Dr. Carol Clark on the Rotary Club as part of the essay series “The Road to 250: Community Spirit in Action,” celebrating the history of unity in Clarksville ahead of America’s 250th anniversary.

Of the many service clubs in Clarksville, the Rotary Club was the pioneer, founded in 1917. The club name is regularly seen by Clarksville residents and travelers alike, many noting the sign for Rotary Park on Highway 41A Bypass. That 140-acre park was initiated by the club’s purchase of the land in 1964-65 under the leadership of then-Club President James Holleman. The land was subsequently deeded to Montgomery County for development and administration and today serves as one of the most popular parks in the region.

The sign at the entrance to Rotary Park. (Contributed)
The sign at the entrance to Rotary Park. (Contributed)

Other drivers have seen the name while driving along Riverside Drive adjacent to the Cumberland River where the banks now include the Riverwalk, a major feature of which is the Rotary Club’s International Avenue of Flags, recognizing countries from which Clarksvillians have come and our unusually diverse population. Still others have seen the name on the Rotary Field of Dreams ballfield and ADA-compliant family playground located within Civitan Park, constructed to accommodate individuals with physical or mental challenges that may make it difficult for them to use other existing facilities in the city.

History of Clarksville Rotary Club

During the spring of 1917, Mr. and Mrs. C.W. Bailey were invited to have lunch with a Louisville, Kentucky, banker at the Rotary Club there, of which the banker was a member. The Baileys were impressed with the Louisville Rotarians and contacted Will R. Manier, then president of the Nashville Rotary Club (later Rotary International president). Manier and two other Nashville Rotarians met with a group of Clarksville men to plan the organization of a club in Clarksville, with the first official meeting on May 17 in the upstairs meeting room of the Montgomery Hotel.

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The club has always partnered with local schools. In 1917-18, when the club was brand new, Clarksville Rotary purchased the land for Murtland Field (where the Ajax Turner Senior Citizen Center is now located) for athletic programs of Clarksville High School. Today the club sponsors an Interact Club at Clarksville High. Interact clubs bring together young people ages 12-18 to develop leadership skills while discovering the power of “service above self.”

Graduating high school seniors covet scholarships, several of which are offered annually through a $100,000 endowment completed in the ’95-’96 Rotary year and presented to Austin Peay State University for management. During the last decade, club members have visited elementary schools to read to various classes. During the 1970s and 80s, the club funded and conducted the Rotary Relays for track and field athletes representing dozens of area high schools.

Supported through popular fundraisers

Necessary to support these and dozens of other community services including construction of a Habitat for Humanity House in ’97-’98, have been several types of fundraisers. Included among the most successful have been the CRAM (Clarksville Rotary Annual Metric, a bicycle ride that most years brought 500-700 riders from Montgomery County and usually some 20 to 30 other counties and several states and held 1988 to 2024), golf tournaments, and the Rotary Auctions, initially conducted by radio and then over television.

Rotary was followed in Clarksville by Kiwanis, Lions, and Civitan clubs, which also initiated community projects and fundraising projects, best known of which is the Kiwanis Annual Rodeo. The original clubs have given rise to new clubs, including two new Rotary clubs (the Sunrise Club and the Sunset Club) and additional Civitan and Kiwanis clubs.

Dr. Carol Clark

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