Boise Rotary Club Records, 1916-2019

Paul Harris founded the Rotary Club in the first decade of the twentieth century to bring together business people with varied background for social fellowship and community service. The first official Rotary Club meeting was on February 23, 1905, in Chicago, Illinois. Paul Harris promoted the idea outside of Chicago and by 1908 San Francisco became the hometown of the second Rotary Club. By 1910 there were 16 Clubs throughout the United States. That same year club representatives met in Chicago in August to form the National Association of Rotary Clubs. In 1912, Canada and England established clubs and the name changed to the International Association of Rotary Clubs. The Rotary convention of 1922 shortened the name to Rotary International, which has remained to the present.

The Boise Rotary Club formed in 1917 and the 320th club formed. The Boise Chamber of Commerce called an organizational meeting early in the year in which about fifteen businessmen attended. The first meeting of record occurred on March 29, 1917. Seventeen charter members were present and they established important committees. Future weekly meetings were set for lunch on Thursdays, which have remained constant throughout the club's history. A second meeting was on April 5, 1917, during which they installed the first officers, C.A. Barton as President, H.F. Lemp as Vice-Pres, R.R. Alexander as Secretary. During the Saturday evening banquet of April 28, 1917, at the Owyhee hotel, the Governor of District 14, Dr. R.C. Witherspoon, officially installed the officers of the new Boise Rotary club. More than 100 men from Boise, Salt Lake City and Portland attend the banquet. Portland Rotary Club President Charles E. Cochran presided. The first service obligation that the Boise Club accepted on June 7, 1917, was to raise $2200 for the Salvation Army.

Community service projects of the Boise club have included the Annual High school scholarships, the international student exchange program, Crime stoppers, a playground for handicapped youth, a soccer field, the young artist competition, and the annual Business Week.

With the increasing growth of Boise came the necessity of new Rotary Clubs. The Rotary formed second club on January 20, 1972. Since then two other clubs have been established in Boise to bring the total to four clubs. The Boise Rotary Club has maintained a membership over 200 since the 1960's.