Historic moments -- A tradition of song is born

Rotary International News -- 8 October 2008

Jenkins at the 1942 RI Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA Rotary Images

The tradition of singing at Rotary club meetings began in 1905 with Rotarian Harry L. Ruggles, of the Rotary Club of Chicago.

New Rotary clubs formed, and the practice of singing at club meetings caught on. Ruggles's company published an unofficial Book of Songs -- a collection of patriotic tunes, familiar standards, and Rotary songs (many penned by Rotarians) -- to help clubs make singing a regular part of their meetings.

The first official edition of Ruggles's songbook, Songs for the Rotary Club , was published in 1920 and provided lyrics only. Editions with musical notation appeared in 1925.

Later editions offered advice on incorporating music into Rotary club meetings. The 1933 book of songs encouraged Rotarians to add singing to their weekly meeting agendas. The 1935 edition advised clubs to sing prior to lunch and to select a song leader on the basis of personality, not musical talent. Walter R. Jenkins, of the Rotary Club of Houston, served as the official song leader at RI Conventions from 1931 to 1966.

For more Rotary history, visit Rotary History and Archives .

Purchase a copy of Songs for the Rotary Club: Lyrics Book (031) and Songs for the Rotary Club: Words and Music (033) at shop.rotary.org.

11 Comments:

At 11:50AM on 26 March 2009, OLUDARE ODELE wrote: MUSIC IS THE RHYTHM OF LIFE, AT ROTARY FELLOWSHIP/MEETING, ROTARY SONG IS A GREAT MOTIVATOR AND ENERGIZER

At 12:26PM on 23 January 2009, Ken Yuska wrote: I would be pleased to work on a committee to put together some updated song lists, CD or Karaoke materials suitable for club singing. In my experience, each club has it's own needs for songs depending upon regions, tastes and seasons.

At 10:29AM on 15 December 2008, Richard Kreps wrote: Joining in the singing at the District 6860 District Conference was my inspiration to bring back singing to the Rotary Club of Cullman. During my year as president (2005-06), we sang at 1 or 2 meetings each month. Our club's membership is a good mix - men, women, young, old. I guess I never realized how much some people disliked singing in public. As I would meet fellow Rotarians on the street, In a kidding sort of way they would inquire "are we singing this week? If so, I don't think I'll be there!" But for many of the older members, singing brought back a lot of fond memories. I found that there was a flip side to the comment "will it build goodwill and better friendships." That comment was "is it fair to all concerned."

At 11:46AM on 24 November 2008, Linn Slattengren wrote: I am an American Rotarian who has lived overseas (in Kosovo) for the past 5 years. We have started 6 new Rotary clubs and have two initiative clubs active now. I loved our singing in the US, and had some collections of lyrics on sheets in the US we could share. It would be helpful if someone would put a lyric sheet on this site so we could print them off and use them. Most of the good music is long past copyright protection, I believe.

At 12:25PM on 21 November 2008, Tiffany wrote: Our club is a great mix of young and older members, male and female. (I am young and female) We have about 60 members at each meeting and WE LOVE TO SING! Yes, it's corny, yes it's slightly old-fashion. But that's part of what it means to be in a club that is 100+ years old. If singing works in your club do it - and if it doesn't work, consider why it doesn't. Perhaps the attitude brought to it is the problem. "Will it build goodwill and better friendships." I think, YES!

At 2:50PM on 12 November 2008, Jack Bogle wrote: I really like to sing and wish that our club would sing again like we did many years ago. Maybe I will start it again. What we need is a little music with it. We use to pay a woman to play the piano.

At 8:42AM on 31 October 2008, Charles Jordan wrote: Coincidence -- last night I was starting to put together a list of songs that our club could use, and today I find Don Lewis' thoughts on the same! Don, let's do it! Please contact me through the Arroyo Grande, CA club www.agrotary.org and let's use the other comments to help make this a reality.

At 9:31AM on 24 October 2008, Don Lewis wrote: Singing together is a great way to start any event Rotary or otherwise. It lets everyone have a voice. I do believe that adding some more recent new songs would be helpful for the newer Rotarian generation to share with the older Rotarians. I would be happy to serve with others and RI to organize a new Song Book and Karaoke Discs.

At 8:58AM on 14 October 2008, greg chick wrote: At the time that was GRAND!, now I feel the "new-gen" feels its grandfathers club not thiers that sings. Today is today lets not forget the past nor live in it.

At 10:20AM on 13 October 2008, manju gupta wrote: It shows Rotary works in rhythm and on beats. Kindly create some audio- visual forms of these songs and music for Rotary meets and events.

At 9:21AM on 13 October 2008, Pichet Ruchirat wrote: Most thankful for Rotary Songs. Please create a VCD or Karaoke (Songs and Historic Photos and a Handbook of Words and Music for training too. It will be best for all Rotary events.

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