The Rotary Club of San Fernando celebrates its 50th anniversary today. The club will be celebrating the milestone at its weekly meeting with the sticking of a ceremonial birthday cake by current and incoming presidents, Roger Bose and Judy Ahamad along, with the membership. On Saturday a black tie event, the President's Handover, 50th anniversary and district governor handover gala will be held at the Queen's Park Cricket Club Century Ball Room. This will witness the club's handover of the presidency for the one-year term commencing July 1. This handover applies to all clubs that make up the Rotary family.
The event will also be the official handover for the district governor for the new term for District 7030 which represents 14 countries from Suriname in the south to Martinique in the north. There are 22 clubs in T&T. The outgoing District Governor is Anthony Watkins of Barbados. He will be succeeded by Lara Quentrall-Thomas of T&T. The Rotary Club of San Fernando is the second Rotary Club to be formed in T&T. The club was sponsored by the only club in the country at the time, the Rotary Club of Port-of-Spain, which was itself formed in 1957. The principal figures in the formation of the San Fernando club were: Messrs Bell of Alcoa, Duff Urquhart, Ken Finch, Stanley Best, Austin Fridal and the British Consul.
The first formal charter meeting of the San Fernando club was held at Chuck's Terrace, a restaurant on St James Street, San Fernando, on June 9, 1961. The first president was Dennis Slatford of Industrial Agencies Ltd and Rex Boon was the first secretary. The club's banner was designed by Dr Ken Barr, a Scottish geologist working for Trinidad Leaseholds Lted (a predecessor to Petrotrin). The banner depicts Christopher Columbus' fleet of three ships, when he first discovered the island of Trinidad on July 31, 1498, superimposed on a black background symbolising the black gold (oil) that is the basis of the country's economy. Shortly after the club was formed, the weekly lunch meetings took place at the Naparima Recreation Club and continued until 1970 when the venue changed to Todd's Hotel in St Joseph Village, San Fernando.
In 1982 meetings were moved to The Royal Hotel and in 2009, the venue was The Trade Winds Hotel, previously called Todd's Hotel! The club returned to The Royal Hotel in January 2011. The Rotary Club of San Fernando is one of the few local clubs to have a luncheon meeting, as the majority of their members work in or around the city. In September 1994 the club took on a new-look when the first female, Allison Khan-Ali, was inducted into the former all male club. The first woman president was Judy Ahamad in 1999-2000. Today, the small but vibrant club comprises 24 members, of which seven are women all united in the objects of Rotary and conducting the club's business guided by Rotary's four-Way Test.
Over the years, the club has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for its annual golf tournament, curryque, car rally and its latest venture, a tea and fashion show. These ventures were successful due to the loyal and generous support of private citizens and the business sector. Throughout its tenure, the Rotary Club of San Fernando has assisted senior citizen homes and special schools and has contributed in no small way to the improvement of community life in San Fernando and its environs.