924 MacMillan conducted the first organized summer camp for boys adjacent to the present Camp Daggett property. Dana Hinkley was appointed to investigate the possibility of securing a permanent site for the camp. He called upon Rotarian Bert Cook whose relatives, Mrs. Harper and Mrs. Daggett, gifted the land where Camp Daggett is now located. Camp opened in 1925 with a cabin paid for by Mr. Cook and water provided by a well for which Mr. Rice covered the expenses. The current status and growth of the camp is the result of a joint effort by the Rotary and Kiwanis Cubs of Petoskey, and other service clubs in Emmet and Charlevoix counties along with other generous individuals.
Over the years Rotary has donated a great deal of time and money to the camp. During the 1980’s the Petoskey, Boyne City, and East Jordan Clubs raised money to help build the new lodge with winter sleeping quarters and also donated free labor to help on the construction.
In 1925 a minstrel show was given by the Club to provide funds for a crippled children’s clinic. Dr. Charles Gray chaired this project and 28 children were examined by Dr. Badgley, an Orthopedic Surgeon from Ann Arbor. A second clinic was held in 1928 and 51 more children were examined. Rotarians traveled throughout the county to get the children to the clinic. After this the state Authority used welfare funds to finance this work, although the county nurse continued to send patients to Dr. Badgley
In March of 1926, Robert Tripp was appointed chairman of a committee to approach the city officials about working out plans for municipal tennis courts. The waterfront tennis courts were eventually completed in June of 1935.
In November 1924, a committee was appointed consisting of chairman Robert Tripp, Norman Wells, and T. Arthur Treloar to investigate sites for an athletic field and stadium. In 1925 they reported that a site had been secured through the generosity of Rotarian Morgan Curtis who donated a piece of land. Building plans were presented to the club by Home Sly in 1926 and the Club backed the building of a stadium.
On 9/27/1927 the entire Club journeyed out to the new stadium and inspected the completed project. The first game was played against Gaylord there on 10/1/1927 and the dedication was held on 10/7/1927 when Petoskey played Harbor Springs. The Northmen still use this facility today.
The first meeting in regard to a county airport was held with the Rotary Club on January 11, 1927. Supervisor McLain of Pellston was the instigator and a committee was appointed to work on the project. Soon afterwards work was competed on Sexton’s Corners, the site now known as the Harbor Spring Airport.
A report was made by William McCune regarding the possibility of developing an adequate winter sports program. P.T. Mitchell called a meeting on 8/8/1927 to discuss the organization of a committee to promote winter sports; and at a meeting held September 7th the following officers of the first Winter Sports Committee we elected: Rotarian Homer Bates, President; Rotarian Watson Snyder, Vice-President; Kiwanian Glen Townsend, Treasurer; and Kiwanian Bert Kenny, Secretary. The first organized Winter Sports Program was held in February 1928.
The Petoskey Rotary Club hosted the annual District Convention on June 3rd and 4th, 1928. About 800 Rotarians were in attendance at this highly successful event, a tribute to Clarence Christopher, the General Chairman. District Conferences were also held here in 1957, 1967, 1986, and 1996.
In 1935 and 1936 the Rotary Club joined with the Kiwanis Club in encouraging the pasteurization of milk and maintained a milk fund for the public school.
The Club purchased land for a scenic turnout at the top of the hill on US 31 entering Petoskey in 1937. A lodge and rest rooms were built and a sign, “Rotary Park”, was installed. The view of Little Traverse Bay is magnificent. When the land between the park and Little Traverse Bay was to be sold, the Club purchased the threatened land for $23,000 over a four year period. The scenic property was later deeded to the State.
In 1942 and 1943 the Club again joined hands with the Kiwanians in a project to gather milkweed for Army and Navy Lifejackets, and also cared for the families of servicemen overseas.
In 1943 Rotary financed five boys to attend Camp Daggett and promoted a music talent quest awarding two scholarships to the Bay View School of Music.
