CLUB HISTORY
1933-1976

Click here to see a list of past presidents and secretaries

Click here to go to Malcolm Griswold Page

The Rotary Club of Clifton Springs is the successor of the Clifton Springs Club which, for several years, had functioned as a local association of business and professional men, meeting bi-weekly in the YMCA gymnasium for a dinner served by the ladies of the Auxiliary.

Various national and international service clubs had made overtures to the group, but Dudley Field of the Rochester Rotary Club, who at the time was District Governor of the Rotary district, brought the matter to a head in 1933. Mr. Field, working through Reverend Boyd Little, a Methodist minister and a Rotarian in his former parish, organized a Rotary Inter-City meeting for June S, 1933 which was held in the hospital and was attended by over 500 Rotarians. The local men were guests at the dinner. After this dinner, Boyd Little obtained the necessary 25 signatures of men who intended to join a local Rotary club and on June 22, 1933, they voted to form a Provisional Rotary Club and to apply for a charter. Rotary International quickly granted a charter so that on July 7, 1933, a meeting was held which set the date for the presentation of the charter in early October. At the July 7th meeting, Tuesday noon was established as the time for the weekly meeting and the hospital was made the meeting place. The officers of the Provisional Rotary Club of Clifton Springs were President, Boyd Little; Vice-President, W. Malcolm Griswold; Treasurer, Carl DeGraw; Secretary, Adolph Hollander; Directors, A. Bosshart, A.B. Dusinberre, Frank Gross; Sergeant-at-Arms, Frank Tomlinson. These men held office during the club's first year.

The first regular meeting of the Clifton Springs Rotary Club was held on July 11, 1933. All but one of the charter members were present at this meeting (a list of charter members is appended to this report). W. Malcolm Griswold, the only charter member who is still active in the club, gave a report on the Annual Rotary International Convention which he had recently attended in Boston.

Charter Night was held on October 3, 1933 and was attended by 629 people, making it one of the largest Rotary meetings to be held in the Rotary District, which at that time comprised most of western New York and part of the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario. The meeting was attended by Rotary International President John Nelson of Montreal which is most noteworthy. Although William Allen of Montreal was the District Governor at that time, the Charter was presented to the Club's President, Boyd Little, by Past District Governor Dudley Field of Rochester, under whose initiative the new club was formed. Dr. Albert Beaven, President of Colgate-Rochester Divinity School, was the speaker.

There have been many outstanding events and honors in the history of the Clifton Springs Rotary Club.

The year after the club was formed (1934 - 35), Reverend Boyd Little served as District Governor, which was a significant honor for such a young club. In 1939 - 40, another Rotary International President, Walter D. Head of New Jersey, visited the club. The most outstanding event of this type occurred on November 11, 1941 when Paul Harris, founder and first President of Rotary, visited the Clifton Springs Rotary Club for an Inter-City meeting. This is an honor shared by only a few of the sixteen thousand clubs in the world.

On several occasions, notably 1938 and 1949, Clifton Springs was chosen as the site for the Rotary District Assembly and in 1968 the Clifton Springs and Phelps Rotary Clubs were the hosts for the District Conference which was held at the Concord Hotel in the Catskills.

In 1953 - 54, a member of the Clifton Springs Rotary Club, Jack Loveless, served as District Governor. In 1954, at the conclusion of his term, he was elected District Treasurer and served in that capacity for many years.

In 1973, the Club held its fortieth anniversary and at that time, Dudley Field, the District Governor who had presented the charter and Reverend Boyd Little, the local President who had received the charter, were both present.

The club has been served by forty-five men as President (a list of the Presidents is appended to this report). The club reached a high point of sixty members in 1954. The club has not rested on its past laurels and honors, but is looking forward to new chances to serve. One of its members, Howard Smith, was chosen as District Governor nominee for the year 1977 - 78 and the club hosted a District Conference in that Rotary year.

Rotary is a service club and while the events and honors are important, the most important thing is to fulfill the objectives of service. Rotary has a four fold objective; service to the club, service to the community, service to the vocations and international service. No history of the Clifton Springs Rotary Club would be complete without a review of the club's efforts in these areas. The Clifton Springs Club has received awards for its projects in several areas of service. In 1956 - 57, under the presidency of John Fabrizi, the club received an award for having, overall, the best projects in each of the four services of any club in the District.

