Documentation
Rotary Club of Beloit Bylaws (revised 2024)
Article 1 Definitions
- Board: The Board of Directors of this club.
- Director: A member of this club’s Board of Directors.
- Member: A member, other than an honorary member, of this club.
- RI: Rotary International.
- Year: The twelve-month period that begins on 1 July.
Article 2 Board
The governing body of this club shall be the board consisting of no more than 13 members of this club, namely, 8 directors elected in accordance with article 3, section 1, of these bylaws, and the president, president-elect (or president-nominee, if no successor has been elected), secretary, treasurer and the immediate past president.
Article 3 Election of Directors and Officers
Section 1 – At the regular meeting of the Board of Directors held in the month of October each year, the President-Elect shall appoint a nominating committee consisting of three members. The nominating committee shall prepare a list of nominations for officer and director positions, which will become vacant in the upcoming Rotary year beginning on July 1. This list of nominations shall be presented to the membership at a regular weekly club meeting scheduled by the president during the month of November. Additional nominations for officers and directors may be made by members from the floor during this meeting. The nominations shall be voted on during the club meeting. The candidates securing the highest number of votes for the positions for which they are nominated shall be declared elected.
Rotary International will be notified of the new slate of officers and directors for the coming Rotary year by the club secretary as required. The new officers and directors shall take the Oath of Office at the annual meeting as provided for in Article 5, Section 1 of these bylaws.
Section 2 – A vacancy on the Board of any officer or director shall be filled by action of the remaining members of the board.
Section 4 – The terms of office for all officers shall be one (1) year and the term of office for directors shall be three (3) years.
Article 4 Duties of Officers
Section 1 – President. It shall be the duty of the president to preside at meetings of the club and the board and to perform other duties as ordinarily pertain to the office of president, including coordinating club assignments for recurring duties, including weekly program assignments, serving as welcoming Rotarian, conducting the invocation,
coordinating the weekly raffle, as well as other duty assignments from time to time as may be required to facilitate club operations. .
Section 2 – President-elect. It shall be the duty of the president-elect to preside at meetings of the club and the board in the absence of the president and to perform other duties as ordinarily pertain to the office of president-elect and/or as prescribed from time to time by the president or board of directors.
Section 3 – Secretary. It shall be the duty of the secretary to keep membership records; record attendance at meetings; send out notices of club, board and committee meetings; record and preserve the minutes of such meetings; report as required to RI, including the semiannual reports of membership on January 1 and July 1 of each year, and prorated reports on October 1 and April 1 of each active member who has been elected to membership in the club since the start of the July or January semiannual reporting period, report changes in membership; provide the monthly attendance report, which shall be made to the district governor within 15 days of the last meeting of the month; collect and remit RI official magazine subscriptions; and perform other duties as usually pertain to the office of secretary.
Section 4 – Treasurer. It shall be the duty of the treasurer to have custody of all funds, accounting for it to the club annually and at any other time upon demand by the board, and to perform other duties as pertains to the office of treasurer. Upon retirement from office, the treasurer shall turn over to the incoming treasurer or to the president all funds, books of accounts, or any other club property.
Article 5 Meetings
Section 1 – Annual Meeting. An annual meeting of this club shall be held on a Tuesday in June of each year. Officers and directors to serve for the ensuing Rotary year shall take the Oath of Office. The outgoing President shall provide a report to the membership on key club activities and accomplishments during the preceding club year.
Section 2 – The regular weekly meetings of this club shall be held on Tuesday beginning at 12:10 p.m. in the Rotary River Center located at 1160 S. Riverside Drive, Beloit, Wisconsin. Due notice of any changes in or canceling of the regular meeting shall be given to all members of the club. All members excepting an honorary member (or member excused pursuant to article 8, sections 3 and 4 of the standard Rotary club constitution) in good standing in this club, on the day of the regular meeting, must be counted as present or absent, and attendance must be evidenced by the member’s being present for at least sixty (60) percent of the time devoted to the regular meeting, either at this club or at any other Rotary club, or as otherwise provided in the standard Rotary club constitution, article 8, sections 1 and 2.
