Club History:  – as taken from the book - 1995 History of Lake County

            The Rotary Club was organized in Madison on December 10, 1929, using the Rotary motto “Service Above Self”.  The charter Rotary Club had 14 members, and today the members nearly total 40.  The first meetings of the Rotary Club were held in the community hall of the Episcopal Church in Madison.  Later, the meetings moved to the Park Hotel meeting room, where they were held for over 50 years.  The meetings began at 5:45 pm, and the club business was held following a supper meal.  As younger members joined the club, it was the preference to meet instead during the noon hour, which left the evening time for family and home.  At first, there was resistance from the older members, who preferred keeping the evening meeting time, but with the passing of time, the resistance faded away.

            In 1980, the Park Hotel burned to the ground, due to an electrical fire.  The Madison Rotary Club had made its own banner, and gave their banner to guest speakers who spoke at a weekly meeting, or to visiting Rotarians, or visitors from other countries.  Often, these visitors would bring their banner from their home Rotary Club, and the Madison Rotary Club had these banners put into two wall displays that were both hung in the meeting room portion of the Park Hotel.  All that the Rotary Club was able to save from the devastating fire was their Rotary bell and their original Rotary podium.  Everything else was lost in the fire.   The Park Hotel was the meeting site for many of Madison’s business groups and organizations.  The Rotary Club, along with other groups needed to relocate to a new meeting place.

            The Madison Rotary Club relocated to Nicky’s, which is a restaurant/supper club that was operated by the same ownership that had owned the Park Hotel.  Even though the ownership has changed over the years, Nicky’s is still the meeting site for the Madison Rotary Club each Monday noon.

            From its inception in 1909 until the mid-1980, the membership of both the Rotary International and the Madison Rotary Club was reserved to men only.  There was a court case which involved a similar service club such as Rotary, and the outcome of the ruling was that the Madison Rotary Club was directed by Rotary International to accept women members.  There was resistance from some older members to this move, but the younger men overcame the resistance by sponsoring several businesswomen to join the Club.  In fact, several women went on to serve on the club board of directors and later served as Club President as well.

            In keeping with the Rotary motto, the Madison Rotary Club has drawn on the generosity of its members in annually awarding scholarships to both students from Lake Central High School as well as Dakota State University.  Through the efforts of the annual Rotary Roses fund drive, and the annual Rotary Football Book campaign, funds are raised each year that benefit agencies such as the Lake/Kingsbury American Red Cross, East Dakota Transit, United Way, The Community Center, Boy’s State, Food Pantry and other social organizations in and around Madison.  Each December, the Madison Rotary Club delivers meals to various homes in Madison though the Meals On Wheels Program.

            For many years, Rotary International led a world-wide effort to irradiate the world from the disease of polio.  The Rotary Foundation designated any Rotarian who gave at least a $1,000 gift to the Foundation as a “Paul Harris Fellow”, in honor of the man who formed Rotary in Chicago in 1909.  Several Madison Rotary members are Paul Harris Fellows today, and the club has received accolades for the amount of fund support to Rotary International that has come from its members.  Through the efforts of Rotary International, polio has now been nearly eliminated from the world.

            The Madison Rotary Club is affiliated with Rotary International, which is the largest service club of its kind in the world.  Through the years, the club has promoted Madison youth to travel and live abroad through the Rotary Exchange Program.  In return, the local club has agreed to sponsor a foreign student to come to Madison, live with sponsors, and attend Lake Central High School during their year in Madison.  Truly, this program has forever touched the lives of both our local students, but also their foreign counterparts as well.

            The Madison Rotary club encourages its members to be involved as much as possible in the Madison community, and this is evident by the participation many Rotarians have in various leadership positions in local boards, agencies, and organizations. 

            The heart of what a Rotarian is to live their life by, at home, at work, or in the community in what we think, say or do is the “4-Way Test”, which is:

·        Is it the Truth?

·        Is it fair to all concerned?

·        Will it build good will and promote better friendships?

·        Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

To read about the founder of Rotary International, click here.