In the area of club service the members have been hard at work. The bulletin, the Sulphur Smell, has been published nearly every week since the club was founded. Membership has been very good. When the club reached 60 members in a community of 2,000 people, it may have been the largest club in the world in such a small community. Attendance has been good, with several members having established perfect attendance for over twenty years. Over the years, the Clifton Springs Rotary Club has had many outstanding programs.

Perhaps service to other clubs is the best project in club service attempted by the local club. For many years, the club averaged 14 - 15 visitors at each meeting. This is a great tribute to the hospitality committee.

Vocational service is the happiness you bring and the service you render to others through your vocation, twenty-four hours a day. Under this definition, it is difficult to outline the projects of the club because it is the day-to-day efforts of its individual members that show vocational service. Two projects were notable. The members gave service by discussing and demonstrating their vocations to high school students when requested by the guidance department to do so.

In 1956 - 57, the local club sponsored a Four Way Test Week involving the churches, schools and businesses. This was so successful that it has been copied in various Rotary Clubs throughout the world.

In International Service, the club has made many contacts. Rotary International sponsors the Rotary Foundation. This Foundation supports a variety of international study program not only for students but also for adults. The Foundation, in turn, is supported by contributions from local clubs and individuals. Clifton Springs Rotary Club made its first contribution to the Foundation in 1936 and is now a 400% club (it has contributed more than $40/member). The local club has entertained several recipients of the Foundation awards.

For many years this district has entertained district governors from other lands for a week before the International Assembly in Lake Placid. In this project, Clifton Springs has entertained governors from Australia, Finland, Switzerland, India and England.

One of the programs of the Foundation is the Group Exchange Program in which five or six young business or professional men from one country visit another country to study their businesses and professions. Clifton Springs has entertained the group from the Philippines as a part of this program and the new hospital has been a focal point for other groups which have visited this country under the program.

The Rotary District and this club have given strong support to an orphanage and school in the Philippines, Bethany.

During the 1950's, the District had a foreign student program of its own, in which foreign students from other countries matriculated at colleges in this Rotary District (Rochester, Keuka, Hobart, Elmira, Alfred, Geneseo, Brockport). Clifton Springs supported this program financially and also entertained many of these students. The club has also participated in the Rotary family exchange program with England.

While the local Rotary club has done well in other areas of service, it is in community service that the Clifton Springs Rotary Club has devoted its greatest effort. One of the first projects that the new club undertook was the distribution of Christmas baskets in 1933. Several organizations, including the churches, worked with the Rotary club in providing baskets of food, clothing and toys for the needy families and baskets of food for elderly or shut-ins. About 70 baskets a year are distributed and these organizations and Rotary have continued this project since its inception.

100 Christmas baskets were distributed in 1998.

We have now hosted or co-hosted four district conferences. District Governor Howard Smith's conference was held at Host Farms, Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1978 and was co-hosted by the Clifton Springs, Phelps and Palmyra Rotary clubs.

Of greater importance, our participation in Rotary International Foundation has increased significantly. Annually a meeting is devoted to the Rotary International Foundation with a speaker highlighting the activities of the foundation. Members are urged to voluntarily contribute, considering the district goal ($40 per member this year) and particularly to help achieve 100% member participation regardless of the amount of contribution.

Prior to 1998 - 1999 our club's contributions to the Rotary Foundation has been $138,000. Included in this is $6,710 raised in 1987 - 88 for Polio Plus. At this time our club has named 37 Paul Harris Fellows.

We are proposing our first candidate for an Ambassadorial Scholarship in May 1999. One of our oldest fund raising projects is our annual pancake breakfast held on Palm Sunday morning. It usually nets about $1,500.

Two of our programs mentioned in the first section of our history have been terminated and turned over to others, namely Bethany Home in the Philippines, a project of District 7120, and the sponsoring of a boy scout cub pack, a community project. New fund raising projects introduced during the current 23 years include Italian Night, a dinner that provides about $1,600 toward our various service projects.

Our largest income is from a Rotary calendar published annually. Those purchasing the calendar have their anniversary dates printed as well as the birthday dates of themselves and their family. Advertising is included on the calendar. Profit is about $2,000.

A monthly bottle and can pick up serves the community as well as earning about $1,200 per the year for the club.

Under club service, club members, spouses, and friends have enjoyed an annual picnic for several years. This was held for many years at the home of Johnny and Louise Brown. For the last couple of years, it has been held at the Village Park on Spring Street.

Community Service projects include setting up and taking down for blood screening and bloodmobiles at the Clifton Springs Hospital.

