Service Above Self

n December 13, 1915, twenty-three men sat down to­gether at the Hotel Fresno to discuss forming a new sort of organization. The new group would bring together business and professional men to volunteer their time in service to their community. This ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise had been brought to Fresno by Franklin Wright, who had experienced this new idea in a club he belonged to in Oakland. The twenty-three men enthusiastically endorsed the for­mation of just such a club in Fresno and The Rotary Club of Fresno was born.

            The first president of the new group was H. E. Wilkerson. He oversaw the writing of the club’s constitution and the addition of thirty-nine new members. During his term, the group took on its first civic project - the selection of olive trees which would border Highway 99 between the city of Fresno and Herndon Avenue.

            From this rather humble beginning the group made grand strides forward. It led in the organization of a Boy Scouts of America Council, financed trips to summer camp for needy boys, endorsed a statewide effort to establish a society for crippled chil­dren, provided financing to initiate Christmas Tree Lane and gave grants to the YMCA, the YWCA, and the Salvation Army. Over the years the club has continued to improve the facilities at the Boy Scout Camp at Shaver Lake, including the construction of new buildings. In 1954 under the leadership of President Leon Peters, Playland at Roeding Park was built.

Rotary was Founded in 1905 in Chicago and the ideals of Rotary soon spread to San Francisco, which was formed in 1908 as club #2, then to Oakland in 1909, and to San Jose in 1914. The transfer to Fresno of Franklin J. Wright as a representative of the Monogram Oil Company brought the incentives and Rotary plan to businessmen of Fresno who quickly seized the opportunity. The year was 1915, the date December 13, when 23 business and professional men met in the Hotel Fresno to formally organize the Fresno Rotary Club.

The club was originally included as a charter member in the formation in 1915 of District 13 which stretched from San Francisco to San Diego in California, but also included Reno, Nevada, Phoenix, Arizona, Honolulu, Hawaii and Albuquerque, New Mexico, a club charter Rotary restriction, which required a population base of 30,000 to form a new club, was removed by Rotary International in 1921 and thereafter the Fresno Club did its part in the growth of Rotary through the sponsoring of many clubs in the valley: Bakersfield in ’20, Porterville ’21, Visalia ’21, Dinuba ’22, Selma ’24, Avenal ’36, Corcoran ’40, Los Banos ’40, North Fresno ’48, Fresno Metropolitan ’53. The Club’s formation family tree now approaches 30 Rotary Clubs. Many District changes were made over the years between the formation of District 13 to our current District 5230, which now includes over 50 clubs with over 3,000 members located in the counties of Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Monterey. The Rotary Club of Fresno has provided seven District Governors: Frank W. Thomas 1944-45, Joseph H. Dale 1955-56, Harold Thompson 1971- 1972, Walter “Dub” Staley 1976-77, Charles A. Looney 1985-1986, Richard A. Johanson 1989-1990, and LeRoy G. Massey 1999-2000.

Over the years the Club has expanded in membership to over 300 and in service to include over 50 committees under four avenues of service,  club, community, international and vocational.

Under Club Services there are nearly 25 committees dedicated to club membership activities, inter-club programs and our continuing highly successful weekly Speakers Program. The club social activities are well represented by committees on the Christmas Party, Sports Day, Fellowship Programs and our Cogs Program.

In Community Service our efforts have focused primarily on the youth and the needy. Camp ROYAL (ROtary Youth And Leadership) was created through our efforts and has become a District wide-project providing leadership training annually to over 200 high school juniors. Central California Camp ROYAL is located at 5,000 feet in a YMCA facility at Sequoia Lake. Our Little Heroes Program provides emotional benefits by matching patients from Children’s Hospital Central California with Fresno State athletes. We have adopted Jefferson Elementary School and Duncan Poly High Schools to provide assistance where needed.The com­munity service aspects were expanded to include not only fund­ing projects at Children’s Hospital, but also funding pro­grams which dealt with vocational guidance and the formation of a dental lab at the Salvation Army headquarters.

International Service Projects have included support and housing for foreign students visiting the Fresno area. Our Solar Cooker Project, which has been adopted as a project by Rotary International, provides the means for cooking food using the power of the sun as well as safe drinking water, in third world countries. Our commitment to our sister club in Tlalnepantla, Mexico, has expanded from a school completion project to a major medical supply and educational program. We also continue to support study groups and participate in the effort to raise our share to end polio world wide.

Under Vocational Service our efforts have included committees on rural and urban concerns and employer employee relationships. We provide several scholarships annually for both academic and artistic achievements to local area students.

As the Rotary Club of Fresno marches towards its 100th year of service, we continue to grow, to commit and extend participation to the very life of Fresno and surrounding communities.