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50 Years ...
HISTORY OF THE BAY ST. LOUIS ROTARY CLUB (Written in 1975 on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary)
On May 25, 1925, a meeting was called at Hotel Weston on North Beach in Bay St. Louis for the purpose of organizing a Rotary Club in this city. Curry Bowen, a Rotarian from Gulfport, presided. The follow ing men were present:
Leo W. Seal	John	C. De Armes
James A. Evans	E. J.	Leonhard
C. G. Moore	John	Osoinach
Dr. C. M. Shipp	E. J.	Gex
George R. Rea	John	Howze
H.	S. Weston	Robert L. Genin
Herbert U. Canty	C. A.	Breath, Sr.
F.	P. Cassidy	Dr. A. P. Smith
G.	E. Templet	Ernest W. Drackett
C. C. McDonald	Arthur A. Scafide
O. T. Arnold	R. N. Blaize
R. W. Webb	S. F.	O’Neal
L. J. Norman	C. G.	Moreau
The first board of directors, elected at that meeting were: E. J. Leonhard, Charles G. Moreau, George R. Rea, L. J. Norman, Emile J.Gex,John Osoinach, and C. C. McDonald. The following officers were elected: E. J. Leonhard, president: Charles G. Moreau, vice-president; Arthur A. Scafide, secretary; and Herbert U. Canty, sergeant-at-arms.
It was decided that the weekly meetings would be held on Wednesdays at Hotel Weston. Dr. Richard Cox, president of Gulf Park College, was district governor of Rotary at the time.
Charter members (not necessarily those present at the preliminary organizational meeting) were as follows. with their classifications:
O. T. Arnold (clothing industry)
R. N. Blaize (recreation)
C. A. Breath (automobile industry)
Herbert U. Canty (mineral oil industry)
Frank P. Cassidy (chemical industry)
John C. De Armes (engineering)
Ernest W. Drackett (transportation)
Dr. James A. Evans (medicine-dental)
Emile J. Gex (law-criminal)
John Howze (insurance-life)
Ernest J. Leonhard (real estate-land development)
C. C. McDonald (building materials)
C. Greer Moore (real estate)
Charles G. Moreau (printing and publishing)
Louis J. Norman (auto industry)
Sardin F. O’Neal (agriculture)
John Osoinach (furniture, fixtures, and furnishings) George R. Rea (finance banking)
Arthur A. Scafide (insurance-fire)
Dr. C. M. Shipp (medicine-medical research)
Dr. A. P. Smith (medicine-physician and surgeon) Horatio S. Weston (lumber industry)
On July 29, 1925, Dr. Cox wired the Bay St. Louis club that he had received notification that its charter had been formally granted. The charter assigned to it was #2102 and was presented at a banquet at the Hotel Weston the same night. Present for the occasion were representatives from every Rotary Club along the coast and some from other clubs throughout the state as well as from New Orleans. Among some of the distinguished visitors were Emile J. Adam, Bill Col-mer, Ray Butler, John Bowes of the L & N Railway, and Carl Marshall.
One of the first projects of the new Rotary Club was a move in September of 1925 to organize a Chamber of Commerce. A committee of thirty to forty citizens was appointed in October, with H. S. Weston as chairman, to get the Chamber formed at once.
The first Ladies’ Night ever held by this club was on November 24, 1925... a Thanksgiving Eve party at Hotel Weston. Part of the entertainment that night was singing by a quartet composed of waiters from the hotel staff, and so excellent was their performance that they sang for Rotary functions for many years thereafter. It was not until the death of hotel owner and Rotarian Howard LeTissier that this tradition ceased.