Coshocton Rotary celebrates 100 years
COSHOCTON – The 74 member strong Coshocton Rotary Club held a 100 year celebration at the Lake Park Pavilion on Friday evening, March 16 with many members, guests and dignitaries in attendance. David Schubach provided piano music while guests enjoyed a dinner catered by Schumaker Farms. Pastor Dale Sutton of Roscoe UMC gave the invocation. Club President Todd Endsley gave the opening remarks and presided over the evening.
Several elected officials gave a proclamation to the club in recognition of their 100 years of service. Shane Pyle provided a history of the Coshocton Rotary Club and “Rotary Tidbits” were read by several club members. Tom Edwards talked about the exchange program, Barb Emmons talked about polio – ending polio in the world is a Rotary Club International mission – Amy Hasseman told the members that she appreciated their acceptance of her and said to the members, “I love you.”
Mike Remington talked about polio sharing an experience from his childhood; Bill Brown said the impact of the young people is significant. Bruce Wallace shared moments from his Club Presidency, when the Coshocton Rotary Club inducted six women into the club. Pat Brown shared moments from her club experience. Brown was the first female club President.
Club President Todd Endsley said, “This has been a great event and a great turnout. I’m pleased that we had so many Rotarians come out as well as people from across the state. We had Representative Bob Gibbs, State Representative Larry Householder and State Senator Jay Hottinger here just to name a few. We tried to make it a celebration. We wanted to look back and reflect on the accomplishments of our club over the past 100 years, what Rotary International does and look forward to the next 100 years.”
Shane Pyle is only the second District Governor to call the Coshocton club home and serves District 6690.
Pyle said when asked about the significance of his current role as District Governor, “Personally, I think it was meant to be by God. It was his timing and the time for me to be District Governor at the same time that the Coshocton Rotary Club turned 100. I tried several other times to be District Governor and was passed over. I’m so happy now, everything has turned out beautifully. The club has reached a record number of members. The things that we’re doing in the district, the giving to polio and how close we are to eradicating it; it all fell together at the right time.”
“The members of this club are not just friends, they’re family. I really consider them part of my extended family. They have helped foster me to become a better citizen of Coshocton. I moved here 20 years ago on April 1, 1998 and joined Rotary a month after that. They helped make me feel at home and gave me a place to build friendships, network within in the community and learn how I can use my gifts and my talents to help my fellow man here in Coshocton.”
Pyle said that, “The establishment of the Rotary Foundation is one of the most significant things that this Rotary club ever did. It is continually generating funds necessary to support great projects around our community. Giving to the planetarium, helping restore the bridge across the river at Lake Park, giving money to the walking path; that is probably one of the biggest things the Coshocton Rotary Club has ever done. The service projects that we have accomplished both locally and around the world, there are just too many to say that one rises over the other, I think that every one of them is important to someone here in this community.”
“If we can just make a difference in one person’s life, we’re accomplishing a lot. There isn’t a place in that anyone can go in this community, or visits or does something that the Coshocton Rotary Club hasn’t had their hand in. It’s great to see the community come together and use the facilities that we’ve erected. We just hope that as we continue as a club into the next 100 years we remain a positive force in this community.”
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