A Brief History of the Rotary Club of Bellingham

The Rotary Club of Bellingham was chartered September 17th in 1917 and given club number 331.  The sponsoring club was the Seattle Rotary Club (Numbers were assigned in the order in which clubs were chartered.  Seattle was #4.)  Clubs in Tacoma, Everett, and Vancouver B.C. sent delegations to the charter presentation held in the Leopold Hotel.

There were 31 charter members: Clifford Barlow; Dr. Tony Barlow; Charles Beard; Sabine Carr; W. Coston Carver; A.S. Clark; Leslie Coffin; John R. Cole; Roland Gamwell; Dr. John Goodheart; Charles Graham; Horace Griggs; Will J. Griswold; Curtis Harter; E. Heal; Henry P. Jukes; Percy Livesay; E.T. Mathes; John Miller; Cecil Morse; Alexander Muir; Charles Nolte; Fred Offerman; Benjamin Reno; Dr. Charles Short; Henry Schripp; Henry Thiel; Joseph Wahl; Dr. Frank Van Kirk; Adolph Krabbe; and Charles Erholm.

The first officers to serve the Club were Will J. Griswold, attorney, President; Thomas B. Cole, customs broker, Secretary; J.B. Wahl, department store proprietor (Wahl’s), Vice President; and Henry Jukes, banker, Bellingham National Bank, Treasurer.  By May of 1918, the Club had grown to 75 members!

The Club met in the south hall of the Leopold Hotel until 1929 when meetings shifted to the Crystal Ballroom at the Leopold, where they were held for the next 50 years.  In 1979, the meetings shifted to the Elks’ Club until 1988, then to the Bellingham Yacht Club until 1996.  The Club meetings have been held at Northwood Hall since.

Through the years, meetings have changed in content.  In the early years, there were open discussions on many subjects of political and community interest.  Early members such as J.J. Donovan, Dr. Tony Barlow and Dr. Jacob Smith would expound and debate on a wide spectrum of topics both local and national.  Throughout the years, the names and activities of Rotarians amount to a “Who’s Who” of the leaders of the area.  Not all were of a solemn nature, though, as witnessed by men like Hugh Galbraith, Rabbi Fred Gartner, song leader Paul Wells, and past presidents Paul Hanson, Larry Johanson, Al Levin, Dave Nichols and Jim Roberts.  They joined others in keeping the Club fun across the years.

Bellingham Rotary has had fine leadership from many people.  James Faul served as Secretary from 1923 to 1944, and was succeeded by Hugh Eldridge “Brick” Carr who filled the position for 35 years. Since 1971, the position of Executive Secretary has been carried out by Sandee Lindhout.  The Club has supplied five Rotary International District Governors:  Henry Heal, Mentor Boney, Roy Anderson, Curt Cortelyou, and Jim Caldwell.  Our Club has also sponsored Charters for Whatcom North, Bellingham Bay, and Nakhodka (Russia) Rotary Clubs.

In October 1987, Ann Jones-Richardson (radio broadcasting) became the first woman member of the Club, quickly followed by Mary Robinson (university dean) and Sr. Catherine McInnes (hospital administration).  The Club also has several members who have been in Rotary for over 50 years.

Throughout the years, the Rotary Club of Bellingham has carried out an impressive number of community and international projects, including playgrounds, soccer fields, parks (including Boulevard Park), YMCA and YWCA, Scouts, the city pool, environmental projects and more.  To support these efforts, the Club has had many fund-raising projects including raffles, circuses, etc., but for many years the Club relied on an annual BRAVO auction, which was first proposed by Paul Hanson and chaired by Jim Caldwell.  The name BRAVO, which was created by JoAnne Ossewarde, means “Bellingham Rotary Auction, a VIP Occasion”.

The long history of the Club stands as a testimony to the hard work of the hundreds of members and officers who, through the years, have never forgotten the Rotary motto, “Service Above Self”.