CHRONOLOGY, 1964 - 2004

1966: Members of each class of the Armed Forces Staff College were invited to lunch with the club, beginning in 1966 and continuing until 1997. 

1967: The Chesapeake and Princess Anne clubs were started with Norfolk sponsorship. 

1968: The Rotary Charity Horse Show, a very large project for the club, was presented annually from 1968 though 1975.  It raised $50,000 for the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters over the life of the project to support the purchase of medical equipment. 

1978: The club's sale of citrus for its fundraiser was first reported in the November 30 newsletter. - The first African American member was recruited. 

1979: The President of Rotary International, James L. Bomar, Jr., visited Norfolk to participate in the region's 75th anniversary celebration of RI.  The event was a cooperative project among eight area clubs, spearheaded by Norfolk. 

1980: A vocational visitation project for high school students, now called Career Visitation, was initiated with the Norfolk Public Schools.  - Reach Out to Haiti, a project of Districts 757 and 760, resulted in the construction of facilities and the provision of medical services and supplies to a facility in St. Marc in Haiti.  This project, initiated in 1980, became self-sufficient in 1986.

1983: A van for upgraded transportation of clients was purchased and presented to the Norfolk Senior Center. - Rotations, a new club newsletter, began publication with its first issue on October 4.

1984: The club committed to support the Norfolk Senior Center's expansion of senior day care during the 1985-1990 period with annual contributions which totaled $50,000. 

1986: Revolutionary War-era cannons were restored and mounted on new carriages by the Rotary Club.  They were placed in Town Point Park and presented to the city on July 4, 1986. 

1987: The first three women members were taken in. 

1989: The 75th anniversary of the Rotary Club of Norfolk was celebrated on April 13 with a party attended by more than 150 Rotarians, spouses, and friends. 

1991: A project to repair damaged merchandise contributed by a local toy company resulted in the distribution of more than 1,600 repaired toys to needy children during this single year. 

1992:  The Norfolk Rotary Endowment Fund was established to support local club charities. 

1995: Paint Your Heart Out, a program to paint homes of low-income elderly citizens, was launched.  During the seven years of the project's operation, about 135 homes were repaired and painted. 

1999: In this first year of a multi-year project, members began the development work to start an international service project supporting malaria vaccine development.  - The club was named Conservationist of the Year by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for its work raising funds to support oyster reef restoration.  This fundraising project continued from 1998 through 2002 and raised $145,000 in total! 

2001: RO-Books, a project to distribute books to children in selected Norfolk elementary schools, was started and continues to the present time. 

2004:  The Rotary Club presented a $50,000 check to the leadership of the Virginia Zoo to underwrite renovation of the Zoo's Barnyard Exhibit.  This was the club's Centennial Project.