Our Early Origins |
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| The Damascus Rotary Club
was founded on September 4, 1956 and ceased to exist on 31 March 2008.
The Olney and Sykesville clubs were instrumental in getting the original
club of 26 members started. As the time of our closing we had only one
remaining charter member, Lew
Gladhill. Charlie Beaver joined the club in its first year. The first
president was Col. E. Brook Lee, and the treasurer was Walter Brown. By the 1970s
the club's membership had grown to 45. |
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We Met Weekly Ever Since |
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| For 36 years the Damascus Volunteer Fire Department Ladies
Auxilliary served meals to club weekly. In 1993 we moved to the former
Little Italy Restaurant in the Damascus Shopping Center. From late 1997
onward we met at
the First Baptist Church of Damascus at 8850 Damascus Road. Meetings
were held there
every Thursday at 7:15 pm. During the last two months of our existence
in 2008 we met at Tom and Ray's Restaurant in the heart of Damascus. |
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Our
Great Summer Programs Tradition |
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 |
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Spouses were an
integral part of our club's activities. |
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| Summer Programs were started in the 1960s by Walter Brown as a
way to build the club's treasury. This tradition continued through the
summer of 2007 with very few changes. At first it was just the members
getting together, but later spouses (above) became an integral part of the club's activities and added a lot to the wonderful
and unforgettable camaraderie
and fellowship we enjoyed. |
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Our Fund Raisers Were Most Important! |
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Over the nearly 52 years the club was in existence we undertook several
different approaches to fund raising. The most successful programs included the
following: |
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