Club History

Through Rotary International, club charter # 5726 was granted to the Pryor Rotary Club on February 17,1944 by then Rotary International President Charles Wheeler and District Governor Fred Speakman.

The charter banquet was held on March 31st, 1944. The newspaper headlines at that time: “Rotary Club is Presented Charter at Banquet Friday: Largest Banquet Ever Held in Pryor: Eight clubs represented.” 325 people were in attendance at the Graham Community Building! The eight clubs represented were: Claremore, Sapulpa, Muskogee, Vinita, Bartlesville, Nowata, Bristow and Drumright. Claremore was our sponsoring club.

Rotary Club of Pryor, OK Charter Document

The first Pryor Rotary Club President was Norvelle Green, Mortician! The first official meeting of the Pryor Rotary Club was held on February 25th, 1944 with 35 charter members.

Early meetings had programs such as The Four Objects of Rotary, Rotary in the Community, and musical performances by local students. The March 24, 1944 meeting guest speaker was Retired Col. O.W. Hoop, then Dean of the History Dept. at The University of Tulsa who talked about his WWII experiences as an officer in North Africa. June 2, 1944, Judge Dick Jones, Criminal Court of Appeals of Oklahoma spoke about communism and the June 9th program by Tulsa Rotarian Harry Clarke was on the 5th War Bond Drive which was a kickoff to a local Rotary Club Bond Auction event. The Secretary’s duties included telegraphing the monthly attendance reports to the district governor. Below is a group picture from a meeting long ago.