A pioneering club in women membership In honour of the 30th anniversary of the 1987 Supreme Court ruling in the US that gave women equal access to Rotary membership, a presentation was made at the Valdosta Rotary.
A club observed the anniversary of female membership.
In honour of the 30th anniversary of the 1987 Supreme Court ruling that gave women equal access to membership in Rotary, Rotarian Terri Jenkins presented a brief overview of the history of women in Rotary during a recent meeting of the Valdosta Rotary in Rainwater Conference Centre.
In 1988, Valdosta Rotary became one of the trailblazers in Georgia Rotary District 6920 as well as in the nation when it inducted three women: Betty Bechtel, Jewel Ivy and Marjorie White.
Today three of the women who pioneered in Valdosta Rotary membership are still active: Jennifer Powell, Myrna Ballard and Joyce Aigen.
Powell was invited to join Rotary by former Rotary President Tex Eldridge (1952-1953).
In 1993, the year of Valdosta Rotary’s 75th anniversary, she became the first woman to be elected president of the chapter.
“Rotary is truly a family having no boundaries,” she said as she spoke about the importance of her sense of Rotary being like a family throughout her life’s journey.
Aigen became a member in 1989 and holds the record as the longest active female member of Valdosta Rotary.
She said she was honoured to have been invited to join as a business woman.
The men of Valdosta Rotary were very cordial and inviting, she said, which is something that hasn’t changed in her 28 years of membership.
Ballard was the first woman to join the Quitman Rotary when she was sponsored by Dr Hugh Bassam.
She said she felt welcomed from the beginning.
She was also a member of the Moultrie Rotary before joining Valdosta Rotary in 1989.
She served the Valdosta club as president in 2013-14.
She said Rotary has made a powerful difference in her life: it is where she learned what it means to be a true Rotarian and to truly value service above self.
The Valdosta Rotary, with approximately 100 members, will observe its 100th anniversary of serving the Valdosta area in 2019.
The motto of the international service organisation is “Service above Self”.
Source: The Valdosta Daily Times
