Happenings:
Board of Directors Meeting June 7 June 7 - Poultney Zone changes will be the topic of the meeting. June 21 - Passing of the Gavel Other Events - Jim Thieser Memorial Tournament Saturday, June 19, 2021 Preregister or indicate interest in a sponsorship here Everyone Eats! WEDNESDAYS, 5 pm, first come, first serve LOCATION: ST. RAPHAEL'S CHURCH PROPERTY. 
Poultney Rotary Service Project
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Rotary members keep fighting and preventing disease during the pandemic
A Look Back in Rotary History The Founding Four
Rotary started with the vision of one man — Paul P. Harris. Harris was born on 19 April 1868 in Racine, Wisconsin, USA. At age 3, he moved to Wallingford, Vermont, where he grew up in the care of his paternal grandparents. He attended the University of Vermont and Princeton University and received his law degree from the University of Iowa in 1891. In 1896, Harris settled in Chicago and opened a law practice. Four years later, he met fellow attorney Bob Frank for dinner on Chicago’s North Side. They walked around the area, stopping at shops along the way. Harris was impressed that Frank was friendly with many of the shopkeepers. He had not seen this kind of camaraderie among businessmen since moving to Chicago and wondered if there was a way to channel it, because it reminded him of growing up in Wallingford. “The thought persisted that I was experiencing only what had happened to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of others in the great city. ... I was sure that there must be many other young men who had come from farms and small villages to establish themselves in Chicago. ... Why not bring them together? If others were longing for fellowship as I was, something would come of it.” Harris eventually persuaded several business associates to discuss the idea of forming an organization for local professionals. On 23 February 1905, Harris, Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, and Hiram Shorey gathered at Loehr’s office in downtown Chicago for what would become known as the first Rotary club meeting. In February 1907, Harris was elected the third president of the Rotary Club of Chicago. Toward the end of his presidency, he worked to expand Rotary beyond the city. Some club members resisted, not wanting to take on the additional financial burden. But Harris persisted, and by 1910, Rotary had expanded to several other major U.S. cities. https://www.rotary.org/en/history-paul-harris-rotary-founder 
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