Milford Rotary Club celebrated its 100-year anniversary on July 3, 2025. The club was established as Rotary International Club 2098 on July 3, 1925. A reception celebrating the occasion was held on June 21. The book, compiled from research conducted by Claudia Leister, former Executive Director of the Milford Museum with photographs provided by Rich Benedict, organized by Lindsay Kenton, and designed by Shirley Blankers, chronicles the history of the club.
According to the book, the first Rotary Club meeting was held in 1905 in Chicago, Illinois and the Wilmington chapter opened in 1915. The Wilmington club sponsored the formation of the Milford chapter, the sixth that the Wilmington group organized and the second in Delaware. This was the culmination of about two years of planning to form a club in Milford.
“The hope was to better Milford’s business conditions and make the town more attractive, both as a shopping center and a place to live,” the book reads in a chapter titled “The Beginning “which was created using papers belonging to Harvey Marvel. “Several informal meetings were held during this time, but on June 9, 1925, Wilmington club members officiated at the temporary meeting of the soon-to-be Milford Rotary Club.”
R.A. “Buck” Derrickson and G. Marshall Townsend led the charge to create a Rotary Club in Milford as both men were personal friends with Cornelius Garretson president of the Wilmington Rotary. The following Tuesday, 23 Milford business and professional leaders met and formally applied for a charter with meetings set for Fridays at 6:30 PM at the New Windsor Hotel with dinner served.
The first officers of the club were R. Arthur Derrickson, President; C. Donnan Holzmueller, Vice-President; G. Marshall Townsend, Secretary; G. Thompson Reed, Treasurer; Stephen P Toadvine, Sergeant of Arms; George H. Hall, Dr. G. Layton Grier and Dr. S.M.D. Marshall, Directors. By the time the first meeting was held on June 26, the club had grown to 33 member. The first official meeting was July 10, 1925.
“President Derrickson arranged for Miss Dottie Johnson of Philadelphia to sing several popular selections accompanied on the piano by Mrs. Marshall Hugg,” the narrative of the start of the club reads. “The Milford Chronicle reported, “They received a rousing round of applause.” Later in the meeting, President Derrickson was presented with an official Rotary pin.”
Over the years, the Milford Rotary took on many worthwhile projects with the first being improving education in the city of Milford. Two members, Louder Hearn and William Powder, created scholarship funds for Milford students. In 1939, a second ambulance was obtained. During the war years, the club auctioned war bonds with pledges of $13,000 and then another $40,000. In 1979, the Rotary began a fight against polio with a project to immunize six million children. Daniel and Lee Hirsch, brothers who were active in the Rotary, created funds for the “needy poor” in Milford. The fund, now known as the Lee and Daniel Hirsch Fund, managed by the Delaware Community Foundation, continues to provide funding to organizations that benefit underprivileged people in the area. The Milford Rotary also provided over $146,000 in scholarships over the years.
One of the most ambitious projects taken on by the Rotary Club was the Can-Do Playground, a playground designed for children of all physical and mental abilities. Located in Tony Silicato Park near the Boys & Girls Club, this playground stands as a testimony to the work of Rotarians and their goal to address issues in the area. The playground has ramps, specialty equipment, interactive play stations and soft surfaces. It is also barrier free and the ramps are sturdy enough for adults with disabilities to use for exercise and rehabilitation.
In October 2001, after the events that occurred on September 11, 2001, NASA announced the Flags for Heroes and Families campaign. On November 29, 2001, the space shuttle Endeavor rose on an 11-day mission, carrying 10,000 small American flags. These were later mounted on certificates and presented to survivors, families of victims and first responders.
Soon after, Rotary Clubs across the country began sponsoring their own Flags for Heroes displays. These displays are flown on different days throughout the country with some on Memorial Day, some on July 4, some on Veteran’s Day. On Veteran’s Day in 2015, the Milford Rotary club joined with others to create the initial display in Bicentennial Park. Today, the flags are flown during the Memorial Day holiday. Only in 2021 were they moved from Bicentennial Park. That year, they were flown in front of the Milford Center Nursing Home to honor the brave staff who risked their lives to care for the sick and elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The goal of the program has been to add flags every year and, in 2023, over 400 flags were flown, all donated by individuals and businesses throughout town.
To learn more about joining the Milford Rotary Club and to get a copy of the book celebrating the 100 years of the club, visit them online. To sponsor a flag for the Flags for Heroes display, click here.
