性视界APP

Trousdale County has a strong history of active global service organizations that focus on community engagement and charitable work. The Kiwanis and the Lions Clubs held a large membership and most people in the community can remember their fathers or grandfathers participating in one of the organizations. The Hartsville Rotary Club came on stage in 1980 and has been active and growing since then.

In high school, Jerry Richmond and Sam Holder were active members of the Key Club, an auxiliary student-led branch of the Kiwanis Club. Richmond remembers his dad鈥檚 involvement in Lions Club but didn鈥檛 follow in his footsteps with the club that seemed full of elderly members at the time.

鈥淭hese organizations did a lot for the community and were very strong once, but over the years they were dying out,鈥� said Richmond.

After graduation, Richmond went to Tennessee Tech and Holder to Vanderbilt. Eventually, the young men returned to Hartsville and discovered there was a push to increase the expansion of Rotary Clubs in the area.

Sam Hatcher and others spoke with Richmond about starting a club in Hartsville and soon they were meeting on the back porch of Myrtle Gregory鈥檚 home on River Street.

鈥淢yrtle was known for her cooking and letting clubs use the back porch of her home to meet,鈥� said Richmond. 鈥淪he fed the fire department, and other clubs including Rotary. She would prepare two meats, sides and three desserts, and we would pay $3 a meal. I asked her once how many homemade biscuits she had made in her life and she figured it was over 200,000.鈥�

The Hartsville Rotary Club was chartered on April 18, 1980. Richmond and Holder fondly recall traveling to the Deane Hill Country Club in Knoxville to pick up the charter, and the lectern and bell used to signal the beginning and end of the meetings.

Richmond and Holder soon welcomed other charter members including Jerry Helm and David Freeman. Robert Thurman joined the men also.

鈥淚n those early years, members would join and members would leave,鈥� said Holder. 鈥淲e had to make sure we had enough members to cover the fees and Rotary International dues.鈥�

Staying true to their commitment to grow the club in Hartsville, Richmond served as the charter president from 1980-1981 and served four more times from 1988-1989, 1990-1991, 1996-1997 and 2023-2024. Holder served as president of the club from 1981-1982, 1989-1990 and 1995-1996.

Traditionally, Rotary International was an all-male organization. The Rotary Constitution and Bylaws were amended in 1989 to allow women into the club. The decision was based on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1987 that Rotary clubs could not exclude women based on gender. Richmond鈥檚 sister, Pat Langford, became one of the first women to join the local chapter of the organization and was Hartsville鈥檚 first female president serving from 1993-1994. The club was also the first in its district to elect a Black female president. Mae Wright, current TCAT Hartsville President, served 2002-2003.

The Hartsville Rotary Club is focused on serving the youth in Trousdale County. By hosting fundraisers such as the Father-Daughter Dance and an annual Golf Outing, the club is able to fund scholarships for students from Trousdale County, contribute to food drive programs in the community such as the Backpack program and the Community Help Center, donate to Christmas for Kids, provide all Trousdale County third grade students with dictionaries, and participate in Trousdale Reads and Character Counts programs. The organization also supports local missions like Crossroads Mission Care, the Federation of Christian Athletes, local athletic programs, Downtown Sound and more.

鈥淩ecently two students from Trousdale County High School qualified for a trip for a national Future Business Leaders of 性视界APP (FBLA) conference that was out of state,鈥� said Greg Clements, Hartsville Rotary Club President. 鈥淲e were able to fund that experience and formed a partnership with the local FBLA. The FBLA members are now our Interact Club.鈥�

Interact is a Rotary-sponsored service club for young people aged 12-18, offering opportunities for service projects, leadership development, and fostering international understanding, with clubs organized and mentored by Rotary clubs.

The club will celebrate its 45th anniversary with guest speakers and recognitions on Thursday April 10 at noon at the Farmer鈥檚 Harvest Restaurant located at 226 Broadway, Hartsville. All past and present members of the club are encouraged to attend the celebration.

Forty community members make up the membership of the Hartsville Rotary Club 3862. The club is in the 6780 District. New members who have a desire to invest in the community are always welcome. For more information on Hartsville Rotary Club, email hartsvilletnrotaryclub@gmail.com or contact the membership chair Rosalie Myhan at 615-374-5066. The group meets each Thursday of the month at noon at the Farmer’s Harvest Restaurant, and those with interest are welcome to attend.