Since 1921, the Rotary Club of Conway has been inspiring and unifying community leaders through a legacy of service above self. The mission of the Rotary Club of Conway is to enrich lives locally and internationally through service, education, networking, and leadership. Club members meet each Thursday from Noon-1:00 p.m. at the Hole in the Wall Café. You are invited to visit and see what we are all about!
read more
Jan. 18 - Jack Bell - Toad Suck Ferry
Jan. 25 - Judge Chris Carnahan - Sobriety Court
Feb. 1 - Brad Teague - UCA Aviation Academy
Since 1921, the Rotary Club of Conway has been inspiring and unifying community leaders through a legacy of service above self. Below are the incredible leaders who have led this organization as Club President:
2018-19 Ed Linck
2017-18 Michael D’Almeida
2016-17 Lisa Garner
2015-16 Sancy Faulk
2014-15 Joan Shofner
2013-14 Roger Lewis
2012-13 Rik Sowell
2011-12 Bret Carroll
2010-11 John Gierke
2009-10 Sharon Stone
2008-09 Daniel A. Allen
2007-08 Shelley Mehl
2006-07 Bill Simmons
2005-06 Danny Powell
2004-05 Jason Rapert
2003-04 Tom Nelson
2002-03 Ted Smith
2001-02 Sandra Hayes
2000-01 Rodney Todd
1999-00 Terry Kimbrow
1998-99 Barbara Money
1997-98 Richie Arnold
1996-97 Adair Howell
1995-96 Woodrow E. Cummins, Jr.
1994-95 Bill Miller
1993-94 Robert E. McCormack
1992-93 Neil Hattlestad
1991-92 Ray Kordsmeier, Jr.
1990-91 Charles Attebery
1989-90 Scott Moore
1988-89 William E. Yates
1987-88 Bob McChesney
1986-87 William J. Farris, Jr.
1985-86 Freed H. Duncan
1984-85 Thad Stanton
1983-84 George H. Thompson
1982-83 John Havens
1981-82 Fletcher Lowry
1980-81 Bill Humphrey
1979-80 Jim Flanagin
1978-79 Cliff Horton
1977-78 Guy W. Murphy
1976-77 Bo Thomas
1975-76 Jeff Farris
1974-75 B.C. Alread
1973-74 Bill Pate
1973 Robert Sly (July - Nov.)
1972-73 Jim Brewer
1971-72 Clyde Reese
1970-71 Lloyd Westbrook
1969-70 Charles R. Teeter
1968-69 Ashley R. Coffman
1967-68 S.T. Smith, Jr.
1966-67 Thorp Ray
1965-66 Earl F. Rogers
1964-65 Frank Robins III
1963-64 Ben Lewis (Oct. - June)
1963 Lee Reynolds (July - Oct.)
1962-63 John Ray
1961-62 Leo Crafton, Jr.
1960-61 Silas D. Snow
1959-60 Hardin Stark
1958-59 Jeff Farris
1957-58 Guy Camp, Sr.
1956-57 Charles Archer
1955-56 Hal Robbins
1954-55 Thomas G. Wilson
1953-54 Lodie Biggs
1952-53 Walter Browne
1951-52 Paul P. Faris
1950-51 Ralph Cochran
1949-50 George Shaw
1948-49 B.A. Short
1947-48 J.B. Wilson
1946-47 G.L. Bahner
1945-46 Sam R. Adkisson
1944-45 Nolen L. Irby
1943-44 James O. Cox
1942-43 Ivan H. Grove
1941-42 Frank E. Robins
1940-41 Richard T. Steel
1939-40 Robert W. Mosley
1938-39 E. Wainright Martin
1937-38 Harvey C. Couch
1936-37 Royce Wilkins
1935-36 Dan Estes
1934-35 George Bachelor
1933-34 James H. Flanagin, Sr.
1932-33 Ed Leverett
1931-32 Jim W. Workman
1930-31 J. Frank Jones
1929-30 S.T. Smith, Sr.
1928-29 Heber McAlister
1926-27 Cecil Dickerson
1925-26 Doak Campbell
1924-25 Burr W. Torreyson
1923-24 Frank Farris
1922-23 Fred Gordy, Sr.
