Serving the Alberni Valley since 1937

A Short History of the Port Alberni Rotary Club from 1937-1973

It all began at 7:30 p.m. on March 11, 1937 when 20 prominent business and professional men of the Alberni District met at the Somass Hotel, as it then was in all its grandeur, with seven noted Rotarians from other B. C. communities.

The minutes of the organizational meeting indicate that the following Rotarians were present:

The local persons who were desirous of forming a Rotary Club in the Valley were:   

Harry Boothroyd conducted the organizational meeting and after hearing from the visiting Rotarians, the group decided to proceed with the new club and Bill Higgs moved and Fred Weaver seconded that the Rotary Club of the Alberni District be formed. Other motions adopted a constitution and set the regular meeting as each Thursday commencing at 12:10 p.m. and terminating at 1:25 p.m. sharp.

The first officers were

The first regular luncheon meeting was held at the Somass Hotel on Thursday March 18^th, 1937 with President Harry Boothroyd in the chair and 19 members in attendance. The first program consisted of three minute biographies by Fred Bacon, Arnold Hanna, Bill Higgs and Dick Ackland. The minutes also record that the meeting adjourned at 1:25 p.m. sharp.

At the April 1^st, 1937 meeting, a visiting Rotarian suggested that a Club Historian be appointed and it seems not inappropriate that the first historians were appointed in 1971.

These notes should make some mention of the first Charter Meeting held on April 21^st, 1937, at the Elk’s Community Hall. The rental rate for the hall was $35.00 and the Ladies Auxiliary to the West Coast General Hospital provided dinner at $.75 per head so that the price of tickets was $1.00 per person. It was estimated that 155 persons would attend which included 40 visitors from Courtenay, 50 from Nanaimo, 10 from Victoria, 35 local members and wives, and 10 local paid invitations of which two were Capt. And Mrs. Fry.

Percy Scurrah of Victoria, then a Past District Governor, presided at the meeting, and District Governor Charles Mowry of District No. 1 presented the Charter.

Presentations by other clubs were as follows:

Once the Club did get off the ground the members immediately searched for community projects which included the city’s participation in the coronation of King George VI, the establishment of a Boy’s Club, and a tourist promotion pamphlet. Other organizations requested financial assistance from the newly formed Rotary Club butt were referred to a later date due to the fact that sufficient funds for such purposes had not yet been accumulated.

At the first anniversary luncheon on March 31, 1938, Dick Ackland was elected the second president and a committee was appointed to prepare Club by-laws.

At the August 29^th, 1938 meeting Cliff MacDonald was awarded a baby pin and the first steps were taken to develop a city park on the E & N property at the foot of Argyle Street.

Apparently sometime in the fall of 1938 the first carnival was held as donations from the proceeds were authorized at the Directors’ meeting of December 1^st, 1938. These were $100 to the Kinsmen and $100 to the Elks.

On March 31, 1939 the first Club by-laws were adopted and steps were taken to have them printed for circulation among the members. A study of the minutes of the various Directors’ meetings during these early months of the Club’s existence snow there was great concern over increasing membership, and Ed Homewood, Lou Fox, Edmund Monk, Benny Lowe and Charlie Cocks were admitted in the first two years.

In August 1939 the Club lost one of its charter members, Tom Bennett who resigned because he could not attend the meetings.

In January 1940 the classification of Physician and Surgeon was declared open and Dick Garner’s name was proposed. Also around this time B. P. Allard, Station Agent and Rev. Pitts, Indian School were admitted as were C. A. McNaughton, E. Gaetz, Reece Riley and Don McCall.

On May 14^th, 1940 two well received motions were passed: one changing Arnold Hanna’s classification from "Law" to "Judiciary" and the other purchasing a wedding present for Harry Boothroyd.

Nothing appears to have happened of any note until August 1940 when a fledgling young lawyer by the name of Art McCulloch took over Judge Hanna’s classification and became one of the outstanding Rotarians in the Club.

On February 11^th, 1941 the "Flash" was born at the insistence of Bert Bradley and Fred Bacon who at that time seemed to be most worried about the cost of producing the bulleting. Apparently this was resolved and in weeks the "Flash" became our official organ.

