The Torrey Pines Rotary Club may be small, but it’s celebrating 60 years of following Rotary’s motto of putting service above self.
It’s also looking to grow its membership and donate money to more organizations.
In the beginning
Torrey Pines Rotary was chartered June 30, 1964. It was sponsored by the existing La Jolla Rotary Club, a business, service and fellowship organization that was looking to provide a local chapter for the Sorrento Valley, Torrey Pines and University City areas.
“Rotary was more of a business organization in 1964 than it is today, so the occupation of members was important,” according to a history of the Torrey Pines Rotary Club written 10 years ago for its 50th anniversary. “Clubs assiduously made sure that no two members belonged to the same profession. This complicated membership activities because the district assigned geographical boundaries to clubs and expected that the mix of professionals would come from the area within the boundary.”
Nevertheless, 23 founding members were brought on from professions ranging from funeral services to university administration. Bob Hafstrom was the club’s first president.
“The emphasis was on meeting, getting together, sharing ideas and sharing business [through networking],” said Torrey Pines Rotary Club historian and program chairman Gordon Shurtleff. “That was the whole idea, to help each other in their business pursuits. There was a great fellowship, so to speak, when the men got together to form these groups, to have a place to go and talk. They used to sing a lot of songs, and some clubs still do, but it was the love of volunteering, getting things done in the community and working together with people you enjoy being with. It was very special.”
The club originally met at the Torrey Pines Inn (now The Lodge at Torrey Pines), and used various restaurants, hotels and other venues for its weekly meetings.
Rotary International was a men-only organization until 1987, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Rotary clubs cannot exclude women from membership based on gender. That same year, the Torrey Pines Rotary Club welcomed Caryl Ann Frost, making it the second club in District 5340 (which in San Diego County ranges from Fallbrook south to Chula Vista) to admit women.
“Over the years, we have had as many as 40 members,” Shurtleff said. “But each club is different and has its own culture and does its own thing in the community. We have our own identity.”
That identity evolved over time as the membership and ability to make donations changed.
In its early decades, the club wanted to engage in service projects but was only able to fund them with voluntary donations, many of which were matched by the club. But in 1999, it established the Torrey Pines Rotary Foundation, which is independent of the club and still receives contributions.
Some members make annual contributions, others leave bequests.
“Rotary recognizes all donations,” according to the 50th-anniversary history. “Members who donate $1,000 are eligible to become Paul Harris Fellows. Even then, only a handful of members have been able to afford the $1,000.”
Members often take wine to the club’s weekly lunch meetings.
While there is a focus on attracting younger members, its target membership includes those who are retired or nearing retirement “who seek meaningful engagement and social connections.”
Projects
Projects the club has engaged in with the help of the foundation include a scholarship for local students and a program in which the club sends medical students to staff a free clinic in Tijuana.
The club also has contributed to the Guy Fleming Trail in the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, built houses in Tijuana, and supports an orphanage, a refugee program for people coming from Afghanistan, military causes and more.
Torrey Pines Rotary also participates in annual projects such as the Care ‘n Share Toy Drive, which collects stuffed animals (chiefly via a large bin at the San Diego County Fair) to distribute to children in need; donating to Bird Rock Elementary School; “adopting” a family in need every December to help fulfill its gift wish list; and helping send members on an Honor Flight in which military veterans are flown to Baltimore and treated to a dinner and a tour of the war memorials in and around Washington, D.C.
The Honor Flight effort is part of a larger practice to focus on military and veterans causes. Since 2004, Torrey Pines Rotary has sponsored a Veterans Appreciation Day to honor all who served. The event, usually held in the second week of November in conjunction with Veterans Day, has featured veterans and others speaking about military history, events and local issues.
“The main thing is to keep our club engaged,” Shurtleff said. “We’re always looking for local things we can give money to, [because] it is really exciting to see all the things our little club has done with our money.”
Max Gurney
One of Torrey Pines Rotary’s most notable members is 103-year-old La Jolla resident Max Gurney, who has been with the club since 1992 and was honored as Rotarian of the Year in 2009.
“He is so vibrant,” Shurtleff said. “Everyone loves him.”
Gurney joined the Army after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, when he was 20. He was already a multilinguist and was trained in cryptographic and intelligence operations and was stationed in North Africa.
Torrey Pines Rotary helped raise funds for Gurney to have a plaque at the Mount Soledad National Veterans Memorial in La Jolla in 2023. The club also held a celebration of Gurney’s 100th birthday in 2021.
Gurney is scheduled to speak at the club’s meeting Wednesday, Sept. 25, about an Honor Flight he took.
Rotary connections
In addition to providing business and service connections, Rotary offers networking opportunities at chapters around the world.
For example, when Shurtleff and his wife, Penny, were on a cruise to Mexico, her father had a heart attack. Shurtleff met with the local Rotary club and found a doctor among its ranks.
“That doctor saved her father’s life,” Shurtleff said.
Another time, during a trip from Santa Rosa to La Jolla, Shurtleff suffered a chipped tooth and needed a dentist.
“I stopped in the nearest city and found a Rotary club and found a dentist,” he said. “He told me to come to his office and he fixed my tooth. That’s the thing about Rotary — it brings the world together.”
The future
The club, which now has 17 members, has been ramping up a search for new members since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For the last year, our club has been looking to sources where we could promote our club,” Shurtleff said. “One of the things that make us different is, because younger people can’t commit to a weekly lunch meeting and paying $20 to $40 a meal, we have a hybrid meeting format.”
That format alternates between meeting online via Zoom and gathering in person at the Sheraton La Jolla Hotel. Shurtleff said it makes meetings more accessible for those who work and can’t break for lunch for more than an hour every Wednesday.
For more information, visit torreypinesrotary.org. ♦
Originally Published: