The Huntsville Rotary Club chartered the Conroe Rotary Club on August 24, 1932.  In turn, the Conroe Club has worked to spread Rotary ideals by sponsoring the, Willis, The Woodlands, and Lake Conroe clubs.

            The Conroe Rotary Club began with eighteen “founding fathers.”  (See Exhibit A).  At that time, the annual budget for the club was $5,000.  The Club had many of the same programs our Club has today, focusing much of its attention on literacy, education, community beautification and helping indigent youth with their medical and dental expenses.

            The Conroe Rotary Club Dental Program was started soon after chartering.  Founding member Dr. J.L. Hicks administered the program for roughly thirty years.  In the early 1960’s, the program was turned over to Dr. Lloyd Dunaway to administer for the next ten years or so.  During those years, the Dental Program worked with an operating budget of $1,000 to $1,200 per year.

            During the1960’s, the Dental Program was strengthened financially by a lady named Minnie Perkins, who lived in Willis on Old Waverly Road.  Mrs. Perkins heard of the work Dr. Hicks was doing for area children and left $10,000 in her will for the club.  The Conroe Rotary Club invested this money and the interest from the CD went to fund the Dental Program.  This program has expanded greatly to reach its current level, with an annual budget of approximately $17,000, and 12 to 15 area dentists serving as providers who discount their services approximately 50%.

Career Night

            A major project for our club in the 1960’s and 70’s was Career Night, with the Rotary Club of Conroe furnishing speakers for general assemblies, and individual representatives for virtually every classification in the club, meeting with students in smaller groups to discuss career choices.

            Dr. Dunaway recalls he was an eager young dentist at his first Career Fair, when he encountered very little enthusiasm for the dental profession among the students assembled there.  High school students at that time did not talk so much, and it was only at his insistence that he finally managed to prompt two questions from the small group before him.  They were, “Do you have to get extra college to be a dentist?” and “How much money does an Orthodontist make?”

Recent Projects

            More recent projects developed during the past 10 to 20 years have focused on youth, which include providing college scholarships, supporting community literacy activities and mentoring at Runyan Elementary.  (See Exhibits B and C).  Speakers at the Conroe Rotary Club are honored when the Club presents a children’s book to Runyan Elementary library in their name.

Piano Players

            Long-time members of the Club recall Miss Ercelle Knight, who played the piano for the club’s singing for over 40 years. She was made a Paul Harris Fellow in 1984.  Especially remembered are her special renditions of Christmas music each year.  Ercelle really enjoyed playing for the group, and making the meetings something special.

            Currently, the Club is honored to be accompanied by Ann Lee, widely known and accomplished music and choral director.  The singing of the members has challenged her musical sensibilities for the last several years.

75 Years Later

            During the past 75 years, the Club has been led by dynamic presidents (see Exhibit D).  The Club continues work on approaching its goal to honor each member as a Paul Harris Fellow (see Exhibit E).  And, the Club has honored ten members to the District 5910 Roll of Fame:  Richard Coyle, John Germany, Jr., Charles Harritt, Foster Madeley, Chester L. Rossi, Don Stocking and Virginia Stocker, Kenne Turner, Curtis Williams and Doris Lockey. 

            The Club has 30 standing committees, 14 board members, and approximately 70 active members.  Its current combined annual budget is roughly $136,000. 

            Surely those original 17 members with $5,000 to work with would notice all the changes.   But for all those families and individuals whose lives have been touched through the efforts of the Conroe Rotary Club, the concept of “Service Above Self” has not changed.