History:

The Covington Rotary Club was chartered on February 17, 1927 by the Rotary Club of Hammond.  It was the 14th club established in what is now District 6840.  At the time, Rotary International was only 25 years old. From its original membership of 25, by 1963 the club had grown to 56 members and shortly thereafter, in 1968, had the highest membership in club history, 70.  In the 2011-2012 Rotary year, the club had 44 active members. The Club originally met at the M.C.B. Library and lunches were served by the Rotary Anns (spouses of Rotarians; women were not officially eligible for membership in Rotary in the United States until 1987 -- the first woman president of the Covington Rotary Club was Maurer Van Voorthuysen 1996-1997).  For a time, the Club met at the Southern Hotel until it was sold in 1956 and the club met at Sid’s Place and then a succession of local restaurants that closed or changed ownership. Rotarian Louis Ross was charged with chairing a committee to find a permanent home for the Covington Rotary Club.  On June 18, 1962, The Covington Home, Inc. purchased the property and building on the corner of Tyler and 19th Avenue.  On April 6, 1972, all of the bonds were paid and the building was named the Louis Ross Memorial Building to commemorate his efforts.  (His granddaughter, Laura, joined the Covington Rotary Club in 2010.) In 2011, the Club began holding its regular meetings at Dakota Restaurant.  The Covington Rotary Home, Inc. still owns the building on Tyler and 19th Avenue, and the rental income subsidize the Club efforts in Covington and the surrounding communities.