Rosa Lavender provided a history of the Rotary Club of Kerrville from the 1950’s to the early 1990’s. Here are some highlights of those years:
In 1955, when Sloan Batchelor was president, the Rotary Club brought Little League baseball to Kerrville. On an unrelated note, Sloan was the only minister in the club who did not resign from the club when a beer distributor was brought into club membership.
In the early 1960’s, Kerrville hosted the District Conference at the Blue Bonnet Hotel, and BBQ was the fare, served on paper plates.
In 1964, when Dick Ryan was president of the Rotary club, the Tivy Interact club was formed. Tivy student David Hunt, now a local retired local dentist, was elected first president of the Interact Club.
In 1972, Jim Younts, a retired U.S. Army colonel, was president of the club. During this year, the club made a $300.00 donation to the information and referral center at the Dietert Claim, beginning a long tradition of support for what is now the Dietert Center.
In 1974, Tivy High School admitted girls into the Interact Club. During 1975, the first outbound exchange student, Janie Stevenson, was sponsored by our club. The first inbound student, Catherine Winckworth from South Africa, was hosted by the club. She attended Schreiner College, not Tivy. Rosa Lavender, who was a social studies teacher at Tivy High School, became the Interact Club sponsor in 1975, and continued in that role for twenty-four years. Numerous inbound and outbound exchange students have participated in the program since then.
In 1975-1976, Ed Schlieter completed the previous president’s term and served a full year as president. Ed went on to become District Governor in 1984-1985. The fiftieth anniversary of the club was in 1976, and a party was held at the Inn of the Hills for the event.
In 1985, the Polio Plus program was started by Rotary International.
In 1985-1986, Ed Hamilton was the president, as the third fish fry fund raiser was held.
Jane Rommel was inducted into the Rotary Club in 1988, marking the first time a woman became a member.
Bob Schmerbeck was president in 1990-1991, and a “milk project” for school children was organized with a matching grant from our sister club in Toluca, Mexico. Bob has faithfully served the club with fifty seven years of perfect attendance.