Our History | Rotary Club of Southampton

Extract from Bruce County Museum. A2013.012.04726: Picture of Mr. Robert G. Sturgeon standing beside a Rotary Scroll bordered by links of a chain he personally carved from a single piece of wood. He did one chain for Port Elgin Rotary Club and one for Southampton.

The bridge that spans the Saugeen River between Southampton and Saugeen First Nation was renamed

on June 21, 2018 "Zgaa-biig-ni-gan", which translated means 'we are connected'.

1938 - Chartered

The Rotary Club of Southampton was chartered on March 21st, 1938. The Club was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Owen Sound and the Charter Night was held at the Walker House on Thursday, May 5th, 1938.

As a nod to Southampton’s Fishing and Furniture/Plywood industry, the Menu and Order of Proceedings were in the form of a fish printed on a piece of plywood.

The Charter was presented by Geoffrey A. Wheable, District Governor from London, Ontario and there was a presentation of gifts:

USA Flag – Flint Michigan
Canadian Flag – Woodstock
Gong and Gavel – Owen Sound
Pins – London

NOTE: As part of our 85th Anniversary we are researching our history and looking to update our History section by the development of a series of pages spanning each decade the club has been doing good. This work will be progressed during 2023. We apologize for the convenience whilst we delve into our history and select stories to share.

If you have any records or artifacts pertaining to Southampton Rotary we would love to hear from you. Email us: rotary1938@gmail.com

1940 - War Time Donation to Southampton UK

1940 Southampton, Ontario Club made a donation of 200 GB Pounds (the equivalent of 13,000 GB Pounds or around 22,000 Canadian Dollars in today’s funds) to the Rotary Club of Southampton UK club to help support the city right after it had been heavily bombed during WWII.

2015 A British record dealer based in Austria discovered an old acetate recording of a soundtrack from the UK club thanking the Ontario club for their donation and he contacted the club via Facebook Messenger.

“Best wishes, from Andrew Milton, I am a record dealer and recently came across some acetate recordings dating from the 1950's, one of which appears to include a recording of a message to your Rotary Club from the Southampton Rotary Club in the UK. I have sent the recording to the Rotary Club in the UK in the hope that you can communicate with them about it. I'd be grateful if you could let me know if it means anything to you.” Listen to the Recording

2019 The two Southampton Clubs reconnected when an Ontario Rotaran visited the UK Club and made a presentation about Southampton Ontario to the UK Club.

The story of the ongoing connection between the two Southampton Clubs was recently featured in the Peace Edition of the UK and Ireland Rotary Magazine. Susan Macdonald said “I was thrilled to be interviewed about this when Colin and I visited with the UK Club and I made a presentation about our Southampton and the history between the two clubs”. Take a look:

1945 - Saugeen Memorial Hospital

The Rotary Club of Southampton was the original donor

In 1945, as World War II was drawing to a close Southampton Mayor Ellis Millard had a dream to open a hospital as a memorial to the men who gave their lives in this ultimate sacrifice.

The project was first supported by the Club who in September 1945 pledged $15,500 towards the purchase of Hillcrest Lodge as the site of the new hospital. That's a whopping $260,000 @ 2022 price levels..!

The total cost of the project was around $50,000. The Hospital was opened on October 16th, 1947 and boasted 21 adult beds and 7 infant cubicles according to the first Annual Report.

Hillcrest Lodge Post Card Image.