It is interesting to note that on August 12^th, 1941 the Club at a luncheon meeting rejected a motion to increase the weekly luncheon fee from 60 cents to $1.00 with the additional 40 cents to be paid to the Queen’s Canadian Fund. The vote was 19 to 5 against the motion. It is also important that we note that on October 7^th, 1941 the Club donated $150.00 to the boy Scout Hall and in November of the same year $250.00 to the local dental clinic.

Other new members were at this time proposed and undoubtedly were accepted for membership but this short resume of the Club’s history does not intend to record all new members after this date as at this time the Rotary Club of Alberni District was well founded and individual members were important only in so far as they contributed to the growth and well being of the club.

During the War Years our Club supported financially all organizations interested in providing welfare and comfort to local soldiers and other servicemen serving overseas. It also provided financial assistance to the Seamen’s Club and other community efforts including the Local Brigade and even purchased a piano for the use of Canadian War Services Fund administered by Jim Scales, whom many new members must have met in Nanaimo after the war where he operated a news stand.

The November 1945 minutes indicate that a profitable carnival was held that year with a profit of $3,500 to be invested in Victory Loan Bonds.

In May 1944 we took back the piano loaned to the Canadian War Services Fund and it was later located in our luncheon room at the Greenwood Motor Hotel.

In October 1944 the Club was already taking steps to observe V-Day and had in fact accepted the return of a donation of $100.00 made to the Bivouac Club for purchase of soldier’s comforts but in the same month made a donation of $250.00 to the "Milk for Britain Club". Also at this time they invested a further $1,500.00 in Government of Canada War Bonds.

The first effort to provide to other worthwhile organizations with annual subscriptions to the Rotarian Magazine was made in January 1945. Twelve subscriptions were authorized in that year and paid for by the Club.

Roley Tombs seems to have been the first Past Service Member whose application was accepted on January 9^th, 1945.

In February 1945 the club relinquished its past rights to conduct the annual Red Cross Appeal in favour of the Kinsman Club.

On June 12^th, 1945 we purchased a Gong for the newly organized Gyro Club and on the same date Roley Tombs changed his classification from Past Service to Dry Cleaners. The secretary showed a net investment of $6,700.00.

On November 1^st, 1945 such notables as Bill Whiles, John Mottishaw and Jack Begg were approved for membership. The minutes show that during the preceding six months many substantial donations were made to local organizations including the Scouts, the Youth Club at Sproat Lake and other. The annual carnival was still in operation as a donation of $200.00 was made to the Kinsmen for their assistance. In the same month the members opposed the Directors and authorized a payment of $1.00 per meal. At this time the Club was still meeting at the Somass Hotel.

In February 1946 the Club seems to be undecided as to how much it wishes to contribute to the "Welcome Home Night" for Port Alberni servicemen. There is no record in the minutes of how much was donated but based on the Club’s previous undertakings the amount should have been substantial. There is one thing evident and that is the Directors would never decide anything at a meeting which they could defer to another meeting and in this respect much of what the a Club has done or has not done has been lost due to lack of records.

On July 11, 1946 the first discussion regarding a Rotary Ann Association was held and though the good Rotarians never recorded any minutes of the legality of such organization it is presumed they were duly passed and recorded.

The ensuing year until July, 1947 was not according to the minutes kept by the then secretary, one A. E. Caldwell, productive of much club development! This may not be correct as the president during that year was Art McCulloch and the failure to record the Club’s achievements could be attributed to the secretary’s busy calendar.

1947 – 48 heralded the year of Fred Weaver as president and A. E. Caldwell remained as secretary and the minutes of Directors meetings are again rather sketchy. It does appear that in this year we first adopted the School Boy Patrol to the extent of $75.00 and made substantial donations to the Boy Scouts and allied groups. The big event of this year was the Ladies Night chaired by Eddie Allen with dinner at Benny’s at $1.50 per plate followed by dancing at the Golf Club.

June 1948 saw Cliff Macdonald elected as president and possibly this was the first year we had a joint installation with Qualicum Beach. The first big deal was a donation of $500.00 to the Flood Relief Committee and at the same meeting Eddie Allen was authorized to have a new badge box constructed. (Now lost.)

Also during Cliff’s year substantial donations were made to Hospital Building Fund, the Boy Scouts, the Basketball Coach salary fund, Senior Citizen’s Auction; the United Emergency Relief fund and the Red Cross.

