The 1973-1974 year marked the beginning of several very worthwhile projects in Lafayette Rotary. In July 1973, the Lafayette
Rotary Foundation was formally approved by the Secretary of State of Indiana as a corporation. A Membership Drive was initiated that December and concluded in June 1974 with 173 Charter Members that had contributed
$10,126.16 in cash and property. Its purpose was to provide an independent, tax exempt organization to raise and administer funds for assistance to worthwhile local betterment projects. Rotarian Frank Burrin was elected
its first President.
The Club initiated a program of cooperation with the Purdue International Center. This Center carries on numerous projects for the betterment of foreign students at Purdue (currently
around 1300 including wives.)
A kidney donor program was promoted.
The Paul Harris Sustaining Members Program was started through the efforts of Eric Holm, Committee chairman. At the September Birthday table, Eric
Holm, Kirby Risk, and Karl Kettelhut became our first Sustaining Members. At the October table, four more men were added,- MM Risk, Ev Wright, Harold Taylor, and Roscoe Yegerlehner. A Sustaining Member is one who
contributes a minimum of $100 to the R. I. Foundation with the expectation of giving additional amounts periodically until the full $1,000 has been given and he thus becomes a Paul Harris Fellow.
Drawings for free
lunches was started by Morris Crain, owner of the Morris Bryant Inn. At first, the number of free lunches was based on the number of people present at our meeting.
The Club placed Harold B. Taylor in nomination as
District Governor, which later resulted in his election.
Walter Gibson had an active part in getting the Colt Worlds Series of Baseball to be held in the Loeb Stadium in Columbian Park.
At the start of the year,
incoming president Harold Michael cited the many accomplishments of outgoing president, John Irvine, and presented him with the customary diamond past president's pin. Harold told the Club that it was "Time for Action."
In early July, the Campus Inn said they were going to raise the cost of the luncheons from $2.30 to $3.00. Thereafter, the Club tried out Morris Bryant Inn, Heritage House, Holiday Inn-East and the
Y.M.C.A., finally settling, on September 18, on the Morris Bryant Inn.
The football kick-off luncheon, as usual, served as our regular meeting. There was a dinner for new members, the Rotary Stag party at
Rotary Park, the Thanksgiving meeting with Kiwanis with Art Hansen as speaker, the Salvation Army Fund Drive which brought in $2,684 vs. Kiwanis's $1,238, the Jefferson High School A-Capella choir and their Christmas
program for us; the Ladies Night dinner and dance at Howard-Johnson-East, planned by the new members of the club, with 140 present; and the Intercity Ladies Night in April with a special program honoring Albert P.
Stewart who was retiring as head of the Purdue Musical Organizations and director of the Purdue Glee Club. The Glee Club has been the chief attraction at this Inter-City event for years. Al was presented with a
Grandfather's clock.
Twenty eight Indianapolis Rotarians were given a warm welcome when they visited our club on December 4. In return, 15 Lafayette Rotarians went to Indianapolis in March.
Six men from
Scotland were here as a study exchange team. At the end of their stay, they presented a most interesting program on their country of 5 million people (4 million living on 3% of the land). Other foreign visitors during
the year were Jurgen Grossman of Mulheim, Germany, a Rotary Scholarship Fellow at Purdue; Kenrich Rylander of Sweden, Camino Pinto of Sri Lanka, a small island in the Indian Ocean. A U.S.A. Rotary Fellow, Pat Buescher
of Fort Wayne, now a Purdue student, told of his recent stay in Germany.
The Club sponsored Diane Landis and Jane Ellen Suddarth to Girl's state.
Among some of the outstanding programs at regular meetings were
Harold Michael's report with words and pictures of the inspiration he received at the R.I. Convention in Lausanne, Switzerland. Bill Smith, with the aid of his son, Phil, Y.M.C.A. director of camp activities for 400
youth ages 6 to 11, and the camp staff along with some 40 youth demonstrated that Rotary Park is being used for a most worthwhile program. The Rev. Francis Trimmer spoke to us of his visit to Christian Mission Fields in
Southern Asia. "Christianity is what the world needs", said Trimmer, "when it knows what it needs." Prof. Otto Doering, Purdue economist, called attention to the seriousness of the energy crisis due to the doubling of
our energy use since the Korean war and predicted that it will not get better for about five years. He urged conservation. Did not think government controls would solve the problem. Bruce Moore, Superintendent of West
Lafayette schools, talked on problems public education systems are facing today. He pointed out that the new collective bargaining act has brought about a situation where teachers may have more control and that teacher
strikes may become more common.
A new Rotary International regulation changed the requirements for Senior Active Membership and as a result 48 of our members were transferred from their original classifications to
that of Senior Active.
It is interesting to note that locally, in July 1973, the Brown Street bridge was closed after inspection showed serious damage to a pier. In December, The Tippecanoe Villa, a
$750,000 facility for 115 residents at the Tippecanoe County home, was dedicated replacing the 98 year old building..
In October 1973, Spiro Agnew resigned as Vice President of the United States, pleading
nolo contendre
to tax evasions on payments to him by Maryland contractors while governor of Maryland. Pres. Nixon fired special Watergate prosecutor, Archibald Cox, and defied a court order to surrender his tapes of oval office conversations. Middle East tensions burst into war for the fourth time in 25 years. After three weeks a cease fire was accepted.
The OPEC nations joined together in boosting the price of crude oil to unheard of heights, there was an embargo on oil shipments to the U.S. and gas lines formed at U.S. filling stations for the first
time.
At the end of June 1974, the following had 100% attendance for the year with the number indicating months of continuous attendance; Botkin 12, Carter 26, Delong 12, Doeppers 18, Engeler 111,
Foxworthy 18, Gibson 160, Y. B. Hall 183, Hitch 45, Hoggatt 44, Holm 30, Hostetter 235, Hudlow 61, Irvine 24, K. Kettelhut 91, Lane 153, Messing 114, Michael 25, Sicer 12, William Smith 123, Taylor 114, Verplank 100,
Williams 238, Wright 240, Yoran 28.
