Milton-Freewater Rotary Club

Club Projects

The following is a partial list of some of the projects, and events worthy of note, that the club has completed over the years. It is by no means, a complete list.

This is a picture of the 1937 Milton-Freewater Rotary Club and is taken if front of City Hall where they met for many years. The picture was provided by J.T. Monahan

The members are: (left to right) Front Row: J.E Olinger, T. Westburg, Bert Miller, G. Staggs, F. Green, V.B. Walker, S. Hunter, G. Malcom 2nd Row: Ed Arnold, J. Casper, H. Mansfield, F. Stevens, H. Flower, L. Price, (unknown). 3rd Row: Hibbard, D. Hill, H. Butterfield, G. Lamb, D. Wade, L. Yantis, W. Collier, M. Ransom, T. Birchbeck, J.H. Maxwell, R. Monahan, J. Collins, R. Brinker 4th Row: G. Williams, F. Etling, F. Fullerton, J. Burgess, R. Still, W. Chastain, H. Cline John Casper, Dorsey Hill, George Malcom, and George Lewis are from the Walla Walla Rotary Club.

---

In Memoriam Roscoe C. Lee, Milton-Freewater, Oregon, USA, 1961-62 Ross was 83 years old (07 Nov. 1917 to 07 March 2001). He and Helen have been married for 62 years and have 6 children. Ross, Helen and son, Bruce are Paul Harris Fellows. Ross joined Rotary on 01 October 1955 He was Club President for the 1958-59 year. He was District Governor of Rotary District 510 (now 5100) for the 1961-62 year. He was very active in Rotary Zone Institutes, International Conventions, and District Conferences until health problems forced him to slow his activity pace. He served as Club Secretary/Treasurer from 01 July 1978 to 30 June 1989. In 1961 he received the “Senior Citizen of the Year” award at the annual Milton-Freewater Chamber of Commerce awards banquet. In 2000 he received the “Golden Pioneer” award at the annual Milton-Freewater Chamber of Commerce awards banquet. He was the first Branch President of the Milton-Freewater LDS Church. Ross served as a Director in the Oregon Dry Cleaners Association (1950) and went on to serve three years as a Director of the National Institute of Dry Cleaning (1962-1965). Ross served on the Milton-Freewater School Budget Committee. He was active in local Boy Scouts programs and the Walla Walla Historic Car Club, We will all miss him very much. He was truly a benchmark for Rotary.

When Rotary Int'l first changed the membership policy to allow women to join Rotary, Ross was very much against it. He mellowed a bit over time and by chance he and Helen were guests of Laurie Carlson at the 1990 Rotary International Convention in Portland for the Home Hospitality evening. Since then they have been very good friends who shared a common interest in restored autos. On 03 October 2000, District Governor Laurie Carlson made her annual visit to the club and Ross just happened to have on one of his ties displaying antique cars. After the meeting Ross gave her the tie.

---

1943-44 Dr. Al Adkisson organized a polio innoculation program for local children. Similar to "Polio Plus" of the 1980's.

04 Dec. 1954 - Held the first joint meeting with the Chamber of Commerce. The Mac-Hi choir , under the direction of Jack Williams, was our Christmas entertainment program.

06 May 1962 - The first club banner was designed and printed. It was Red, White, and Blue and noted the award of 'All American City' by Look Magazine. Note: A report in the 2 Nov. 1961 edition of the Valley Herald noted that Milton-Freewater had been chosen as one of 22 finalists in the ‘All American City” award program sponsored by the National Municipal League and Look Magazine. Milton-Freewater, with a population of 4250, was the smallest city in the group of finalists. Reports were also carried in the Walla Walla Union Bulletin, East Oregonian, and the Hermiston Herald. On 1 Dec. 1961, former Mayor, Leigh Price, represented the city in a presentation by each of the finalists, in the West Ballroom of the Hotel Fontainebleau in Miami Beach, Florida. The 10 April 1962 issue of Look Magazine had a short story about each of the 11 winners.




1964-65 - The Tennis Courts in Yantis Park. This was a joint project with several of the organizations in the community. The club spearheaded this project, did most of the planning, and donated $1500 toward the court construction.




1968-69 - The first Picnic Shelter in Yantis Park was completed this year and provided a sheltered area for cookouts and picnics. The South Entrance Sign to Milton-Freewater was also set up this year. This shelter was replaced in 2002 as a joint project between the city and the Rotary Club




1970-71 - The Drinking Fountain and Benches on the corner of 5th and Robbins streets.




1974-75 - The second Picnic Shelter in Yantis park.




1975-76 - In a joint project with the city, the Club remodeled the Club Room in the Community Building. Lowered the ceiling, installed new carpet, chairs, tables, a movie screen, and a projector power outlet. Our banners remain on the walls all the time. The room is referred to as "The Rotary Room" but is available for use by any organization or group in the community under the control of the Chamber of Commerce in the same building.




1977-78 - Constructed the North Entrance sign.




1978-79 - Constructed 'McSherry Court', a basketball court outside the Mac-Hi gym. Named in honor of Past President (1977-78) and former Mayor, Elwood 'Mac' McSherry.The Club presented Mac with a Paul Harris Fellow in recognition of his many years of service to Rotary and the community. Mac was our first Paul Harris Fellow.