In June 1949 Jack Spooner was installed as President at a joint installation with the Qualicum Club.

Besides making the usual sundry donations the Club again undertook to pay $25.00 per month towards the salary of basketball coach Porky Andrews. River Road Park was started and Rotary Park at the foot of Argyle Street was abandoned as the lease expired. The first suggestion of a Folk Festival was made by the Spokes Club. A lot of good ideas came out of the monthly Spokes Club meetings and the Folk Festival was a huge success in the years that it was held. President Jack even went to Vancouver to appear on a radio broadcast "Town of the Week" and brought back a cheque for $100.00 for Club Charities. The taxes on our Sproat Lake Island were 85 cents that year.

In July 1950 A. E. Caldwell took over the reins from Jack and Les Hammer was elected Secretary. Donations were made in December to the Senior Citizens Radio Auction, the Masque Dramatic Society and the Basketball Association. It was also in this year that the Club decided to cease operating the annual carnival and to look elsewhere for a money raising project. The second Annual Folk Festival was well in hand by April 1951 and in May the Directors decided to hold one more carnival after all. As the good weather arrived many productive and fun-filled work bees were held at the River Road Park.

Dr. Earl Alexander succeeded A. E. Caldwell in the chair in 1951. During the fall we obtained our first professional pianist Mr. Bill Dennett and of course the singing improved. A. E. Caldwell who had acted as pianist was retired along with a few of his flat notes. In January 1952 President Earl resigned from the Club as he was relocating his dental practice in Anchorage, Alaska. Ernie Hanratty, the vice-president assumed the roll of president and in a very capable manner.

Ron Redman took over as president in June 1952 and it was at one of the earlier meetings in Ron’s year that we decided to sponsor a professional vaudeville show as a means of raising funds. This means had been used by the Victoria Club successfully for many year. We also looked into the possibility of an annual Rotary Auction which the Qualicum Club had used effectively as a source of funds. The first auction was held in October 1952 and showed a net profit of $785.00 but the vaudeville show appears to have cost us $528.06. In November 1952 we were still able to donate $1,000.00 to the new hospital construction as the Folk Festivals had brought us an additional $830.00.

In July 1953 Eddie Allen assumed the chair and we got off to a good start with a donation of $500.00 to the Boy Scout Building Fund. Another auction was held in the fall of 1953, $250.00 of the proceeds was donated to the Navy League. Eddie’s term of office ended in June 1954 and Tom Green was installed as president for the year 1954 –55.

During Tom’s year we had the pleasure of observing the Golden Anniversary of Rotary and agreed to sponsor the Don Cossack Chair when it appeared at the High School Auditorium in October 1955. This project bore fruit during Harvey Taylor’s year as president as he took over from Tom Green in July. During the latter part of Harvey’s regime we purchased $800.00 worth of playground equipment for Recreation Park and Roger Creek Park.

Irving Wilson Sr. followed Harvey in the chair in July 1956, and the first big project was our sponsorship of the Cavalcade of Thrill Drivers which netted the Club $949.00. It was also during this year that we got underway on the High School Oval, a project that kept the Club busy and interested for a period of two years. The first $2,000.00 was earmarked in June 1957.

Dick Garner was our next president and his first project was another show by the Don Cossacks. Luncheon costs were raised to $1.50 with meal costing $1.25. Discussions re holding a Boat Show were held and the idea met with the approval of all members. The first show was actually held in April 1958 and was a great success.

George Watson was our next president (July 1958) and he was able to turn over to the Club proceeds of $2,242.00 from the Boat Show. At the first meeting of the Directors Irving Wilson gave an estimate of $13,697.00 as being the proposed cost of the High School Oval with an additional $1,700.00 set aside for tennis courts. We also became a 100% Club in Rotary Foundation by subscribing a further $340.00 to cover 34 members who had passed through since 1947 and for whom subscriptions had not been paid.

Jim Lambeth of the Bank of Montreal (Alberni Branch) took over the presidency after George Watson in July, 1959. During Jim’s term of office the tennis court at the Alberni District High School was continued under the chairmanship of Irving Wilson Sr. The Boat Show was continued again under the chairmanship of Jimmie Stuart and was a financial success. During this year of 1960 we also observed the Golden Anniversary of the Tacoma Club.