In December 1943 a shipment of Christmas trees was sent to Corpus Christi, Texas to be distributed to the military camps, bringing a little holiday cheer from the northland.
The Rotary Foundation began sponsoring Ambassadorial Scholarships for better international understanding throughout the world in 1947. These scholarships are now worth over $18,000 per student, covering transportation, housing, and educational expenses.
We began ringing the kettle bell for the Salvation Army Christmas donations in 1947, and continue to do so at numerous locations in the area. In 1947 the Club also purchased a scoreboard for High School Athletics and sent a student to Camp Emory, a leadership camp for men and women near Muskegon.
In 1957 we sponsored a new club in Gaylord, and in 1978 sponsored the Charlevoix Rotary Club.
1959 saw the Club taking an active role in training Teacher’s Aides to care for disabled children at the Edgewater School for handicapped children. This continued until 1965 when the school was abolished and the students transferred to Ottawa School.
Many of these projects are still a part of the Petoskey Rotary Club’s service to the community and the world.
Over the past 75 years the location of Petoskey’s Rotary Club meetings have included Braun’s Restaurant, the Bay View Country Club, the Perry Spruce Room, and we currently meet at Stafford’s Bay View Inn. Of course there isn’t space to mention everything we’ve been doing, but you will see that we haven’t been sitting idly by.
In 1972 the membership included 65 men. In 1996 we are now 102 strong including 6 women. In a move that many thought might be the beginning of the end of the Club in 1989, Ernie Mainland proposed Patricia Ryde to be the first woman member of the Club. She was also the first Club nominee to receive a Paul Harris Graduate Fellowship and studied in England during the 1975/76 school year. 1989 was also the year rotary international changed its by-laws making it acceptable to install women members throughout the world, following the lead of the United States.
Our first exchange student arrived in 1972, Jose Da Rocha of Brazil. In 1974 our first outbound exchangee, Lee Slight, was sent to Japan and Ann O’Ryan arrived from Australia. That same year the Club erected a sleeping cabin at Camp Daggett and awarded Bill Steffens of PHS the Best Educator Award. $750 was donated toward the purchase of a bus for the high school Drum & Bugle Corps.
1975 saw us sending the proceeds from 50/50 drawings to feed two hungry boys in Asia, while closer to home our Rotary Park project was designated Project of the Year by our District Governor.
The old city clock bell rang again in 1976 thanks in part to or $100 donation. Another $100 was sent to assist earthquake victims in Guatemala. Coed camping began at Daggett and Charlotte Ross Lee began playing piano at our weekly meetings.
Brigitte Beyer arrived from Denmark in 1977. In 1979 we agreed to support the Winter Sports Park as an ongoing project and spent time physically fixing up the area as well as making a donation to the site plan fund. Greg Williamson was sent to Denmark as an exchange student. We sponsored a flag football team and the Summer Rotarians donated a drinking fountain to the city.
1980 was the year we deeded Rotary Park to the State Department of Transportation, acted as judges at the Winter Sports Carnival, donated $1,000 toward the purchase of the Methodist Church property for the Virginia M. McCune Arts Center, bought a computer for a local handicapped girl, participated in a Group Study Exchange(GSE) with Australia/New Guinea, donated to the PHS free-style wrestling team, sent $1,200 to the Health Hunger and Humanities program to help eliminate polio, and Art Treloar became our second Paul Harris Fellow(PHF), Another $45,000 was spent on the Winter Sports Park and the drinking fountain was installed outside the Chamber of Commerce building.
Myrna Magnuson arrived from Brazil in 1981. The Club built another cabin at Daggett; funds were given to the Humane Society, the Winter Sports Park, and the American Music Theatre (the Young Americans). Bob Simpson represented our area on the outbound GSE tem to Australia.
