Club History

Rotary International (RI) chartered the Rotary Club of Georgetown on February 28, 1962.

Joseph A. Abey was Rotary International's President and the RI theme that year was "Aim for Action, Communicate for Understanding, Test for Leadership."  
  
Sponsored by the Taylor Rotary Club and newly organized, the Rotary Club of Georgetown began with twenty-five of the community’s professional businessmen.  An inaugural ceremony was held April 16, 1962 as the newest service club was recognized by District Governor I.A. Shepherd Taylor. 

Charter members included Sam H. Brady, Dr. Durwood Fleming, J.H. Compton, Charles Forbes, Ernest Grigsby, Lloyd Crabb, Jr., A.C. Woodfin, C.S. Sanders, Gilbert Conoley, J.D.F. Williams, A.F. Davis, M. Howard Knox, John V. Berglund, J.P. Kerr, Sheridan D. Cavitt, Jr., Floyd H. Engvall, Robert F.B. Morse, Wallace M. Giddings, R.B. Motheral, J.T. Atkin, W.R. Stump, Fred Bell, Harold Gattis, J.H. McCoy, and E.C. Girvin.

Sam H. Brady was elected as the first President and later became the club’s first Paul Harris Fellow.  He went on to serve a second term due to the unfortunate death of the President Elect.

Today the Rotary Club of Georgetown boast four women past presidents, one hundred and sixteen members, seventy six current Paul Harris Fellows and two hundred and thirteen Paul Harris Fellows awarded in total. 

In 2002, and in memory of Sam Brady, the Rotary Club of Georgetown began recognizing a member of the community who is not a Rotarian, with a Paul Harris Fellow for contributions to the community at large exemplifying the ideals of “Service Above Self”.  To date, ten well deserving citizens of the community have received this special award.

Two 5870 District Governors have come from this club.  William "Bill" Bryce, PDG 1999-2000 and Gene Davenport, PDG 2004-2005 have served respectively. 

The Rotary Club of Georgetown helped to charter three clubs; the Round Rock Rotary Club in 1983, the Georgetown Sunrise Club in 1996, and the Georgetown Sun City Club in 1997.

Since the inception of the club, only one Rotarian has received the "Rotary International Service Above Self Award" while eleven Rotarians have been awarded with the District's highest award, the distinguished "District Roll of Fame."

Four Rotary Youth Exchange students have been hosted by club member families since 1997. 

Two Rotary Foundation Group Study Exchange (GSE) team leaders and one team member have come from this club. Our club has hosted seven GSE visits between 1999 and 2002.

The Georgetown Rotary Club has sponsored three Ambassadorial Scholars and one Cultural Scholar.  These students were granted eighty-five thousand ($85,000) in individual scholarships to study abroad between 2003 and 2012.  Ambassador Scholars traveled to England, Australia and Peru, while the Cultural Scholar traveled to Taipei. 

All time giving to the Rotary International Foundation for this club is over three hundred and twenty thousand ($338,992) as of March 2, 2012.   

Almost a million dollars ($919,475) have been invested in nineteen local and international humanitarian service projects, which were funded using matching funds between clubs and Rotary grants.  

Each year the club gives an average of ten thousand ($10,000) in high school scholarships.  An estimated quarter of a million dollars ($250,000) have been awarded since 1962 to Georgetown students and teachers.

Many more partnerships and Georgetown projects have been undertaken and these few paragraphs provide only a glimpse of what the Rotary Club of Georgetown has accomplished during the course of fifty years. 

To learn more about the history of the club, see the club data section where we have stored specific details about club fellowship activities, projects, quotes, anecdotal stories and memorable moments.