1921-22 Robert L. Jetton
The Rotary Club of Conway sponsored the charter of the St. Joseph School Interact Club on August 29, 2014. The club boasts 100+ members in grades 7-12. Members host an annual Veteran's Day service and perform countless hours of volunteer service for the school and community.
Interact is a service club for youth ages 14-18. Clubs benefit from sponsorship by individual Rotary clubs, which provide support and guidance. Interact has a membership of over 250,000 youth in more then 11,000 clubs worldwide. It's one of Rotary's fastest growing programs. Interact clubs are self-governing and self-supporting and can be either school or community based. Interact's name is a combination of the words international and action.
The Rotary Club of Conway has conducted multiple water projects in Ghana. Conway Rotarians Jason Rapert, Bret Carroll and the late Mike Pike have worked in several areas of the nation, including Kormantse, Bugri, Basayonde, Dawhenya and Accra. Their mission is to provide accessible, clean water to the people of Ghana. During this time, Rotarians have partnered with non-profits and organizations to help with serveral other projects in this impoverished nation.
The Rotary Club of Conway presents at least two Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) awards annually. The program allows individual Rotary Clubs to honor outstanding local high school sophomores and juniors for their leadership potential, service mindedness and academic record. The honor includes a three-day leadership camp called "Camp RYLA."
Each May, the Rotary Club of Conway recognizes eighth grade students in Faulkner County who exemplify Rotary's motto "Service Above Self." The recognition not only honors the deserving eighth graders that year, but seeks to inspire future eighth graders to become engaged in their community and school. It is believed that civic responsibility developed at an early age usually continues throughout a lifetime.
The Rotary Club of Conway Service Above Self Awards are presented in September on or around the anniversary of 9-11 to representatives from the Conway Police and Fire Departments and the Faulkner County Sheriff's Office. The awards are bestowed on those civil servants who go the extra mile in exemplifying the Rotary motto 'Service Above Self.' Recipients are nominated by their respective commanders with final selections made by the Rotary Club of Conway Awards Committee. The Rotary Club of Conway Service Above Self Awards began in 2011 in recognition of the 10th anniversary of the 9-11 attack and has since become an annual club tradition.
Past Recipients
2017
Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office – Deputy Chase Wilks
Conway Police Department – Detective Melissa Smith
Conway Fire Department – Battalion Chief Scot Erwin
2016
Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office –Investigator Chad Meli
Conway Police Department – Officer Rick Shumate
Conway Fire Department – Captain David Groves
2015
Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office – Deputy Kelsey Dale
Conway Police Department – Detective Jimmy “Bud” Weser
Conway Fire Department – Captain John Skinner
2014
Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office – Wesley Scroggin (Reserve Unit Commander)
Conway Police Department – Officer Thomas Knopp
Conway Fire Department – Engineer Wayne Hartness
2013
Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office - Deputy Howard Hall
Conway Police Department – Officer Will McGary (posthumously)
Conway Fire Department – Engineer Mark McEntire
2012
Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office - Deputy Everett Young
Conway Police Department - Officer Gordon Ball
Conway Fire Department - Engineer Billie Carter
2011 (inaugural year)
Presented on Sept 8, 2011
Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office - Deputy Kellye Hammers
Conway Police Department - Major Bill Milburn
Conway Fire Department - Captain Mike Rhoades
The Touch A Life Care Center is a long-term rehabilitative care center for trafficked children in Ghana, West Africa, and is home to nearly 50 formerly enslaved children. In 2013, the Rotary Club of Conway built the Mike Pike House at the Touch A Life Care Center in Ghana in memory of former club member, Mike Pike, who died unexpectedly in 2006 at the age of 43. Mike and fellow Rotarian, Sen. Jason Rapert, were to depart for Ghana the day after Mike died to commission a Rotary water project for which they were project coordinators.
Before his death, Mike had become engaged and planned to adopt a Ghanaian orphan after marriage. In 2013, the Rotary Club of Conway learned that Mike's mother had left a sizable donation in her will to fund an orphanage project in Ghana. The Rotary Club of Conway continues to work with the Touch A Life Foundation in Ghana. A Mike Pike House expansion is underway which will add outdoor bath and shower facilities, screening for the existing front porch, additional furnishing for the Mike Pike House and a small hut for outdoor living.