What: The Rotary Club of Raleigh, the state’s oldest civic organization, is celebrating its 100-year anniversary with a gala celebration that will be attended by Gov. Pat McCrory and Rotary International President Gary C.K. Huang of Taiwan, who is leader of more than one million Rotarians worldwide. They will be joined by more than 300 guests along with Rotary and city leaders from throughout the Triangle and the state at the Raleigh Convention Center. The gala program will include a vignette by the Burning Coal Theater Company comparing a Rotary member from 1914 to one from today.

When: Friday, August 1, 2014.

Reception - 6 p.m.

Dinner - 7 p.m.

Program begins - 7 p.m.

Gov. Pat McCrory remarks - 7:10 p.m.

Rotary International President Huang’s Keynote Address – 8:45 p.m.

Where: The Raleigh Convention Center, 500 S. Salisbury Street, Raleigh, North Carolina

Media can park on Salisbury St. near the Sir Walter Raleigh Statue. Parking passes will be administered upon check-in at the registration desk.

Why: The Anniversary Gala celebrates the state’s first Rotary club in North Carolina. The club was founded on August 1, 1914. Its members have lived up to Rotary’s motto of Service Above Self by completing international and community service projects for the last 100 years. In honor of the club’s centennial anniversary, they have also:

• Donated $200,000 for the establishment of the Rotary Club of Raleigh Dental Clinic, operated by Wake Smiles, which will provide dental care to the medically underserved. The clinic will be managed, staffed and operated by Wake Smiles, a non-profit that provides voluntary dental services. It is located within the Salvation Army’s new Judy D. Zelnak Center of Hope.

• Funded a new exhibit at the City of Raleigh (COR) Museum highlighting both the Rotary Club of Raleigh’s 100 years of service to the community and Rotary’s international service projects on display through early September.

• Commissioned the play A Century of Service: Rotary in Raleigh 1914-2014 by Burning Coal Theater Company to be performed November 21-23, at the Murphey School Auditorium: Burning Coal Theatre in Raleigh. The play will acknowledge the 100-year history of Raleigh through the activities of the first civic club in the state.

These individuals will be available from 6-6:30 p.m. during the reception on Friday, Aug. 1 for interviews:

Gary C.K. Huang, Rotary International president and keynote speaker

• President Huang is a member of the Rotary Club of Taipei, Taiwan. He is the first Taiwanese to be elected as the Rotary International president in Rotary history. The agenda for his 2014-15 term includes increasing membership, specifically among women and young people. His theme for the year is “Light Up Rotary.”

Reagan Weaver, president of the Rotary Club of Raleigh

• He is the Rotary Club of Raleigh President for the 2014-15 term and has been a member of Rotary for 28 years. Weaver is a practicing attorney at Capitol District Law Offices with a civil litigation practice emphasizing employment law and mediation.

Additional Rotary Information/History:

• More than 1.2 million Rotary members worldwide.

• More than 13,000 Rotary members in the state of North Carolina.

• Rotary District 7710 consists of 46 clubs in the greater Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and surrounding communities with approximately 1,800 members.

• Rotary’s name came from the group rotating meetings among the offices of each of the early members.

• After a change in Rotary International’s by-laws in 1989, the club began admitting women.

• Rotary began fighting polio in 1979 and has since seen a 99% improvement in eradication.

• Rotary is committed to Service Above Self, a motto it has served by since Chicago Attorney Paul P. Harris formed the world’s first service organization, the Rotary Club of Chicago, on February 23, 1905. Rotary came to the Carolina’s nine years later with the first club established in Raleigh.

Additional Resources:

• www.raleighrotary.org and www.rotary.org/history

• Photos and cutlines of Rotary Club of Raleigh 100th Anniversary Gala Steering Committee http://communicopiapr.com/client/RaleighRotary/news/