Rotary International is a Wisconsin Idea!

Our founder, Paul P. Harris, was born in Racine on April 19, 1868. Unfortunately, he was soon taken to Vermont to be raised by his grandparents, and he earned his law degree at

the University of Iowa. Eventually he ended up in Chicago where he finally started the first Rotary Club in 1905, but there is no doubt that the concept of Rotary was born in baby Paul's brain while he was still a Badger.

The six original members of his new club had gone to Chicago to seek their fortunes but they were lonely and missed their home towns. They found friendship with each other. Harris called them 'Rotarians' because they rotated occasional meetings in their offices.

Silvester Schiele, a coal dealer, was chosen as the first president, and the membership grew so rapidly that before long they began holding weekly luncheon meetings.

It took three years before the second Rotary Club was organized, in San Francisco, but by 1911 the idea had spread across the border with a club in Canada.

Rotary reached Waukesha in late 1920 whan Paul 'Tiny' Ferris gathered fifteen men under the sponsorship of the Milwaukee Club.

Under Tiny's leadership, the group immediately launched into community service by rejuvenating the dilapidated YMCA building at 257 South Street which had been vacated by the moribund organization in 1909. The new Rotarians held their charter night meeting there early in 1921 with twenty five members and a full house of well-wishers including many Rotarians from Milwaukee.

Although Tiny Ferris never chose to be president, he continued to be the driving force of the Waukesha Rotary Club as its secretary for several years. He arranged many of the programs and prepared most of the meals the first year until Ethel Burgess was hired as a caterer.

When I joined Rotary in 1955 several of the charter members were