The History of the Rotary Clubs of Livonia

President Dave Stechholz opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance. This was followed by a reading by Nancy Darga by Albert Camus, a Pulitzer Prize winner for Peace. Happy Bucks was a assortment of jokes and tributes. There were 17 participants in person and two by Zoom at the meeting.

Special Guests: The first special guest was a young woman named Mandolin Hansen, a former RYLA student from another state. She spoke on behalf of Goodwill Industries. The primary income for the non-profit organization is from its system of Goodwill Stores that sell donated clothing, furniture, and houseware. She pointed out that for every dollar they receive in donations, 92 cents goes to workforce development. Mandolin requested help in enlisting local businesses to sponsor a collection bin for Goodwill. These bins would hold donated goods and be emptied by the organization. Mike Ladwig offered to talk to the Livonia Senior Center and his son Eric Ladwig’s UPS store.

The History of the Rotary Clubs of Livonia: By special request, Deanna Gaffney from the Rotary Club of Livonia (RLC), spoke about the founding of the Club and its offshoot, the Livonia AM Rotary Club (LAMR). 

Deanna and her husband Ron have both served as past Presidents of the Rotary

Club of Livonia. Deanna is following in the footsteps of her father, who was also a

past president of the Club. She has over 46 albums of photos, articles, and artifacts documenting the beginning of the Club, which also cover the LAMR. Being a “History Nerd,” she created the binders from articles and photos given to her by an old-time member. When asked how she planned to pass these valuable historical memos on, she informed the members that her children had been instructed to pass them forward in the club.

The Rotary Club of Livonia was chartered in 1945 before the City of Livonia was incorporated. The Club was instrumental in organizing efforts to incorporate the city and the first Mayor was one of the members. In 1988, the Livonia AM Rotary Club grew from the original club and was chartered with the name Livonia Clarenceville Rotary Club.

Deanna pointed out that many of the annual events held in Livonia grew out of events organized by the Rotary Club. They were adopted by the city when they grew large. The annual SPREE carnival grew from a carnival the RCL hosted yearly behind the Riverside Arena and then the Detroit Racing Club. The Holiday Tree Lighting and Parade was started by RCL and it looks like the annual Easter Egg Hunt hosted by the Club will be transferred over to the city to operate. Rotary Park was started by the club in the 70's after the city asked several service organizations to sponsor a park. Dr. Stuart, an obstetrician, championed the park and pictures were shown of him bulldozing down trees. The club built the main comfort station, park shelter, and universal playground. The City is once again asking the two local Rotary Clubs to join forces to raise funds to rebuild the comfort station and picnic shelter that was destroyed in the storm of 2024. The efforts of the clubs have come full circle.

Nancy Darga