The Rotary Club of Wolfeboro

The Rotary Club of Wolfeboro was formed on July 19, 1927, following a chance meeting of Fred Landman (superintendent of the public schools in Wolfeboro) and John Gilman (president of the Laconia Rotary Club) at a picnic at Chocorua Lake.  Following telephone conversations between Landman and Gilman, a group of 12 men met at the Wolfeboro Tavern on October 28, 1927, to discuss the feasibility of a local club and to initiate a survey for members.  By December 6, 25 men, listed hereafter, signed as charter members, and three weeks later District Governor Anthony Parshley advised that the provisional club had been elected to membership in Rotary International as Club No. 2719. 

It was not chance that led to that first meeting on October 28, or to the celebration of Charter Night on January 13, 1928.  Twenty Five Charter members began a Wolfeboro tradition which has remained a vital force in our community for nearly 100 years.  The Rotary Club of Wolfeboro is a service organization dedicated to supporting projects that will benefit activities of the Four Avenues of Service: Club Service, Community Service, Vocational Service, and International Service.

The first meeting of the Wolfeboro Rotary Club was held December 27, 1927, in the bowling room of the Masonic Temple.  Their first dinner was served by the Ladies Club of the First Baptist Church. January 13, 1928, was charter night.  A women’s auxiliary known as the Rotary Anns (a pun on Rotarians) was formed soon thereafter.  On July 25, 1944, the group was honored by a visit by Paul Harris, of Chicago, who had founded Rotary in 1905 in that city.

In the years since 1927, the club has expanded and in the 1980s, women began joining and taking an active role in shaping the club.  Projects supported by the Wolfeboro Rotary Club have included the following (representative but not complete):

• Contribution to the Huggins Hospital Building Fund.
• Contribution to the Brewster Academy Building Fund.
• Local school scholarship awards.
• Funds and manpower to assist in building Foss Field
• Funds and manpower to assist m the repair of the old firehouse on Lehner Street (now the Community Center Building).
• Participation in the Group Study Exchange Program of Rotary International.
• Contributions and support of the Polio Plus project of Rotary International.
• Funding, design, construction, and lighting of the Russell C. Chase Bridge-Falls Path.
• Participation in the Rotary International Youth Exchange Program.
• Contributions and support of the Wolfeboro Area Children’s Center
• Contribution to the Wolfeboro Historical Society’s project for a new town history.
• Contribution to the community bandstand in Cate Park.
• Annual charity Golf Tournament.
• Annual Christmas tree sales to raise funds for charitable purposes.
• Support of a variety of community-wide projects designed to maintain the quality of life in Wolfeboro