History of the Bath Rotary Club

Bath Rotary circa 1926

Bath Rotary marked its 100th Anniversary in June 2023 with a celebratory dinner. Bath Rotary is a small club with a big history. From its inception in March 1923, leaders of the community through the years have gladly donated many hours of their time and efforts to preside at the helm of the club.

Bath Rotary will be forever indebted to the Corning Rotary Club, specifically Frederick Carder, noted glass designer, for its drive in selling twenty-four prospective Bath Rotarians on the ideals of Rotary back in March 1923. The Club then formally received their charter from Rotary International on May 23, 1923. A cross-section of leaders in several vocations of the community spent a year piloting the program.

Wilson R. Campbell served as the first President of Bath Rotary Club. Robert C. Turnbull, the second President, exemplified “Mr. Rotary” and for more than forty years kept the county seat’s Rotary Club active in the community and in international affairs. The first meeting for the local group took place at the Church Parish House. Since the beginning, Bath Rotarians have displayed dedication to the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self”.

Paul Harris Fellows attending the 100th Anniversary Celebration

Paul Harris Fellows attending the 100th Anniversary Celebration in June 2023.

Past Presidents

  • 1923 Wilson R. Campbell *
  • 1924 Robert C. Turnbull *
  • 1925 E. Walter Woodbury *
  • 1926 Reuben B. Oldfield *
  • 1927 Edwin C. Smith *
  • 1928 Howard Vanderhoef *
  • 1929 William P. Gilkinson *
  • 1930 Wilbur R. Knapp *
  • 1931 Frank J. Watson *
  • 1932 James A. Barker *
  • 1933 Robert A. Bringham *
  • 1934 Fred W. Parkhurst *
  • 1935 George A. Allen Jr. *
  • 1936 J. Robie Griswold *
  • 1937 Gerald O. Stanbury *
  • 1938 George J. Collins *
  • 1939 Frank E. Nicklaus *
  • 1940 Henry O. Elkins *
  • 1941 Floyd W. Annabel *
  • 1942 John A. Hadley *
  • 1943 Merritt M. Landon *
  • 1944 F. Warren Bradley *
  • 1945 Harold J. Richardson *
  • 1946 Arthur J. Hamilton *
  • 1947 Vernon E. Wightman *
  • 1948 Frank T. Nollett *
  • 1949 Chris A. Kohnken
  • 1950 George R. Daulton *
  • 1951 Domenick L. Gabrielli *
  • 1952 John E. Spreckelmyer *
  • 1953 Wilfred C. Nadeau *
  • 1954 Richard O. Deegan *
  • 1955 Herbert F. Demmett *
  • 1956 Burton N. Ketch *
  • 1957 Arthur M. Blizzard *
  • 1958 Ernest G. Peltz *
  • 1959 Alton J. Wightman *
  • 1960 Frank H. Kiff *
  • 1961 Dana L. Lyon *
  • 1962 Robert H. Cole *
  • 1963 Raymond L. Jones Sr. *
  • 1964 Robert A. Reed *
  • 1965 W. Everett Meade *
  • 1966 Robert S. Adams *
  • 1967 Francis O’Rourke *
  • 1968 Lyman Pitcher *
  • 1969 Harold Palmer *
  • 1970 Donald Chatfield *
  • 1971 David Burch *
  • 1972 Douglas Chase
  • 1973 D. Bryan Braman
  • 1974 Walter Fleck
  • 1975 Howard Rock *
  • 1976 John Ormsby *
  • 1977 Fay Stewart *
  • 1978 Harry Cohn*
  • 1979 James Fagan *
  • 1980 Delos S. Billings
  • 1981 Theodore Markham *
  • 1982 Frederic Joint *
  • 1983 David Wheeler
  • 1984 Robert Saxton
  • 1985 Ellsworth Beckman
  • 1986 Paul Wilson
  • 1987 Vern Woolston*
  • 1988 Mel A. Gores
  • 1989 Bill Eckhoff
  • 1990 Ed Galpin
  • 1991 Larry Barnes
  • 1992 Charlotte Gregory
  • 1993 Lynn Ahrens *
  • 1994 Dick Moyle
  • 1995 W. Neal Wrinkle
  • 1996 Linda Cohn*
  • 1997 Donald Snyder
  • 1998 Gary Pruyn
  • 1999 Sandra C. Zaidel
  • 2000 Don Debolt
  • 2001 Tom Daulton *
  • 2002 Colleen Neeley
  • 2003 Dick McCandless
  • 2004 Randy Lehman
  • 2005 David Stewart
  • 2006 Al Johnson
  • 2007 Michael Slovak
  • 2008 Greg Rougeux
  • 2009 Joanne Sheehan
  • 2010 Bernie Burns
  • 2011 Robin Lattimer
  • 2012 Becky Stranges
  • 2013 Jennifer White
  • 2014 Benita Nesbitt
  • 2015 Joe Rumsey & John Stranges
  • 2016 Elaine Tears
  • 2017 Nancy Latour
  • 2018 Carol Berry
  • 2019 Jane Russell
  • 2020 Jessica Thomas
  • 2021 Amanda Chafee
  • 2022 Tess McKinley
  • 2023 Brandi Graham

*Deceased

First female president