Georgetown
Kentucky
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Rotary Club of Georgetown
About Us:
The Georgetown Rotary Club was given charter #1525 by Rotary International of Chicago, IL and inducted by District Governor, Will R. Manier of Nashville, TN, on October 10, 1923. The Georgetown Club was sponsored by the Lexington Rotary Club and consisted of twenty-eight community leaders led by it's first Club President, Porter H. Nunnelley.
The club met in the Maplewood Inn on East Main Street, a boarding home run by Mrs. Webster. After several other locations, the club finally settled on the Lancaster Hotel at Main and Broadway for a number of years before the building was torn down. The weekly luncheons were served by Zelma Padgett and her crew. In the late 1930's, the club started giving college scholarships to outstanding and deserving graduates of Garth High School. One of the first recipients was David Blythe who later became the Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Kentucky.
In 1947, under the the leadership of Elroy Mallard, the club started a charity horse show at Marshall Field near the airport on Lexington Road. In the 1970's, the show was moved to the new county park on Cincinnati Pike north of Georgetown. There the Rotary Club furnished the new show ring and worked withthe county and Kiwanis Club in utilizing and improving the facilities over the years. In other club activities, the club furnished a room at the John Graves Ford Memorial Hospital and donated money to worthy causes such as the Polio-Plus Rotary International campaign to eliminate this disease from the world.
Sam Hill Jr. of Georgetown College received a Rotary Foundation grant to study in Scotland and students from Sweden, China, and Berlin, Germany have used Rotary Grants to come to Georgetown College to study. These students were sponsored by J. Foley Snyder, Registar at the college who was an active Rotarian most of his life. Mr. Snyder attended Rotary Internatinal Conventions in Chicago, IL, Nice, France, Denver, CO, and Detroit, MI. In 1958-59, he served as Governor of District 6740. In that capacity, he played a role in the establishment of Camp KYSOC for physically challenged children near Carrollton, KY. Bill Henry later served as District Governor in 1965-66.
In 1973, the clubs of Cynthiana, Georgetown, Hazard, Maysville, Paris and Somerset joined together to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary of their founding in 1923. In 1995, the forty member club met every Tuesday at noon at the Golden Corral Restaurant on Paris Road in Georgetown. Programs range from local activities, international events, visiting officials and an annual Christmas Party for needy children from the local elementary schools. A ladies night is held each year at the Spindletop Center. Members now include women and officials from businesses and industries within the Georgetown area including Toyota Motor Manufacturing Corporation. Because of strict attendence rules, there may be guests from Lexington or other clubs for make up meetings. Milton "Shorty" Price holds the perfect attendence record forty-five years and going. He is also a Paul Harris Fellow. (Note: As of Jan 2010 Bill Henry had 59 years and 8 months of perfect attendence.)
The Georgetown Rotary Club was given charter #1525 by Rotary International of Chicago, IL and inducted by District Governor, Will R. Manier of Nashville, TN, on October 10, 1923. The Georgetown Club was sponsored by the Lexington Rotary Club and consisted of twenty-eight community leaders led by it's first Club President, Porter H. Nunnelley.
The club met in the Maplewood Inn on East Main Street, a boarding home run by Mrs. Webster. After several other locations, the club finally settled on the Lancaster Hotel at Main and Broadway for a number of years before the building was torn down. The weekly luncheons were served by Zelma Padgett and her crew. In the late 1930's, the club started giving college scholarships to outstanding and deserving graduates of Garth High School. One of the first recipients was David Blythe who later became the Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Kentucky.
In 1947, under the the leadership of Elroy Mallard, the club started a charity horse show at Marshall Field near the airport on Lexington Road. In the 1970's, the show was moved to the new county park on Cincinnati Pike north of Georgetown. There the Rotary Club furnished the new show ring and worked withthe county and Kiwanis Club in utilizing and improving the facilities over the years. In other club activities, the club furnished a room at the John Graves Ford Memorial Hospital and donated money to worthy causes such as the Polio-Plus Rotary International campaign to eliminate this disease from the world.
Sam Hill Jr. of Georgetown College received a Rotary Foundation grant to study in Scotland and students from Sweden, China, and Berlin, Germany have used Rotary Grants to come to Georgetown College to study. These students were sponsored by J. Foley Snyder, Registar at the college who was an active Rotarian most of his life. Mr. Snyder attended Rotary Internatinal Conventions in Chicago, IL, Nice, France, Denver, CO, and Detroit, MI. In 1958-59, he served as Governor of District 6740. In that capacity, he played a role in the establishment of Camp KYSOC for physically challenged children near Carrollton, KY. Bill Henry later served as District Governor in 1965-66.
In 1973, the clubs of Cynthiana, Georgetown, Hazard, Maysville, Paris and Somerset joined together to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary of their founding in 1923. In 1995, the forty member club met every Tuesday at noon at the Golden Corral Restaurant on Paris Road in Georgetown. Programs range from local activities, international events, visiting officials and an annual Christmas Party for needy children from the local elementary schools. A ladies night is held each year at the Spindletop Center. Members now include women and officials from businesses and industries within the Georgetown area including Toyota Motor Manufacturing Corporation. Because of strict attendence rules, there may be guests from Lexington or other clubs for make up meetings. Milton "Shorty" Price holds the perfect attendence record forty-five years and going. He is also a Paul Harris Fellow. (Note: As of Jan 2010 Bill Henry had 59 years and 8 months of perfect attendence.)