We also co-sponsor with the local police department, and help staff an annual Bike Rodeo for second graders. Police instruct the children in safety. There is a bicycle safety check for each participant. Finally, they have the opportunity to ride an appropriate obstacle course.

The biggest project from the point of view of money was the pledge to raise $10,000 (in ten yearly payments) for the new hospital. No other project approaches this amount of money even in this length of time.

The Rotary club took over the sponsorship of a boy scout troop from the original Clifton Springs Club at the time the Rotary Club was organized. It presently sponsors a cub pack. However, two other services to youth have commanded more money and man-hours of labor, service to handicapped children and the scholarship award.

The Clifton Springs Rotary Club, working with the other Rotary clubs in Ontario, Seneca, Wayne and Yates counties, have provided a summer camping experience for the handicapped children of the area, known as Camp ONSEYAWA. This is a two week camping experience. The project has required a large amount of time on the part of individual club members and a considerable amount of money. Two members of the local club have served as the head of the project. One member of the club has served as head of the Easter Seal campaign which raises money for handicapped children. Some of the money raised in this campaign is used in financing Camp ONSEYAWA. Many of our club members think this is the most rewarding of all the club's projects.

The scholarship award is a cash award, based on need and merit, to a graduate of the local high school to help that graduate continue their education. This award was instituted in 1961 and 15 students have received this help in their quest for further education.

Another club project of long duration is the hot dog stand at the YMCA Auxiliary Fair. To manage and staff this operation uses most of the men in the club for several hours each year. The profit goes totally to the YMCA Auxiliary.

While all the projects mentioned have been long standing ones, the club has not hesitated to participate in short term projects. During the war, the Clifton Springs Press was sent to local servicemen all over the world. After the war, the club collected two tons of clothing for needy families in war-torn countries. When a local family was affected, the club held an auction to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation which was helping the child. The club has run a student loan fund for hard-pressed college students when money was not readily available at the usual sources.

The club has definitely helped the community with its projects, but in the spirit of Rotary, the Clifton Springs Rotary Club, to a member, will say, "We had fun serving."

1976-Present

The foregoing history of the Clifton Springs Rotary Club was prepared in 1975 - 1976. The following section will update the listing of past presidents of the club in the addendum, update some of the projects already described, and briefly describe new projects and events during the years up to December 1, 1998.

The club has once again achieved a membership of 60 during the current year.

Annual donations are made to the Clifton Springs Hospital, Library, YMCA, and House of John (terminally illness caring).

For the past two years the club has assisted the Village in a tree-planting program. Money has been raised to enable the Village to use a $1,000 matching fund.

The Club also arranges a weekly concert in the park during August. Our club helps support this financially. The club and local businesses sponsor weekly "Concerts in the Park". Usually 200 people attend the free concerts.

Our closing remarks will cover our club's largest single financial project and recognitions. In 1995 we completed a bandstand in the Village Park at a cost of $35,000 - $40,000 and much volunteer labor. This was dedicated to W. Malcolm Griswold charter member and second President of the Clifton Springs rotary Club. The park has also been dedicated to Malcolm. The park is known as the W. Malcolm Griswold Rotary Park.

In November 1998, the club held a dinner honoring Mal's 95th Birthday and our Club's 65th Anniversary. 81 people attended. On June 4, 2004, Mal passed away at age 100.  Click here to go to a the tribute to Malcolm Griswold.

We can mention with pride that four generations of the Griswold family have served as president of Clifton Springs Rotary. Mal served in 1934 - 35, Hovey (Mal's father) in 1936 - 37, John (Mal's son) in 1975 - 76 and Paul (Mal's grandson) in 1993 - 94.

Finally, during this period, we have welcomed women to Rotary, as has most clubs in the district. They have embraced the ideals of Rotary with leadership and enthusiasm. Jean Day was the first to join Rotary and served as President in 1994 - 95.  Currently there are 13 women in Clifton Springs Rotary.

Finally, we note with sadness, the death of John E. (Jack) Loveless. Jack passed away February 3, 1998. Jack, for years, was the "Mr. Rotary" of the Clifton Springs Club. He was a past President of the club, a past District Governor and District Treasurer. His leadership and participation in both exemplified "Service Above Self". Since his death, the club has recreated an educational scholarship. The scholarship is the "John E. Loveless Scholarship". It is presented to a Midlakes graduating senior in the amount of $2,000.

In this same spirit, Clifton Springs Rotarians look forward to continued challenges for service through Rotary.