Club History
By its 25th anniversary in 1947, the Club had grown to 88 members. At its golden anniversary in 1972, the district governor in attendance was our own Oliver Gaffney. The last surviving charter member, Morgan Riddell, was also present.
Over the years, membership has grown to as many as 140 members and the variety of projects supported has shifted from the original focus on crippled children and boys’ work to constructing local recreational and healthcare facilities and supporting international community development and clean water projects. The Club met for many years at the YMCA before moving to the Kiwanis Centre in 1982, and then to its current location, the ANAF building, in 2018. Women began joining the Club in 1996.
The Rotary Club of Stratford sponsored the creation of the Mitchell, Woodstock, Tavistock, Goderich, and Festival City clubs as well as the Stratford Interact Club, founded at Stratford Central Secondary School in 1997, and the Stratford Rotaract club, founded in 2012. Youth remains an important focus – the Club currently sponsors Junior Achievement, the Ottawa Adventures in Citizenship program, youth exchanges, Minor Hockey, Next Generation exchanges, the Rotary Youth Leadership in Action program, and high school graduation scholarship and for many years, owned and operated Camp Kitchigami on the shores of Lake Huron.
The Rotary Club of Stratford Charitable Foundation was established in 1955, enabling the Club to recognize donations through the issue of receipts for tax purposes.
The Rotary Club of Stratford raises funds through a variety of events, including the Christmas Arts and Crafts Festival, Rural Urban Night (since 1932), the Stratford Home & Leisure Show, an Annual Golf Tournament, the Dave Blackburn Memorial Car Rally, Scotch Mist, and the Dragon Boat Festival. Since its inception in 1996, the Stratford Rotary Dragon Boat Festival has played host to over 700 teams, 18,000 paddlers, and generated nearly $1 million in support of projects such as Respite House, Rotary Hospice Stratford Perth, Aquabox, and the Stratford Rotary Complex. Sixteen other Rotary clubs have developed their own Dragon Boat Festivals, based on the Stratford model.
The Club ceased involvement with international student exchanges in 2011, shifting its support to the New Generations Vocational program which involves hosting young adults for up to three months so they can experience their particular vocation as it is practised in Canada. In 2016, we also launched the Northern Student program to help Northern youth with secondary and post-secondary education.
The Rotary Club of Stratford celebrated its centennial throughout the 2021-22 Rotary year, culminating in a banquet at the Arden Park in May 2022. Ken Nesbitt chaired the Anniversary committee with a goal of not only celebrating a century of achievement but also to donate $100,000 to ten worthy community projects. These ranged from planting 100 trees to purchasing 100 books for the children’s section of the Stratford Public Library, donating 100 hygiene kits to Connections Stratford, and making permanent the annual UW scholarship award. The highlight of the anniversary year was Dean Robinson’s book detailing the 100 year history of the club. More than 500 Rotarians and community volunteers attended the June barbeque behind City Hall.
Today, the Rotary Club of Stratford has over forty committees and a series of solid fundraising events, including Scotch Mist, Rotary Golf Tournament, Dragon Boat, Stratford Home & Leisure Show, Rural/Urban Night, and the Christmas Craft Show. We host twice-monthly hybrid lunch meetings at the Stratford Legion, alternating with zoom-only meetings.
Our Facebook page is at: https://www.facebook.com/RotaryClubOfStratford/ A weekly electronic bulletin is issued to all club members.