A large crowd gathered Thursday to honor the Selma Rotary Club’s 100th anniversary. What a remarkable achievement for the club and the city of Selma.

The club was officially chartered June 1, 1916, although members started gathering earlier that year. Selma has one of the oldest clubs in the country. Rotary International itself is 111 years old, founded in 1905 by Chicago attorney Paul Harris.

In yesterday’s newspaper, local historian Alston Fitts provided a short but detailed history on the club’s accomplishments over the years. A complete list would be impossible to compose, but a concise summary is still impressive.

Notably, the club took a bold stand in the 1920s against the Ku Klux Klan by sponsoring a full-page ad in the Times-Journal telling Klan organizers they were not wanted in Selma.

The club also elected its first black president, John Crear, and female president, Frances Turner, in the 1980s.

But past aside, the club continues to work today to make a difference in the community and across the world. The local Rotary Club supports the Rotary International Foundation, which is oh-so-close to eradicating polio across the world.

But locally, the club makes a difference in the lives of many. Members volunteer at countless community events like the annual Veterans Day program and raise money to support many causes like the Salvation Army’s annual Christmas toy drive. The local club is also working with the YMCA of Selma and Dallas County to install bleachers on the youth soccer field the Y is working hard to construct.

Congrats Rotary on this important anniversary, and we looking forward to covering your club for another hundred years.