Vital Volunteers – May 2025
THE ROTARY CLUB OF JACKSONVILLE-APPLEGATE was chartered on March 4, 1989, with twenty-seven male members. A core number of the members of the new club transferred from Central Point. It was initially formed to establish a male-only club as Central Point had begun adding female members, creating a division within that club.
The male-only posture was short-lived when Lyn Boening became the first female member and eventually became the first female club President in 1993. Lyn remembers, “I was sponsored by Paul Inserra, a charter member of the club, and from my first meeting I was treated with honor, dignity and respect. Our club fully embraced women in Rotary as equal partners.”
Jerry Hayes, the former owner of the Bella Union, has a 35-year history with Jacksonville Rotary as he is one of the charter members. “When I joined the club, I was one of the youngest members, but now I am one of the oldest. I am proud that the Bella has been the home for the Jacksonville Rotary Club from its inception. Remembering the early Rotary days, Jerry goes on to say, “We had three members: Ace Carter, Paul Inserra and Jo Josephson who lived and breathed Rotary. They made sure that our club had a positive presence in Jacksonville and really launched our drive to support our local community and to take on international needs as well.”
From the beginning, the club dove into projects, one of the first of which was the painting of the Beekman Bank interior. Then they moved on to the Beekman House picket fence, a tedious and time-consuming project. To celebrate the 100-year anniversary of Rotary, the Jacksonville Rotary Club sponsored the playground at the Pheasant Meadows subdivision in Jacksonville. The most ambitious project the club undertook was the food and beverage concessions for the Britt Music Festival. While a fellow Medford Rotary club shared this project, Lyn Boening remembers that, “It was a massive project which asked our members to commit to either preparing or serving food or running the beverage concession. And this was not just a one and done thing, but the whole summer. It was a real challenge for our small club.” Eventually, the Britt Board decided to take over the concessions and did so in 2009, but the Jacksonville Rotary Club was not done with Britt, because six years later they took on the popcorn concession which continues to this day.
Besides the popcorn concession at Britt, the Jacksonville Rotary Club has two major fundraisers each year, Fork & Cork, a barbecue and auction held at Rellik Winery—this year, on Sunday, June 8, 4:30-7:30pm (see ad page 23 for info)— and the Jacksonville Wine & Dine Festival held at Bigham Knoll in September. This event is in a small way a replacement for the Oregon Wine Experience and features wineries from the Jacksonville wine district. Funds raised from the Fork & Cork event are dedicated to clean water projects in Mexico and Africa and to help homeless children with their education in Guatemala. The Wine & Dine Festival profits are dedicated to assisting Rogue Valley projects such as the Jacksonville Community Center, the Jacksonville Police Department, and the Dolly Parton Library Project in addition to college scholarships.
Rotary Clubs are unique in that they meet once every week. In Jacksonville’s case they meet at 7:00am on Thursdays at the Bella Union bar. Jerry Hayes remembers, “We originally met at 6:30am in our upstairs meeting room, and I brought in staff to serve a full breakfast. Over time we moved the starting time to 6:45 and then to the current 7:00. We now provide a continental breakfast to simplify things.” Jerry goes on to explain that in 2018 they moved the meeting from upstairs to the bar as it was easier for aging members, but we have taken in six new members in the last few months and our last couple meetings have pretty much maxed out our bar, so we may have to move back upstairs where we can accommodate more people.” But, as he said, “This is not a bad problem to have.”
The current Jacksonville-Applegate Rotary Club President is Shelly Culbertson. Her enthusiasm for the Jacksonville Rotary Club is evident. “My year as president has been so rewarding. I am in awe of the kindness, compassion and generosity of our club members. Each of them wants to make Jacksonville, and globally the world, a better place.”
Hats off to the Jacksonville-Applegate Rotary Club for being such a positive influence in our village and beyond.