The world's first service club, the Rotary Club of Chicago, Illinois, USA, was formed on 23 February, 1905 by Paul P. Harris, an attorney who wished to recapture in a professional club the same friendly spirit he had felt in the small towns of his youth. The name "Rotary" derived from the early practice of rotating meetings among members' offices.

Rotary Clubs meet weekly to plan their activities and initiate community service projects that address today's most critical issues, such as education, poverty alleviation and environmental protection, etc.

As Rotary grew, its mission expanded beyond serving the professional and social interests of club members. Rotarians began pooling their resources and contributing their talents to help serve communities in need. The organization's dedication to this ideal is best expressed in its principal motto: "Service Above Self."

Rotary also later embraced a code of ethics, called The 4-Way Test, that has been translated into dozens of languages. To further reinforce the importance of strong business ethics underpinning their activities, Rotarians also subscribe to the "Declaration of Rotarians in Business and Professions."

As it enters the 21st century, Rotary has worked to meet the changing needs of society, expanding its service effort to address such pressing issues as environmental degradation, illiteracy, world hunger, potable water and children at risk.

Rotary Club of Burnside, Inc.

Early in 1975, the members of the Rotary CLub of Norwood decided to relinquish some of its territory to enable a new Rotary Club to be formed. District Governor Geoff Evans approved and appointed Past President Wal Alm of the Norwood Club to be his Special Representative for the formation of the new Club. Wal co-opted several other members of his Club to assist. Good progress was made in recruiting likely members and this enabled the formation meeting to be held on Wednesday, 9 April, 1975 at Tower House, Beaumont when 27 men decided to become Charter members.

The Club was admitted to membership in Rotary International on 2 May, 1975, making it the 65th Club in District 250, and the Charter was presented by DG Geoff C. Evans at the Hotel Australia on Friday 20 June, 1975. DG Geoff was at the time a member of The Rotary Club of Port Pirie and his term of office as Governor ended on 30 June, 1975. After presenting the Charter, DG Geoff was inducted as a member of the Rotary Club of Burnside, the only Club member to have been District Governor

To be continued ...