Rotary, the world’s first service club, began with the a young lawyer, Paul Harris, and three friends. He wished to recapture the friendly spirit of cooperation he felt among the business people in the small town where he grew up.

Their meeting “rotated” among the offices of the group’s members, thus providing the club with its name. This was the beginning of the world’s first service club. It was officially started on February 23, 1905.

Since 1985, Rotary International has been the driving force behind the effort to eradicate Polio in the world by 2010. Currently over 160 nations have been declared “Polio Free!” Rotary International supports many opportunities for developing international understanding, including: Scholarships for high school, college, and graduate study abroad, and International professional development.

Today Rotary flourishes in 162 countries with 29,728 individual clubs and more than 1,193,461 members.

The Rotary Club of Catonsville meets Monday evening, 6:30 pm at the Candlelight Inn, 1835 Frederick  Road, Catonsville, MD 21228 - 410-788-6076

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Catonsville Rotary’s mission is to make our community and world a better place in which to live while sharing fellowship and good times. To these ends the Catonsville Rotary:

• Raises money annually through our Flocking Program and individual contributions.
• Awards a scholarship to a Catonsville High School student annually.
• Honors a Catonsville High School Teacher of the Year.
• Honors Catonsville area Police Officer of the Year and a Fire Fighter of the Year.
• Contributes to the Rotary International PolioPlus Campaign that will eliminate polio worldwide before 2010.
• Distributes money to local charities (See Charitable).
• Sends high school students to Rotary Youth Leadership Awareness camp.
• Participates in a variety of community service projects such as Meals on Wheels.
• Sponsors an international project in a developing country each year.

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Club Service—Serving one another in a spirit of fellowship and sound organization.

Community Service—Identifying community needs and addressing them.

Vocational Service—Putting high standards of conduct in our professional and business lives while supporting the vocational training of young people.

International Service—Working with our Rotary District and Rotary International to support world peace and understanding.

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Each member of Rotary holds a “classification” representing his/her profession or business. This system encourages people to build relationships across business and professional fields. The club currently includes members representing several classifications regardless of race, religion, creed, ethnicity, or gender.

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