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Rotary Club members took a pause from the birthday party to strike a pose.

John F. Reardon

Rotary Club looking good for 100
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — One hundred years ago, March 7, 1923, the Putnam Rotary Club was front page news in the Windham County Observer. Twenty–four men had held the first Putnam Rotary Club meeting March 2.
A scant week before that 15 Putnam men went to Willimantic to organize a Putnam club. The new club’s official charter was dated March 20, 1923.
Putnam’s club was sponsored by the Willimantic Rotary Club and Judge Foss of Willimantic spoke at the first meeting. Putnam’s “leading business men” at the first meeting included names familiar to this day: Jacob Alpert, Warren W. Averill, Guy Baker, Walter Bartlett, Ray Bosworth, Howard Bradford (vice president), Ralph Bugbee (treasurer), John Dady, Henry Davenport, James Donahue, Phillip Faucher, Otis Fox Jr., Lucius Fuller, Ellsworth Kelley, Henry Lyon (secretary), William Moss, Karl Phillips, Frederick Prince, Thomas Rawley (sergeant at arms), John Reardon (president), Samuel Reynolds, Harry Thomson, Ralph E. Thurston and Leon Walker.
The headline read: “Rotary Club Head is John F. Reardon. All Are Leading Citizens and Club Expects Successful Future — Will Meet Every Week.”
Successful future indeed. One hundred years later the club continues its “front page” (in spirit) work, serving facet of life in its service area — Putnam, Woodstock, Eastford, Pomfret and Thompson. Club members celebrated with a birthday party March 21 — complete with cake, balloons, party favors and a birthday group photo.
For the past year and a half, according to incoming president and anniversary committee chair Amanda Kelly, the club has been planning its celebration. “We’re celebrating the impact Rotary has made and will continue to make. It’s an opportunity to bring the community together to celebrate what Rotary has done in the past and will continue to do in the future under the theme of ‘Imagine’.”
The shining star of the celebration, on June 3 at the Loos Center for the Arts in Woodstock, is The Celestial Centennial Gala dinner-plus followed by “Mind Candy,” a presentation by mentalist Wayne Hoffman that combines mind-reading and visual magic.
Tickets for the Mind Candy performance are $45 and are available at loos.org. Tickets for the Gala (includes Mind Candy) are $120 and are available on the club’s FB page: Putnam Connecticut Rotary Club.
Other events will be held throughout the celebratory year including Movies in Rotary Park, Compassionate Leadership series sponsored by Rotary in April, a special one-time John Reardon service award to five high school students, Rotary’s Day of Service in April, a pollinator garden, a Music Garden (6-piece Calypso Chimes), a time capsule and much more.
Current Club President Missy Meyers said: “The Putnam Rotary Club has had the great privilege of serving the towns of Eastford, Pomfret, Putnam, Thompson and Woodstock for the last 100 years. That service has included a variety of community events, charitable donations, thousands of volunteer hours and numerous college scholarships. A century after John Reardon and other community leaders came together to form this club, our current members are still fiercely committed to the values of Rotary International. It is our honor to carry on this proud tradition, and we look forward to the next few months of new activities, donations, and celebration events all being held to recognize 100 years of Service Above Self.”
Kelly added, “It’s not every day you have the opportunity to celebrate a centennial year. This is a special moment in our club’s history.”

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