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2020 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 483
Commending the Rotary Club of Danville.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, March 3, 2020
Agreed to by the Senate, March 5, 2020
 

WHEREAS, the Rotary Club of Danville celebrates 100 years of placing “service above self” in 2020; and

WHEREAS, 15 years after the first Rotary Club was established in 1905, Club 611 was organized and chartered in Danville on February 1, 1920, with distinguished leaders of the Danville community among its original membership; and

WHEREAS, with Dr. H.W. DuBose serving as its first president, the Rotary Club of Danville began supporting many worthwhile community endeavors not long after its inception; in April 1920, the club began making donations to a local orphan in need, and in October of the same year, it began a movement that eventually resulted in the organization of the first Community Chest for Danville; and

WHEREAS, in its early days, the Rotary Club of Danville supported youth camps for boys and girls and held meetings with other clubs from other cities in the area, as well as country meetings, to learn the needs and concerns of different groups of people throughout the area; and

WHEREAS, the Rotary Club of Danville provided critical support to individuals, families, and organizations in Danville during the Great Depression, and several of its members served the nation during World War II; and

WHEREAS, in 1946, the Rotary Club of Danville established its first scholarship fund, and the club has proudly supported worthy local students with thousands of dollars in loans and scholarships since that time; and

WHEREAS, the Rotary Club of Danville maintained its focus on serving and empowering young people throughout the 1950s, and in 1962, the club passed an important milestone with more than 100 active members; and

WHEREAS, in the 1960s, the Rotary Club of Danville began its long affiliation with the Salvation Army, manning donation kettles at the holidays, and helped secure the health and wellness of the community by creating a blood bank and providing funding to the Danville Life Saving Crew; and

WHEREAS, the Danville Rotary Club began the 1970s by sponsoring numerous popular community events; in 1978, the club began participating in the Liberty Bell Award program with the local bar association, which has become an annual tradition; and

WHEREAS, the Rotary Club of Danville carried out many and varied community service projects in the Danville area throughout the 1980s and 1990s, then completed several international projects near the turn of the century, including digging clean water wells in Bangladesh and donating textbooks to children in the Philippines and South Africa; and

WHEREAS, the Rotary Club of Danville undertook one of its largest programs in 2015 when it established a Field of Honor with 500 flags to promote patriotism and recognize local veterans, police officers, and first responders; the project grew to include 1,000 flags by the following year with generous support from the community; and

WHEREAS, in 2018, the Rotary Club of Danville was awarded status as one of the elite few Paul Harris Fellow Clubs, with 100 percent of its active members achieving fellowship; and

WHEREAS, the Rotary Club of Danville built further engagement with the community in 2019 when it created the Service Above Self Award to honor a nonmember who exemplifies the Rotary Club motto; and

WHEREAS, throughout its century of service, the Rotary Club of Danville has touched countless lives, significantly enhanced the quality of life in Danville and the surrounding region, and become an irreplaceable pillar of the community; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend the Rotary Club of Danville on the occasion of its 100th anniversary; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Allen R. Smith, president of the Rotary Club of Danville, as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration for the club’s incredible legacy of contributions to the Danville community.