In 1982 the Club offered matching funds to increase our number of Paul Harris Fellows. We sponsored a Little League team, gave out $1,000 in scholarships, paid for 12 campers at Camp Daggett, supported the Youth Soccer Association financially, and received a visit from 11 folks who were here from our Sister City, Shiga, Japan. By the end of the year John Carpenter had purchased his first of many PHF’s, including one for the Dahlai Lama, and we had 10 more sustaining members.
The Humane Society, the local Cancer Society, the Arts Center, the Friendship Center, the Speed skating Club, Parent in Action and others all received donations in 1983 along with those students who shared $800 in fine arts scholarships from us. Bob Sorenson was awarded a Teacher of the Handicapped Scholarship from RI and Ernie Mainland’s name was submitted as a candidate for District Governor for 1985-86. It was also the year we purchased our donut machine.
In 1984 Sarah Salan was sent to Finland. We did our usual bell ringing, provided scholarships, and helped our fellow beings in many ways. I’m sure the missing newsletters could provide a lot more detail.
Ernie Mainland became the first District Governor from our club in 1985/86 and Cesar Reyes came over on an exchange from Colombia.
1986 was another busy year. We paid for two students to attend the World Affairs Seminar in Whitewater, Wisconsin, sent medical equipment to the Philippines, helped provide for a mobile dental lab in New Guinea, hosted 20 children on the Great Lakes Tour, awarded our first Service Above Self Scholarship to area students. There was a GSE from Ecuador, Julie Raddatz went to India and Leah Neiderstat was sent to Norway. We hosted the District Conference in honor of Ernie’s year as Governor.
We sent our district’s group to Ecuador in 1987, started an interact Club in Alanson, LeeAnn Behr came to us from South Africa, Jobi Blachy went to Norway, a GSE team was sent to South Africa, and another from India visited here. The first Annual Camp Daggett Interclub Dinner took place and the first Rotary Calendars went on sale to help Rotary’s Polio Plus program wipe our polio throughout the world. The Petoskey Rotary Club donated over $53,000 to this project through club and individual donations.
In 1988 we held our first Club Assembly to critique ourselves and our work. Louise Miller joined us from Australia and Oscar Ramon from Bolivia. The exchange GSE team arrived from southern Africa and we sent Ann Marie Salan to New Zealand and Dennis Festerling to South Africa. The first calendar winners were announced and a record 1063 people were served at the Annual Spaghetti Dinner. The Blue Suit Committee came into being to help local individuals in hands on projects. The first female Rotarians arrived for makeup meetings with our Club, and Ernie began prowling for some of our own.
It didn’t take Ernie long to find one. Our first female joined the Club in January of 1989 in plenty of time to be a pearl diver at the Spaghetti Dinner. We hosted a GSE team from Korea and sent one to them in return. Petoskey Rotary Charities, Inc. came into existence allowing us to better provide funds for local projects. Heather Wills went off to Norway and Jan Reinders visited from the Netherlands on exchanges.
The medical supplies we sent to the Philippines in 1986 finally cleared customs in 1990 and arrived at their destination. Sylvie Boone of Belgium was with us for a year and the GSE team from the Netherlands paid us a visit. Our scholarship donations were over $10,000 this year including the Rotary Transfer Scholarship for $5,000. We also spearheaded the project to erect a new building at the Winter Sports Park and eventually put a roof over the hockey rink. $206,573 were collected for the improvements and with help from the city and the state, the building was completed, a great credit to our club.
Judy and Ernie Mainland escorted our district’s GSE team to the Netherlands in 1991. That same year we kicked off our campaign for fund to rebuild the track at the stadium, donated funds to Hospitality House, and donated physically to finishing up the new lodge at Camp Daggett. Our club had the privilege of eating the first sit-down meal in the new building. Kelly Smith visited Belgium and Penny Centenara joined us from the Philippines. I do believe she made it through customs in less than four years.
In 1991 we “adopted” a 3 mile stretch of US 131 and enjoyed the first of our many hikes to clean the roadway. Dialysis machines were sent to Nigeria that year also.