Section 3 – One-third of the membership shall constitute a quorum at the annual and regular meetings of this club.
Section 4 – Regular meetings of the board shall be held monthly on a date/time chosen by the current club president. Special meetings of the board shall be called by the president, whenever deemed necessary, or upon the request of two (2) directors, due notice having been given.
Section 5 – A majority of the directors shall constitute a quorum of the board.
Article 6 Fees and Dues
Section 1 – The membership dues, as determined by the club board of directors based on Rotary International dues, shall be payable quarterly with the understanding that a portion of each quarterly payment shall be applied to each member’s subscription to the RI official magazine.
Section 2 – Each qualifying member is required to pay for weekly meeting meals. The cost to be determined by the board of directors as well as an contracts with providing caterers/vendors.
Article 7 Method of Voting
The business of this club shall be transacted by viva voce* vote. The board may determine that a specific resolution be considered by ballot rather than by viva voce vote. (Note: viva voce vote is defined as when club voting is conducted by vocal assent.)
Article 8 Four Avenues of Service
The four Avenues of Service are the philosophical and practical framework for the work of this Rotary club. They are Club Service, Vocational Service, Community Service, and International Service. This club will be active in each of the four Avenues of Service.
Article 9 Committees
Club committees are charged with carrying out the annual and long-range goals of the club based on the four Avenues of Service. The president-elect, president and immediate past president should work together to ensure continuity of leadership and succession planning. When feasible, committee members should be appointed to the same committee for three years to ensure consistency. The president–elect is responsible for appointing nominating committee members to fill vacancies and committee chairs. All appointments are subject to board approval. It is recommended that the chair have previous experience as a member of the committee. Standing committees should be appointed as follows:
Membership
This committee should develop and implement a comprehensive plan for the recruitment and retention of members.
Club Public Relations The Rotary Foundation Board
Community Service Committee
Grant Committee This committee shall review requests for Rotary Club of Beloit grants and set guidelines for nonprofit organizations to submit grant requests and the process for reviewing and recommending club grants. Grants recommended by the committee require approval from the Rotary Club of Beloit Board of Directors.
This committee should develop and implement plans to provide the public with information about Rotary and to promote the club’s service projects and activities.
This committee should develop and implement plans to support The Rotary Foundation through both financial contributions and program participation, including the club’s annual scholarship program.
This committee shall develop and oversee fundraising activities and service projects focused on community service.
Club Service Committee
This committee shall consider vocational service, community service and international service avenues when developing plans for the year.
Additional ad hoc committees may be appointed as needed.
The president shall be an ex officio member of all committees and, as such, shall have all the privileges of membership thereon. Each committee shall transact its business as is delegated to it in these bylaws and such additional business as may be referred to it by the president or the board. Except where special authority is given by the board, such committees shall not take any action until a report has been made and approved by the board.
Each chair shall be responsible for regular meetings and activities of the committee, shall supervise and coordinate the work of the committee and shall report to the board on all committee activities.
Article 10 Duties of Committees
The duties of all committees shall be established and reviewed by the president-elect for his or her year. In declaring the duties of each, the president-elect shall make reference to appropriate RI materials.
Each committee shall have a specific mandate, clearly defined goals, and action plans established by the beginning of each Rotary year for implementation during the course of the year. It shall be the primary responsibility of the president-elect to provide the necessary leadership to prepare a recommendation for club committees, mandates, goals and plans for presentation to the board in advance of the commencement of the year as noted above.
Article 11 Leave of Absence
Upon written application to the board, setting forth good and sufficient cause, leave of absence may be granted excusing a member from attending the meetings of the club for a specified length of time. (Note: Such leave of absence does operate to prevent a forfeiture of membership; it does not operate to give the club credit for the member’s attendance. Unless the member attends a regular meeting of some other club, the excused member must be recorded as absent except that absence authorized under the provisions of article 8, sections 3 and 4 of the standard Rotary club constitution is not computed in the attendance record of the club.)
Article 12 Finances
Section 1 – Prior to the beginning of each fiscal year, the board shall prepare a budget of estimated income and expenditures for the year, which shall stand as the limit of expenditures for these purposes, unless otherwise ordered by action of the board. The budget shall be broken into two separate parts: one in respect of club operations and one in respect of charitable/service operations.
