Happy 100th Birthday Rotary International

The Pigeon Forge Rotary Club hosted a 100th Birthday party Wednesday at the Music Road Hotel. The organization, which was started by five businessmen in Chicago has blossomed into the largest civic club in the world, with approximately 32,000 members. Five local Rotary Clubs were represented at the party, the Sevierville Sunrise Rotary Club, the Sevierville Noonday Rotary Club, the Seymour Rotary Club, the Gatlinburg Rotary Club, and the Pigeon Forge Rotary Club. John Bailey, official Ambassador in the district, was special speaker. Approximately 120 guests, some of them members of the clubs, others invited guests, ate birthday cake and other delectable items fixed by the excellent culinary staff the hotel boasts. Tim Kellar, member of the Rock-iT! Band, played relaxing guitar music in the background. Roy Helton, President of the Pigeon Forge Rotary Club, said that his club raises at least $50,000 a year that goes back into the community in the form of Christmas parties for disadvantaged kids, and scholarships. Last year the group gave out twelve $1,250 scholarships to local students. Helton said that the clubs have three different areas in which they offer help to others. The first is the above mentioned local community. The second is at the state and national level, and the third is on the international level. Several years ago, the group sent $5,000 to the Mississippi Delta area for flood relief. They sponsor a polio eradication project that has provided over 100 million shots to children worldwide, eliminating polio in all but three countries. Another project the local group was involved in was provided material for artificial legs and feet to an African community that had a high rate of foot amputation. The group also helped a Baptist medical mission in Honduras for several years. The groups holds a craft fair in October in which much of the monies raised by the group is obtained.