The Rotary Club of Saskatoon's first meeting.....

The inaugural meeting of the Rotary Club of Saskatoon took place on Thursday, August the 23^rd, 1917 at the King George Hotel. Construction of this establishment had commenced in 1910 and, accordingly, had been named in honour of King George the Fifth, who had ascended the throne that same year; at the time the hotel was considered one of the city's finest.

The  meeting was attended by both the Rotary International President, Leslie E. Pidgeon of Winnipeg and District Governor Jeff Lydiatt; District Governor Lydiatt  visited the club again, a week or two later, to formerly deliver the club's charter. At this first regular meeting, it was established that, henceforth, the club's weekly meeting format would be a noon luncheon and the day of the week would be Monday: this day was proposed because it was generally recognized as 'wash day' and by inference, seemed an appropriate time to be 'out of the house'.

The R.C. of Saskatoon continued to meet in the 'Palm Room' of the King George until December of 1935, when it moved to the newly constructed Bessborough Hotel; to this day, the club continues it's tradition of meeting on Mondays at noon.

The photograph, shown above, of the hotel as it appeared at the time, was taken by Len Hilliard, a noted local photographer, who was later a long serving member of the club.