1979-80 - Replaced some of the Kitchen equipment in the community Building. Our meals are prepard by several local groups on a monthly rotation. The kitchen is next to the 'Rotary Room'.

1981-82 - Installed playground equipment in 'Morello Park'. Lou Morello was Past President 1965-66 and principal of the local schools.




1982-83 - Robby Robbins (80-81) presented 13 Past Presidents with 'Past President Plaques'. These 13 are the only Past Presidents still living in the area. The oldest Past President in the picture is Lew Yantis (1939-40). Left to right: Don Rhodes (66-67), J.T. Monahan (64-65), George McRae (75-76), Dan Zimmerman (76-77), Paul Bunch (71-72), Mac McSherry (77-78), Rod Dilts (74-75), Bob Ireland (60-61), Ross Lee (58-59), Myron Kilburg (62-63), Al Adkisson (42-43), Gale Long (72-73), Robby Robbins (80-81), and Lew Yantis (39-40).




06 June 1989 - 10 Past Presidents present Ross Lee with a special plaque recognizing his many years of service to Rotary. Ross was Club President 1958-59, District Governor 1961-62, and Club Secretary/Treasurer 01 July 1978 to 30 June 1989. Left to right: Don Wiggins (85-86), Lynn Crawford (79-80), Jim Swayne (88-89), John Thunell(86-87), Mike Garton (83-84), Herb Saager (81-82), Robby Robbins (80-81). Missing from the picture: Bob Burlingame (82-83), Wayne Hockett (84-85), and Dick Robison (87-88)




20 Feb. 1990 John Hendricks presented President Bob Strickland with the first of the new club banners. The project took almost a year to complete. The original design sketches were made by local school children in Nancy Doherty's 4th grade class at Freewater School and depicted what they saw as the best features of our community. Ten of those were selected by John's committee as finalists. The Club voted on those and the top 5 artists received $50.00 Savings Bonds. The final design was a composite of those original sketches.




1991-95 - The Sportsfield Project. The City needed additional playing area for sports including baseball, softball, and soccer. Existing fields were insufficient to handle the increased use so the City and Rotary took on a project to build a field. After some lengthy discussions between farmers on adjacent property, the city, and some county planners, we began work on the field in late 1991. The field was ready for play in the spring of 1993. There is space for a Soccer Pitch, a Softball Diamond, and a Little League Diamond. It also includes sprinkler systems, restrooms, and a parking lot. It is ‘Handicapped accessible’. It was originally to be funded with some State and Federal grants, some city funds, and about $35,000 of Rotary funds. Some of the State and Federal funds were cut before the project was completed and Rotary carried on the project.




1991-92 - New entrance signs for both the North and South Entrances to the city are completed and installed.




11 May 96 Rotary provided the finishing details on the Vollyball Court adjacent to the new Milton-Freewater Family Aquatic Center.

05 May 2002-This shelter replaced the first one which was the project of the Rotary Club in 1968-69. The new shelter was a joint project between the City and the Rotary Club. It has been named in honor of J.T. Monahan who passed away in April 2002. J.T was a Rotarian from 01 July 1960 until his passing. He was Club President 1964-65. He had been an active member of the communtiy and played an important part in the merging of Milton and Freewater in January 1951.

Fran Anderson, President of the Rotary Club of Milton-Freewater presents Kris Hedine, President of the Library Foundation of Milton-Freewater, with a check for $1,000.00 as Library Director Bob Jones looks on. The New Milton-Freewater Public Library opened April 1, 2003. The new library was constructed with a $1.25 million challenge grant from the Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation of Oakland, California. The Library Foundation of Milton-Freewater took on the task of raising the $1.25 million in matching funds. Those funds came in the form of donations from other foundations, corporations, private individuals, community groups, and fund-raising projects coordinated by the Library Foundation. With 91% of the money raised within one year, construction commenced. A few significant pledges have not been fulfilled and the Library Foundation of Milton-Freewater still has an outstanding line of credit with the bank. The Community Development Partnership, recognizing the need to pay off that loan, recently pledged $3,000 to the building fund, challenging the Library Foundation of Milton-Freewater to come up with matching gifts. The Rotary Club's donation will help meet the challenge. While the CDP gift and matching gifts from Rotary and others will reduce the outstanding amount to less than $10,000, additional donations are needed to eliminate the debt. The new library was built with no bond issue; 99% of the money has come from private sources. The Library Foundation of Milton-Freewater is a not-for-profit corporation, recognized by the IRS as tax exempt under section 501 (c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code, most donations to it are tax deductible. Anyone interested in donating to this project may contact Kris Hedine at 509-529-5175.

01 June 2007-The new banner for the club. It was designed by Bob and Jane Jones and takes on the ‘Frog’ theme that has become very prominent around the city. In 2005, City Manager, Delphine Palmer began a program of using the frog theme as a vehicle to get more tourism into the city and the Walla Walla Valley. Along with the concept, Fran Anderson invited several chainsaw carvers to a “Logs-to-Frogs” chainsaw carving event which has generated a lot of interest in using the theme. Many local businesses have carved frogs standing in front of their stores to represent their businesses.

Last modified : 14 November 2007

E-Mail to: robby@valint.net

This site is provided through the courtesy of Sitestar.

Return to Club Projects at the top of this page.