The now, then and future of Ashland Rotary to highlight centennial celebration May 24

Now: Rotary Club of Ashland is celebrating 100 years.

Then: On May 2, 1922, Ashland officially was chartered as Rotary Club No. 1,150. That same year, Rotary, which started in 1905, officially became known as Rotary International as more and more clubs around the world formed.

Future: After marking its 100th anniversary May 24 by looking back at its history with an informal, heavy hors d'voeures-type event at the Ashland University Convocation Center — longtime member Dave Kowalka will give a talk about the now, then and future of the club — Ashland Rotary plans to start looking ahead.

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"Our history is important, but we're more excited about our future," said Tom Roepke, another longtime member.

Now: With the Ashland County Community Foundation, the club started three endowed funds the past few years — one for scholarships, one for the annual July 4 fireworks that the club has been doing for about 40 years and a third community fund.

Then: Throughout the years, Rotary Club of Ashland has had "a significant" number of Paul Harris Fellows to help fund Rotary projects. Members who donate $1,000 or more to Rotary earn this distinction named after the founder of Rotary.

Future: While it is to commemorate the 100-year milestone, a Rotary clock set for Foundation Plaza in downtown Ashland will show the community Rotary plans to continue to serve for many years to come.

"The clock will be installed in September and we will have a community celebration then that will be family orientated," said Ted Daniels, Rotary Club of Ashland president.

Daniels said the Community Foundation has been very helpful with the clock project, donating money and setting up the club's endowed community fund that will help maintain the clock.

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Rotary Club of Ashland looking to do more and more community service projects like Make Ashland Sparkle

Now: Club and community members of all ages — about 150 volunteers — recently helped clean up the city during the third annual Make Ashland Sparkle event.

"Ashland Sparkle was much more fun than a Rotary meeting, to watch families and kids having a great time," Roepke said.

Rotary is the lead organizer of Ashland Sparkle, but Ashland County Ministerial Association, City of Ashland and the Norma Foundation also are key to the event.

Club members also mulched and did other outside work at the Ashland Senior Citizen Center on May 14. And it has helped with COVID clinics, served as the fiscal agent for Leadership Ashland's class projects and packed food bags for kids once school is out at Associated Charities as part of its May 3 meeting.

Then: While it has always been a fellowship club, Rotary history shows it also has done a lot of community service.

Future: Members say they hope service becomes even more a part of the club, building off Ashland Sparkle and other recent service projects.

Rotary membership continues to grow, especially with women members

Now: The club has about 40 members, around 25 active ones, with about 65% men and 35% women. That may not seem like very many women, but when you consider ...

Then: Twenty-three charter members were part of the club's installation ceremony a century ago — all men.

"When I was president in 1986, Rotary said you had to have women members," said Kowalka, who welcomed the change.

Future: Of the most recent seven new members for Ashland Rotary, six were women. Not only has its membership grown, but so has Rotary's worldwide membership, which includes around 40,000 clubs.

Rotary Club of Ashland has seen many changes during its 100 years

Now: Meeting attendance is more flexible, and has even gone from meeting weekly to twice a month on the first and third Tuesdays of the month.

"Younger people don't have that flexibility in their schedules so that's why we went to every other week," Daniels said. "We started that out about a year and a half ago."

Then: Each business could only have one member in Rotary and if you missed a meeting or two you could be kicked out, according to Kowalka.

"Attendance at one point was expected to be 100%," Daniels said.

Members who didn't wear the Rotary badges or pins would be fined, Kowalka added.

Future: As with the changes in attendance and rules for fines, Rotary has evolved with the times and will continue to do so, Roepke said.

Rotary's 100th anniversary celebration to include display of memorabilia and a slide show

Now: The May 24 100th anniversary celebration will include memorabilia and photos on display and a slide show playing in the background.

"We are going to have Cindy Woods, who is the Mansfield club's president, and her husband, so we will have someone from the Mansfield club and Brian Hartzell from Loudonville," said Daniels, who added not only are past and present Rotarians from the Ashland club and surrounding clubs invited, but also any community members. That event runs 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Then: Mansfield was the sponsoring club for Ashland in 1922 and conducted the installation ceremonies 100 years ago.

Future: Same as the past 100 years: Change.

"There have been a lot of changes in Rotary over the years," Kowalka said.

As Reopke said earlier, the club is looking forward to more changes and is "excited about the future."