Section 2 – The treasurer shall deposit all club funds in bank(s), named by the board. The club funds shall be separated in the budget and financial statements for club operations and service projects.
Section 3 – All bills shall be paid by the treasurer or other authorized officer only when approved by two other officers or directors.
Section 4 – A thorough review of all financial transactions by a Certified Public Accountant or other qualified person shall be made once each year.
Section 5 – Officers having charge or control of club funds shall give bond as required by the board for the safe custody of the funds of the club, cost of bond to be borne by the club.
Section 6 – The fiscal year of this club shall extend from July 1 to June 30, and for the collection of members’ dues shall be divided into four (4) quarterly periods extending from July 1 to September 30, October 1 to December 31, January 1 to March 31 and April 1 to June 30. The payment of per capita dues and RI official magazine subscriptions shall be made on July 1 and 1 January of each year on the basis of the membership of the club on those dates.
Article 13 Method of Electing Members
Section 1 – The name of a prospective member, proposed by an active member of the club, shall be submitted to the board in writing, through the club secretary. A transferring or former member of another club may be proposed to active membership by the former club. The proposal shall be kept confidential except as otherwise provided in this procedure.
Section 2 – The board shall ensure that the proposal meets all the classification and membership requirements of the standard Rotary club constitution.
Section 3 – The board shall approve or disapprove the proposal within 30 days of its submission, and shall notify the proposer, through the club secretary, of its decision.
Section 4 – If the decision of the board is favorable, the prospective member shall be informed of the purposes of Rotary and of the privileges and responsibilities of membership, following which the prospective member shall be requested to sign the membership proposal form and to permit his or her name and proposed classification to be published to the club.
Section 5 – If no written objection to the proposal, stating reasons, is received by the board from any member (other than honorary) of the club within seven (7) days following publication of information about the prospective member, that person, as prescribed in these bylaws, shall be considered to be elected to membership.
If any such objection has been filed with the board, it shall vote on this matter at its next meeting. If approved, despite the objection, the proposed member shall be considered to be elected to membership.
Section 6 – Following the election, the president shall arrange for the new member’s induction, membership materials and new member Rotary literature. In addition, the secretary will report the new member information to RI and the president will assign a member to assist with the new member’s assimilation to the club as well as assign the new member to a club committee, project or function.
Section 7 – The club may elect, in accordance with the standard Rotary club constitution, honorary members proposed by the board.
Section 8 – Honorary members may be approved using the same procedure as for regular members but shall not be required to pay fees or other costs normally associated with membership.
Section 9 – A corporate entity or organization can become an eligible corporate member through the existing Rotary Club of Beloit membership approval process. One fully paid membership is required. Once approved, the corporate entity or organization may appoint up to three persons to be designees. If the full member is absent, but designees (at least one) are in attendance, attendance credit for the corporation will be given. The cost structure will consist of the normal fees for meals and dues paid by one member. Designees will be responsible for the per meal charges when more than one designee attends.
Article 14 Resolutions The club shall not consider any resolution or motion to commit the club on any matter until the board has considered it. Such resolutions or motions, if offered at a club meeting, shall be referred to the board without discussion.
Article 15 Order of Business Meeting called to order. Introduction of visitors. Correspondence, announcements and Rotary Information. Committee reports if any. Any unfinished business. Any new business. Address or other program features. Adjournment.
Article 16 Amendments
These bylaws may be amended at any regular meeting, a quorum being present, by a two-thirds vote of all members present, provided that notice of such proposed amendment shall have been sent to each member at least ten (10) days before such meeting. No amendment or addition to these bylaws can be made which is not in harmony with the standard Rotary club constitution and with the constitution and bylaws of RI. For purposes of distributing the notice, email or other routinely available means of electronic communication shall be considered appropriate for purposes of satisfying the pre-notification requirement.
Revised by vote of the membership: May 21, 2024
Rotary Basics
What’s Rotary?
