By Nancy Quatrano Around Hastings Posted Jul 12, 2020

July 1 marked the new fiscal year of Rotary International and all the Rotary clubs around the world. The Rotary Club of Hastings celebrated its 93rd year in the community on Feb. 26, 2020, and welcomed its first female African American president into office with an official pinning ceremony held at beautiful Railroad Park in Hastings. Presiding president Emily Fox pinned Ms. Kimberly Dixon as the incoming co-president of the club and remarked how different the club now looks from that of the club chartered by the St. Augustine Rotary Club back in 1927.

Ms. Dixon was sponsored into the club by the late Gerald Eubanks whose love for the people and town of Hastings was unfailing. Both educators, though a generation apart, they saw for and in Hastings, the potential to bring new opportunities to this close-knit community of such diversity and history. With the many resources of Rotary behind them, the Hastings Club has been the only civic service organization in Hastings since 1989.

Prior to 1987, memberships in Rotary were restricted by gender, not color. It was in May of 1987 when the Supreme Court handed down a decision upholding California’s ban on gender discrimination in private clubs. Sylvia Whitlock became the first woman to be a club president in Rotary, a year after her club’s charter was pulled for admitting her. The Hastings club is an example of how valuable women are to their community: in a single year, six women put in a collective of +750 hours of local service to the Hastings and surrounding community. That’s the power of service with Rotary behind it.

In Hastings, Rotarians can be seen helping at the car show to help raise funds for the Methodist Church, distributing food and clothing to those in need, supporting the COA activities and programs, supporting community events, and fighting to bring educational and economic opportunities to safe, healthy neighborhoods. Last year they also assisted the other St. Johns County clubs in renovating apartments for the Alpha-Omega organization, a project that will continue to assist women, children, and elders for years to come. They actively support the Polio Plus initiative with donations throughout the year and are participants in the global reduction of polio from 350,000 cases in 1979 to 125 in 2019. There is no shortage of ways to serve.

Ms. Dixon’s challenge to the community is, “Who will join us in making Hastings and the world a safer, healthier, working community?” The club can be reached at HastingsFLRC@gmail.com.

Community Service encourages every Rotarian
to find ways to improve the quality of life for people in their communities and to serve the public interest.

Youth Service recognizes the importance of empowering youth and young professionals through leadership development programs such as Rotaract, Interact, EarlyAct, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, and Rotary Youth Exchange.