Spring Valley Rotary

The Rotary Club of Spring Valley was founded in 1978 and has over 100 members dedicated to implementing the ideals of Rotary in Northeast Columbia and its surrounding areas. Rotary is a worldwide organization of business and professional leaders that provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world. Approximately 1.2 million Rotarians belong to more than 33,000 clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas. For more information about the international body of Rotary, please visit Rotary.org.

History – Rotary Club of Spring Valley (Columbia, SC)

Submitted by:   Stephen Hefner 

October, 2009

Club Member since 1978

Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Forest Acres (Columbia, SC), the Rotary Club of Spring Valley (Columbia, SC) was officially chartered on March 16, 1978.   The charter ceremony was held at the Spring Valley Country Club with 24 members being designated as charter members. 

The first president of the club was Albert E. (Bert) Fitzgerald whose classification was “Insurance – Life.”  Other charter members who would later serve the club as president were Hugh Ryall (Real Estate), John H. Wright III (Commercial Construction), Ted Hayen (Real Estate), Stanley Walker (Insurance), Ben Nesbit (Principal – Spring Valley High School) and Philip Walpole (Chamber of Commerce).  The first non-charter member to be inducted into the club was E. Rabon Rodgers (Chief Financial Officer - Richland School District Two).  The longest continuously serving member of the club is Bob Alexander (Veterinarian) who was inducted into the club in February 1979.

Initially, the club’s meetings were held at the Spring Valley Country Club.  Other than a couple of short-term moves to the Hungry Bull/Western Steer Restaurant (located by Dent Middle School at the intersection of Trenholm Road and Decker Boulevard) and Quincy’s Restaurant (Two Notch Road near O’Neil Court), the club’s home was at the Spring Valley Country Club until 2000.  Following stints at WildeWood Downs and WildeWood Country Club, the club moved to its current meeting site (Grand Hall of Northeast Presbyterian Church) in 2008.

Since the beginning, the Rotary Club of Spring Valley has been cited as a model Rotary Club.  The club has stayed focus on the mission of Rotary International ensuring that all aspects of Rotary (vocational service, international service, club service, and community service) are addressed.   Along the way, the club has sponsored two other clubs – the Eau Claire/North Columbia Rotary Club (1989) and the Blythewood Rotary Club (1998).

Consistent through the years has been the fact that the club has been blessed with strong and visionary leadership.  The club’s fifth president, the late Stan Walker, recognized that a consistent funding source was needed to support the club’s projects.  The club’s annual “Nut Campaign” was launched under his leadership in 1982.  While the club netted only about $3000 in its first year, Stan Walker’s vision for a single club fund raiser has netted almost $1,000,000 over the years—all of which has gone to support student scholarships and community service projects.

Hundreds of students from Spring Valley, Ridge View, and Richland Northeast High Schools have been recipients of the club’s scholarships.   The very first recipient of a Spring Valley Rotary Club Scholarship Kathleen Mayer who became a teacher; following many years as a teacher at the American School in London, Ms. Mayer now teaches right here in our own community at Polo Road Elementary School.

Many on-going community service activities have made significant contributions in our local community.  One profound example of the club’s impact was realized on February 10, 1987.  Early that morning, a fire broke out in a mobile home located within our community.   The home was completely destroyed, but five people escaped with their lives because they had warning from a smoke detector.  That smoke detector had been installed just a few months previously by a team of club members led by Dr. Peter Stahl; club members—in partnership with local firefighters—spent many Saturday mornings installing smoke detectors throughout mobile home parks in the Northeast.

The generosity of club members has not been limited to local initiatives.  For many years, the club has been a leader in supporting many District initiatives (such as the Gift of Life program which for many years was headed by the late David Rauscher, the club’s 11^th President) as well as supporting international projects (such as the eradication of polio) through the work of the Rotary Foundation.  

Throughout the club’s history, the membership has been diverse by race, ethnicity, and vocation.  Spring Valley became one of the first Rotary clubs in the world to admit women.   The club’s first female member, Alise Howard (Human Resources Officer – FN Manufacturing), was inducted on October 13, 1988.

Unquestionably, Spring Valley Rotary Club has a history of which it can be very proud.  And, as rich as the history of the club is, the future of the club—because of the strength of its membership and its unwavering commitment to the tenets and ideals of Rotary—promises to be even brighter.