Club History

Since our club’s founding in 1916, Rotarians have been influential shaping our community and world. The impact that our members have made can be seen in the names of the streets we travel, the buildings we enter, and the memories we hold. The following information was provided by a club membership directory from 1946-1948. Bonisteel […]

When the Ann Arbor Service Clubs League was formed in 1952, bowling was a much more common activity than it is today. Everyone bowled! There were company bowling leagues and church bowling leagues, so it was only natural that the service clubs of Ann Arbor formed their own bowling league. The Ann Arbor Service Clubs […]

Rotary: History Moment Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars June 24, 2025 In giving my report last week of the Thank You the Club received from 95 year old past-President Russ Reister, I was reminded of Rotary International’s 66 year-old Ambassadorial Scholarship Program that sponsored students for undergraduate and graduate studies abroad, with the scholars serving as goodwill […]

Our club was chartered on October 1, 1916 so none of us today know the full story on how we came to be the 252nd club in Rotary. Fortunately, a document assembled in 1947 recounted the history of the club from its inception to that point. Combining the account of our formation with some historical […]

President Mark rang the opening bell ten minutes early to start an agenda-packed meeting. Tom Strode played The Star Spangled Banner and Fritz Seyferth intoned Advice From A Tree.  Shelley MacMillan led us in singing “Let There Be Peace on Earth”. President Mark welcomed guests and thanked the people who made the meeting run smoothly. […]

The Program Committee has been hard at work filling the dates between now and the end of the calendar year. Combining that listing with dates for known Club and District events, you can click here for a printout. Results from our club’s most recent Member Survey indicated that at least 3/4 of the respondents said […]

Wagar A. Glas, Club President in 1954-55, as a dedicated Rotarian attended several International Rotary Conventions. He brought back “The Shirt” from a Rotary International Conference in Hawaii.  He gave it to President Carl Gingles (1980-81), who passed it on to incoming President Russ Reister at the start of his 1981-82 term. Russ continued the […]

Following WWI Ann Arbor Rotary began sponsoring Rural-Urban Get-To-Gethers for representative farmers of Washtenaw County. They understood that agriculturists quite often feel their city cousins don’t know or care about rural problems. The Club sought to correct this misconception. Sometimes alone, and at times in cooperation with one or more other service clubs in the […]

During the years 1916 to 1947, Club membership grew from the original fifteen to 132 active and four honorary members. On average, ten new names were added each year to the roles with about half that number lost due to death or resignation. Time, circumstance and the 1988 inclusion of exceptional local women to Rotary […]

In the fall of 1920, the Principal of Perry School, Miss Carrie Dicken, sponsored continuing work to assimilate non-English speaking women of the city into local culture. That year, long walks to the school and weather conditions had been affecting attendance. This “Americanization Work” was made easier when Ann Arbor Rotary members put service above […]