Ruritan National is a service club located in small towns and rural areas in the United States. It aims to achieve "Fellowship, Goodwill and Community Service". The local clubs are autonomous from the national organization. Many Ruritan clubs sponsor local clubs or chapters of 4-H, Future Farmers of America, or a Boy Scouts of America troop.
Unlike most community service organizations, Ruritan rarely has national programs. Rather, each club surveys the needs of its own community and then works to meet some of those needs. Many clubs provide and supervise community recreational centers, sponsor little league and other athletic programs, sponsor anti-litter campaigns, help the sick and needy and provide a wide range of other activities to help improve their communities.
History
The first Ruritan Club was chartered May 21, 1928, in Holland, Virginia, now part of Suffolk, Virginia.
Since that first club, Ruritan has grown throughout the United States of America, and in doing so, has become "America’s Leading Community Service Organization," with over 30,000 members in more than 1,200 clubs.
Tom Downing of Suffolk, Virginia, and Jack Gwaltney of Holland, Virginia, are known as the co-founders of Ruritan. Gwaltney and Downing recognized the need for an organization where community leaders could meet and discuss ways to make their community a better place in which to live.
The name "Ruritan" was suggested by Daisy Nurney, a reporter for the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot newspaper, and the club’s charter members unanimously adopted "Ruritan" as the organization’s name. The word is a combination of the Latin words for open country "ruri" and small town "tan," interpreted as pertaining to rural and small town life.
The National Office is located in Dublin, Virginia, the location defined by the Ruritan Constitution.
Organization
The Ruritan organization is made of Ruritan Clubs, of which anyone may become a member. Club officers consist of a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Immediate Past President, and 1st-, 2nd- and 3rd-Year Directors. Clubs are organized into zones, overseen by a zone governor and consisting of three to ten clubs at the discretion of the district cabinet. Zones are then organized into districts.
Membership
To become a member, you can:
1. Become an associate member and pay a small membership fee by contacting Ruritan National. You will be placed into the closest Ruritan Club by the national organization.
2. Have a fellow Ruritan sponsor you into the club.
External links
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