Rotary hits 100th

Centennial celebrations have been diminished this year.

One hundredth birthdays of Jay County residents — seemingly more than usual this year — came and went with their families keeping a distance because of the coronavirus pandemic.

One hundred years have passed since American women were finally awarded the right to vote, though Americans were able to celebrate by voting and ended up generating the highest turnout since women’s suffrage was ratified.

Also in 1920, Portland Rotary Club began. The club has gone through many changes in its 100 years of existence, but celebrations for its long commitment to philanthropy and unity were paused because of the pandemic.

“We’ve kind of postponed our celebration to the full next year,” said Rotarian Bonnie Maitlen, who is chairing the club’s centennial celebration committee.

Executive secretary Jeff Steed noted that, because Rotary Club meetings have been limited this year, few plans are actually set on how to celebrate the anniversary.

“Committees were doing what we could but it slowed down a lot. … (We) do what we can with the conditions of the environment,” Steed said.

Rotary Club meetings, which normally are held at noon each Wednesday at Harmony Cafe in Portland, have been limited to a monthly basis without meals to help contain the further spread of COVID-19. It could be after the winter until the club can meet regularly again, Maitlen said.

On a more celebratory note, Maitlen said the club has recruited Adams County native Zach Medler to paint a mural celebrating 100 years of Portland Rotary, though the exact location has yet to be determined. (See related story on Medler’s recent mural in Geneva.)

Since the club’s founding it has helped the international rotary foundation virtually eradicate polio along with ensuring access to clean drinking water in developing countries. 

Portland rotary has helped schools in Africa, delivered fire trucks to communities in Mexico and hosted countless exchange students from all over the world.

Locally the club has had a long-standing partnership with the Portland Rockets and a Youth Services Bureau literacy program.

“Fellowship is an important part of what we do,” Maitlen said. “We are very active in the community.”

The club currently boasts 63 members, higher than most other rotary clubs in communities of a similar size, Steed said.

Maitlen said the club is working on putting together a directory of every member of Portland Rotary since its inception, a daunting task considering the vast history of the club.

One member mentioned by name by both Steed and Maitlen is the late Vicki Tague, who served as president of the club.

Longtime rotarian John Young credited Tague with revitalizing the local Rotary group and said its membership doubled while she chaired the club and eventually the district’s membership committee. She was also among the first woman Rotarians and helped desegregate the club, Steed said.

Tague also served as assistant district governor and is among the many Portland Rotarians to be recognized by the international club as a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary.

As always the rotary club is looking to add new members, even though it’s not meeting as much as it usually does.

“We’re certainly interested in inviting more younger people,” Maitlen said.

Portland Rotary now meets monthly at the Harmony Cafe & Studio in Portland.