This Is Rotary
Rotary Club of Beloit History
Charter Members
Willard H. Arnold – Attorney – Woolsey & Arnold
Harvey E. Bailey – F.J. Bailey & Sons, Inc.
Lafayette Bean – Juvenile Shoe Corp.
Melvin A. Brannon – President, Beloit College
Frank E. Converse – Superintendent Beloit School District
Fred M. Coons – President, Beloit Box Board
John Evans – Pastor, Episcopal Church
David H. Foster – Commercial Engineer
Paul A. Fox – Vice President, Helm & Fox Hospital Co.
Thomas C. Hendley, President & Mgr. Hendley & Whittemore Co.
Charles H. Hill – Manager, Beloit Lumber Co.
Walter B. Leishman – Treasurer & Sales Manager, Gardner Machine Co.
Benjamin Franklin Lyons – Vice President, BeloitWater Gas & Electric Co.
Paul L. Murkland – Shoe Retailer
Henry E. Owen – Manager, Beloit Chamber of Commerce
Dana J. Peet – Peet Brothers Real Estate
Eugene J. Reitler – Men’s Wear
Hamilton N. Ross – Secretary & Partner, Beloit Iron Works
James F. Ryan – Pastor, Catholic Church
Ralph W. Schellenger – Partner, Gordon’s Hardware
Don VanWart – Fire Insurance
Hugo A. VanOven – President, Beloit State Bank
Albert J. Wagner – Wagner’s Pharmacy
Charles E. Wright – Vice President, Sturtevant, Wright & Wagner Dairy
Since its beginning in 1919, the Rotary Club of Beloit has been a vital part of the Beloit community.
The year 1919 was to be a fateful year in the history of the world and of the United States. The Treaty Of Versailles was signed, thus ending the war to end all wars. That same year, more people died of the flu epidemic than were killed in the war. White Russian armies fighting to retain the czarist government were routed by the red Communist army commanded by Leon Trotsky. Benito Mussolini founded a new political party in Italy. Ghandi began acts of civil disobedience in India. In the United States the 18th amendment went into effect authorizing prohibition. The 19th amendment, which would guarantee suffrage to women, was passed by congress and sent to the states for ratification. The senate failed to ratify the Treaty Of Versailles – 9 votes short of the required two-thirds. Several bombs were intercepted in the first wave of the United States bombings by the anarchists. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer led raids on anarchists and over 2,000 were arrested in New York alone.
The Green Bay Packers were established in Green Bay, Wisconsin. That year they played a great game against the Beloit Fairies before being defeated 6-0. Babe Ruth hit 29 home runs, breaking the previous record of 27. Jack Dempsey became heavyweight champion by defeating Jess Willard. Sir Barton became the first Triple Crown winner.
The American Legion and The League Of Red Cross Societies formed in Paris.
350,000 steelworkers struck, followed by 400,000 miners 40 days later. Four million walked off the job for the year. The average work week was 68.7 hours.
A & W Root Beer, Eight O’clock Coffee and Felix the Cat were introduced.
And the most important event of the year was the installation of Thomas C. Hendley as the first president of the newly organized Beloit Rotary Club.
Time passed and in 1933 the Four Way Test was formulated by Chicago Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor and adopted by Rotary International:
1. Is it the truth?
2. Is it fair to all concerned?
3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
The Beloit Rotary Club continued its existence until the middle 1980s as what was known in Rotary circles as a “Checkbook Club”. This meant that our club did not do projects but was very generous in supporting Beloit charities with cash. Remember most of those years were before the Great Society programs and the many other programs that are now available. The money donated to the various organizations was very significant to the recipients and did much to make Beloit a better place to live.
In 1985, Rotary International took on the daunting task of eliminating polio in the world. Americans born in the 30s and 40s remember the scourge of polio. Fortunately, a vaccine was discovered in the 1950s by Jonas Salk. In the early 1960s, enough Americans had received the vaccine so that polio was eliminated from the United States. Shortly thereafter, most of Europe was also polio free. However, in 1985, 125 countries on five continents had failed to eliminate polio in their country. Polio claimed approximately 350,000 victims each year. Think of the challenge of inoculating every child in countries where civil war is the norm, and countries with large numbers of nomadic people, of the massive third world slums, of countries without transportation systems, and the difficulty of keeping the vaccine refrigerated when there is no electricity.
