The story of the Franklin Carlisle Rotary begins on April 1, 1922 when the Franklin Rotary was chartered with 16 original members, who were all men. The Rotary International organization had been started in Chicago IL in 1905 to provide humanitarian service and to advance international goodwill and peace. The Rotary Motto is: “Service Over Self”. This original group named themselves the “Rotary Club” because they had initially met in each other's offices, but that practice quickly changed to holding meetings at fixed places usually with lunch and a program. Starting in 1928, Franklin Rotary began meeting in the old St. Paul Lutheran church until 1962 when the club moved to the Congregation Christian Church for about five years before moving to the Franklin Methodist church staying there over five decades until the COVID pandemic of 2020.
In 1987, Rotary International provided women with full memberships and 1994 the first woman was elected the Franklin club president. Our current name became the Franklin-Carlisle Rotary Club in 2003. Since the club’s earliest beginnings Student Scholarships have been given annually to local graduating Seniors as well as supporting Rotary District and international programs. Local projects include donations for a Water Fountain at Community Park, benches & a water fountain on Franklin River Walk, and several others. Our club annually distributes free dictionaries to the Franklin and Carlisle Third Graders, assists weekly with the Franklin Farmers Market Setup, as well as giving contributions to several local churches to support their projects. Franklin-Carlisle Rotary holds various fund raising activities including selling our famous chocolate peanut clusters starting each November.