Rotary InternationalRotary in District 696/6960
A History
This article may also be found on the RGHF Rotary Global History Site 
In mid 2008, after years of compilation, PDG Paul Sanborn, 1974-1975 (R.C. Cape Coral) presented to our district the following information in hopes to document a history of our district. We ask and hope all will continue this effort by contributing to this effort so that each of us help preserve our history and record the major events that occur within our district.
For the origin of Rotary in the area that now comprises our southern history, we go back to 1912 when the Jacksonville Club was founded, just seven years after the start of Rotary. By that time 40 clubs had been chartered by what was then known as the International Association of Rotary Clubs, Jacksonville joining as Number 41.
New Orleans was the only other club then in existence in the ten southwestern states. When the southern division was established in 1912 there were only three clubs, the two just mentioned and Louisville, Kentucky. Club number 117 was the first club in what is now District 6950, formerly District 696. It was organized in Tampa in June 1914. Every club in this District can proudly trace its linage back to the Tampa Club.
Rotary grew rapidly in the south. In 1947, the District had grown to 75 clubs and was very unwieldy to administer. It was divided into three districts. Territory north of Ocala was District 167A, 167B was composed of Miami and the East Coast. Central and Southwest Florida were placed in 167C.
Rotary International again in 1957 adopted a new system for numbering the districts. In that year our District became District 696. The District continued to grow and it became necessary to divide Central Florida from Southwest Florida. This was done in1970, when there were 72 clubs in the District. Southwest Florida retained the 696 designation while Central Florida became District 695. After the redistricting there were 42 clubs in 696.
By 1991 the District had increased to 65 clubs, again a redistricting was necessary. with clubs in the Tampa area going to District 695. It was that year also that Rotary International changed District designations by adding a zero to the number, thus making our District 6960, with 44 clubs.
By 1998 the south was comprised of four zones. Florida had eight Districts and hundreds of clubs. What we know today as District 6960 is the result of 13 areas regrouping, each one resulting in smaller geographical areas. District 6960 in 1998 had 48 clubs.
To see how and where the growth of Rotary has been in our area, we must remember that Jacksonville was organized in 1912. At that time there were only 50 clubs in the world with 5000 members.
Tampa became the sponsor of the Lakeland Club in 1918. Lakeland in turn sponsored 6 clubs from 1922 through 1925. Among those were the Fort Myers Club in 1922. That club celebrated their 86th anniversary on April 21st, 2008. Other clubs, no longer in District 6960 were Avon Park, Sebring, Bartow, Haines City, Winter Haven and Auburndale.
The first club after Fort Myers, now in District 6960 was Sarasota, sponsored by St. Petersburg in 1926. In that same year the Tampa Club sponsored Bradenton. Punta Gorda was sponsored by Fort Myers in 1929. Naples was brought into Rotary in 1951, sponsored by Fort Myers and Fort Myers Beach was sponsored by Fort Myers four years later in 1955. Englewood came into existence in 1959. Cape Coral was sponsored by the Fort Myers Beach Club in 1964. Marco Island, sponsored by Naples was chartered in 1966. There were 6 clubs chartered in 1973, Naples East ( now Naples Bay )North Fort Myers, Lakeland North( now in District 6950), Fort Myers East, Lehigh Acres and Sarasota Gulf Gate.
Bonita Springs, sponsored by Fort Myers Beach was admitted to Rotary on November 3,1978. The San Carlos-Estero Club, sponsored by Bonita Springs in 1986 , unfortunately was dissolved after a few years due to lack of membership. Bonita Springs also sponsored Bonita Springs Noon in 1992. Other clubs chartered in 1992 were; Murdock and Cape Coral North. In 1993 Fort Myers Gateway ( now Fort Myers Sunrise) joined Rotary International, as did Sarasota A.M. It was in 1994 that Harbor Heights/Peace River was chartered and Placida in 1998.
Two clubs, Estero and Lakewood Ranch were chartered in 2000. East Manatee ( originally named Sarasota Lakewood Ranch A.M. ) was chartered in2002. Sarasota Gateway joined Rotary International as a chartered club in 2005. There have been no other clubs chartered since that date and again unfortunately during the 2007-2008 Rotary year the District lost four Rotary Clubs for various reasons. Fort Myers Beach, Longboat Key, Osprey and Sarasota A.M.
