The Junction City  Rotary ( noon ) Club will be 100 years old on Sunday.

Current Club Secretary, Charles Volland  reported that the club’s official certificate of affiliation with the International Association of Rotary Clubs was issued on October 1, 1917.

The list of charter members included R.B. Fegan, Harry Pierce, J.V. Humphrey, Loring Trott, Walter Rockwell, Ralph LaShelle, Dr. C.K. Raber, harry Montgomery, W.A. Thompson, R.J. Brown, Hale Powers, t.B. Kennedy, A.D. Jellison, C.G. Bumstead, John Dalton, Sam Zeigler, D. D. Turnbull, F.F. Ziegler, B. VanLeeuwen and George Rockwell.

During the club’s first year, 25 members subscribed $1,000 each toward the cost of erecting the apartment building at the corner of 4th and Washington, later known as the Schwartz Apartments. That project was designed to help alleviate the housing shortage caused by the massive influx of workers, soldiers and dependents. In 1917, people were literally living in the City Park for there was no other shelter available.

It was the “Community Building,” now the Eagles Lodge , at 10th and Franklin Streets, that was perhaps the greatest monument to the efforts of Rotary during World War I. Built at a cost of $40,000, this substantial stone structure was funded and built by the Rotary Clubs of the 11th District as a recreation center for soldiers and the community.

The building was dedicated in December of 1918. After World War I it became a gathering place for the youth of Junction cIty. For the next 20 years until the Municipal Building was built in 1938, it hosted teen club dances, community meetings and all kinds of social activities.

Today the Club meetings are held at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel and Convention Center.