About the Rotary Club of Silver Spring

History

On the afternoon of May 27, 1940, 12 Silver Spring professionals accepted the charter from Rotary International that created the Rotary Club of Silver Spring as the 5,242 club in the international fraternity of Rotary. The fledgling club held its first meeting in the small village of Silver Spring at the Villa Rosa Restaurant to the distant sound of a clanging street car bell on nearby Georgia Ave and the pungent, unpolluted odors rising from Bill Seagers Diary Farm on Spring Street. The hamlet of Silver Spring was at peace with itself, while news stories from abroad told of armies marching eastward across Europe, bombs dropping on London, and a seemingly endless squabble over whether a sizeable portion of China should be referred to as Manchuria or Manchuko.

Recognition is given to B.N. (Jack) Allnutt of the Rotary Club of Rockville, under his presidency the Silver Spring Club was sponsored in 1940. Rockville Rotary Club member Henry Ransom, who had been recently transferred to Silver Spring, was appointed as the Silver Spring Club's first president. Allnutt and Ransom held a group meeting at the National Park College with an invitational luncheon for twenty prospective members, held by the College's headmaster Roy Tasco Davis, on Wednesday, May 22, 1940. Of the twenty luncheon attandees, a dozen went on become charter members of the Silver Spring Rotary Club. A year later, the Club's first elected president was Grover Poole and the Club had 26 members.

Over the last 63 years in service, the Rotary Club of Silver Spring has contributed its time and talents, plus many thousands of dollars to deserving organizations, including:

  • Gallaudet College
  • Holy Cross Hospital
  • Mid-Maryland Lung Association
  • Paint Branch High School
  • Silver Spring Boys & Girls Club
  • Silver Spring YMCA
  • Summit Lake Camp
  • Washington Adventist Hospital


In addition, the club has assisted many Montgomery County young people to further their education through our scholarship program.

To read the Installation Speech from 2003-2004 Club President Marshall D. Weissman, click here

 


Providing Fellowship

  • Weekly meetings and special events build relationships - business, professional, and personal.
  • Programs at weekly meetings are entertaining, informative, and of local & international interest.
  • Members' top reasons for joining Rotary are: community service, fellowship, and networking with business/community leaders.

 

 

The Object of Rotary

  • FIRST: The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
  • SECOND: High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying by each Rotarian of their occupation as an opportunity to serve society.
  • THIRD: The application of the ideal of service by every Rotarian to their personal, business, and community life.
  • FOURTH: The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

 

 

Privileges of Membership

  1. Fellowship with people who share high ideals -- including the desire to help others.
  2. The feeling of satisfaction gained from participating in community and international service projects, improving one's vocation, and developing local and international friendships.
  3. The privilege of sharing membership with a select group of men and women who attend to human needs, who work actively to do what is right and good in life, and who seek to build a pathway to peace.
  4. A broadened acquaintance and the ability to network with leaders of other businesses and professions.
  5. Participation in informative and beneficial programs at the club's weekly meetings.
  6. Opportunities to form friendships with Rotarians from other clubs in nearby communities and around the world.
  7. Opportunities to learn about other cultures from visiting Rotarians and guests from other countries, as a guest at Rotary clubs abroad, and through participation in other internationally-focused Rotary programs.

 

 

Obligations of Membership

  1. Attendance. Rotarians attend weekly club meetings. To maintain membership, Rotarians attend at least 60 percent of meetings in every six-month period and have no more than four consecutive absences. Attendance requirements can be met by participating in meetings at other Rotary clubs.
  2. Proposing new members. The ability of Rotary to attain its ideals and community service goals depends on the growth of Rotary through new members.
  3. Service within the club. To promote the ideal of service above self, Rotarians should become active within their home club by serving on committees or the Board of Directors, responding affirmatively to requests for help from committees or officers of the club, and assisting in the administration of club affairs.
  4. Continue to learn about Rotary and service opportunities. Attending weekly meetings and participating in service opportunities that the Silver Spring club makes available are two of the best ways to learn and experience more about Rotary and its ideals. Other opportunities include: attending the district conference or an international convention, reviewing the written materials available to members, and being open to learning about community needs - both financial and hands-on - that Rotary might address.
  5. Apply the principles of Rotary in one's professional and personal life. Rotary is an organization of human beings who share the commitment to do what is right. This commitment is embodied in Rotary's motto: "Service Above Self" and in the Four-Way Test, i.e., 1. Is it the truth?; 2. Is it fair to all concerned?; 3. Will it build good will and better friendships?; and, 4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?.

This last obligation is most significant and worthy of reflection for it represents Rotary's true purpose and the means by which all of its ideals can be realized and its goals accomplished.

 

 

Financial Obligations (Revised March, 1996)

  • Dues: Billed & Payable Quarterly $75.00 per Quarter, $300.00 Yearly
    • 1st Quarter - July-September 3rd Quarter - January-April
    • 2nd Quarter - October-December 4th Quarter - May-June
  • Initiation Fee: - $100.00
  • Meal Expense - Luncheon: Billed in Advance & Payable Quarterly
    • $12.00 per meal (Average = $156.00 per Quarter)
  • Make-Up Credit: Members receive a $6.00 credit toward the next Quarter's meal expense with proper notice to the Club Executive Secretary.
  • Rotary Foundation Pledge: Minimum $100.00 per Fiscal Year
    • The Silver Spring Rotary Foundation is the arm of the club which receives and disperses charitable funds.
  • Sponsorship of one new member during the Fiscal Year (FY=July through June).