Rotary Club of Pelham, GA was admitted to membership in Rotary International as club number 6196, District 165 on February 28, 1946. We were sponsored by the Camilla Rotary Club and their President, Frank Twitty, Sr. served as the Master of Ceremonies at the Charter Night ceremonies on March 8, 1946 in the blue room of the Major Pelham Hotel. W.C. Cooper served as President of the Pelham Club for the remainder of the Rotary year and for the 1946-1947 year. The club was chartered with 25 members. The charter members were, J.L. Andrews, G.J. Arsenio, A.R. Baggs, C.B. Braswell, J.C. Brim, Sr., Bernard Brown, Vaughn Yates, W.C. Cooper, Roger Dickinson, C.W. Hand, L.D. Hand, Sr., Hosea Harris, Joe Johnson, Lewis Paullin, Jack Payne, J.D. Rogers, R.L. Singletary, M.W. Turner, Jr., D. B. Welch, W.W. Burch, M.W. Burns, J.B. Chism, Sr., Jule Jordan, Barney Kahn, and Waddy McGinty. Since Rotary International has grown tremendously since 1946, our club number and district number have changed. Our current club number is 4139 in District 6900. Georgia is divided into three districts. Ours borders I-75 on the East, Florida on the South, Alabama on the West and a line across Fulton, Dekalb and Paulding Counties on the North. It includes 70 clubs with more than 5,000 Rotarians - the 2nd largest district in the United States. North Georgia is in District 6910 and has 3,300 members. East Georgia is in District 6920 and has 3,900 members. Our club is in Zone 34 composed of clubs in Georgia, Florida, and Puerto Rico.
The Rotary Club of Pelham is famous for maintaing a high attendance record for its weekly meetings. Our club has a 65-year attendance average of 97.5%. We have won the District Attendance Award for clubs under 50 members 44 times in that 65-year period including 40 of the past 44 years. In 1963, Rotarian Bud Adkins brought a goat to the weekly meeting. If you missed a weekly meeting and did not make-up, you had to keep the goat tied in your yard until someone else missed. The goat and the story made the Rotarian magazine when Rotarian John Kemper had to take the goat home. Rotarian J.B. Chism even wrote a poem ‘Ode To a Goat’ in the honor of "Rake-Up,” the goat's name. There was later a time in the 70's when our club went over 3 years without an absence. Another event that the Rotary Club of Pelham is famous for is its annual "International Weekend."
Our club has had several members serve in district level positions and one member, Jim Brim, served as District Governor for the 1976-1977 year. His theme that year was "I Believe In Rotary."
The Rotary Club of Pelham meets every Friday at 12:30 PM at Pinecrest Country Club in Pelham, GA.
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