In July 1960 Ten Stroyan assumed the office of president and delivered the gavel to Fred Stansfield in July, 1961. The boat show held during Jim’s year brought in over $2,200.00 to the Club’s trust account. During Ted’s year the first steps were taken to set up a committee to construct a Bowling Green at the Senior Citizen’s Homes on Tenth Avenue and the first $500.00 was allocated to this project. We also received the bad news that the High School tennis courts constructed during the previous year cost the Club $6,425.00. The boat show continued to be our main money raising project.

Fred Stansfield who was chairman of the Bowling Green committee during the previous year was elected president for 1961 – 62. It was during this year that the Boat Show was dropped as an annual project. A motion was adopted to grant an annual bursary of $250.00 to a Grade 12 student which the Club continues to do.

Dennis Thain took over the chair in June 1962. Dennis had a very quiet term of office as we were still licking our wounds from the previous year. We did however keep up with all of our usual donations and sponsorships and raised sufficient funds by lesser projects to make ends meet.

Bill Ramsay followed Dennis in the chair in July 1963 and in the spring of 1964 we sponsored an Ice Review and made a profit of $546.42. The Tidal Wave occurred in April 1964 and all funds received from other Rotary Clubs plus a donation of $340.00 from our Club were turned over to the Disaster fund.

In 1964 Bill turned the gavel over to George Dunbar. There was a lot of action in the first months of George’s term regarding changing the meeting time to an evening meeting but this was not accepted by the Club. An effort was made to revive the Spokes Club which didn’t materialize but we did make our first contact with the Putararu Club in New Zealand and in January 1965 Doug Blake was selected as our Rotary Youth Exchange candidate. Doug did go to New Zealand as planned an on his return gave an excellent report to the Club on his stay down under. Miss Wendy Dysart from the Putararu Club’s area was our guest. Our chief money raising project was the Ice Review.

Gerry Jamieson took over the chair in June 1965 and piloted the Club through the usual course of minor fund raising projects and donations. A special donation was made to the Heart fund in memory of Roley Tombs. We secured a permanent address, Box 2, Port Alberni. During this period we were casting about unsuccessfully for a good money raiser and a worthwhile project.

Plans to continue the Ice Revue fell through when the Skating Club decided to undertake sponsorship. Efforts to obtain a booking of the White Heather Group proved unsuccessful. President Gerry succeeded in booking the Don Cossacks for Tuesday October 4, 1967 some 17 months in advance.

As a Vocational Service Project, the Club provided transportation for some 75 ADSS students to visit Vancouver Vocational School and B.C. Institute of Technology. Some Rotarians accompanied the students.

Leo Katila was the next president and wielded a mean gavel during 1966 – 67. The highlights of Leo’s year were our 30^th anniversary observance and sponsorship of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. We did make two rather important donations, one of $220.00 to sponsor a child at the Vancouver Island Camp for Special Children and the other of $100.00 to the Salvation Army towards its Econoline Van.

Garnet Reynolds succeeded Leo as president and one of his first projects was the gathering and shipping of pocket books to a foreign club that had requested them and also the purchase by the club of historical pictures of the Alberni Valley which were donated to the Museum Society. The Don Cossack Concert which had been arranged some 1 ½ years earlier in the year took place during the fall and was a sell out success.

Lloyd Tombs took the chair in June 1968 and though we had a fairly good bank account immediate steps were taken to find more ways and means of increasing our trust deposit thus the "200 Club" was born. The Club also became a 200% contributor to the Rotary Foundation. In May 1959 we once again sponsored a child at the Vancouver Island Camp to the extent of $322.00.

The Rotary year 1969 – 70 under the chairmanship of Jack Jowsey was a year of action. The Club was instrumental in assisting the Family Guidance Association to get organized and to this end donated $1,000.00 in cash and helped decorate their first office premises. We also purchased a Defibulator for the West Coast General Hospital at a cost of approximately $2,000.00 and continued to sponsor a child at the Vancouver Island Camp for Special Children. This year also saw us for the first time in the Club’s history host a District Assembly which was combined with our annual joint-installation. Delegates to the assembly were unanimous that ours was one of the best they had ever attended though we sustained a deficit.

