Rotary Club of Fairbanks, Alaska

Rotary Club of Fairbanks, Alaska. . , During the summer of 1940 a group of civic-minded men organized the Fairbanks Rotary club. It would be the third such club in the territory, following Ketchikan and Juneau. Communications were slow at that time and the club's charter, which had been issued on September 20, 1940, was not presented until January 1941. With 23 charter members the club would prosper and grow over the next 50 years to include over 150 men and women during its 50th anniversary year 1990-91. Two of the original charter members participated in the golden celebration., In those 50 years the club and its members enthusiastically pushed the growth of Fairbanks from a small, river-bound, mining community to a major educational, military, and aviation center. They were active in the movement to make Alaska a state in 1959 and to save the town from the great flood of 1967. Over the years the club encouraged the creation of three new Rotary clubs in Fairbanks, contributed time and money to many local charities. For its golden anniversary the Fairbanks Rotary Club built this clock tower and carillon in Golden Heart Plaza just across the street from the site of the old Model Cafe where those 23 Rotarians first met in 1940-41. May it stand as a symbol of the growth and permanence of this Far North community and the ideals of Rotary.