Murfreesboro Rotary Celebrates Historic 105-Year Legacy

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Rotary District 6760 Governor Darrell Allshie, Murfreesboro Rotary Club President Randy Allen, and past club presidents. Photo by Lee Rennick.

Among Murfreesboro’s most notable moments of 2024 was the Murfreesboro Rotary Club’s remarkable 105th anniversary celebration this past October. For over a century, this dedicated organization has been a cornerstone of community service in Rutherford County, embodying their motto “Service Above Self” through countless initiatives and projects. Founded in 1919, the Murfreesboro Rotary Club has consistently brought together local leaders and professionals committed to making a positive impact in their community, establishing a legacy of service that continues to shape the city’s future.

On October 8, 2024, the Rotary Club of Murfreesboro celebrated their 105th birthday by honoring new Paul Harris Fellows, allowing the club to attain a 100% Paul Harris Fellowship status. It is an honor bestowed upon clubs in which all dues-paying members have donated $1,000 to the Rotary International Foundation. The honor was established in 1957 to encourage and show appreciation for substantial contributions to the Foundation’s programming. 

New Paul Harris Fellowship members honored by the Club include Marvel Bandy, Kelly Johnson, Andrew Kauffman, Austin Maxwell, Claire Maxwell, Trisha Murphy, Andrew Peck, James Price, John Robertson, Dawn Roberts and Shannon Wheeler. 

Current Club President Randy Allen also honored past presidents of the Club, and shared the story of the beginnings of the club. 

In 1919, James M. Butler, the owner of a clothing business in Murfreesboro, Tennessee walked into the old Stones River National Bank and told his friend who worked there, Collier Crichlow, that they needed to start a Rotary Club. Butler had learned about Rotary through a friend who belonged to the Nashville Club. The organization had been started only 14 years earlier in Chicago by a man named Paul Harris and three friends, however its popularity had been growing over the years going international in 1910.   

As Crichlow shared in a story in an April 1962 issue of The Daily News Journal, “I agreed with Jim Butler that we needed a Rotary Club in Murfreesboro, but he almost single handedly organized the club…[He] was the first President, serving from August 1919 to July 1920.” 

Starting with 25 members, the club has reached as high as 150 members. Until 1989, the international organization didn’t allow women to join, however Rotary Club of Murfreesboro, also known as the Noon Rotary Club, president Jim Garner asked seven prominent women in the community to become the first female members of the club. They were inducted in July 1988. 

 “Jim knew that women were going to be accepted into Rotary soon,” Helene Colvin told Rutherford Source in 2022, “so he asked me, Susan Andrews, Barbara Haskew, Andrea Loughry, Elaine Raymer, Margrey Thompson, and Sandra Trail to join before it was officially accepted. We were the first female Rotarians in the State of Tennessee.”

The Rotary Club of Murfreesboro is the fourth oldest club in the State of Tennessee, and the oldest civic club in Rutherford County. It has and has had many illustrious members who live and have lived the organization’s motto of “Service Above Self.” 

Initially, the club met at the Old Elks Home, next it moved to the Women’s Club, and then, as the club grew, they moved to the James K. Polk Hotel, which was located where the former Truist Bank is located on Main Street in Murfreesboro.  Eventually the Club moved their meetings to Stones River Country Club, and then to the Boys and Girls Club while the Country Club was being remodeled. Currently, meetings are held weekly at the Carriage Lane Inn located at 337 East Burton Street. 

The Rotary Club of Murfreesboro has worked hard over the years to increase the quality of life for everyone in Murfreesboro, and Rutherford County. They have donated funds to many local non-profit organizations including Center for the Arts, the Boys and Girls Club, Habitat for Humanity, SE-YA Book Fest, Read to Succeed, Beasley Animal Foundation and many more. The Club’s current major focus is literacy.

Rotary International has a distinguished history, being one of the oldest and most respected civic clubs in the world. They focus their efforts on peace and conflict resolution, water and sanitation, supporting the environment, basic education and literacy, maternal and child health, economic and community development, and disease prevention and treatment. They are most famous for their drive to eradicate polio.

“It is my honor to continue the traditions and history of Rotary as I lead this organization into the future”, Randy Allen stated in his message to the members of the Murfreesboro Rotary Club.

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