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The Rotary Club of Palm Beach Gardens (Chartered February 15, 1993, District 6930, SE Florida) Meets every Tuesday, 7:30am at the Doubletree Hotel (click for directions) January is "Rotary Awareness Month" The Gardens Rotary welcomes all Rotarians and Guests to our meetings |
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The History of the District System in the six counties that make up the present District 6930 (Palm Beach, Martin, Okeechobee, St. Lucie, Indian River and Brevard Counties, Florida) In July, 1912, at it's convention in Duluth, MN, Rotary International for the first time divided itself into smaller administrative units. At first, these units were called "divisions" and the chief administrator of each division was called a "vice president." These designations would soon be changed to "district" and "district governor." The Southern Division The Southern Division included the entire State of Florida as well as the states of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. The Southern Division was our first district. At the time of founding the Division, the only Rotary Club in the State of Florida was the Rotary Club of Jacksonville. New Clubs in Tampa and Pensacola would quickly follow. George W. Clark of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville, Florida, who had once employed a young Paul Harris as the night clerk at the St. James Hotel in Jacksonville, was the first District Governor. John Shelby of the Rotary Club of Birmingham, Alabama was the first District Governor to hold a District Conference. The District Conference was held in Jacksonville, Florida in October, 1914.
District 5 At the 1915 Rotary Convention in San Francisco, it was decided to further divide the divisions and adopt a numbering system. For the first time the term "district" was used. The old "Southern Division" was divided into three new districts. The new District 5 included the States of Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Florida still had only three clubs, Jacksonville, Tampa and Pensacola. Frank Glass of the Rotary Club of Montgomery, AL served as the first District Governor of District 5. Florida Rotary Clubs in Key West and Miami were chartered in 1916.
District 8 At the 1918 Rotary Convention in Kansas City, the old District 5 was added to the Caribbean, and designated as the new District 8. John Gay of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville, FL was the first District Governor of District 8. Rotary Clubs in Ocala, Gainesville, St. Petersburg, St. Augustine and West Palm Beach were added.
District 39 - Part 1 Following the 1921-22 Rotary Year, RI once again redistricted. Alabama and the Florida panhandle from the Jefferson County Line were designated as District 26, while the rest of Florida and the State of Georgia became District 39. The Caribbean was redistricted elsewhere. Porter G. Pierpont of the Rotary Club of Savannah, GA became the first District Governor of District 39. Ken Guernsey, District Governor 23-24, later became President of Rotary International for the year 1947-48. At the 1927 District Conference, held in Tampa, the official representative of RI President Harry Rogers was founder Paul Harris. Between 1922 and 1928, Florida Rotary Clubs were added including Titusville, Fort Pierce, Cocoa, Palm Beach, Vero Beach, Melbourne and Lake Worth.
District 39 - Part 2 Following the 1927-28 Rotary Year, the State of Georgia was designated as District 69. Florida, except for the panhandle remained as District 39. In 1929-30, Howard W. Selby of the Rotary Club of West Palm Beach became the first District Governor from the present District 6930. During the period 1928-1937, Rotary Clubs were chartered in Stuart, Pahokee, Belle Glade and Boynton Beach. During the 1930-31 Rotary year, the Florida Panhandle was returned to District 39, so that the District included the entire State. In 1934-35, Earle G. Thatcher of Vero Beach was elected as the second Governor from the present 6930.
District 167 As of June 30, 1937, Florida was renamed as Rotary District 167 as part of a redistricting plan that expanded all Rotary Districts designations to three digits. The District still encompassed the entire State of Florida. Roland S. Horton of the Rotary Club of Lake Worth became the third District Governor from one of our present clubs. As the year opened, 42 Rotary Clubs in Germany disbanded. Over the next five years 484 clubs in Axis controlled countries were disbanded.
