From their discussion came the idea for a men's club which would meet weekly and whose membership would be limited to one representative from each business and profession. After enlisting a fifth member, Harry Ruggles, the group was formally organized as the Rotary Club of Chicago. By the end of 1905, the club's roster showed a membership of 30 with Sylvester Schiele as president and Ruggles as treasurer.

The second Rotary club was formed in 1908 in San Francisco, California. The third club was formed in Oakland, California; others followed in Seattle, Washington, Los Angeles, California, and New York City, New York. Rotary became international in 1910 when a club was formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. By 1921 the organization was represented on every continent, and the name Rotary International was adopted in 1922.

From it's original 30 member roster at the end of 1905, the Rotary club has grown to approximately 1.2 million Rotarians, (both men and women) with more than 29,000 Rotary clubs in 161 countries.

The club went on to a $125,000 project in association with the United and Laredo Independent School District to establish aerobic exercise courts on several campuses. The corporate sponsor nationwide was the Wells Fargo Bank of California. Many of our members spent countless hours in the assembly, installation, and maintenance of the game courts for several years. Many of the game courts are still functioning and benefiting students of those schools. The chairman was James Moore.

Our club has always been keenly interested in the healthcare of our area. That interest is supported by the many health professionals we have in our midst. The annual Glaucoma Screening, the Shots Across Texas and Special Olympics projects have been successful as well as beneficial to the community. Dr. Alfredo Trevino and helpers have identified several cases of severe glaucoma in individuals who were unaware of the disease. Rocio Rojas was the driving force behind the Shots across Texas project while Nando Zuniga directed our efforts in the Special Olympics.

The Bulletin has had special significance because of our club member's roots in the Church as well as our bicultural and international heritage. The original artwork was done by a Laredo native who is also a Laredo Community College art teacher, Cynthia Alderete Earle. Kiko Meza, our present bulletin editor, provides the weekly bulletin in full color with updates on what's happening locally, around the state, and around the world.

 The Red Ribbon program all members must complete started early in our history. The program has been used to instruct our new members in the tenets of Rotary. "Newbies" must greet members at the door each week and try to remember names. They must also memorize the "Four Way Test" which also helps to instill in them the tenets of Rotary. After standing before the membership and reciting the "Four Way Test" without error, the red ribbon is removed and they are rewarded with their official Rotary name badge. The President's pin has special significance for the following reasons:

1) Bob Dublin the first District Governor of our district and past president of the Laredo Rotary Club was the owner of the pin. Bob passed away recently. He had maintained perfect attendance for well over 60 years.
2) The diamond in the president's pin was a gift of Mario Bernal, deceased jeweler, a long-time member of the Laredo Rotary Club.
3) The diamond was lost by a past president, but was fortunately found.
4) Our President proudly wears the pin today.

The club's greatest accomplishment to date is the $100,000 Endowment to Texas A & M International University and the $100,000 Endowment to Laredo Community College. The funds were raised through the annual raffle that was started to fund Polio Plus. It has been so successful over the years that we continued the project. 

Our only sergeant at arms, Ernesto Lopez, has extorted fees and various sums of money from our members.  These "fines" are banked and at the end of the year we are able to award a $1,000 scholarships to a graduating senior from each of Laredo's eight (8) high schools. Although we refer to the process as extortion, we cheerfully give for the benefit of worthy students in Laredo.

The annual World Affairs Seminar at the University of Wisconsin has been a favorite project beginning with our first student in the summer of 1987. Our representatives have been exposed to students from around the world. The topics are scholarly in nature and challenging. The first chairman of this project was John McKeown. There have been many other projects too numerous to detail but they include:

1) Border Olympics Tennis Tournament
2) Career Days
3) Each High School has a framed "Four Way Test Banner"
4) Annual Four Way Speech Contest
5) The tree planting at Community Park
6) The sponsorship of the Gateway Rotary Club
7) Annual recognition of an educator

8) Health Screening for High School Athletes

9) RYLA

10) Youth Exchange

11) Athletic Field for the children of a battered women's shelter

12) Interact Club

13) Our first Earlyact Club will be established in 2006
14) And many more.