By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com

It’s not every organization that can boast it has served its local community for nearly a century. For Bucyrus Rotary #760, the past 95 years in the community has been a successful venture.

The club celebrated its 95th anniversary at its regular meeting Tuesday.

Jeff Urban hasn’t put in a full year yet as the Rotary Club secretary but he knows the organization inside and out as an 11-year member.

“This is a great club. It’s a service club, which means our sole purpose is to serve the community,” Urban said. “We try to raise a lot of money and then distribute that back in the community to charities, other community organizations that need it.

“We’re proud of this club and happy to be able to do what we do to help people in the community,” he added.

Sharon Hahn joined Rotary in 2001 and currently serves as the club’s treasurer.

“Rotary is just kind of a landmark institute and to know that it’s been going strong for 95 years, especially this club,” Hahn said, “just to think that we have a club here in our own local town that’s had people who are willing to (serve).”

Service above self isn’t just a tagline, Hahn explained. It describes exactly who the Rotarians are.

“When we come into the organization, it’s made pretty clear to us that’s a definite aspect of what we’re doing when we become a Rotarian,” Hahn said. “We get involved in the projects and with our actual physical supporters. It’s not like having your name on a roster that you’re a Rotarian – you are involved in it.”

Virginia Hammontree has been a member of the Rotary Club since 2006 but her connection to the club began long before that.

“I always thought Rotary was a part of my life. As a child I remembered going to Pancake Day,” Hammontree said. “It’s a fun time with everything we have going on that day, with the choruses singing and just four generations sitting at a table having breakfast. It’s a fun family event.”

Pancake Day is not the only connection Hammontree had to the Rotary Club before becoming a member. She found newspaper articles that chronicled the club putting the first swimming pool in her hometown and the first lights up at the tennis courts.

“It really has been a part of my life forever. It’s fun now to be a part of somebody else’s life and doing some of the fun things we do.” Hammontree said.

Hammontree is also the Assistant District Governor for the area, which covers Bucyrus, Cardington, Marion, and Upper Sandusky.

“You learn what Rotary really is,” Hammontree said about working on the next level of civic club. “You get more involved in all the different things Rotary means.”

Despite the responsibility she has in working with three other clubs, the Bucyrus branch will always be the home where she does most of her charity work and co-chairs AuctionFest with Terry Gernert.

“Rotary Club has become a huge part of my life,” Hammontree said. “I love every minute of it.”

“It’s a good organization, a good civic organization that’s does a lot of good things,” said Frank Fischer, a 23-year member of the local Rotary Club.

Fischer said they always struggle with gaining younger members but those who are members – no matter their age or when they can attend meetings – are always able to help out when projects roll around.

Ed Wise is the longest-serving Rotary member in Bucyrus. He joined the ranks of Bucyrus Rotarians on Aug. 10, 1973.

“We have a long history of Rotarians in our family,” Wise explained. “My grandfather was in Rotary shortly after it was founded, then my dad was there and I came in. And my son is now in it.”

The reason Rotary has lasted so long in Bucyrus is because of what it’s all about, Wise said.

“(Doing) beneficial things for the community, for one another as neighbors and friends we have here,” he added.

Bucyrus Rotary hosts various fundraisers throughout the year alongside its biggest moneymakers – Pancake Day and AuctionFest. In addition to those events, Rotary clubs throughout the nation are involved in raising awareness and eradicating polio.

Bucyrus Rotary #760 first formed in 1920 and currently consists of 56 members – three of which were inducted into the club on Tuesday.

To join Bucyrus Rotary #760, interested parties can contact any Rotary officer or board member.