District 167-B On March 30, 1947, District Governor Albert Geiger called a meeting of all Past District Governors in Orlando. Among the PDGs was 23-24 DG Ken Guernsey, now President-Elect of Rotary International. At the meeting, the PDGs voted to divide District 167 into three separate Districts with the designations "A", "B" and "C". District 167-B included the counties of Volusia, Seminole, Brevard, Indian River, Okeechobee, Glades, Hendry, part of Collier, St. Lucie, Martin Palm Beach, Broward, Dade and Monroe. James I. Keller of the Rotary Club of Miami, and Morton McDonald of the Rotary Club of Deland were the only District Governors of District 167-B.
District 243 Following the defacto redistricting of the Florida Governors, RI adopted essentially the same redistricting plan on July 1, 1949. RI renumbered District 167-B as District 243. Under the RI plan, Seminole County and the portion of Collier County included in district 167-B were transferred to district 167-C, now renamed District 244 (western Florida). Edward C. Bowen of the Rotary Club of West Palm Beach was the first District Governor of District 243, Willis Hitt, also from the West Palm Beach club served as District Governor during 1956-57. William Robbins of the Rotary Club of Miami was District 243 Governor for 1955-56. He later became RI President for the year 1974-75. Among the new clubs chartered during this period were Singer Island (Riviera Beach) and Boca Raton.
District 699 - Part 1 Beginning with the 1957-58 Rotary Year, RI once again renumbered all Districts. While the District boundaries remained the same, the designation changed to District 699. Edward Tait of the Rotary Club of Miami Shores was elected as the first District Governor of District 699. Cecil S. Farrar (1960-61) of the Rotary Club of Delray Beach was the first District Governor to appoint Governor's Group Representatives (later renamed Assistant District Governors) to help administer the district. Included in the Rotary Clubs chartered during this period were the Rotary Clubs of North Palm Beach, Vero Beach West, Jupiter-Tequesta and Green Acres (Lake Worth Suburban).
District 699 - Part 2 As of July 1, 1981, Florida was again redistricted. The northern counties reorganized as part of District 698. The remaining counties of Palm Beach, Broward, Dade and Monroe remained as District 699. Clinton D. Hamilton of the Rotary Club of Fort Lauderdale became the first District Governor of the "new" District 699. The 1984-85 Rotary Year saw the beginning of Polio-Plus. Rotary Clubs chartered during this period include Boca Sunrise, West Boca Sunset, West Palm Beach Sunrise, Delray Beach Sunrise, and Jupiter-Tequesta Sunrise. Jack Hughes of the West Palm Beach Club was the only Governor from the current District 6930 during this period.
District 698 As of July 1, 1981, Florida was again redistricted. The northern counties of the old District 699, Volusia, Brevard, Indian River, Okeechobee, Glades, Hendry, St. Lucie and Martin reorganized as part of District 698, while Palm Beach remained in District 699. Carlton E. "Gene" Colley of the Rotary Club of Orange County East became the first District Governor of District 698. The 1984-85 Rotary Year saw the beginning of Polio-Plus. Rotary Clubs chartered during this period include Stuart Sunrise, Sebastian, Vero Beach Sunrise, and Fort Pierce Sunrise. Dick Squires in 1984-85 and Phil Gaarder in 1988-89 were the only Governors from the current District 6930.
District 6930 The 1991 Rotary Convention adopted a plan of redistricting under which Palm Beach County, of District 699 would be reunited with the Counties of Martin, Okeechobee, St. Lucie, Indian River and Brevard from District 698 to form a new District designated as District 6930. Paul Hotte of the Rotary Club of Stuart was elected as the first District Governor and Bill Bean of the Rotary Club of Jupiter-Tequesta was elected as the first District Governor-Elect. The first district conference of the new district was held in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. New clubs chartered during this period include the Rotary Clubs of Port St. Lucie, Port St. Lucie Breakfast, Palm Beach Gardens, Hobe Sound-Port Salerno, Palm Beach Flagler, Orchid Island and Boca Raton Central. Past RI President Carlos Canseco was the representative of RI President Herb Brown at the District Conference held in July 1995 in Palm Beach Gardens.
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