06/03/16 Portland Rotary Celebrates 100 Years With Photo

100-Year Celebration of Portland Rotary Club
1915-2015

(Portland Rotary Members, June 3, 2016)

The Rotary Club of Portland is celebrating its centennial....in one way, by taking a formal group photo of its present club members.

The Club was founded in late 1915 by a group of professional men seeking fellowship and business connections. At its first official meeting as a chartered club on Sept. 10, 1915 at Mitchell’s in Scarborough, there was a clambake, followed by a lively baseball game between the “farmers and the city guys.” Farmers won, 18-14, according to the club’s website.

(Portland Rotary Club, 1915)

Since then, the organization has grown to include women (admitted in 1987) and to embrace community service, which remains a cornerstone of the club. In 1948, when post-war Europe was suffering from severe poverty and food shortages, the club loaded a fishing trawler built at Bath Iron Works with tons of food and clothing. In coordination with the Rotary Club of Nantes, France, the cargo left Portland bound for France where it was distributed to fishing families who had lost their boats, jobs and livelihood as a result of World War II. Later that fall, a second boat carried cargo of baby food and toys to the children of the area.

More recently, the Rotarians have focused efforts to help senior citizens, youth, the poor and the community in general. Testaments to those efforts include Rotary Grove on the Eastern Prom Trail, “The Armillary” statue on the waterfront, the Rotary Clock in Monument Square, the elevator in Merrill Auditorium, and the Maine Children’s Cancer Program, which received a major contribution from the club during the club’s 75th anniversary year.