Annual Awards

Annually during Boy Scout Week, a Rotary award was presented to the outstanding Boy Scout troop during the past year.  Likewise, annually in the fall, the city championship football team was presented the Rotary Trophy honoring them, at which time the team, coaches and principal were honored at our regular meeting.

 

Another annual function of the Youngstown Rotary Club through the Youth Service Committee was the award of two trophies for speech contests within the high schools of seventeen counties of Northeastern Ohio.  Rotarians acted as co-sponsors with the Speech League of the high schools.  One trophy was a “traveling trophy” which had to be won three times for permanent possession; the other was a permanent trophy awarded annually to the top speech team.

 

Today, the Rotary Club of Youngstown annually honors the top juniors in each of Youngstown’s public and parochial high schools through the Junior Scholastic Program.  Additionally, scholarships are presented from the Student Aid Fund to graduating seniors from the schools to attend Youngstown State University. The local Spelling Bee champion is also recognized in the scholastic awards ceremony.  This program began on May 17, 1946, for the purpose of issuing loans to students to finance their college tuition.  In 1956, the Student Loan fund was changed into the Student Aid Fund to provide scholarships.

 

When the Paul Harris (Rotary Founder) Memorial Fund was set up by Rotary International after his death, the Rotary Club of Youngstown contributed $10 per member to become one of the first clubs in the country to be 100% contributors.