EUTAW-Though Rotary is a new club for the people of Greene County, it has already generated a lot of excitement. The Club, which meets at the Eutaw First Presbyterian Church’s Fellowship Hall, has been a club for the community to gather, break bread and get to know each other better.

Patty Fuller, who helped establish the club, said they are in their early stages, but things seemed to be headed in a positive direction.

“We are just getting started,” Fuller said. “But we are also getting a very good response from the community.”

Fuller said after moving to Eutaw she realized there were no social organizations like Rotary to allow people to congregate.

“I started with the Greene County Extension Office a year ago and I noticed that at meetings people would always break off into groups and talk,” Fuller said. “I thought it would be nice for us to have an organization where people could engage in conversation and have a good time.”

Fuller has a great deal of experience with Rotary. She has held several leadership positions with the Pickens County chapter including president. She said her love for the organization and the people of Greene County.

“I was an active member of the Rotary Club in Pickens County and a past president,” Fuller said. “I just saw a need in this community for people to come together and everyone else seemed to agree.”

Some charter members include Sheriff Johnny Isaac, Probate Judge Ear line Isaac, County Engineer J.D. Smith and Phyllis Belcher, Executive Director of the Greene County Industrial Board.

The club already has the backing of one of their neighbors. Fuller said the chapter in nearby Aliceville had sponsored them.

“Our club has been sponsored by the Aliceville Rotary,” Fuller said. “We are still in our initial stages, but we hope to be approved to become a charter member of Rotary. We are working to get our application in order and once the application is approved we will get our number.”

The main goal of the new chapter has been to get the people of Greene County together. She said so far, they had gotten more than they had anticipated.

“It has been fun to pull people together,” Fuller said. “You have to have 20 members to charter and we have averaged about 22, so things have gone very well so far.”

Once the members and membership is in place the group hopes to do their part to make Greene County a better place to live. Fuller said she would like to see the club have a positive impact on the community.

“We hope to invest in the community in some way,” Fuller said. “We are thinking of this program as a newborn baby. We know we have to nurture and grow it and it will turn into something we can be proud of. That is what we are doing.”

For now, Fuller said the club is moving full speed ahead. She said they hope to continue to use the momentum they have created and encourage more and more people to join.

“It’s been terrific and we hope to continue to succeed,” Fuller said. “It is really creating a new energy in Greene County and I think we are all really excited about it.”