Walton resident Barbara Rahn can hardly remember a time when she wasn’t part of a Rotary Club.
The Rotary Club is the world’s oldest service club, founded in 1905 in Chicago by Paul Harris. In 1987, Rahn was asked to be the first woman of the local Rotary Club chapter in Kankakee County, Illinois. She said after dragging her feet about it, she ended up being the second woman. Now, Assistant Governor of Rotary District 6740, and part of the Kenton County Rotary Club, Rahn is tasked with reinstructing a Campbell County chapter of the club.
“When I was first approached to be a Rotarian, one of the things that stuck in my mind was the four-way test,” Rahn said. “Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned? I feel like those are things we all should live by.”
Today, the Rotary Club has grown to over 1.4 million members in more than 35,000 clubs worldwide. According to the Rotary Club website, Rotary is dedicated to causes that “build international relationships, improve lives, and create a better world to support our peace efforts and end polio forever.”
Locally, Rahn said the chapters do service projects that give back to the community. These include volunteering at the Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky, distributing food at Isaiah House Ministries, and participating in park and river cleanups.
Rahn has lived in four different states, and wherever she has set roots, she has joined the local Rotary Club. Because she believed in the philosophy of the club, since joining in 1987, Rahn has remained a Rotarian.
Rahn said Campbell County had a Rotary Club that had been in the area for over 100 years. During the pandemic, the lead person passed away, and from there, it fizzled and eventually dissolved.
“Two people can do more than one person can, and when you’re in a club and you put your minds together, you can accomplish great things,” Rahn said.
Boone and Kenton Counties have Rotary Clubs. The Rotary Club of Florence serves as the club for Boone County. Kenton County has two Rotary clubs: the Covington Rotary Club and the Rotary Club of Kenton County.
To form the Campbell County chapter, Rahn said they need 15 people committed to being members. She said there is also a focus on recruiting young people. She said the clubs have a lot of older retired people, and if that’s the only focus for recruitment, then the clubs will cease to exist.
Rahn said the first step is just getting the word out. She connected with Campbell County Library Director Chantelle Phillips to reach a broader audience.
Phillips said she has attended an informational meeting to see if the Rotary Club is a good fit for the library to get involved.
“I thought I’d investigate to see if this was something that we should be involved in,” Phillips said. “To see if it’s something that would line up with our mission. It would help us get more involved with the community. We’re always trying to figure out ways to participate and partner with different groups.”
The club meeting times can be flexible depending on members’ schedules. Rahn said the “legacy clubs” or traditional clubs would meet at noon, but over time, people have realized that is not realistic for everyone’s schedule. She said the new club’s meeting days and time would be determined based on members’ availability.
“In Palm Springs, I was a member of a morning club, because that’s what worked for me, because I had to open the office for my employees,” Rahn said. “It gave me an opportunity still to be a Rotarian and accomplish good things, but it also made me at work on time.”
Rotarian Jeanne Clark, the former District 6740 governor, is assisting Rahn with what she needs to establish the Campbell County group.
Clark is part of an evening Rotarian Club in Lexington. Clark has been a part of the Rotary Club since 2003 after retiring as a teacher in Pikeville. She became president of that club in 2011. After her husband retired, they relocated to Lexington, where she joined the Lexington Rotary Club. She then later switched to the Lexington After Hours Rotary Club to better fit her schedule.
“Rotary is very much a community organization,” Clark said. “It’s about service above self. There are five areas of service that Rotary focuses on, and one of the big ones is community service, and that seems to be the major reason people want to join Rotary.”
She said rotary steps in and tries to identify areas where other organizations do not meet.
Locally, a club might fill backpacks with snacks and food items for low-income students to take home over the weekend. Or visit a nursing home and bring goodie bags with blankets, nightclothes and socks.
Since Rotary is an international organization, it also encourages every club to participate in some type of global service.
An example of this type of service that Clark pointed to was a partnership the organization has with “ShelterBox.” Clubs can spend $1,000 to purchase a ShelterBox, a large plastic tub containing a tent that can house a family of six, along with lights, thermal blankets, utensils, and a medical kit. The boxes are sent all over the world to areas where families have been displaced by war or a natural disaster, like a hurricane or tornado.
“Right now, a lot of shelter boxes are going to Ukraine,” Clark said. “We can’t get ShelterBox into Gaza to service those people who are homeless. Hopefully, in the future, they’ll be able to do that. They go to India; they go to Africa. They’re all over the place. I always say to clubs that $1,000 you’re sending to ShelterBox can give a family some hope, give them at home, albeit temporarily.”
Clark said that when she was in her previous Rotary Club in Lexington, they raised money for international service through a global grant. She said they raised $300,000 to put solar panels on 26 schools in southern India where electricity is sporadic or non-existent. Clark and her husband then visited South India to see the schools that had received solar panels.
Rotarians can attend any Rotary Club meeting they choose worldwide. Rahn has attended six different club meetings in the Dominican Republic.
Those interested in joining the Rotary Club or to learn more can email Rahn at blrahn@twc.com.
