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New Port Richey Rotary marking 50 years

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By Carl  Orth | The Suncoast News

Published: June 6, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - The Rotary Club of New Port Richey has reached the Big 5-0.

The service club's 50th birthday bash takes place tonight, Saturday, along with the annual installation of new officers.

But far from being over the hill, the New Port Richey Rotary has grown from 21 charter members to about 130 members today, with some of the most influential movers and shakers in the area.

For instance, New Port Richey Mayor Scott McPherson has doubled as president of New Port Richey Rotary this past year.

McPherson will pass the torch to President-Elect Kristine Bigelow during the birthday banquet.

The Rotary motto, "Service before Self," was first uttered here in 1959 when the local group formed.

Highlights include:

The first year

With the charter in hand on March 25, 1959, the group held its first dinner on April 17, 1959, at the Hacienda Hotel. The Rev. Charles W. Greene served as the first president.

Weekly meetings at noon Wednesdays shifted to the Stardust Restaurant, which later became the Elks Club on U.S. 19.

In December 1959, a Christmas party for Rotarians and their wives was held at the 64-room mansion of the former silent screen star, Thomas Meighan. This mansion was later demolished and several new homes were built on the site.

Early years

Wives of members formed the Rotary-Anns in 1959, raising money through thrift shops for needy elementary school students. The auxiliary group endured until 1992 when Rotary International first allowed women members.

In 1960, the Ox Roast was the forerunner of the annual Wild Game Dinner. The first event was held on the athletic field of the original Gulf High School, which now is the Schwettman Adult Education Center.

The Farm Party in 1962 offered as prizes live chickens and a greased pig - if you could catch him. Admission to an Island Party was a whopping $2.50.

Events projects included bowling tournaments, horse shows, Boy Scout clothing collection drives, turkey shoots and bicycle inspections.

1970s

In 1972, Apollo astronaut Col. James B. Irwin spoke to the Club. Irwin lived in New Port Richey for about two years. He had been the first to drive the "moon buggy" on the moon in 1971.

Inflation in 1976 forced the price of the meal to go up to $3.50 a week.

In the late 1970s, the Rotary members took on the Chasco Fiesta Boat Parade as one of their projects.

1980s

The very first Family Night Celebration and Wild Game Dinner were launched in 1983. The club installed the first benches along the river.

The next year Rotary members started two scholarships for high school graduates going to Pasco-Hernando Community College.

In 1988, the club worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to establish channel markers in the Pithlachascotee River.

By 1989, membership had soared past the century mark. The club established a Youth Trust Fund of $25,000. The New Port Richey Rotarians vowed to join the fight to eliminate polio from the face of the earth by 2000. The club first received Service Club of the Year honors from the West Pasco Chamber of Commerce.

1990s to today

In 1992, the first woman member, Marilynn deChant, joins New Port Richey Rotary. Judy Parker joined two years later. In 2007 Parker became the club's first woman president.

The Charlie Daniels Band helped launch annual Angelus Home benefit concerts.

In 2003, the club donated $15,000 toward the building of a picnic shelter at James E. Grey Preserve. Rotary signs a 50-year lease with Concourse Council and work commenced on the Rotary Community Pavilion.

In 2004, Rotarians from New Port Richey served food to Hurricane Charlie victims in Arcadia.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated the New Orleans area in 2005, the club helped eight families with housing, clothing, furniture and even bought a vehicle for a woman with six children who had relocated to Dade City.

By now, the number of awards and projects become too numerous to list here. One noteworthy honor was the Rotary district's Significant Achievement Award for the 2007 Christmas Santa Project. The distinction goes to only one of the 48 clubs in the region.

This year, the Wild Game Dinner and Family Night fundraisers set a record $84,500 in donations. The Rotary club's projected budget for the next fiscal year will reach nearly $250,000.

Carl Orth can be reached at 727-815-1068 or corth@suncoastnews.com.

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