Middlesex County Rotary Club celebrated its 25th anniversary earlier this year

The Middlesex County Rotary Club celebrated its 25th anniversary in March. It was granted its charter on March 24, 1997 and was initially named the Rotary Club of Middlesex County (Urbanna) because Rotary International at that time required that all Rotary clubs be affiliated with a city or town. A charter banquet was conducted in Urbanna on April 30, 1997 at which time the Rotary district governor presented the club with its official charter and inducted its charter members.

The club was begun by a group of Middlesex County businesspeople who were members of the Kilmarnock-Irvington-White Stone (KIWS) and Northern Neck Rotary clubs. They felt the time was ripe in 1996-1997 for Middlesex to have its own Rotary Club and that they could do more for Middlesex County if it did.

Rotary members first began meeting at The Inn at Urbanna, now the Chesapeake Inn and Half Shell Grill, in late 1996 and published a club newsletter titled the “Innsider.” The core of the founding group included Peter J. Olenick III, owner of Port Financial Services Inc. in Hartfield; Robert Tassone, his business partner at Port Financial; Susan Gordon, branch manager of C&F Bank in Saluda; John McKone, an advertising executive; and N. John Hooper, who served as the liaison to the district governor. These five individuals recruited 29 others who formed the 34 charter members of Middlesex Rotary. Paul Sherwood, now deceased, was the last charter member…