FAYETTEVILLE — The Northside Rotary Club in Fayetteville began to show its generosity toward the community with one of its first big projects, which was helping a local battered women's shelter.
It was 1980, and the Northside Rotary Club in Fayetteville saw a need for swing sets and other playground equipment for children in their mothers' care at the facility.
Forty years later, the club is going strong. Since its efforts with donating playground equipment, the Northside Rotary Club has continued to help the community with its projects, mostly aimed at children through a Kidney Walkathon, the Dictionary Project, the Choices program, the Snack Pack Program and more.
Bill Locke, the Northside Rotary Club president, said Rotary is a humanitarian organization and the largest professional service club in the world. The focus of Rotary International is bringing clean water to the entire world and working to eradicate polio, he said. The Northside Rotary Club has helped with this cause by contributing water wells to Third World countries. However, the local club's underlying theme "largely is focused on youth," he said. The club strives to help disadvantaged youth and also children who are superior students, Locke said.
The club's charter was granted June 11, 1969.
The group celebrated its 40-year milestone in June with a party at Gulley Park. Zed Johnson, the public relations chairman, said the club is planning another celebration with a picnic later this fall at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, which holds a rose arbor built as a joint project by the Northside Rotary Club and the Fayetteville Rotary Club.
Early days and members
The Northside Rotary Club spun off from the Fayetteville Rotary Club, resulting with the city having two clubs, said Larry Bittle, Rotary member and past president of the club.
Some members of Fayetteville Rotary Club could not meet at the scheduled noon time, so an evening club named the Northside Rotary Club was formed. Members had to live north of North Street, Bittle said.
"The challenge was you had to either live in that area or have a business in that area. Those boundaries have since come and gone because of the development of Rotary," Bittle said.
The club met on Tuesday nights at the Holiday Inn in Fayetteville, which is now the Days Inn, said John D. Williams Jr., member and past president of the chapter. Four years later, they began meeting at the newly built Wyatt's Cafeteria, now occupied by Liquor World, he said.
There were 28 charter members for the club.
Charles Cross, who was a Fayetteville Rotary Club member, was instrumental in starting the club, and his son, James E. Cross, was elected as the founding president, Williams said. Both are now deceased, he said.
Bittle said he and Williams are the oldest surviving members who are still active in the club.
Bittle joined in 1977, and Williams became a member in 1973. Bittle said many members of Rotary are civic leaders in the community, but "you will not find any of them being promoted because the key motto is service above self."
"It's not about us. It's about what we're able to do in the community," he said.
Locke said he joined the Northside Rotary Club because it allowed him to do things behind the scenes that benefit the area. He has helped because it makes him feel good, not because he needs a "thank you," he said.
"It sound selfish, but I joined Rotary for me," he said.
There are now about 100 members in this local chapter, which meets Tuesdays at noon at the Cosmopolitan Hotel.
Old and new projects
One Northside Rotary project is the Kidney Walk-a-thon, which the club took on four years ago and is scheduled this year for Oct. 3 at Gulley Park. Travis Fink, Rotary Club member and past president, said this will be the fourth annual walk-a-thon, which helps raise money for Arkansas Children's Hospital's kidney program and also patients around the state. The club took over the walk for the National Kidney Foundation after major cutbacks closed its offices in Arkansas, Fink said.
The walk raised $20,000 in its first year under the club's direction and has steadily increased to garner $30,000-$40,000 each year, Fink said. Half of the funds raised go to the Arkansas Children's Hospital. The other 50 percent helps local kids and adults struggling with kidney disease or dialysis by paying for items like medical bills, transportation expenses or even utility bills, Fink said. This fund is for people who have been turned down for help by other agencies.
"It fills a need with these patients. This is a fund of last resort," Fink said.
Another youth-oriented program of the Northside Rotary Club is Choices, which is lead by Rotary Club member Hannah McNeill. The project is a two-day, interactive seminar aimed at encouraging kids to make good choice, such as staying in school and excelling in education, McNeill said.
"The more education you get, the more choices you're going to have in life," McNeill said.
This national nonprofit program is based in Seattle. Dianna Carpenter, club member and past president, formed the local chapter four years ago, McNeill said. For the program, multiple Rotary members - two for each class period - volunteer their time by visiting eighth-grade classes at Ramay Junior High and Woodland Junior High schools in the fall and spring. They teach kids through training kits sent to them by the national organization about time management and help them understand that they have more control with their lives than they realize. The training kits are purchased with a yearly $3,500 grant from the Bank of America.
Jody Dilday, club member and past president, said other club programs include the Dictionary Project and the Snack Pack Program.
For the Dictionary Project, Rotary club members buy and distribute dictionaries to all third graders in Fayetteville, Dilday said. The Snack Pack Program allows for hungry children to have food sent home with them for the weekend, she said. It is administered through a partnership between the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank and the Samaritan Community Center, she said.
The club contributes money to help fund this program by collecting change during its meetings, and about $3,000 was donated from Rotary last year, Locke said.
Changing all the time
The Northside Rotary Club has undergone changes through the years. Locke said the club has continuously changed because the needs of the community have changed. As the needs are identified, he said the Rotary club tries to fill in the gaps to help where appropriate.
One of the changes came in the late 1980s with the addition of women. Prior to 1987, Rotary clubs around the world were all-male. As one of the oldest club members, Williams said having women in Rotary has proven to be a blessing. He said when women in the club are given a task, it always gets done.
Dilday said she joined Rotary for business networking reasons, but it is not why she stayed in the club.
"I stayed in Rotary because of the friendships that are established with people that you would never really have crossed paths with otherwise," Dilday said.
Dilday and Carpenter have been the only two women presidents of the Northside Rotary Club.
Carpenter said this Rotary chapter is a small club, which usually has to join projects with other groups instead of starting its own. As public relations chairman, Johnson said he wants to help expand membership from about 125 to 150 people to enable the chapter to do more projects. Those interested can find more information at northsiderotary.org or call Robert Allain at Sign-A-Rama at 442-3731.
Locke said he wants the club to continue with its current programs and focus on youth. He said this could be done through like-minded individuals who "have a purpose in life to do more than just satisfy themselves," he said.
News, Pages 1, 6 on 09/20/2009