CLUB HISTORY

In 1967 a group of citizens in Boiling Springs began a discussion about forming a Rotary Club.  On April 6, 1067 the group met and discussed having a joint meeting with the members of The Shelby Rotary Club.  This meeting was subsequently held on April 10, 1967.

On June 29, 1967, a request to Rotary International was confirmed for a club charter to be established and named Boiling Springs Area.  The presentation of the charter was set for October 9, 1967.

A liaison committee from the Shelby Rotary Club assisted in organizing and instructing the new club.  Members were Robert G. Laney, Gordon Hamrick, and Charles I Dover.  Also assisting were James B. (Jick)Garland of Gastonia who visited with the new club, and E. Kenneth Switzer, general secretary of Rotary International of Evanston, Ill., who send literature and instructions for the new club.

Twenty-five (25) men presented themselves as charter members.  The charter members were Richard Alexander, Bill Coggins, William K. Elliott, Cecil Elmore, Clifford Hamrick Jr. (Bud), D. Dwight Hamrick, Karl Jordan, Sr. Frank Love, Thomas J. McGraw, Horace McSwain, Joe A. Miller, Dr. Eugene Poston, Samuel B. Putnam, Johnny Rogers, John P. Scoville, Jr., Joe L. Swing, David Trawick, Dr. Wyan Washburn, A.P. “Buddy” Weathers, James Taylor, A.A. Moseley, Jr., William McConaghy, Thurman Lewis, Richard Howle, and Jerry Hill.

The first officers elected for Boiling Springs Area Rotary were William K. Elliott of Boiling Springs, President; Joe Miller of Cliffside, vice president; A.P.(Buddy) Weathers of Cliffside, secretary; and Tom McCraw of Boiling Springs, treasurer.

The Charter was presented at a banquet at Gardner Webb University at the Charles I. Dover Campus Center on October 10, 1967.  Asheville Rotarian Richard Garland was the principal speaker and Robert Laney, immediate Past president of the Shelby Rotary, was the master of ceremonies.  Representatives of fourteen (14) District 767 clubs were present for the charter presentation ceremony.  Entertainment at the charter banquet was furnished by the Gardner-Webb Choral Ensemble under the direction of Rotarian Jerry Hill.

President Bill Elliott received the charter, saying, “The club pledges to adhere to the Rotary principles in laying down a firm foundation on which to better serve the Rotary motto.”

The club met at 12:15pm on Mondays in the student government room of the Charles I. Dover Building.