Club History

Notes from Joe Falcone, Our Club's First President

I first became acquainted with Rotary in the summer of 1932 when I was invited by a Rotarian who had no children to attend a "Father and Son" banquet sponsored by the Rotary Club of Syracuse, NY. I always have remembered this event. 

In 1956, I was invited to join the Rotary Club of Moundsville, West Virginia, where I was employed at the time as a chemical production supervisor for Allied Chemical. I became president of the Moundsville Rotary Club for the year 1961-62. 

1962 was a momentous year for me and my family. After resigning my position at Allied Chemical and completing my year as president of the Moundsville Rotary Club, the family and I moved lock stock and barrel to Olympia where we established a Western Auto store on the Westside of Olympia. In just a matter of weeks, Ted Schmidt, a member of the Olympia Rotary Club, proposed me for membership in that club for which I have been forever grateful. As a result, I became acquainted with all the Olympia "movers and shakers" of that day who were members of Rotary. 

In subsequent years, some attempts were made to establish a Rotary club on the Westside of Olympia, but to no avail. However, in 1974, Paul Zech, then president of the Olympia Rotary club, contacted me to commence the procedure to establish a Westside Rotary club. With the assistance of Hal Socolofsky and Bill Guffey from the Olympia club, the West Olympia club came into being and was chartered on May 25, 1975. 

I have attended 5 Rotary International Conventions in Portland, Orlando, Melbourne, Nice, and Calgary. In 2006 I celebrated my first 50 years as a Rotarian.