Two other important projects were commenced during Jack’s year but were not completed until the following Club year (1970 – 71) when Joe Van Bergen was president. The first was our participation in the Student Exchange Programme whereby we accepted the sponsorship of Jane McQueen, a young High School girl from Australia for a year. Jane stayed with us during 1970 and was the guest of Rotarians in their homes during that time. The other project referred to was the sale of the Island Arrangements were concluded in November 1970 to sell it for $10,000.00 cash with the proceeds to be invested in 9 ½% bonds until required. Two other interesting items during Joe’s year were the giving of a $250.00 bursary to a Grade 13 student and the participation in the Adventure in Citizenship Programme by sending Miss McKinnon, a local student, to Ottawa for ten days. We changed our name to Rotary Club of Port Alberni.

Following Joe’s successful year Jack Ellis took the chair in June 1971. The minutes indicate much activity in taking in new members during the first six months and in October the decision was taken to endorse the Directors’ proposal to financially assist with the erection of a change house and caretaker’s home at Paper Mill Dam Park up to the amount of $10,000.00. The name Rotary Beach House (Klahowya) was selected as a result of a contest among the members. Inflation also hit the Club this year when it was recommended that our annual bursary be increased from $250.00 to $500.00. This motion was carried with enthusiasm.

During the year of the reign of Hoddy Hodson, the first note I have is that we entertained the 21 boys and girls of the Voyajeurs from Montreal on July 28^th and at the next meeting, our President spoke on the importance of attendance at the whole of the meeting period and as an added incentive moved the weekly draw to the end of the meeting – on the first day, Ookpick won the first prize.

At the August 17^th meeting, Jim Hunter was named to receive the Rotary Scholarship of $500.00 which was presented to him by our District Governor, Gene Campbell, two weeks later. This was also a Ladies Day. Gene announced that the new boundaries of our District would constitute King County and Alaska as one District and Vancouver Island and the remainder of the existing District as the other.

At the September 14^th meeting, Roger announced that Rotary had won first prize in the fall Fair in the Service Club category and as a footnote added that we were the only entry. Later in September, this Club agreed to sponsor one child under the foster Parent Plan for a period of five years at a cost of $204.00 per year.

In October, the Club decided to abandon the School boy Patrol Program except for the Gill School and both Rollie Rose and Len Jenner resigned in the month. Len’s resignation left us without any spiritual guidance as George Afflech had resigned the previous year.

In November, we gained one new member, George Williscroft, and lost one member Harold Wrench, who retired from MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. and moved to Victoria. We also regretted the death of a very popular member, Bill Coates, but welcomed another new member, Fred Clark.

Earlier in November, Bernard Kimball gave us our first report on the Korean girl we are sponsoring under the Foster Parent Plan, and Colin Stirzaker kicked off the 200 Club Program.

December was naturally a quiet month highlighted mainly by the acceptance of two new members, Ross Howard and Bruce Atkinson, and George Afflech’s annual Christmas message.

January 1973 was a busy month. Bernard read us a letter from our Korean foster child and the Club, after much heated discussion, finally decided to become a 400% Rotary Foundation Club with the funds to come out of a general revenue. On January 11^th, we lost one of our Charter members, Jack Spooner, who passed away on his 80^th birthday.

January 25^th was a meeting to remember as on that occasion we observed Burns Day, complete with pipes, hagis and an address to the hadis by Captain Bill Johnson, who did a yeoman job of stabbing same.

Also in January, Harry Brady resigned from the Club as did Jim Bateman in February. Both were transferred by their employers.

February and March were quiet months but we did have some of our more interesting and noted speakers during these months. Jim Sawyer had a novel program but it must have taken a lot of guts to show such a sorrowful bunch of slides. The 200 Club draw was completed in March and was again a successful money raiser.

At the last meeting in March, Larry Richards, Manager of the Spa, was introduced as a new member. Harry Rankin introduced two International Service projects. One was to purchase speech and hearing equipment for the Rotary Club of Udipia in India and the another assists the Kwan Chow Club to finance its Boy’s Town Village. Both projects were approved by the membership at a cost of $2,380.00.