As of the start of the 2008-2009 year District 6960 had 52 Rotary Clubs with 2500 members.
This has been an overview of how Rotary has grown in Southwest Florida. For clubs not mentioned in this overview, please refer to Club Genealogy on the following page.
Submitted By;
Paul W. Sanborn
PDG 1974-1975
District Historian
CHRONOLOGY OF CLUBS OF DISTRICT 6960 AS OF AUGUST 1, 2008
(If you would like to preserve a copy of your club's charter on-line, just send an electronic copy of the
charter to the webmaster and we will publish it.)
| CLUB | DATE ADMITTED |
ORIGINAL DISTRICT |
SPONSORED BY | CHARTERING GOVERNOR |
| Tampa | June 1914 | 5 | In Organization | None |
| Lakeland | 2-1-18 | 5 | Tampa | Malcom Jones |
| Fort Myers | 4-1-22 | 8 | Lakeland | John Turner |
| Avon Park | 8-22-24 | 39 | Lakeland | Will Lanier |
| Sebring | 9-8-24 | 39 | Lakeland | Will Lanier |
| Bartow | 12-9-24 | 39 | Lakeland | Will Lanier |
| Haines City | 5-12-25 | 39 | Lakeland | Will Lanier |
| Winter Haven | 6-1-25 | 39 | Lakeland | Will Lanier |
| Auburndale | 12-24-25 | 39 | Lakeland | John B. Orr |
| Lake Wales | 3-4-26 | 39 | Tampa | John B.Orr |
| Sarasota | 3-8-26 | 39 | St. Petersburg | John B.Orr |
| Bradenton | 6-9-26 | 39 | Tampa | John B.Orr |
| Frostproof | 11-10-27 | 39 | Avon Park | Bert Arnold |
| Punta Gorda | 4-10-29 | 39 | Fort Myers | Will Lanier |
| Arcadia | 5-10-46 | 167 | Fort Myers | Fred Bultman |
| Palmetto | 12-1-47 | 167C | Bradenton | Paul Stine |
| Venice-Nokomis | 12-26-47 | 167C | Sarasota | Paul Stine |
| Naples | 11-26-51 | 244 | Fort Myers | Mallory Roberts |
| Fort Myers Beach | 4-28-55 | 244 | Fort Myers | Chesley Perry |
| South Manatee | 11-23-55 | 244 | Bradenton | Arthur Kitchen |
| Clewiston | 6-26-56 | 243 | Belle Glade | William R. Robins |
| Sarasota Bay | 11-13-58 | 696 | Sarasota | Richard Cuming |
| Englewood | 5-28-59 | 696 | Venice-Nokomis | Richard Cuming |
| Sarasota Keys | 5-12-60 | 696 | Sarasota | Everett Sumner |
| Fort Meade | 6-10-60 | 696 | Bartow | Everett Sumner |
| Port Charlotte | 2-10-61 | 696 | Englewood | Stephen Grimes |
| Immokalee | 6-13-62 | 696 | Naples | Robert Baynard |
| Cape Coral | 5-21-64 | 696 | Fort Myers Beach | Lester Ginkel |
| Marco Island | 5-28-66 | 696 | Naples | James Franklin, Jr. |
| Anna Maria Island | 12-19-66 | 696 | Bradenton | John Neuner |
| Lakeland South | 10-17-68 | 696 | Lakeland | Les Anderson Jr. |
| Fort Myers South | 12-30-68 | 696 | Fort Myers | Les Anderson Jr. |
| Naples North | 6-13-69 | 696 | Naples | Les Anderson Jr. |
| Cypress Gardens | 6-20-70 | 696 | Winter Haven | Les Anderson Jr. |
| Lake Placid | 3-8-71 | 695 | Sebring | Mark Hollis |
| Winter Haven North | 5-13-72 | 595 | Winter Haven | Bob Neel |
| Naples East | 3-10-73 | 696 | Naples & Naples North | Joe Selden Jr. |
| North Fort Myers | 6-14-73 | 696 | Cape Coral | Joe Selden Jr. |
| Lakeland North | 6-17-73 | 696 | Lakeland | K. R. Popham |
