About Our Club

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         "The Wabash Rotary Club, No. 353 was established in Wabash, IN in the late
          fall of 1917.  It was officially recognized by the International Association of 
         Rotary Clubs in January of 1918 and held its first meeting in the parlors of
         the Christian Church on February 6th, 1918"

The above quotation is the first paragraph from Ed Little's Rotary Scrap Book.

At the time of its organization the Club had 24 active members and two honorary members. A few of the charter members include Mr. James Wilson, and Mark Honeywell.

Ed Little's Scrap Book, and the file of club bulletins which he started and Bob Burns and J. Loren Elliott continued, and the notes of Otto Ebbinghouse who was Secretary of the club for several years, all put together give us a rather complete history of the Wabash Rotary Club.

Thumbing through the record of these years we find metion of many Ladies Night Parties, Father-Son Banquets, Inter-city Program for the Twelfth Anniversary Meeting in the Hotel Indiana on Monday, December 30th, 1929.  There was a rather elaborate Silver Anniversary celebration on January 19th, 1943 in the Indiana Hotel Ball Room.  "Howdy" Brant was president of the club in 1943 and presided at this meeting. 

For many years Ed Little was Chairman of the Rotary Education and Fellowship Committee.  Each year he would organize public meetings to emphasize some Object of Rotary.  Because of his business connections he was able to get outstanding speakers.  These dinner meetings were usually held in the basement of the First Methodist Church which held the larges banquet room in the city.  During the years 1930-1933 these meetings were the outstanding events in Wabash.

1935 was the year of the Jubilee Light Celebration.  As a part of that evening, the Wabash Rotary Club presented to the city of Wabash the large walnut and plate-glass case which contains one of the original electric lights used in 1880 to light the city and make it the "First Electrically lighted City in the World".  That case now stands in the center of the main floor of the Court House.

The Wabash Rotary Club has always been interested in White's Institute.  We have held our noon meetings in the Institute dining room with a program by the students, and a ballgame with the boys afterward.  In later years we put on a Christmas program in coordination with he Exchange Club.

Since 1947, Rotary has met each Monday noon at the Honeywell Center Crystal Room.

We have entertained the High School Seniors on the night of their graduation with music and dancing, a hay ride, and a show, prizes, snacks, and a five o'clock breakfast.

In 1952 and again in 1962 we entertained the District Conference in the Honeywell Memorial Center.

We celebrated our 50-year anniversary in 1968, and our 75-year anniversary in 1993.

Many Wabash Rotarians have been awarded the Distinguished Citizen Citation.