April 5^th was Ladies Day and poorly attended. On April 12^th, we discussed plans for the joint installation and President Hoddy advised that he had endorsed the application of a former resident, Jerry Maedal, made to the Victoria Club, for a Rotary Foundation Scholarship. The District Conference was held at Seattle on April 13/14/15, attended by the President, incoming President Bill MacLeod, and other members. We received a very factual report from President Hoody which excluded any reference to the extra-curricular activities.

Bill MacLeod took over the gavel from Hoddy (Bill having had much previous experience with same) and the year got off to a start with the first Director’s meeting at Bill’s house on July 10^th, 1973. As usual the year commenced with an invitation to the Young Voyageurs to attend our luncheon meeting.

The Club continued its interest in and financial support to the Soccer team and the usual cash donations to worthy organizations were made.

In October the Club had the honour and privilege of putting the name of Garnet Reynolds in nomination for the office of District Governor.

Considerable support was given to the hearing Handicapped Children’s Society towards the purchase of a group hearing aid.

The Ian Tyson show was sponsored in the New year and a sizeable profit returned though there was much dissatisfaction with the principal performer’s attitude in general.

During this Rotary year we increased our contribution to Rotary Foundation to 500% and also invested $1,000.00 in the Mount Arrowsmith Ski Club Project.

1974 – 75 was Bob Collard’s year. The first activity of note was the hosting of the Japanese students visiting the Valley. All members who participated in this programme reported that it was a great success. September was highlighted by the visit of Bob Bristow District Governor and the presence of the Rotary Anns at the luncheon session.

In October the 200 Club draw was in full swing and the first winners wee chosen at October 17^th meeting.

On November 18^th we visited the Duncan Club at their regular meeting; 18 members made the trip which seemed to be thoroughly enjoyed. December was a quiet month what with xmas and all but we did have the ladies out on December 19^th to hear Dave’s Christmas Message.

Bernard Kimble reported on the visit of R.I. President Bill Carter to the Nanaimo Club.

On January 30^th we hosted the Duncan Club on a return visit. They were so impressed with our CARE project to the extent that they added $212.00 to our $1,000.00 donation.

February slipped by uneventfully and so did March except for our inter-club visit to Qualicum Beach.

The only big news for April is Bernard Kimble’s hospitalization in St. Pauls. No doubt the hospital made a rapid recovery after his departure. May was a busy month. District Conference was held at Ocean Shores on May 2 – 4^th and those attending reported to the Club on May 8^th. On May 29^th we hosted the annual Upper Island Rotary Golf Tournament – another success for the Club.

Bob’s year was pretty well wound-up by installation night on June 14^th when he turned the gavel over to Harry Rankin.

1975 – 76. Some of the intereting programs of the year were the District Governors visit – ‘Em’ and Jane Piper – the Rotarians and their wives all enjoyed hosting this gracious couple. Barney Danson – later to preside over the UN Habitat Conference in Vancouver – spoke to our club in September. The Club hosted the principals of the Indian Princess Pageant and the result was a very enjoyable meeting. Jane McQueen – our exchange student from Australia in 1970 – visited the club in May on her way to a holiday in Britain. Our Xmas party with wives and guests was an excellent beginning to the festive season – highlighted as usual by Red’s ‘Moose Milk’! Four meetings during the year were devoted to Club Assemblies with committee plans and activities being reviewed.

Community activities consisted of participation in the Fall Fair, 2 bursaries totalling $750.00 were presented to High School students, $1,000.00 was contributed to Wheels for the Handicapped and 2 students were sponsored for RYLA and 1 to Adventures in Citizenship at Ottawa. The committee put a great deal of effort into attempts to sponsor and help finance a youth project at Sproat Lake but government approval at various levels was not forthcoming.

The Club was quite active in the area of International Service during the year. Contact was established with a Club in Africa. The Club held what is hoped to be the first of an Annual International Dance and along with a ‘200’ Club Draw – raised about $2,400.00. A project in Mauritius was funded to the amount of $1,700.00 and $700.00 was forwarded to earthquake relief funds in Italy and Quatemala.

Of note among new members were Bruce Douglas, Bob Stitt, Al Parker, and Harry Pearson. Members leaving the Club included Dick Whittington, Bob Collard, Bob Davis, Peter Dean, and Doug Ross.