John Schafer
The History of the Rotary Club of Clearwater
Club members presenting winning ribbons at the Clearwater Rotary Track & Field Day
Ray Green Field - Clearwater, FL., c. 1940
(1) Chester McMullen;
(2) Dr. M. E. Black; (3) Alfred Marshall (4) R. J. Cromartie; (5) John Chesnut (on microphone)
Photo Courtesy of Dave Perkins
The Rotary Club of Clearwater was organized in 1924 by a group of 10 Clearwater businessmen. The club, whose membership now is approximately 180, was officially chartered by Rotary International on January 2, 1925 as the 1875th club worldwide; the first club president was Mr. Taver Bayly. There are now approximately 25,000 clubs in the Rotary world.
Any new club in Rotary must be sponsored by
an existing club. Our club was sponsored by the Rotary Club of St. Petersburg.
We, in turn, have sponsored clubs in Tarpon Springs, Dunedin, Largo,
and Belleair plus two additional Clearwater clubs.
The Rotary Club of Clearwater is the oldest service
club in Clearwater and the largest in all of Pinellas County. Through
the years, we have undertaken numerous service projects - the first
being the landscaping of what was then the "new" causeway
linking Clearwater and Clearwater Beach in the 1920’s. 
Many of
our projects have left a lasting mark on our community such as the donation
of the first mobile blood unit to the Hunter Blood Center. We were the
first service club to make a major donation to the Performing Arts Center.
Our Rotary Swim Meet is second in size only to the state championship
meet. We have been a sponsor of a Clearwater Little League team since
the league’s inception in the mid 1950’s. And we have reached
beyond our city boundaries and those of the United States to have a
hand in inoculating whole countries against polio through the Rotary
Polio Plus program.
We are proud of the people who make up our club.
Many of our members have been recognized with the prestigious Bilgore
Award and the Mr. Clearwater designation by the Greater Clearwater Chamber
of Commerce. 
We have provided the District with three district governors
over the years. One of our members, Herbert G. Brown, served on the
14-member board of directors of Rotary International and later become
international president of Rotary in 1995-96. Our club was the first
in the district to have a woman member - Mrs. Dee Eckert - who was,
at the time, the executive secretary of our club.
