Theme: World Understanding and Peace Through Rotary

The joint effort of Salem’s Rotary Clubs to upgrade infrastructure at Salem area scouting clubs was continued in 1981-82. The Salem area Clubs worked on a joint project to improve and repair facilities at Camp Kilowan, a Campfire camp. These major repairs and upgrading made the facility much more enjoyable for the many young campers who use the facilities year-round.

In 1982 Salem Rotary Club was privileged to host International Rotary President Stan McCaffrey at a dinner on the Willamette University Campus, attended by Rotarians from all over the state.

Theme: Mankind Is One-Build Bridges of Friendship Throughout the World

In 1982-83, the clubs donated more than $4,000 to construct a shower-house and restroom facility at Boy Scout Camp Morrison.

William H. Baillie and Tinkham Gilbert were each honored for their many Rotary activities over the years by being named Paul Harris Fellows. Both are past Presidents of the Club and each has over 40 years of perfect attendance. They joined Joseph A. H. Dodd and Ivan Steward (both deceased) as Salem Rotary Club Paul Harris Fellows.

Theme: Share Rotary – Serve People

1983-84 was a year of growth in members and activities for our Rotary Club. We ran two successful fund-raising projects and donated the net proceeds from those events to scholarships and local community programs for the youth and the elderly in our community.

In the 1983-84 year we were privileged to add additional Paul Harris Fellows in our club in the persons of Ivan Congleton, Dr. Willard J. Stone and E. George Ottum.

Theme: Discover A New World of Service

During the 1984-85 year our Rotary Club qualified for Rotary International’s Presidential Citation because of the following:

• Membership increased from 212 to 227 members.
• We sponsored and started the first Interact Club at South Salem High School.
• We spearheaded a drive and contributed $2,000 to a new community service project.

The monies were used to support the Northwest Medical Team to travel to Ethiopia to provide medical assistance. Our local community project was a contribution of $5,000 to the building fund for the local YMCA and four $500 camperships, one each to the Boy Scouts, Salvation Army, Girl Scouts and Camp Fire.

We hosted a youth exchange student from Mexico. We increased our participation in the District 510 conference. We also increased our contribution to Rotary International Foundation by $7,000. This resulted in the following new Paul Harris Fellows in the Salem Downtown Rotary Club: David Sowle, John Stewart, Paul Bale, Carlisle Roberts, and Terry McDonald.

The Club also gained five new Paul Harris Fellows through transfers to our Club from other Clubs. We now have a total of 21 Paul Harris Fellows in the Salem Downtown Rotary Club.

Theme: You Are The Key

The year 85-86 brought the club new milestones of accomplishment which characterizes its members. Our ongoing fund raising efforts continue to help us serve Rotary. We raised “new” funds over previous years by the amount of $10,000. New fund raising projects were the bell ringer program and Salem Downtown Association button sale. Our major project was a great success. The annual auction raised a record $13,000. The student exchange program received new interest and with the help of some great kids was very successful. The increased activity made for greater club unity and participation.

31 PAUL HARRIS FELLOWS AS OF 1986
Ivan Stewart’ 1978, John Swenson 1980, Bruce Anthony 1985, Joseph Dodd 1978, David H. Sowle 1984, Ivan H. Pierce 1985, Lloyd B. Anderson 1980, Paul F. Bale 1984, Robert D. Gregg 1985-1986, William Baillie 1981, Paul Stone 1984, Thomas P. Bays 1985, Tinkham Gilbert 1981, Carlisle Roberts 1985, George A. Arbuckle 1986, Willard J. Stone, M.D 1984, John R. Stewart 1985, Gerald W. Frank 1986, George E. Ottum 1984, Terry McDonald, D.D S 1985, Stanley N. Hammer 1986, Ivan Congleton 1984, Michael Carrick 1985, Ray W. Shaw 1986, Elmer Berglund 1984, Beverly Carrick 1985, Leo (Robbie) Robinson 1986, Philip Brandt, Jr 1984, Sharon Eichelberger 1985, Rex (Ken) Howe 1986, Thomas W. Kelly 1984

Theme: Rotary Brings Hope

The Club was awarded a Presidential Citation for 1986¬87 by increasing its membership from 223 to 230, co-sponsoring the new Capitol Sunrise Area Rotary Club and other achievements. The Bylaws were made gender neutral. To carry out Rotary International’s theme “Rotary Brings Hope,” the Club raised $2,000 for World Community Service (Northwest Medical Teams); $10,000 for Community Service (Drug and Alcohol Awareness Week); and $4,700 for Club Service (Salem Rotary Education Foundation).

Theme: Rotarians: United in Service – Dedicated to Peace

The year 1987-88 was the year of Polio Plus, Rotary’s undertaking to eliminate polio from the face of the earth. Therefore, a special fund raiser for a special project ¬Salem Rotary raffled a new Mercedes Benz. In addition to contributing $12,000 to help build the A.G. Gilbert Children’s Museum, $1,750 to Northwest Medical Teams, $4,500 to the Salem Rotary Education Foundation and $6,000 to the Rotary Foundation (six new Paul Harris Fellows), Salem Rotarians were able to make a significant dent in the goal of $65,000 to Polio Plus.

Although the fund raising efforts of the club exceeded previous years, fellowship activities thrived. Members enjoyed baseball night, a sweetheart dinner-dance and a dinner meeting which included Dr. Dale Turner as the speaker. The club enjoyed two firsts during 1987-88: 1) women were welcomed to membership, and 2) President Kim Arbuckle became the first Third Generation president of the Salem Rotary club.

The year 1988-89 started out with a fellowship activity selling “elephant ears” at the Salem Art Fair. This turned out to not only make money but the workers loved making those ears. Our Pops Concert, Pentacle Theatre Night and Valentine Dinner all went very well and everyone had a great time. President Carl Martens tried to keep the fundraising to a minimum as we didn’t finish the Polio-Plus campaign until late 1988. However the Club still managed to donate a substantial amount of money, including $5,200 to the Rotary Educational Foundation.

Donations to Rotary projects for 1989-90 amounted to $17,260. The main contribution was $10,500 to the Boys & Girls Club new building fund. Other recipients included the Rotary Education Fund, RYLA, Marion Polk Food Share, South Salem Music Boosters, Salem Schools Foundation, YMCA Camperships, and Nepal dental project.

Theme: Enjoy Rotary!

The “Elephant Ear” fellowship and fund raiser occurred again in July, followed by the Pops Concert fund raiser in December. The in-house “Bell-Ringer” program brought in $2,850 this year. President Ray Lauderdale added a hands-on project with the club’s involvement in the work place food drive. A marvelous effort by all Rotarians in the city brought in 48,744 pounds of food and an additional $7,962 in cash.

The year culminated with the activities of the International Convention in Portland. Over 21,000 Rotarians came to Oregon. Our home hospitality dinners saw 88 club members hosting over 300 guests. It was a grand finish for a great year of Rotary.

Theme: Honor Rotary with Faith and Enthusiasm

In 1991-92 our club helped the combined Salem Rotary Clubs Food Share Campaign to donate over 100,000 pounds of food to support the needy in Marion and Polk counties. The Salvation Army Campaign among our members brought in $5,100, exceeding all previous years.

In the area of community support, President John Mistkawi oversaw donations to seventeen organizations, schools and world community projects—most involving youth. Gifts totaled $17,797. Our club gave $4,522 to the Salem Rotary Education Foundation.

A Salem Rotary Manual of Operation was developed to help all committees, board members and officers. The manual brought great praise and recognition from the District Governor and National Office. Membership in the club reached 222, an increase of nine during the year.