Rotary International is an international service organization whose stated human rights purpose is to bring together business and professional leaders in order to provide humanitarian services, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and to advance goodwill and peace around the world. It is a secular organization open to all people regardless of race, color, creed, religion, gender, or political preference. There are approximately 34,500 member clubs worldwide with 1.2 million plus individuals called Rotarians have joined these clubs.

Rotarians usually gather weekly for breakfast, lunch, or dinner to fulfill their first guiding principle to develop friendships as an opportunity for service. It is the duty of all Rotarians outside their clubs, to be active as individuals in as many legally constituted groups and organizations as possible to promote, not only in words but through exemplary dedication, awareness of the dignity of all people and the respect of the consequent human rights of the individual. The Rotarian’s primary motto is “Service Above Self”; its secondary motto is “One profits most who serves best.”

The first Rotary Club was formed when attorney Paul P. Harris called together a meeting of three business acquaintances in downtown Chicago, at Harris’s friend’s office in the on February 23, 1905. In addition to Harris and Loehr (a mining engineer and freemason), Silvester Schiele (a coal merchant), and Hiram E. Shorey (a tailor) were the other two who attended this first meeting. The members chose the name Rotary because initially they rotated subsequent weekly club meetings to each other’s offices, although within a year, the Chicago club became so large it became necessary to adopt the now-common practice of a regular meeting place.

The next four Rotary Clubs were organized in cities in the western United States, beginning with San Francisco, then Oakland, Los Angeles, and Seattle. The National Association of Rotary Clubs in America was formed in 1910. On November 3, 1910, a Rotary club began meeting in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. On 22 February 1911, the first meeting of the Rotary Club Dublin was held in Dublin, Ireland. This was the first club established outside of North America. To reflect the addition of a club outside of the United States, the name was changed to the International Association of Rotary Clubs in 1912.

The Rotary Club of Cheat Lake was chartered in March of 1979. Twenty-nine charter members under the direction of Garry Bowers, the club’s first president, were installed at the annual district conference held at Lakeview Resort by District Governor Joel Hannah. Rotary Club of Morgantown members John Cobun and Tom Urquhart were the sponsors for the club. The Rotary Club of Cheat Lake became the first “breakfast club” in West Virginia.

Garry Bowers served as the club’s first president and was then followed by Ed Heflin as the second club president.