The La Crescent Rotary Club was chartered in 1982 and the first year membership was 22 persons with Loren Mollett serving as president. Since that time the club has grown to 30 members and has taken on many projects of a local and international nature.
 
Locally: La Crescent Rotary initiated a $100,000+ fundraising project in 2002 to provide handicapped accessible playground equipment for the new Old Hickory Park on the north side of La Crescent. The goal was achieved in 2008 with the completion of the project. In 2012, the Club reached a goal of $5000 for a new Welcome to La Crescent sign that was installed in 2015. In keeping with the Rotary International Motto of “Service above Self” Rotarians raise funds by participating in the Applefest Parade selling pop and peanuts to the viewers along the parade route. Rotarians team with the local National Honor Society to do highway clean up twice each year. The La Crescent Rotary supports the local food shelf and other pantries by participating in Rotary Lights during the holiday season. By helping with the set up of the Riverside Park and the collection of food, Rotary contributes to meeting the needs of many in the area.
 
Internationally: La Crescent Rotary has had a long standing tradition of hosting high school students from all over the world so that they can learn about our traditions and customs. Over 30 students have been participated in this cultural exchange and there have been ten students sent overseas from the local high school. The tsunami of Southeast Asia led to the Rotary Clubs support of a family in need with the purchase of a new fishing boat. By working with other Rotary Clubs, the La Crescent Rotary raised several thousand dollars for the drilling of two wells in the poverty stricken country of Nicaragua. Additional funds were raised working with school children to help provide water filters for a village in rural Nicaragua. The Club has consistently supported Rotary International Foundation and Polio Plus, making an impact in projects around the world. Polio Plus is working to meet the international goal of the eradication of polio through out the world. These contributions have allowed the club to name over 25 members as Paul Harris Fellows
 
Rotary International History

“WHATEVER ROTARY MAY MEAN TO US, TO THE WORLD IT WILL BE KNOWN BY THE RESULTS IT ACHIEVES.”

—PAUL P. HARRIS

Our 1.2 million-member organization started with the vision of one man—Paul P. Harris. The Chicago attorney formed one of the world’s first service organizations, the Rotary Club of Chicago, on 23 February 1905 as a place where professionals with diverse backgrounds could exchange ideas and form meaningful, lifelong friendships. Rotary’s name came from the group’s early practice of rotating meetings among the offices of each member.

OUR ONGOING COMMITMENT

Rotarians have not only been present for major events in history—we’ve been a part of them. From the beginning, three key traits have remained strong throughout Rotary:
We’re truly international. Only 16 years after being founded, Rotary had clubs on six continents. Today we’re working together from around the globe both digitally and in-person to solve some of our world’s most challenging problems.
We persevere in tough times. During WWII, Rotary clubs in Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, and Japan were forced to disband. Despite the risks, many continued to meet informally and following the war’s end, Rotary members joined together to rebuild their clubs and their countries.
Our commitment to service is ongoing. We began our fight against polio in 1979 with a project to immunize 6 million children in the Philippines. By 2012, only three countries remain polio-endemic—down from 125 in 1988.

NOTABLE ROTARIANS

Rotarians are your neighbors, your community leaders and some of the world’s greatest history-makers: 
  • Warren G. Harding, U.S. president
  • Jean Sibelius, Finnish composer
  • Dr. Charles H. Mayo, co-founder of Mayo Clinic
  • Guglielmo Marconi, Italian inventor of the wireless radio and Nobel laureate
  • Thomas Mann, German novelist and Nobel laureate
  • Friedrich Bergius, German chemist and Nobel laureate
  • Admiral Richard E. Byrd, American explorer
  • Jan Masaryk, foreign minister of Czechoslovakia
  • H.E. Soleiman Frangieh, president of Lebanon
  • Dianne Feinstein, U.S. senator
  • Manny Pacquaio, Filipino world-champion boxer and congressman
  • Richard Lugar, U.S. senator
  • Frank Borman, American astronaut
  • Edgar A. Guest, American poet and journalist
  • Sir Harry Lauder, Scottish entertainer
  • Franz Lehar, Austrian composer
  • Lennart Nilsson, Swedish photographer
  • James Cash Penney, founder of JC Penney Co.
  • Carlos Romulo, UN General Assembly president
  • Sigmund Sternberg, English businessman and philanthropist
Ready to make history with us? Get involved.