Any passer-by would have noticed that something unusual was afoot when a number of gentlemen were seen gathering at the entrance to the Chamber of

(On the left, Charter President William Richmond with Charter Secretary Gordon Roach.)

Commerce Rooms in Hastings just before 11 a.m. on Monday, 7 April 1924. It might have been noted too, that they were from a variety of callings: meat exporter, drapery store proprietor, sawmill owner, hardware merchant, lawyer, station owner, newspaper proprietor, accountant and so on, exchanging greetings and being introduced to some out-of-town gentlemen, evidently of good standing.  It was the initial gathering for a meeting initiated by Auckland as Sponsor Club and presided over by the Honourable George Fowlds. The aims of Rotary were explained and the positive reception given by locals led to the formation of the Hastings club, chartered on 13 June 1924.

From the outset, the club undertook a number of community programmes including preservation of the history of the indigenous (Maori) people, support for the local library and an

(Outside the Assembly Hall, the Hastings Rotary Club motorcade awaits the Old Folks for their return to Park Island Home on the first of the annual outings. The early participants included war veterans wearing their medals and swapping stories that went back as far as 1840.  

The Assembly Hall and adjoining Municipal Theatre were among the few major buildings to survive the disastrous 1931 Hawke’s Bay Earthquake. )

annual outing for the old people in Park Island Home. The work of Rotary had commenced in Hastings! Also, importantly, friendships were established across many public, commercial and professional undertakings, leading to and a broader appreciation and atmosphere of co-operation within the community.

Hastings shared, with the wider community, the tribulations of the depression and World War II but, with our neighbours in Napier, we also suffered the calamity of the Hawkes Bay Earthquake in 1931. This was simply expressed in a letter from W.C. Whitlock to Rotary International reading:

Owing to the terrible destruction caused by the earthquake of Feb 3 in Hawke’s Bay, our source of income for this year must cease. Under these circumstances we cannot take the trip we had anticipated and will thus not be able to represent Hastings Rotary at the Conference in Vienna in June.

“Our disappointment is great. I can assure you that we are staying to try to do our part in the reconstruction of the town. Some Rotarians in Hastings and Napier have suffered terrible losses , men who were well off are the poorest now. Unless one has gone through the experience, it is not possible to realise that so much damage could be done in the course of a moment. The men of Hastings are sticking to their guns and are determined to reconstruct a fine and better Hastings.”

Since those early days, Hastings has grown considerably and the club has developed with it. The excellent atmosphere at the time of establishment has been maintained and mutual support of Rotary and Hastings is exemplified by the many Rotarians involved in all aspects of local politics and business. This relationship has more recently been undermined by the shift of head offices from Hastings to bigger cities and countries so that Hastings icons are now run from places such as Auckland, Sydney and Philadelphia. However there is now a resurgence of traditional agricultural industries, recovery of apple production and enormous investment in vineyards and tourism so that Hastings is a central part of the marketing image of "Hawke's Bay,Wine Country". This is fulfilling the suggestion made by Paul Harris in 1935 that New Zealand could balance trade if greater numbers of American Tourists were encouraged to visit.

Growth of Rotary continued with the sponsoring of new clubs, Waipukurau, Waipawa, Havelock North, Stortford Lodge and Hastings Karamu. Our records show that the theme of Rotary in the years 1925-1936 was "more members for Rotary and more Rotary for the members." This is a lesson we are relearning as we appreciate the need to attract young leaders of the community into Rotary for our mutual benefit. The myth that Rotary is just a service club is being addressed and although it will not be easy, we expect that the 75th combined reunion of the Hastings and Napier Clubs in 1999 will be followed by an even more successful centenary in 2024.

Our emphasis over recent years has been on youth with support of RYLA and Outward Bound as well as our own Youth Scholarships and Awards in conjunction with the Hastings District Civic Awards. Our major fund raiser was the "Golf Classic" which has been emulated by so many that the novelty has been lost. Alternatives are being explored.

Hastings Rotary welcomes the first woman president in 2002. Further changes will be made to ensure that Rotary remains a force for the betterment of our community at all levels. To succeed, we need to revisit the founding principles of fellowship, and networking with fellows in business as espoused by Paul Harris.