EXHIBITS
A Century of Service: Logan Rotary at 100: Logan Rotary’s Early Years
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Logan Rotary’s Early Years
On June 17, 1919, the founding members of Logan Rotary, under the encouragement and endorsement of the Salt Lake City and Ogden clubs, received their official charter from Rotary International (RI) at the 10th annual international Rotary conference held in Salt Lake City.[1] In the early history of Logan Rotary, the club became a home for some of the leading businessmen and professionals of the city.[2] The group originally met at the Hotel Eccles, but moved to the Cardon family’s Bluebird Restaurant sometime in the 1930s.[3] At the Bluebird, a noon lunch every Thursday became the tradition until the early part of the twenty-first century, when Logan Rotary relocated to the Logan Country Club for their midday meal.[4]
In Rotary’s first decades, especially in the 1920s, service generally came in two forms: small town boosterism and boys’ work (philanthropic service provided to the community’s youth). The members of Logan Rotary, following the example set by their fellow clubs, took up both. For their first public endeavor, Logan Rotary funded the Utah Agricultural College (UAC, later Utah State University) men’s Glee Club’s travel to the 1920 RI convention in New Jersey.[5] According to newspapers throughout the state, the Glee Club received rave reviews from the world’s Rotarians.[6] Logan Rotary also possesses a history of helping high school students from Cache Valley attend Utah State University (USU) and surrounding colleges. Starting in 1923, the Logan Rotary Club presented two academic scholarships, one valued at $100, and the other at $50.[7] This tradition continues today with Logan Rotary awarding thousands of dollars in scholarships to local high school students each year.
Boosterism
The funds Logan Rotary raised for the UAC Glee Club provide a great example of community promotion and boosterism. Early Rotarians believed that if they could successfully market and improve their town, more business would follow, and the community as a whole would benefit from their efforts.[8] Logan Rotary, partnering with the Logan Chamber of Commerce, became a leading booster for the city. One of their most significant joint projects came in the form of helping to pass a county bond in 1921 valued at $600,000 to develop roadways throughout Cache Valley. The infrastructure project aimed to expand commerce throughout the valley. Rotarian Leonard J. Arrington described the gravel roads as bumpy but also shared his joy in driving across them.[9] Over time, overt boosterism fell out of favor with local Rotarians, but projects aiming to improve the lives of the community’s youth remained popular.
Boys’ Work
Rotarians enjoyed assisting the community’s male youth because of its status as a non-divisive issue. Boys’ work avoided politics, class arguments, and complications that could otherwise disrupt the fellowship of a local club, and it reflected the growth of many organizations aimed at creating model male youth.[10] Another well-known example is the Boy Scouts of America. In a 1922 address to the Logan club, LDS Apostle David O. McKay told the Rotarians, “The greatest wonder of all, however, is a boy. His ability to become great and do great things is marvelous.”[11] The year prior to McKay’s speech, the Logan Republican reported that the Rotarians of Logan “personally visited the homes of the town and obtained information about the boys—whether they were in school or not, what they were doing with their leisure hours, their reading habits, and how they wanted to spend their lives.”[12] McKay’s speech and the Republican’s article captured the national perception of boyhood. In the 1920s, Rotarians throughout the United States believed that by mentoring the nation’s youth, they could set wayward boys on a straight path to avoid a life of malfeasance.[13]
Rotary Documents, Speeches, and Correspondence