| Fort Myers East | 6-25-73 | 696 | Fort Myers | Joe Selden Jr. |
| Lehigh Acres | 6-30-73 | 696 | Fort Myers & Cape Coral | Joe Selden Jr. |
| Sarasota Gulf Gate | 12-11-73 | 696 | Sarasota | Moody Rinehart |
| South Venice | 9-27-76 | 696 | Venice-Nokomis | Woody Register |
| Bonita Springs | 11-3-79 | 696 | Ft. Myers Beach | Joe Pendleton |
| Sanibel-Captiva | 3-18-80 | 696 | Ft. Myers Beach | Joe Pendleton |
| Charlotte Harbor | 4-4-80 | 696 | Punta Gorda | Joe Pendleton |
| Naples Gulfshore | 1-28-81 | 696 | Naples | W.O. Gillenwaters |
| Sarasota Sunrise | 3-30-81 | 696 | Sarasota & Sarasota Bay & Sarasota Gulf Gate & Sarasota Keys |
W.O. Gillenwaters |
| West Bradenton | 5-23-81 | 696 | Bradenton | W.O. Gillenwaters |
| Naples-Pelican Bay | 6-11-81 | 696 | Naples North | W.O. Gillenwaters |
| Lake Wales A.M. | 3-4-82 | 696 | Lake Wales | Roy Asbury |
| Lakeland Christina | 6-30-82 | 696 | Lakeland South | Roy Asbury |
| Naples Sunset | 4-26-83 | 696 | Naples, Naples North | Bill Hendry |
| Marco Sunrise | 6-21-83 | 696 | Marco Island | Bill Hendry |
| Naples Golden Gate | 3-5-84 | 696 | Naples & Naples North | Welch Whitesell |
| Sebring Sunrise | 4-5-84 | 696 | Sebring | Welch Whitesell |
| Labelle | 4-10-84 | 696 | Fort Myers East | Welch Whitesell |
| Englewood Lemon Bay | 3-4-85 | 696 | Englewood | John Impertore |
| Cape Coral Goldcoast | 8-6-85 | 696 | Cape Coral | Neal Patterson |
| San Carlos- Estero | 2-19-86 | 696 | Bonita Springs | Neal Patterson |
| Lake Placid Noon | 2-21-86 | 696 | Lake Placid | Neal Patterson |
| Avon Park Breakfast | 5-17-87 | 696 | Avon Park | Robert Koo |
| Northport | 5-27-87 | 696 | Englewood | Robert Koo |
| Sarasota Sunset | 4-29-88 | 696 | Sarasota Sunrise | George Cobb II |
| Cape Coral North | 10-21-92 | 6960 | Cape Coral | Bernard Soep |
| Murdock | 1-28-92 | 6960 | Port Charlotte | Desmond Farrell |
| Bonita Springs Noon | 6-30-92 | 6960 | Bonita Springs | Desmond Farrell |
| Ft. Myers Gateway | 9-12-93 | 6960 | Ft. Myers East | Henry Dawson |
| Sarasota A.M. | 4-13-94 | 6960 | Sarasota Sunrise | Henry Dawson |
| Harbor Heights/Peace River | 3-3-98 | 6960 | Charlotte Harbor | Pete Cypher |
| Placida | 6-4-98 | 6960 | Englewood | Pete Cypher |
| Lakewood Ranch | 4-20-01 | 6960 | Sarasota Bay | Gary Wilson |
| Estero | 5-1-01 | 6960 | Bonita Springs Noon | Gary Wilson |
| North Port Central | 1-4-02 | 6960 | North Port | Dick Rehmeyer |
| East Manatee | 6-15-02 | 6960 | Sarasota Sunrise | Dick Rehmeyer |
| Sarasota Gateway | 6-7-05 | 6960 | Extension per R.I. | Jerry Hearn |
NOTE: The following named clubs have changed club names since originally chartered:
Fort Myers Gateway to Fort Myers Sunrise; Marco Island to Marco Island Noontime; Naples East to Naples Bay; Naples Golden Gate to Naples Collier, South Venice to Venice Sunrise, Sarasota Lakewood Ranch AM to East Manatee.
HISTORY OF CLUBS WHO HAVE TERMINATED
CLUB DATE TERMINATED
Fort Myers Beach
Longboat Key
Sarasota A.M.
Osprey
San Carlos-Estero