About Us

A brief history of the Crescent City Rotary Club starts with the birth of Rotary International itself in Chicago in 1905.

Paul Harris, a young lawyer from a small town in New England, gathered four of his clients and friends into a social circle, rotating meetings among each of their business offices. Soon his idea of meetings around the idea of "Service Above Self" became Rotary International, the world's first service organization.

Clubs spread quickly, coming to Jacksonville, Florida in 1914, Palatka in 1921 and Crescent City in 1927. George "Pop" Miller was Crescent City Rotary Club's first President. When you look at the list of the past presidents you get a glimpse of the past history of the Crescent City area.

The club has always been a vital part of the community bringing many services and improvements to the area over these eighty years. The Club remained active and vital in the depression years and the WWII years and has continued so until this day.

Among the areas of support for Rotary in recent years has been the development of The Catfish Festival with its hundreds of community volunteers. The festival has supplied over $400,000 in scholarships to needy students at Crescent City High School for college and trade school tuition, books and supplies.

The YMCA came to our area under Rotary's leadership and the financial support of many community leaders. Swine & Wine, a funded raiser for youth activities such as the YMCA, Little League Baseball and Pop Warner Football, was started with Bill Pickens as president in 1993.

Rotary today continues as an positive force here in the Crescent area and plays its roll in international good will and world service such as eliminating polio from the face of the earth, polio being the second world-wide disease to be eliminated.