John Carpenter went to Lima, Peru on behalf of Rotary International in 1992 to set up the Street Boy’s Project with local Rotarians. In a joint effort between Petoskey, Lima, and matching funds from RI we were able to establish a broom factory, a shoe factory, and a bakery where the boys could live and learn a trade to keep them off the streets. Tanya Guaggel visited from Germany and we sent Dave Williams off with a GSE team to Sweden. We served dinner to the children with cancer at Camp Quality too.
In 1993 we supported the Senior Graduation Party, helped with the county Paint Blitz, and collected used skates for the Winter Sports Park. Lots of traffic, a GSE team to and from Malaysia and one to England. Katsura Nakagama came over from Japan for a year too.
Emmanual Berreau visited us from France in 1994. It was also the year Ernie Mainland started the Strive program at PHS. We financially supported D.A.R.E., the hockey program, nature trails at NCMC, $300 to Who’s In Charge?, $1,000 to Junior Achievement, $3,100 was donated to set up a latchkey program at the Winter Sports Park and help them to finish furnishing the new Building, and $1,200 was given to Camp Daggett. Kim Kaminski was sent to Mexico and England sent its GSE team to us.
Bob Blantz escorted a district GSE team to Australia after we had hosted a group from there.
In 1995 Jennifer Srigley represented us as a Rotary Fellow in Australia. Annina Piirto gave us a taste of Finland and we donated $5,000 to Rotary’s World Community Service program to build water wells in Malaysia, provide a fire truck and an ambulance to Peru, and to provide dental equipment in Rio de Janiero. We hosted two local blood drives, assisted postal workers in collecting food for the United Way and the Salvation Army, sponsored flag football, and gave $1,200 to pay for campers at Camp Daggett, This was the year Bob Brummeler became the 2nd ever District Governor from our Club.
Doris Schaller began playing the piano for us in 1996 after Charlotte became ill. Bob’s Affordable District Conference was held in Petoskey with over 400 attendees who were treated to a live lobster dinner, prepared and served by our own Rotarians and their kind spouses. Carolina Estrada Portillo came to us from Colombia. We sent a local student off to the Life Leadership Conference, chose a Teacher of the Year, supported the Youth Soccer program, donated to PRIDE the new drug & awareness Program at the Middle School, gave $1,000 to Junior Achievement, provided over $7,000 in scholarships, and donated $1,000 to be used for TB medicine in Russia and the year’s not even over yet. We even approved Ernie Mainland to serve on the RI committee t select directors.
Along the way we’ve also helped out numerous individuals, who shall remain nameless, with financial and physical assistance in their times of need, whether they needed a hearing aid or help splitting wood. There is no project too big or too small for the Rotary Club to tackle. All requests and needs are assessed and responded to based on their merit and our ability to assist.
In the 1950’s we held a pancake dinner in the St. Francis Church basement. The following year we tried a fish fry, and the next year it was a spaghetti dinner. The Annual Spaghetti Dinner is till a yearly tradition.
Rotary Fool’s Day was held for several years on April 1st. Ads, in a mainly humorous vein, were sold over the phone and read by Rotarians on the local radio station.
With the start of Sidewalk Sales in Petoskey in the 1960’s came the Bizarre Bazaar. Food and other items were sold on the street downtown. This evolved into the Brat & Corn Tent from which we still sell food during the annual event.
The Rotary Radio Auction was another fund raiser for a few years. Donated articles were assembled at the Holiday Inn and auctioned off by telephone.
In 1985 and 1986 we sponsored a 3-ring circus in Petoskey. Often refereed to as the William McCune Memorial Circus, ticket sales were good and the Club did make a profit.
The most successful project to date for our Club has been the sale of calendars. Doubling as raffle tickets, they sell quite well. They are also wholesaled out to other Rotary Clubs in Michigan. Through the energetic sales efforts of all our members, we have been able to raise a considerable amount of money each year to defray most of our expenses and contribute to many charitable causes.