In a July 1985 address to the Coldwater Rotary Club, Rotary International Governor for District 6360, Tom Sullivan, carried the message from Rotary International recommending a breakfast club be formed to involve more people in the District in Rotary. With the idea planted, members Bob Seaman, Larry Dunworth and Hal Creal began discussing the reality of forming such a club for the Coldwater area. Planning began in March 1986 with the assistance of Dick Marowelli, the District governor’s aide from Quincy.

The first meetings of the provisional club were held at the Quality Inn and Convention Center in July 1986. Rotary International asked the Coldwater Rotary Club, which meets at noon, to sponsor the new breakfast club. With the luncheon club as a sponsor, the Coldwater Township Sunrise Rotary Club was officially chartered on October 8, 1986. The charter membership included 22 members. Sunrise Rotary was the first Rotary Club in Branch County to invite women to join.

Charter officers were President, Bob Seaman; President-elect Larry Dunworth; Vice President Hal Creal; Advisor Dick Marowelli; Secretary Blaine Katz; Treasurer Wayne Haupt. Other charter members included Dick Bettinger, Craig Dally, Tod Dally, Keith Dart, Craig Dunworth, Bob Fischer, Bob Krutsch, Bill McMillan, Norm Heinemann, Bill Renner, Darwin Robison, Robert Rogan, Rex Simmerman, Don Streets, Greg Vorholt and Bruce Young. During the charter year, 20 members became Paul Harris Fellows.

Members set about their work serving the community. An annual money raffle was instituted to raise money for community projects. Membership also began to steadily increase in the new club.

In 1987, a Coldwater Township Rotary Foundation was established. The purpose of the Foundation was to create a fund for club projects. The membership determined that 50 percent of the money raised by the Foundation would be placed in the perpetual fund from which only the interest generated would be used to support scholarships and other community projects. The other 50 percent were to be used to fund community projects the club elected to undertake.

In 1988, member Bob Krutsch gave a presentation on animals and the need for an animal shelter in the community. The building of a Branch County Animal Shelter became the club’s project. Members devoted more than 12,000 hours of volunteer labor over a three-year period, and raised the $275,000 needed for the project. Major projects to fund the animal shelter included the club’s annual money raffle and a special animal shelter lottery held in partnership with WTVB. Members Doug Baxter and Hal Creal were instrumental in organizing the construction of the facility. The Branch County Animal Shelter was completed and dedicated on October 12, 1991. It was given to the people of Branch County by Coldwater Township Sunrise Rotary.



In 1993, President J. Adaire Putnam challenged the membership to identify another, equally important and large-scale community service project. A number of members investigated a variety of community needs. Members Tom and Sharon Shenefield learned that the current Shelterhouse for abused women and children was grossly inadequate to meet today’s needs. Following their informative and moving presentation to the Club, members voted to make securing a new home for the Shelterhouse the next Club project.



Member Hal Creal and his wife, Lillian, stepped forward and donated a large, historic Coldwater home to the effort. The home was named in honor of Hal’s mother Naomi Davis. Under the campaign theme, Because Home Should be a Safe Place, members again donated thousands of hours and raised more than $100,000 in cash, goods and services to renovate the Naomi Davis Home for use multiple families and Shelterhouse staff.



In 1998 Sunrise Rotary assisted with the construction of Kids Kingdom – a community playground for the Coldwater area. With Howard Parsons serving on the Kids Kingdom planning committee he recruited members to donate numerous hours and services to assemble the playground during the construction week. Sunrise Rotary was also recognized for making the largest financial contribution from a service club to support the project.



Sunrise Rotary members have also assisted the Habitat for Humanity organization in 1999 and 2001. Under the leadership of Bruce Young several members have joined forces to form a volunteer roofing crew and have shingled two new Habitat for Humanity homes.



In 2001 Sunrise Rotary members explored the possibility of partnering with the Coldwater-Quincy American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) to construct a pavilion for the growing soccer program. The AYSO pursued leasing land from Coldwater Township to locate the soccer fields and future pavilion. In 2002 plans were developed for the construction of the pavilion and members began actively developing fundraising plans to financially support this project.



During its short life, the Coldwater Township Sunrise Rotary has received two Rotary International Presidential Citations for its two, significant community service projects. This is the highest honor Rotary International can bestow upon a club.



Coldwater Township Sunrise Rotary received a 2002-2003 Presidential Citation in recognition of club, vocational, community and world Rotary efforts. We are one of ten clubs in our 61 club district to receive this award.