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Club history
Camden's first regular meeting was held at the Camden YMCA on April 7th. The twenty-two charter members of the club and their classifications were:
George Allen | general insurance | Fred Elwell | dry goods |
Col. E.A. Robbins | newspaper publisher | R.W. Jamieson | garage |
Luie Chandler | drugs | Joseph Emery | trust company |
John Taylor | YMCA secretary | Charles Lord | supt. of schools |
Z.M. Dwinal | lawyer | Dr. A.F. Green | M.D. |
P.G. Willey | coal & fuel dealer | F.E. Morrow | jeweler |
A.V. Elmore | hotels | Dr. M.B. Long | dentist |
C.W. Babb | woolen mills | Herbert Rankin | optometrist |
P.O. Good | mortician | Harold Nash | farmer |
Harold Corthell | men's clothing | J. Hugh Montgomery | mail order |
C.K. Hopkins | general contractor | Rev. R.H. Hayden | clergy |
"Charter Night" was held on May 5th at the Masonic Hall. Records show that over 125 members, ladies (it was men-only back then), and guests attended, including District Governor Libby and Mr. Lang from Waterville. An article in the Camden Herald noted, "...a sign of progress, not only in civic affairs, but also in the business world, took place last Friday night when a Rotary club was formed, and the town took its place in an organization that is not only National but International." The international connection soon became apparent when a letter of congratulations was received from the Rotary Club of Naples, Italy.
Much of the preceeding was taken from writings in 1962 by A.B. "Bert" Stevenson, a former president of Camden Rotary. He continued with the following words, which still merit reflection many decades later:
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Since Mr. Stevenson's writings in 1962, there have been two major events in Camden's club history. In 1986, the original Camden club had become a bit too large to meet all its members' needs. Some of the members decided to create a breakfast club, and formed West Bay Rotary. This was sponsored by the Camden club, and today West Bay is a thriving partner on the MidCoast of Maine.
Another significant milestone occurred when Rotary first allowed women into membership, following a 1987 Supreme Court ruling. In Camden, the first woman nominated was Sue Lewis, who worked for one of the local banks. One member recalled, "It created quite the brouhaha, especially with some of the old coots in the club at that time. She was more than qualified, and was elected to the Club by an almost unanimous vote after the naysayers finished venting. It really was something out of an old movie."
Special thanks to John Sanford and Kim Graffam for much of the information provided here
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