The first meeting of the Rotary was held by founder, Paul Harris and his friends: Silvester Schiele, Gustave E. Loehr, and Hiram E. Shorey. Harry Ruggles joined the next day and brought with him Will Jenson. When the club was formed there were 19 names on the roster.
The name 'Rotary' came about after the members planned to meet in "rotation" at each other's place of business. The Rotary wheel was designed by Montague M. Bear; a simple wagon wheel with 6 spokes, 24 cogs and a keyway.
Five years after Paul had invited his friends to join him in a meeting, there were 16 Rotary Clubs in existence with about 1,500 members.
The first Rotary Club meeting was held on April 11, 1922 in Smiths Falls. Members were elected and appointed. The roster included 22 charter members and the officers were as follows:
Regular meetings were held at the Great War Veterans Association Hall every first and third Thursday of the month at 12:30 p.m. In 1922 the Rotary Club of Smiths Falls was voted into affiliation as a member of the International Association of Rotary Clubs. When they joined there was 1,234 clubs and 83,150 Rotarians. After being chartered they met every Friday at the Hotel Rideau.
The Rotary Club of Smiths Falls always participated in the Christmas festivities. They had one of the members play Santa and the club donated candy for the children. Every year Billy Tanton gave a Christmas message but after a while the job became that of Rev. Lattimore's of Westminster Church.
All information on this Rotary Club section came from the book "The Banana Split A Story of Service Above Self" by Jane Torrance.
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