Our Club's History

For more than a century, Rotary has been part of the fabric of Marshfield — connecting neighbors, business leaders, and volunteers around a shared commitment to service. Today's Marshfield Rotary Club carries forward the legacy of two clubs that, for decades, each built their own history of impact before joining together as one.

The Beginning: 1919

The Rotary Club of Marshfield was first organized on May 26, 1919, and officially became part of Rotary International just a few months later, on August 1, 1919. From the start, the club brought together local professionals and business leaders around Rotary's founding principle: Service Above Self.

Over the decades that followed, Marshfield Rotary built a legacy of local and global impact — from supporting community institutions to taking on international service projects, including well-drilling initiatives in Haiti and support for the global effort to eradicate polio. Club leadership over the years included many notable Marshfield names, among them early theater owner J.P. Adler and members of the Laird family, whose civic and political influence shaped the region for generations.

In 2019, the club celebrated its 100th anniversary — a milestone marked by a Service Above Self banquet and a joint celebration with the American Legion, another local organization celebrating its own centennial that year. By its 100th year, Marshfield Rotary had contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to local and international charitable causes since 1989 alone.

(Additional history from the club's early and mid-century years will be added to this page as more records are gathered.)

A Second Club Takes Root: Marshfield Sunrise Rotary, 1993

In 1993, Marshfield Rotary sponsored the formation of a second club in the community — Marshfield Sunrise Rotary — which received its official charter from Rotary International on April 12, 1993, with 28 charter members. Sunrise Rotary was notable from its founding for having a membership split evenly between women and men, and it quickly became known for its hands-on approach to service projects, both locally and abroad.

A charter banquet celebrating the new club was held at the Belvedere Supper Club on June 17, 1993, with the charter formally presented by District Governor Robert Zimmerman of Wisconsin Rapids. The club's first elected officers were Michael May (President), Rod Friedrichsen (Vice President), Dee Borendame (Secretary), and Robert Dux (Treasurer).

Charter members: Michael May, Rod Friedrichsen, Dee Borendame, Robert Dux, Dr. Kevin Berg, Richard Day, Natalie Erpenbach, Dan Fischer, Kathleen Kexel, Vicki Kremer, Rev. Jordan Kuczwara, Gregory Lavin, Terri Malueg, Julie Manthei, Dale Marth, Holly Martin, Marla Morgan, Jane Olson, Shirley Person, James Powers, Kay Schaefer, Carol Seidl, Craig Snider, Rhoda Sternitzky, Lanny Stewart, Jane Wagner, Thomas Wepfer, and Dr. Thomas Zoch.

Sunrise Rotary met weekly at the Belvedere Supper Club until early 1994, then moved to the Four Seasons Dining Room at Saint Joseph's Hospital. The club later relocated to the Best Western Innkeeper (later Clearwater's Conference Center, now Hotel Marshfield) in 1997, then to the Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Center in 2011, and finally to the Everett Roehl STEM Building at UW-Stevens Point at Marshfield in 2019, where it continued to meet until its eventual merger with Marshfield Noon Rotary.

By the time of that merger, Sunrise Rotary had grown to more than 50 active members.

One Club, One Legacy: The 2022 Merger

On July 1, 2022, Marshfield Noon Rotary and Marshfield Sunrise Rotary came together as a single club. The merger united more than a century of combined service history, bringing together the strengths, traditions, and community relationships each club had built independently over the decades.

Rather than starting over, the merged club carried forward the best of both by combining resources, volunteer energy, and institutional knowledge to continue delivering the same level of community impact Marshfield had come to expect from its Rotarians, now as one unified team.

Continuing the Legacy

Today's Marshfield Rotary Club stands on over 100 years of Service Above Self, through generations of members who believed in leaving their community better than they found it. From local projects like Rotary Winter Wonderland to global initiatives supporting clean water and disease eradication, that legacy continues today.

Have historical photos, records, or stories from either club's history? We'd love to include them here — contact us to share what you know.

Past Club Presidents

* Marshfield Sunrise Rotary    |    ^ Marshfield Noon Rotary