News Flash

Mayor Joe Gibbons presented a resolution on behalf of Council to Caldwell Rotary Club member and Councilman Ralph Prestwood. The resolution highlighted many of the club's important programs during the past four decades. (The resolution is below.)

Councilman Prestwood thanked Council for the recognition and then gave Mayor Gibbons two checks to help fund city projects. The first check was for $30,000 to help pay for new lights at Mack Cook Stadium at The Campus at the Historic Lenoir High School. The second check was for $2,000, which Councilman Prestwood said was seed money for new bleachers at the stadium.

Caldwell Rotary 40 Year Anniversary

WHEREAS, Chicago attorney Paul Harris formed the Rotary Club of Chicago in 1905, so professionals with diverse backgrounds could exchange ideas and form meaningful, lifelong friendships; and

WHEREAS, in 1982, a group of Lenoir residents gathered to start a new Rotary Club in Caldwell County sponsored by the Lenoir Rotary Club, that club would become the Caldwell Rotary Club, and today the club has the earliest meeting time among Rotary clubs starting at 6:44 a.m.; and

WHEREAS, in 1983, Caldwell Rotary helped give birth to high school soccer in Caldwell County by purchasing soccer goals and balls for all three county high schools and games were originally played at Lenoir High School Mack Cook Stadium; and

WHEREAS, Caldwell Rotary started supporting the Boy Scouts in 1984; and 

WHEREAS, the club-sponsored Little League Team won the local championship that same year; and

WHEREAS, Caldwell Rotary donated more than $4,500 from 1984 to 1985 to support Rotary International’s effort to eradicate polio, and a few years later, the club paid to decorate the Caldwell Senior Center lobby and contributed much of the labor for the effort; and

WHEREAS, in 1989, Caldwell Rotary created the Caldwell County Sports Hall of Fame and held the first induction ceremony, and during the last 32 years, 140 individuals and teams have been inducted in the Sports Hall of Fame; and

WHEREAS, One year after its founding, Caldwell Rotary members created the club’s most significant project – the Youth Scholarship Program, which provides a scholarship to one graduating senior from each of the county’s three high schools, and today those scholarships are awarded in the name of the late Carroll Laxton, Club President from 1996 to 1997, and the late Steve Jaynes, Club President from 1997 to 1998; and 

WHEREAS, Caldwell Rotary also provides a yearly scholarship to a local Caldwell Community and Technical Institute student in memory of the late Robert Styres, a Charter Member, Past President, and long-time member of the Lenoir and Caldwell County Boards of Education; and 

WHEREAS, During the past 39 years of the Youth Scholarship Program, Caldwell Rotary has donated $140,000 in funds to support local students and help further their education;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, I, Mayor Joseph L. Gibbons, on behalf of the City of Lenoir City Council, congratulate Caldwell Rotary Club on its 40th Anniversary and thank club members past and present for their many contributions to local and national causes, and I especially thank Caldwell Rotary for supporting Caldwell County youth and students for the past four decades.

This the 6th day of September 2022.
Joseph L. Gibbons, Mayor

Mayor Joe Gibbons and Council present the Caldwell Rotary Club 40th Anniversary resolution to club members Tuesday night, Sept. 6, 2022. Pictured from left: Club Member and City of Lenoir Public Utilities Operations Manager Jeff Church, Club Member and former City of Lenoir Public Works Director Charles Beck, Club Member David Gray, Councilman Todd Purdue, Club Member Chris Cole, Mayor Pro Tem Crissy Thomas, Club Member and Councilman Kent Greer, Club Member and Councilman Ralph Prestwood, City Manager Scott Hildebran, Club Member Bill Sproul, Councilman David Stevens, Mayor Joe Gibbons, Club Member Kevin Miller, Councilman Jonathan Beal, and Club Members Kent Spears and Thomas Welch.