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Ramona Rotary turns 75 this month

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All invited to birthday celebration on April 17

By Joan Renaud

According to the late John Fansher, he and some other Ramona businessmen — Bert Bishop, A.E. Matlack, K. Darling, and Fred Schroeder — got together in the Kenilworth Inn at Eighth and Main streets in the 1930s to talk about a men’s service organization that was gaining attention in the region.

They decided to investigate Rotary International, which was already up and running in downtown San Diego, Escondido, and El Cajon.

Rotary International was founded by another group of businessmen back in Chicago, in 1907. It took a while, but on April 16, 1937, Ramona Rotary was chartered, and 75 years later, it is still going strong.

Ramona Rotarians Chuck LeManager, local historian; Floyd Fiduk and Bob Vaughn, former club presidents; Marta Zarella, one of the club’s newest members; and Joan Renaud, club service director, have been gleaning information from the boxes of collected memorabilia to put together a brief “history lesson.”

Invitations have been sent to past members for whom addresses could be found.

The search is still on to find past scholarship recipients and the many “students of the month” who have plaques in their closets and memories of their awards.

All who have ever been associated with Ramona Rotary or a Rotary club in another community are invited to visit with past, present, or future Rotarians at the 75th anniversary celebration, which will be held on Tuesday, April 17, in the San Vicente Resort, 24517 San Vicente Road, from 6 to 9 p.m.

Among invited guests are District 5340 dignitaries who know about Ramona Rotary’s many service accomplishments.

The success of Rotarians at Work Day, the 18 years of presenting the town with free July 4th fireworks and picnics, the growing success of the Music Fests, and the almost 40 years of giving scholarships to graduating high school seniors have made Ramona Rotary’s existence well-known and appreciated not only by the town, but by other Rotary clubs that have seen what a small, local service organization can do and have used that image to inspire their own clubs and endeavors, agree members of the anniversary celebration committee.

All who have been a part of these adventures are invited to come to the April 17 event and add their “2 cents.”

The price is $25 per person. Heavy hors d’oeuvres are included.

RSVP to gjrenaud@aol.com or call Joan Renaud at 760-788-6960.

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