Rotary Club of Moses Lake celebrates 75 years

MOSES LAKE — The Rotary Club of Moses Lake gathered at Pillar Rock Grill Saturday to celebrate 75 years of service to the community. 

“Every person in this room has chosen to spend some of their time serving others,” said Rotary Club President Tori Douglass. “When I look around this room, I don’t see money; I see value. In fact, I believe this may be the richest room in our city because it’s filled with people who are willing to give their time to make someone else’s life better.” 

About 80 people came to the event, as well as visiting Rotarian dignitaries who came to speak. The president of Rotary International, Francesco Arezzo, addressed the club from Ragusa, Italy via a recorded video. 

“Your club is the true spirit of Rotary,” Arezzo said. “You create opportunities for service and show the profound impact we can make when we work together toward common goals.” 

Chris Etienne, director of the Rotary International zone that includes Eastern Washington, as well as Alaska and most of Canada, spoke about the strides that Rotary had made since its founding in 1905, including the campaign to eradicate polio and the expansion of Rotary in the 1980s to include female members. 

“In 1978, the Rotary Club of Duarte, Calif., inducted three women into their club,” Etienne said. “They submitted their names to Rotary with a first initial and a last name. When the district governor came to visit and saw there were three women in the room, he said, ‘You can’t have women.’ He reported them to Rotary International and Rotary International revoked their charter.” 

The Duarte chapter sued, and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled in the local club’s favor in 1987, Etienne said. One of those three women, Sylvia Whitlock, is still alive and served as district governor, she added. 

The Rotary message for this year is “Unite for Good,” Etienne said.  

“(It’s a) simple but very meaningful message,” she said. “… In every project that we do, every new member we induct and every global challenge that we face, there are two things that are the most important: trust and friendship.” 

Carolyn Ferguson represented the Rotary Foundation, Rotary International’s charitable arm, at the banquet.  

“Your support to the Rotary Foundation has been extraordinary,” Ferguson said. “Lifetime club contributions from the Moses Lake Rotary Club to the Rotary Foundation on our record is $369,071. To put that in context, that is an average of $4,900 a year for 75 years. That is tremendously generous.” 

Pete Erickson, one of the longest-serving members of the Rotary Club of Moses Lake, gave the members a rundown of the history of the club in Moses Lake from its founding on Jan. 1, 1951. 

“Early projects for this club started immediately,” Erickson said. “They sponsored a bowling team. They supported the Campfire Girls group. They sent boys to camp and they donated money to support a lift station for the PUD.” 

The local club raised money for scholarships in the early years through hearts tournaments, selling fireworks and hosting a magic show, Erickson said. In the 1960s, the club held an annual suit sale, he said. 

“I remember these when we moved to this community in 1963,” Erickson said. “Rotarians would take their gently-used suits, have them cleaned and have a sidewalk sale in front of the old Penney’s building at Third and Division.” 

In 1956, the Rotary Club stopped giving scholarships outright and switched to a student loan program, Erickson said. During the 1970s, the club converted the loan fund, plus some other monies, into a capital investment fund to pay for scholarships.  

“The fund became an official 501(c)(3) in 1984, and the investment has grown to the point that we have provided in excess of $75,000 a year in scholarships,” he said. 

In 1965, Rotary International began sponsoring Group Service Exchanges overseas, and a member of the Moses Lake club took part on an exchange trip to Bolivia in 1969 or 1970, Erickson said. In 1986, the Moses Lake club formed a sister club relationship with one in Yonezawa, Japan, which led to annual exchanges between the two for several years. 

“I was fortunate enough to be the individual who went,” Erickson said. “And if you saw pictures of the costume they dressed me in, you would find it hilarious. I did not intend to do any public speaking over there, but on the final day, they gathered the community in a large arena, and there were about 25,000 people in the grandstand. They said, ‘Mr. Erickson, will you come up and make a few remarks for the group?’ I had that silly costume on, and it was very uncomfortable.” 

The Rotary Club of Moses Lake bought the clock at Sinkiuse Square in downtown Moses Lake, bought defibrillators for every school building in the Moses Lake School District and recently completed an accessibility sidewalk at Moses Lake BMX. Several other community projects also fill out the club’s list of contributions to the Moses Lake area. 

Today, the club provides diapers and wipes annually to New Hope for domestic violence victims, and collects coats for low-income school children. 

“We should be eternally proud of the work we have done in this community and internationally, and proud of the accomplishments of the Rotary Club in its 75-year history.” 

    District Governor Tracy McCall, right, congratulated Rotary Club of Moses Lake President Tori Douglass on the club’s support for Rotary International’s efforts to eradicate polio at the club’s 75th Anniversary Celebration Saturday.
  

    Rotarians look over awards earned by the Rotary Club of Moses Lake in its 75-year history.
  

    About 80 people gathered at Pillar Rock Grill Saturday for the Rotary Club of Moses Lake’s 75th Anniversary Celebration