On November 6, 1996, with the permission of the District Governor, and cooperation of the Hilton Head Island and Van Landingham Clubs, Ed Dowaschinski, Alan Coyne and others began the process of forming the Sunset Rotary Club.  After four months of Rotary documentation and oversight, Rotary International granted the new club its charter on March 20^th, 1997.  The Sunset Club rounded out the options available to island Rotarians with a Monday dinner meeting choice to complement the Thursday lunch schedule of the Hilton Head Island, and the Tuesday morning timing of the Van Landingham club.  Three Charter Members of the original club (all officers at the time) are pictured below.  (Left to right: Morris Young (Sergeant-at-Arms), Ed Dowaschinski(President), and Alan Coyne (President-Elect) are still active in the "Sunset Club".

On a dual track over those four months, the seven founding members, mostly from other clubs, had to build up a club roster large enough to justify a Rotary Charter.  In those days Rotary emphasized and enforced member classifications to assure a broad base of talent and perspective within a club.  So these members aggressively targeted and successfully recruiting 20 more folks as Charter Members.  The classifications ranged from law enforcement, attorney, insurance, banking, writer/author and many more.  It is an example of club service that is worth remembering..   

Social Hour