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History

A FEW INTERESTING HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF DUBUQUE

Rotary is the world's first service club organization. The Rotary movement was born on the evening of February 23rd, 1905, when Paul Harris, then a young lawyer, who felt somewhat lost and alone in the sprawling city of Chicago, called three friends to discuss an idea that he had been developing. One of the three was a coal dealer, one a mining engineer and the third a merchant tailor.

Paul's idea was that businessmen should get together periodically to enjoy each other's company and to enlarge their circle of business and professional acquaintances. Out of their discussion came the idea of a club whose membership would be limited to one representative from each business and profession. Weekly meetings were to be held at each member's place of business in turn. The rotation of meetings was designed to acquaint the members with one-another's vocation and to promote business. Hence the name of "Rotary" was adopted early on.

When the Dubuque Club was organized in November, 1915, it was the 198th club in Rotary. We were the tenth club in Iowa. At the organization meeting there were 23 present.

The club met twice a month at the New Julien Hotel. We grew rapidly in seven months jumping from the original 23 to 83 members.

There was no weekly "Barrage" during the first four years. Then Dave Rath became president and out came the first issue. Later, weekly issues in the present form were started and have continued.

Under the sponsorship of The Dubuque Rotary Club, The Key City Rotary Club was organized in 1986 as the second Rotary Club in Dubuque.

There have been 8 District Conferences held in Dubuque; the first was in 1921. Billy Coppock was District Governor. At this meeting we had as our principal speaker, Bert Adams, immediate past President of Rotary International. The second conference held in Dubuque was in 1934 when Gerry Hunt of Guttenberg, was District Governor. The third conference was held in 1953 when Otis Young of Mt. Vernon, was District Governor. The fourth conference was held here in 1965, when Elmer Lindhart of Humboldt was the District Governor. It was held at the Julien Motor Inn as were the fifth, sixth, and seventh District Conferences. Harold Sweet was Conference Chairman. The fifth conference held in Dubuque was in 1972 when Ed Zeller of Cedar Rapids was District Governor. Again, the Conference Chairman was Harold Sweet. The sixth conference, in 1978, was held when King Herr was the District Governor. Dave Hartig was Conference Chairman. The seventh conference was held in 1983, when Walter E. Eschen was District Governor. Dan Kruse was Conference Chairman. The eighth conference was held in 1989 when Ken Kalahar was District Governor. It was hosted jointly by the Dubuque Rotary Club and The Key City Rotary Club and was held at The Dubuque Inn. Wm. Spitznas of the Key City Club was Conference Chairman.

There have been six District Governors elected from the Dubuque Club. The first was Paul Rankin who joined the club the first year it was organized and served as Governor in 1922 and 1923. The second District Governor was Edwin B. Lyons, who served in 1951-52. Ed was one of the most highly respected Rotarians as well as citizen of Dubuque during his life time. The third District Governor was Max Clark whose tenure was 1957-58. Max was a dedicated community servant and and educator of exceptional ability. The fourth District Governor was King Heer, who served in 1977-78 and is known for his excellence in photography. The fifth District Governor was Walter E. Eschen, who served ably from July 1, 1982 to June 30, 1983. He was an outdoor enthusiast. The sixth District Governor from Dubuque was Ken Kalahar who served in 1988-1989.

The Dubuque Rotary Club has participated in International Youth Exchanges. We have hosted students at the high school level from Australia, Denmark, Mexico, Philippines, New Zealand, Sweden, Finland, West Germany, Spain, Italy and Brazil.