Rotary was initially started in 1905 by a Chicago lawyer by the name of Paul Harris who was new the city and wished to meet other men interested in community service. Two other businessmen along with Paul Harris took turns meeting at each others place of business, hence the name Rotary. Seventeen years later Prescott Baker founded the Rotary Club of Yarmouth.

The Yarmouth club was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Halifax and John C. Gass was appointed by the Halifax club to get Yarmouth off to a great start. The first meeting of the Yarmouth club took place on April 28th at the Grand Hotel with 25 members in attendance. The Charter of the club was received at a banquet held at the Ellis house in Port Maitland on July 18th 1922. The early meetings of Yarmouth Rotary were held weekly at the “Lyndsart Tea Room”.

Very little time was wasted getting community projects off to a great start, when the Ladies Improvement Society undertook to provide a supervised program for the South end of town, the Rotary club provided the fence to enclose it. During the festive season Rotary remembered the poor and service 125 youngsters at a banquet at the YMCA. During the summer of 1923 the club undertook the project to beautify and recondition the memorial Park which is behind the new library. In 1924 Rotary held its first Minstrel show and 14 of these shows were produced between that time and 1941.

Through the years Yarmouth Rotary has supported many worthy projects in our area. Our work with crippled children dates back to the early years of the club along with numerous projects being completed over the years.

The founder Prescott Baker wasted no time advancing in the ranks of the Rotary and held the position of District Governor in 1924. The Yarmouth club has had 2 additional District Governors Curtis Mackay in 1937 and Lyman Jackson in 1993. The current District is comprised of Nova Scotia, PEI, Newfoundland/Labrador and St. Pierre Miquelon consisting of 44 clubs and 1900 Rotarians. World wide Rotary has 1.2 million members in 163 countries. Over the past few years Rotary has contributed to numerous projects and members have given their time not only to raise funds for the various projects but also to deliver meals on wheels which is one of our main projects. The club has donated $50,000 to the new Hospital expansion and committed $25,000 to the new Mariners Center. A Park project was started in 2000 with the Town donating the land at the top of Prospect St. and as the park progresses it will see trees planted annually. All of the funds raised within our community go back into our community as well as supporting International Projects.