About Us:

Although the Madison Rotary Club is one of 35,000 Rotary clubs in 200 countries dedicated to serving others locally and internationally, the club is as unique and individual as the gem that is Madison, Indiana. Madison Rotarians reflect the rich historic and vibrant community spirit that is a trademark of the Madison and Jefferson County community.

The club is comprised of local business and community leaders who are committed to the service of others. The tradition dates back to 1919 in Madison when local leaders chartered the club. This makes it one of the longest running Rotary clubs in the region.

Club members meet every Thursday for lunch or dinner for fellowship and to plan service projects. The club has several service projects that it tackles every year including helping with manpower at the Madison Regatta and Chautauqua festivals, holding Christmas parties at the Lide White Boys' and Girls' Club and the Madison State Hospital, ringing bells for the Salvation Army and providing customized "I Like Me" books to every Kindergarten student in the county.

The above-mentioned projects might be enough for many clubs but the list does not even include the club's premiere local service project. The Madison Rotary club awards $10,000 in scholarships each year to Jefferson County graduating seniors.

We are actively involved in the "Fulfilling Our Promise" fundraising campaign to help Rotary International complete the task of eradicating polio from the world. In October 1985, Rotary International pledged US $120 million to fund its End Polio Now campaign. By February 2005, Rotarians contributed a total of over US $500 million. At this time, only three countries are still polio endemic. This global effort will not be complete until all countries are polio-free.

History:

The Madison Rotary Club was chartered in 1919, only 14 years after Paul Harris helped found the first Rotary Club in Chicago; seven years after the formation of the "International Association of Rotary Clubs" that would later become Rotary International; and four years after the Rotary Clubs then in existence were organized into "Districts," one of which consisted of Indiana. Six other Rotary Clubs had already been founded in Southern Indiana, with four more coming into being in the same year of 1919.

The Madison Courier of April 21, 1919 reports on the gala charter dinner at the Hotel Jefferson, at which the 22 original members of the Madison Club were welcomed, with numerous speeches, by a delegation of 18 members of the Indianapolis Rotary Club who had come down by train for the occasion. The list of charter members contains several names still prominent in the Madison area, such as Scott, Yunker, Johnson, Garber, Inglis, Greiner, and Glass.

Since then the Madison Club has been frequently recognized both for its local service activities (many of which are described in more detail elsewhere on this website) and its participation in Rotary International's worldwide programs. Since Southern Indiana was split off into a separate District in 1938, three Madisonians (John Scott, Phil McCauley, and Dave Dionne) have served as District Governors.