In 1986, past club president, Dr. William Freeman, chaired a very successful polio plus program for our club as many members made generous cash contributions to Rotary International to assist in the eradication of polio.
In 1987 president Clyde Boutelle and the Rotary Board extended invitations to seven Beloit women to become members and all accepted.
Subsequently the Stateline Literacy Council was able to move its operations into the basement of the Beloit Library. It was a substantial improvement over their old quarters, but it was dark and dreary. A group of our members came up with the idea of painting the basement for the Council. Ed Grutzner headed up a group of Rotarians who obtained paint and did the physical job of painting the basement, resulting in a 100% improvement of the Literacy Council’s office.
On May 6, 1992, the Beloit Rotary Club pledged $200,000.00 for construction of this building, partnering with the City of Beloit. It was to be the centerpiece in development of the River Front Area.
Once the pledge was made, the question became “How do we obtain the $200,000.00?” Tom Finley was the primary person involved with this challenge. For many years, a Grand Prix Go Cart Race was sponsored by the club which involved an unbelievable amount of hands on work. Tom and the club members were successful in reaching our goal of paying the $200,000.00 pledge.
Our club has continued to support Paul’s Computer Institute in Bamenda, Cameroon, West Africa. It is interesting to note that assisting Paul’s Computer Institute was one of our many projects voted on by the club and it came in 7th place. However, Terry Leahy thought it was a good project and single handedly brought it before the club, other clubs, the district and Rotary International. Paul’s Computer Institute (PCI) was founded by Paul Mickelson, a retired Beloit firefighter who joined the Peace Corps. Paul traveled to Bamenda, realized the economic plight of its people, and nearly lost his life during political unrest. His early endeavors included obtaining school books and library books from Beloiters for Bamenda’s citizens. Later on he envisioned computer literacy as a method of fostering economic growth in the community. From all sources more than $1.6 million has been raised for Paul’s Computer Institute. Members Jerry Klobucar and Gene Van Galder have been active participants in the continued success of Paul’s Computer Institute, including traveling to Bamenda for hands-on efforts.
Since 1985, Rotary International has been continuing its work to eradicate polio. They had been very successful, but had not completely eradicated it. A final effort was mounted in 2002 and local clubs were again asked to contribute money for the final effort. The Bill and Martha Gates Foundation contributed a matching fund of $25 million. The local effort was headed by Sam Paddock and resulted in members contributing over $10,000 and the club contributing $1,650.00. Polio is not completely eradicated but the number of new cases has been as low as nine in one year. The net result has been that over 6 million children have not been afflicted with polio – an outstanding boon to the children of the world.
In the 2001-2002 Rotary year, Beloit elected its first woman president, Ann Sitrick. In Barcelona, Spain, at the International Convention, 60 presidents were honored by being chosen as the best chapter presidents of the 31,000 plus local chapter presidents. They were honored and their names were listed in the daily newspaper at the convention. Ann’s name appeared near the bottom of the list but only because the list was alphabetical.
In 1999, Kids Against Hunger was established by a Minnesota man, who had volunteered on a medical mission to Honduras. Working with companies such as Cargill, Pillsbury, General Mills and Archer Daniels Midland, he formulated a food mix that would serve the nutritional needs of malnourished children. There are 40 satellite networks packaging the mix. Beloit Rotary, led by John Wong, joined the Rotary Clubs Of Janesville Morning And Noon and Edgerton to join “Kids Against Hunger.” Their ingredients are supplied by Kids Against Hunger. The Rotary Club raises money to buy the food mix from KAH Headquarters. Kandu Industries has volunteered their packaging areas and local volunteers package the mix. In the first year of operation, they packaged 150,000 meals. They have distributed 50,000 to Rock county food pantries and 7,128 meals to flood stricken Cedar Rapids. Working with Paul Mickelson they have supplied more than 20,000 meals to Bamenda, Cameroon. Paul personally saw that they were delivered to shelters with empty shelves. The goal for next year is to obtain contributions to increase the number of packaged meals to 200,000.