Fair Oaks Rotary Celebrates 80 Years of Service and Community

“The longer you live here, the more you understand that communities don’t build themselves. People do.”

It was an honor to attend the Rotary Club of Fair Oaks’ 80th Anniversary Celebration.

As I sat visiting with friends and community members throughout the evening, I found myself reflecting on something I said to Katie Yount while looking around the room: “I wish I had met these people sooner.”

When I first moved to the area in 1990, I had no idea how important community would become in my life. But looking around that room, I kept thinking that if I had known many of these people back then, it would have saved me a whole lot of heartache. The friendships, support systems, and shared experiences that develop over time are among the greatest gifts a community can offer, and nowhere was that more evident than at Rotary’s celebration of 80 years in Fair Oaks.

The evening brought together Rotary members, past presidents, community leaders, elected officials, longtime residents, and friends to celebrate eight decades of service, leadership, fellowship, and community impact. Representatives from the Fair Oaks Recreation and Park District, the Fair Oaks Chamber of Commerce, Rotary District leadership, and local businesses gathered to mark the occasion. Certificates and proclamations were presented recognizing the club’s decades of contributions, with congratulations offered by representatives of Senator Roger Niello, Assemblymember Josh Hoover, Congressman Tom McClintock’s office, and Rotary District 5180.

But what struck me most wasn’t the history. It was the people.

As I looked around the room, I recognized faces I’ve seen for years at community events, fundraisers, festivals, grand openings, and nonprofit gatherings. These are the people who continue to show up year after year because they genuinely care about Fair Oaks.

The longer you live here, the more you understand that communities don’t build themselves.

People do.

One of the highlights of the evening was learning that Cathy Smallhouse became the first woman inducted into the Rotary Club of Fair Oaks in 1992, after hearing the story of Rotary’s long path toward welcoming women into membership. I found myself trying to capture candid photographs of her throughout the celebration.

As I watched her visiting with friends and fellow Rotarians, a memory came immediately to mind.

Several years ago, Cathy and I were helping prepare for a Fair Oaks Theatre Festival event at the Grange Hall. She was dealing with mobility challenges, and I was struggling with back problems. The two of us were doing our best, pulling tables from the stacks, opening them up, and placing them where they belonged, then unfolding chairs and getting them set at each table. At the rate we were going, it was going to take all day. So I called Diana Cralle and said, “Help.” Within minutes, Rotary members started arriving. Before long, there were people everywhere, and what would have taken us hours was done in a fraction of the time. Before they left, they simply said, “Call us when you’re ready to take it down.”

That moment has stayed with me for years. Not because of the tables or the chairs, but because it perfectly captured what Rotary is all about. When something needs to be done, people show up. They show up because they care.

One of the evening’s special touches was learning more about the club’s history through Looking Back on 80 Years: History and Personal Recollections of the Rotary Club of Fair Oaks, California, a commemorative book compiled by longtime Rotarian Ralph Carhart. Anyone who has spent time standing next to Ralph at a community event knows what a fascinating person he is. Through photographs, historical records, and personal recollections, Ralph traces the club’s beginnings in the years immediately following World War II and documents decades of service, leadership, and community involvement. Reading through its pages, I was reminded that the Fair Oaks we know today was built by generations of people who cared enough to get involved.

The book also brought to mind another longtime community contributor, Bruce Vincent, who has spent years documenting community life through his photographs. Event after event, celebration after celebration, Bruce can be found behind the camera capturing moments that become part of our collective memory. Together, people like Ralph and Bruce help tell the story of this town in ways that endure long after the events themselves are over.

Speakers throughout the evening highlighted the Rotary Club’s work supporting local schools, scholarships, youth programs, food security initiatives, and international humanitarian efforts. One speaker shared Rotary’s ongoing commitment to eradicating polio worldwide and reminded attendees that while polio has become rare in the United States, it is still only a plane ride away. I immediately thought about stories my mother told me about growing up during a time when families feared the disease and prayed their children would be spared. And then I thought about that afternoon at the Grange Hall, and all the other afternoons like it, and I realized that the instinct is the same. Someone needs help. People show up. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a room full of folding tables or a village on the other side of the world. That is what Rotary does. That is what it has always done.

Earlier this year, Rotary members partnered with Infinite Friends on a community garden project, another example of the club’s hands-on approach to service and community involvement.

The evening itself felt less like a formal anniversary celebration and more like a family reunion. Friends reconnected. Old memories resurfaced. A display of nostalgic candies and gum from decades past, including Bazooka bubble gum and other familiar favorites, sparked smiles and laughter throughout the room. More than a few people joked that they weren’t quite sure they could still chew Bazooka these days, but that was half the fun.

As guests departed, each person received a copy of Ralph Carhart’s commemorative history book. It was a fitting close to the evening because while the celebration honored the past, the spirit that built the Rotary Club of Fair Oaks is clearly still alive and well.

We are fortunate to live in a place like this. A community where people still show up for one another, where service matters, and where friendships are built over decades. The Rotary Club of Fair Oaks has been part of that fabric for 80 years, and judging by the energy and commitment in that room, it will be for many years to come.

Most of what they do never makes headlines. It just makes Fair Oaks better.

How Rotary Continues to Serve Fair Oaks and Beyond

The Rotary Club of Fair Oaks meets every Monday evening at the Fair Oaks Community Clubhouse (7997 California Avenue, Fair Oaks). The doors open at 6:00 pm for social time, dinner is at 6:30 pm, and the meeting begins at 7:00 pm. Dinner and meeting is $25; meeting only is $10.

Their membership is made up of local leaders and community members, and their reach extends well beyond Fair Oaks. Through international service, they fund clean drinking water projects in developing countries. A single rainwater catchment system can transform the lives of 5,000 people in a village for around $5,000. That is the kind of impact this club quietly generates, year after year.

They have also earned recognition for it. Most recently, the club received a Gold Star award from Rotary District 5180, recognizing them as one of the top clubs in the district.

How to Get Involved

There are several ways to connect with the Fair Oaks Rotary Club:

Become a member. If you are looking for a community of people who take service seriously and enjoy showing up for each other, Rotary is worth exploring. Learn more about membership at rotaryfairoaks.org.

Attend a Monday meeting. Guests are welcome. Show up, have dinner, and see what it is all about.

Support the Foundation. The Fair Oaks Rotary Foundation is a 501(c)(3) that funds educational and charitable projects for youth and seniors in Fair Oaks and Sacramento County.

Follow along on social. Stay connected with the club on Facebook and Instagram at @fairoaksrotary.

Questions about the club? Reach the Fair Oaks Rotary Club at info@rotaryfairoaks.org or call (916) 627-9300.