History of the Rotary Club of
Greene & Putnam Counties GA

The “Father” of our Rotary is Jim Kent, an outstanding Rotarian for over thirty-one years. Jim worked tirelessly to have a Greene County Rotary Club and his efforts came to fruition when a core group of men began to meet officially, August 27, 1987. An official roster was sent to Rotary International and the club received its charter on March 11, 1988. The Charter Night was delayed until June 9, 1988 due to scheduling of various officials who wanted to attend this special evening. Almost at the time of the chartering was the Rotary International’s decision to accept women into the organization. That was a very wise decision on their part, as I’m not sure the men of the club would have chosen to produce a cookbook for the Bi-Centinnel project.

The first fund raising project was a golf tournament and it continues today as one of our major fund raising projects, providing funds for various charities in our area.

The Club has evolved considerably since it was created. The leadership has been strong and steadfast. Rotary International requires that every club must have at least twenty-five members because our Rotary Emblem has twenty-four gears with a key-way inserted into the shaft to keep the wheel from spinning on the shaft. The twenty-four members with a president as the key keep a club from spinning out of control. The Club continues to grow and with the addition of Putnam County to our official name, we have taken in some very strong members that have some important leadership roles as we move forward.