Rotary Celebrates 85 Years; Welcomes New Chairman
January 18, 2023
Shown above are Wade Hermansen (left) and Dr. Chad Johnson (right) during a recent Rotary meeting.
Ezra DeVore
Now a month into the Cassville Rotary’s 85th year, Wade Hermansen is set to replace Chad Johnson as Chairman of the Rotary, heading into his 18-month term. The Cassville Rotary is best described briefly as a collection of local individuals who cooperate to bolster one another’s businesses and expend every effort to enrich their community.
“It was a good way for me as a small business owner to get involved,” Wade Hermansen says. “There’s a value to being around people you know, knowing that other people are doing good things, that people are working toward bettering Cassville.”
“The Rotary is a mechanism - historically business owners and community leaders, but it’s undergoing a transformation. It has to evolve. I want the younger individual to understand that they can introduce themselves and their organization to other professionals, other business owners, and actually do good for the community, and help build it.”
Hermansen has spent the last seven years involved with the Rotary and says it has drastically improved his local involvement. “The Rotary is a plug-in to the community.”
Chad Johnson, the former Chairman and another long-time Rotarian, expressed the needs he feels the Rotary assists with.
“Rotary groups are great; that’s where you get into the community. People see that the more you give back, the more you care; people understand that. They take care of me, so you want to give back with what you can.”
Though to both Johnson and Hermansen, cultural and communal events are what give the Rotary its greatest purpose.
“What I love the most is seeing the kids get their scholarships,” Johnson adds, “and seeing families together. I love the rodeo, I love when the kids are playing all around the fence, having fun, and the families bring blankets. You want to give the community the opportunity to do that. I remember that as a kid; those are the things you remember. It’s the community involvement that I love most.”
Now a month into the Cassville Rotary’s 85th year, Wade Hermansen is set to replace Chad Johnson as Chairman of the Rotary, heading into his 18-month term. The Cassville Rotary is best described briefly as a collection of local individuals who cooperate to bolster one another’s businesses and expend every effort to enrich their community.
“It was a good way for me as a small business owner to get involved,” Wade Hermansen says. “There’s a value to being around people you know, knowing that other people are doing good things, that people are working toward bettering Cassville.”
“The Rotary is a mechanism - historically business owners and community leaders, but it’s undergoing a transformation. It has to evolve. I want the younger individual to understand that they can introduce themselves and their organization to other professionals, other business owners, and actually do good for the community, and help build it.”
Hermansen has spent the last seven years involved with the Rotary and says it has drastically improved his local involvement. “The Rotary is a plug-in to the community.”
Chad Johnson, the former Chairman and another long-time Rotarian, expressed the needs he feels the Rotary assists with.
“Rotary groups are great; that’s where you get into the community. People see that the more you give back, the more you care; people understand that. They take care of me, so you want to give back with what you can.”
Though to both Johnson and Hermansen, cultural and communal events are what give the Rotary its greatest purpose.
“What I love the most is seeing the kids get their scholarships,” Johnson adds, “and seeing families together. I love the rodeo, I love when the kids are playing all around the fence, having fun, and the families bring blankets. You want to give the community the opportunity to do that. I remember that as a kid; those are the things you remember. It’s the community involvement that I love most.”
