The Rotary Club of Forest Hill was founded in 1952, the same year when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned and the prime minister of Canada was The Right Honourable Louis St. Laurent and gas price was 28 cents per gallon. It was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Toronto and it held its first meeting at the Benny’s Restaurant in the Forest Hill Village on Thursday November 6, 1952. There were 19 chartered members one of them was our beloved late Jack Bennett. The charter President, Walter Barber received the following gifts from other Rotary Clubs:
A bell and gavel from the Toronto clubA Rotary banner from the Peterborough Club
A speaker’s rostrum from the Oshawa Club
A Union Jack and staff from the Fairbank Club, and
A United Nations flag and staff from the Armour Heights Club
Eight new members were inducted in the following year bringing the total membership to 27. It started a legacy of goodwill aimed at helping people in need that has lasted 60 years and counting.
The Rotary Club of Forest Hill was founded on the principle of providing humanitarian services to peoples of the world in an environment conducive to fun and fellowship and to help the Club to grow and to prosper in the future. Many Club traditions were formulated during its first year, and most of those are still observed and honoured today.
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