Dover Rotary to celebrate 95 years
Three community members to be honored as Paul Harris Fellows
DOVER — The Rotary Club of Dover will celebrate its 95th year at a dinner celebration on Saturday, June 15 at Cochecho Country Club.
Festivities begin at 5 p.m. with a group photo at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and program at 7 p.m. Three non-Rotarian community members will be honored for their commitment to volunteering and support of the community. Dover Rotary will present Paul Harris Fellows to Gary Bannon, city recreation director; Catherine Beaudoin, city library director and local Realtor and community volunteer Elizabeth Fischer.
Rotarians designate a Paul Harris Fellow, a $1,000 contribution to the Rotary Foundation, as a tribute to a person whose life work and volunteerism enhances the local economies, improves literacy, enhance education and exemplifies Rotary’s motto - service above self.
In 1924, a small group of business and professional men led by local college owner, David C. McIntosh, gathered on Wednesday, April 29, in the dining room of the American House Hotel to organize the Rotary Club of Dover, NH. While that hotel is long gone, the Wednesday meeting tradition continues today.
Chartered by Rotary International on May 10, 1924, the Dover club, originally sponsored by the Portsmouth Rotary Club, in turn, has sponsored clubs in Rochester and Durham and South Berwick, Maine. However, the primary focus of the Dover club has always been to support the needs of the people and the institutions of Dover.
The Dover Rotary raised funds through auctions, bean suppers, minstrel shows, Christmas tree sales, raffles, rose sales, golf tournaments and bingo. During its 95-year history the Dover Rotary Club has contributed millions of dollars and thousands of volunteer service hours to support the Dover community.
One of Dover Rotary’s first efforts funded a 1926 project for “neglected youth”, followed by creativity and talent awards, annual scholarships, shoe and boot funds and a milk and meat program. Over the decades, Dover Rotary has supported the construction of the S. Judson Dunaway Memorial Pool and the Dover Ice Arena, funded youth sports teams, the DARE program, the skateboard roller rink at Henry Law Park, the Dover Children’s Home, the Great Bay School and a Back to School Program.
Dover Rotary also provided majority funding for the construction and periodic maintenance of the Rotary Pavilion at Henry Law Park, which provides families a popular venue for outdoor arts and entertainment. Rotary volunteers shoveled mulch, painted fences and planted scrubs to create the Park Street Playground, improve the Woodman Museum landscape and create Henry Law Park’s Rotary Gardens.
Rotarians support Dover youth in multiple ways through literacy projects with elementary students, coordination of Dover High School’s Interact Club, the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards program for high school sophomores and provides over $15,000 in scholarships annually for local high school students and graduates of the Dover Adult Learning Center.
On the international level, Dover Rotary funded a dental clinic in Honduras, maternal clinic, clean water projects and Polio Plus - a major effort to eradicate polio from the world. Next year the Club will fund a Dover Interact cultural exploration and hands-on work project with a Rotary Interact club in Guatemala.
Most recently the Rotary Club of Dover has funded a renovation of the Dover Teen Center and a major $75,000, two-part renovation of the Dover Children’s Library.