This is definitely not your father’s Rotary Club.
This club – Rotary After Hours Club of Little Rock – was founded five years ago this month by people who didn’t have the time or energy to meet once a week for breakfast or lunch. Rotary clubs usually meet weekly at 7 a.m. or noon.
“It’s designed for people who really don’t fit into the traditional Rotary week model,” says John Parke, president of the After Hours Club. “There are people who don’t want to get up for a 7 a.m. meeting.”
“When you think about the lunch meetings and the commute from work to the meeting location, often you spend an hour and a half or an hour and 45 minutes every week, which just doesn’t work for some people.”
Parke is one of those people. He was a member of a traditional Rotary club for about 12 years before becoming a charter member of the After Hours Club. His term as president ends June 30. By day, he heads the Office of Payment Integrity at the state Department of Human Services.
The After Hours Club meets on the first Monday of the month at 5:30 p.m. at the Delta Hotel on Shackleford Road in west Little Rock. The club was originally formed by the Rotary Club of West Little Rock with the stipulation that it meet in that part of town.
“They start on the first Monday of the month,” Parke says of the monthly meeting. “It’s a good opportunity to visit people and network.”
When Rotary was founded in 1905, the organization’s rules required weekly meetings and a minimum number of members. In 2017, Rotary International recognized that these requirements limited the number of people willing to join, and the organization encouraged clubs to relax their attendance and meeting rules.
“We have the opportunity to meet once a month after work, so it’s not a waste of time and it suits me better,” says Parke. “It fits where I am in my life right now.”
Years ago, only men were allowed to become members. The spouses of Rotarians were called “Rotary Anns.” That changed in 1989, when Rotary International voted to admit female members.
The After Hours Club’s 50 members are roughly 50% male and 50% female. Many were members of other clubs who were unable to fit the weekly meetings into their schedules.
Rotary International is one of the world’s largest service organizations. Rotary’s mission, according to its website, is “to serve others, promote integrity, and advance understanding, goodwill, and peace in the world through a community of business, professional, and civic leaders.”
In addition to monthly meetings, the After Hours Club is typically involved in two service projects each month, as well as the Rotary Reading Ladder, which the club developed to encourage children to read and track their progress.
Children in kindergarten through second grade are encouraged to read at least one hour per week. Students in third through fifth grade are encouraged to read one and a half hours per week. The best readers are rewarded with a film and an awards ceremony.
“I am proud for our members that we have created this and designed it to last for some time,” says Parke of the Reading Ladder.
Other service projects include volunteering at community events such as “Wild Wines at the Zoo” for the Little Rock Zoo and “Soup Sunday” for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. The club also rings bells for the Salvation Army, helps with the Harmony Health Clinic’s World Cheese Dip Championship, and volunteers for Habitat for Humanity of Central Arkansas.
“I’m a Rotarian because it serves multiple purposes. First, you meet new people. You make new friends,” says Parke. “But you also get to work on service projects that improve the community. It’s kind of a dual purpose: It’s a social outlet and it’s also a way to do good in your community.”
Parke says his club is the kind of place where “everyone knows everyone’s name,” which is easy to achieve with 50 members. But he says the club is always looking for new members and wants to expand.
For more information about the After Hours Club, visit littlerockafterhours.org.
John Parke is the current president of the Little Rock After Hours Rotary Club. Unlike traditional Rotary clubs, After Hours meets only once a month at 5:30 p.m. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Cary Jenkins)
