The Rotary Club of Dunedin, Florida
Chartered January 20, 1947
FOUNDING THE CLUB:
Tom Hood, a former District Governor from Dunn, North Carolina (1947–1948), was a member of the Clearwater Rotary Club and owned a local drugstore on Main Street. Together with H.E. Winchester (father of Walter Winchester), Tom Parnell, Ben Skinner, and several others, Hood departed the Clearwater Club to establish the Dunedin Rotary Club.
The club was chartered on January 20, 1947, and held its first meetings in the second-floor cafeteria of the Citrus Concentrate Plant. Tom Hood served as the club’s secretary and was known for strictly enforcing attendance—members who left before 60 percent of a meeting had concluded were marked absent. Stanley Douglas, father of Bill Douglas, served as secretary to Tom Hood.
Ken Kerr became the club’s first full-term president, followed by Tom Parnell. Walter Winchester, who was initially too occupied establishing his medical practice to join, became a member three months after the charter. Walter served as president from 1949 to 1950 and remained active in the Rotary Club until his passing in 2006.
CLUB BANNER:
For many years, the club was known as “The Banner Club” for its efforts to collect Rotary banners from around the world. Bill Sutton launched the collection in 1986, building upon the 400 banners Dunedin already possessed. His vision was to assemble banners from every Rotary Club in existence—approximately 25,000 at the time.
By the time collecting was discontinued, the Dunedin collection had grown to more than 19,000 banners representing approximately 190 countries. Crafted from materials ranging from cloth and wood to stainless steel and elephant hide, the banners tell the story of what Rotary represents worldwide. Most feature geographical landmarks, local products, or cultural heritage. The entire collection of approximately 22,000 banners was ultimately donated to Rotary International.
FUNDRASING and COMMITTEE INVESTMENT:
The club's first fundraiser took place in 1952, as recalled by Ben Skinner. Members held a picnic, selling hot dogs and Cokes donated by Publix, and raised $1,000. In the years that followed, the club conducted numerous fundraisers and accumulated $30,000. Woody Register, John Powers, Bob Tharin Sr., and Russ Hair initiated several community projects, including beach cleanups, building benches and swings, and supporting local schools. These activities eventually depleted the club's reserves, much to the displeasure of then-treasurer Frank McCombs, who had carefully stewarded those funds for years.
Since that time, the club has maintained an active fundraising program and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. In the 1990s, the club established a foundation with $28,000 in seed money, made possible by the fiscal responsibility of treasurer Del Knox.
COMMUNITY SERVICE:
Over more than six decades, the Dunedin Rotary Club has completed numerous projects, including the Stanley Douglas Memorial at the Dunedin Historical Society Museum, a shelter in Hammock Park, and the internationally recognized Rotary banner collection organized by Dr. Bill Sutton. The club planted landscaped islands on the Dunedin Causeway and has conducted regular beach cleanups. The club has provided substantial benefits to the community, including support for the Dunedin High School Interact Club, the annual Adopt-a-Family program, school supplies for families in need, scholarships for Dunedin High School students, volunteers at Blue Jays games, and participation in the Great American Teach-In. The club hosts the bloodmobile monthly at the Church of the Good Shepherd. Additional programs supported by Dunedin Rotary include Alcohol-Free Grad Night, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the Sheriff's Youth Ranch, the Dunedin Public Library, Clothes to Kids, and Dunedin Cares.
Organizations that have received significant contributions include the Dunedin Fine Art Center, Rotary Camp Florida, the Dunedin Library, Anclote Lighthouse, Adopt-a-Family, the Literacy Council of Upper Pinellas, the Dunedin Commission on Aging, the Watson Center, Kiwanis Boundless Playground, Pace Girls Center, Children's Home Society, and the Dunedin Historical Society. Each year, the Rotary Club of Dunedin donates approximately $50,000 to the local community, made possible by income from the Dunedin Rotary Foundation and two annual fundraisers: the Dunedin Triathlon held in June, and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle raffle held during the winter months.
MAJOR CONTRIBITUTIONS and PARTNERSHIPS:
The Rotary Club of Dunedin and the Rotary Club of Dunedin North jointly raised and contributed over $166,000 to construct the Rotary Centennial Nature Center at Honeymoon Island. In addition, the club has provided more than $100,000 in scholarships to Dunedin High School students over the past decade. In recent years, the club has consistently ranked among the top contributors to the Rotary International Foundation in District 6950 and maintains 100 percent membership in the Paul Harris Society.
INTERNATIONAL SERVICE:
The Dunedin Rotary Club's international projects include matching grants to developing nations and sponsoring Group Study Exchange (GSE) team members. The club has sent GSE group leaders Ann Kennedy to India, Sallie Parks to Scotland, and Julie Scales to Germany. Additionally, the club purchased an ambulance for Jaipur Hospital in India, sent computer software to Croatia, provided school supplies to Haiti and Western Samoa, and delivered ShelterBoxes to disaster areas around the world.
The club began a collaboration with Belize City Rotary clubs in approximately 2005 by funding a well for a fish farm in Belize. Several subsequent projects to improve a children's home in Belize City have resulted in a better quality of life for children and their caregivers. In 2017, Dunedin Rotary collaborated with Seven Springs Rotary to secure a global grant of more than $100,000 to support a teacher training program in Belize City.
SERVICE IN ACTION:
During Rotary Year 2016–2017, the club's 53 members focused their energy on serving through hands-on projects with community agencies supported by their donations in prior years. These include Pinellas Hope, Dunedin Cares, Habitat for Humanity, Pack-a-Sack, Clothes to Kids, and local elementary schools. By extending their hands to those most in need, Dunedin Rotary has engaged its members in activities that bring them together to have fun while serving humanity.