About The Anniston Rotary Club
About Rotary
Rotary’s primary function is the development of the individual, Service Above Self and the Four-Way Test being its creed. As a result of the work that has been done in this connection, a majority of the presidents of the Anniston Chamber of Commerce, and leaders of the United Way Fund, have been selected from the Anniston Rotary Club. The club has provided leaders of virtually every phase of community endeavor. Rotary has representation in all the major industries, professions and businesses.

About the Anniston Rotary Club:
The Anniston Rotary Club had its embryonic inception in the director’s room of the Anniston National bank in the fall of 1917. Dr. George Lang, then connected with the Presbyterian College, was the moving spirit of these first steps. The population of Anniston at that time was about 15,000 and the city was regarded by International as being too small to support a Rotary Club. However after several months a charter was granted on September 7, 1917. Tuscaloosa, Alabama was the Sponsoring Club. Dr. Lang was elected president and the first meeting was held in the Riser Café at Tenth and Noble. The first project of the club was to start a wood yard in west Anniston to furnish work for the unemployed. One of the historical highlights was when a delegation of Boy Scouts was sent to the International Jamboree in Holland in 1931. Our representation there was greater than that of any other city in the southern states. In 1936 Thomas G. Coleman led a movement to elect H.M. Ayers as District Governor, and during his tenure, Ayers organized eight new Rotary Clubs in the old 26th District before leaving for the International Convention in Nice, France. Dr. Houston Cole, a member of our club was elected District Governor while he was a member of the Tuscaloosa Club, and Dr. Lang then a member of the Tuscaloosa Club, was District Governor in 1950. Anniston’s other District Governor’s were Ralph Porch, elected in 1957; Ed Van Keuren elected in 1969; and John. R. Stewart elected in 1978. During 2007-2008 former club president Sheila Gilbert became assistant district governor. During the 2009-10 former club president Arthur Young became assistant district governor.

To read the bylaws of the Anniston Rotary Club (as amended in August 2005), please click here.

Presidents of the Anniston Rotary Club:
1917-18 George Lang
1918-19 Scott Roberts
1919-20 W.G. Crutchfield
1920-21 John Stillwell
1921-22 Chives M. Woodruff
1922-23 W. Frank Johnston
1923-24 Bennett W. Pruet
1924-25 C.M. Jesperson
1925-26 Charles R. Bell
1926-27 Eugene L. Turner
1927-28 C.H. Young
1928-29 Walker Reynolds
1929-30 Harry M. Ayers
1930-31 Frederick Smith
1931-32 Benjamin R. Sawyer
1933-34 Frederick Smith
1934-35 Cutis Bruce and Horace Miller
1935-36 Thomas G. Coleman
1936-37 Thomas M. Fowler
1937-38 Melton Clark
1939-40 Louis Horn
1940-41 Albert Harris
1941-42 Joe E. Moose
1942-43 Erman L. Crow
1943-44 Leon Sterne
1944-45 William P. Acker
1945-46 Otto K. Seyforth
1946-47 Houston Cole
1947-48 T. Flint Gray
1948-49 Winston Brooke
1949-50 Ralph D. Porch
1950-51 Albert S. Mathews
1951-52 Marshall K. Hunter
1952-53 Herbert Tittle and C.L. Buchanan
1953-54 Earl W. Aldrup
1954-55 William M. Nave
1955-56 Edwin Van Keuren
1956-57 John L. Lanford
1957-58 Steve C. Stutts
1958-59 Thomas G. Coleman, Jr.
1959-60 Frank V. Pease
1960-61 Frank H. Robinson
1961-62 L. Chandler Watson, Jr.
1962-63 Tom S. Potts
1963-64 Lon H. Smith
1964-65 John M. Palmer
1965-66 George R. Hooper
1966-67 Frank A. Reynolds
1967-68 Clay Slate
1968-69 C.M. Adamson
1969-70 Charles S. Doster
1970-71 Allan E. Strand
1971-72 Claude Kitchin, III
1972-73 William S. Halsey
1973-74 Guice Potter, Jr.
1974-75 William P. Acker, III
1975-76 Harry M. Mabry
1976-77 James Potter
1977-78 James H. Meigs, Jr.
1978-79 Robert Dillon
1979-80 Elbert H. Willett
1980-81 Ernest Stone
1981-82 Frank Newell
1982-83 Bill Andrews
1983-84 Roy Crow
1984-85 A.W. Bolt
1985-86 Charles Cooper
1986-87 Mal Street
1988-89 Ralph Tidwell
1989-90 Chip Howell
1990-91 Peck Mallory
1991-92 Ed Isom
1992-93 David Boozer
1993-94 Bill Kreh
1994-95 James Barton/Glen Franklin
1995-96 Roy Flannagan
1996-97 George Miller/Gibson Coleman
1997-98 Terry Newland
1998-99 James Lloyd
1999-2000 Cynthia Wingo
2000-2001 Ken Hoffman
2001-2002 George Gorey
2002-2003 Jerry Leake
2003-2004 Jim Miller
2004-2005 George Attwood
2005-2006 Charles Turner
2006-2007 Sheila Gilbert
2007-2008 Richard Crabtree
2008-2009 Arthur Young
2009-2010 Ike Brown
2010-2011 Derek Conrad Brown

To read about some of the major events and projects of the club, click here.

>Watch The Anniston Rotary Club's 90 Years of Service Slideshow 
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