As the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary Club’s 100th anniversary is fast approaching, another significant milestone is on the horizon. G-H Rotarian Jim Irwin will soon reach his 50th year of service with the club.
“I don’t think about it too much,” Irwin told The Weekly Villager. “Last year, they brought it up to me and I forgot about it. I guess it has been that long. I joined in 1976, it was in December 1976, so it will be 50 years in December.”
In Irwin’s tenure with the club, he has served as the President for five different terms. In his first 25 years, Irwin served as club president only twice, but in the last 25 years, he has held the position for three different terms.
He acknowledged that with as small as the club has been over the last several years, it has needed someone with experience to lead.
“We have a small club,” he added. “I was glad to help. Once would have been enough, but sometimes, they need people that have experience in a lot of this stuff to sometimes pick the ball up again.”
The 1973 James A. Garfield graduate said that he joined the club just three years after graduating. Following Irwin’s graduation from high school, he worked at his family’s hardware store, and a longtime G-H Rotarian asked him if he was interested in participating in a group exchange program that would have him travel to Japan for six weeks.
“He asked if I would be interested in participating; they would help sponsor and wanted to sponsor someone in the club who was a young guy. So they asked if I would do it and I told him I can’t be away from the business that long, it just would not work,” noted Irwin.
Although Irwin did not take part in the group exchange program, he said that he received an invitation to a club meeting and to join the club.
He said that one of his first duties in the club resulted in his serving on the committee that would select which individuals would participate in the group exchange program.
“It just worked out,” Irwin said. “They were sincere. They enjoyed having me.”
He said that his decision to join the Rotary has been one of the best choices he has ever made.
“I got to know a lot of nice people, good people, hard workers, shaker and movers, and I was glad to add any kind of help I could be. We all have limitations but you can offer your assistance and help because here town government can only do so much,” Irwin added. “They can only go so far. It takes a little extra effort and commitment from service clubs and organizations to put the polish on things.”
In Irwin’s long tenure of service to the Rotary, he has been involved with several significant worldwide projects, such as raising money to help the global fight against polio in the 1980s.
Irwin has directed most his efforts toward local projects aimed at improving the Village of Garrettsville, including dedicating a walking path near the Portage County District Library of Garrettsville in memory of longtime G-H Rotarian Tom Collins, and has been a part of the club’s effort to establish the Storybook Walking Trail along the same path, for kids and parents to enjoy.
“Our Reverse Raffle once a year brings in money in November which we draw upon throughout the year,” he said. “Contributions and sponsorships are key to our funding base for community service.”
Irwin has served as a mentor to some of the younger members of the G-H Rotary Club.
Irwin said that he has drawn on his vast experience to aide younger members in engineering new ideas, by serving as a sounding board to offer sage advice for how it is best to go about things.
“You can mendor a little about how things work but you must not be just an anchor holding them back because we never did it that way before,” he said. “You have to be flexible and not get off on the wrong track about tradition.”
