The Rotary Club of the Pelhams celebrated its anniversary via Zoom on Wednesday, 74 years after the club’s founding in 1946.

Following his opening remarks, President Hugh Maynard-Reid displayed items to attendees that were considerably more commonplace around the time the club was founded, such as a typewriter and castor oil. Maynard-Reid then discussed the continued development of Pelham Memorial High School’s newly founded Interact Club, a youth branch of the Rotary.

“One of the things I have seen developed over the few years that I have been a Rotarian is the establishment of an Interact Club in the Pelham Memorial High School,” he said. “I am a great believer in the youth of our community. I believe that their energy, their creativity and their ability to maintain focus and open-mindedness are among the things we need to catapult our society into a brighter, safer and more sustainable future.”

Bob Dawson, a member for 17 years, told of some of his fondest memories of the club with an accompanying slideshow documenting many of the Rotary’s events and projects over the past decades. The pictures also gave attendees the chance to remember former Rotary club presidents and other leaders, as well as members who passed away.

Rotary International officially opened its doors to women in 1989. Female members of the club shared their experiences of having to overcome gender discrimination in the early years of the change. Rotarian Maggie Klein shared how when she first joined, women were expected to have a certain role and perform certain jobs while men did others. However, in order to promote a sense of equality, women in the club pressured men to start undertaking the same jobs, which went a long way to bringing the club to where it is today.

Klein recounted how the Pelham club started its tradition of honoring local scholars with the students-of-the month program, created after the Rotary realized there were programs to recognize local student-athletes through the booster club but not a prominent one to honor students who excelled academically. Recently, the program has not been able to honor scholars due to Covid-19, but it is expected to start up again within weeks. The club also awards one Pelham senior each year with a $12,000 scholarship, funded through donations.

“I am awed by the level of commitment to a variety of projects that the members of the Rotary Club of the Pelhams devote in service, both locally and internationally,” said Maynard-Reid. “I also appreciate and admire the very high level of selflessness that is the hallmark of the service exhibited by its members.”

The Pelham Rotary Club hasn’t been around as long as some of its nearby neighbors, such as the groups in Mount Vernon or New Rochelle, and for a while didn’t have a consistent meeting place, as club member Dr. Kevin Falvey made clear. Falvey said the club has had to gather all over Pelham, from the Pelham Country Club to the art center before finding its permanent meeting location at Rockwell’s.

The club’s legacy of contributions runs from building the Fifth Avenue gazebo to raising money for water pumps in Africa to offering a CPR class for middle school students.

Editor’s note: Nevan Malwana is vice president of the Interact Club.