The town of Alleppey has always excelled in socio, cultural and political arena of the State. In its social scenario Rotary International plays a vital role since seven decades. It was in 1948 that a host of prominent Rotarians from Kochi under the leadership of charismatic Jewish Industrialist, late S. Koder, came to Alleppey to explore the possibilities of starting a Rotary Club in Alleppey. They met some of the veteran citizens who were the cardinal stones of the town like A. R. Suliman Sait, then Municipal Chairman, K. C. Karunakaran, founder of Alleppey Co, N. J. Mathew, Director, N. C. John & Sons, Dr. M. S. Ramachandrsn, Dr. T. K. Kuruvilla, V. Kesavan, P. C.Mukerjee, Parthasarathy Iyengar (Pappa Swami), J.
Murugandi, M.L.Janardhana Pai, K. Srinivasan, KassimSuliman Sait, V. Z. Job, so on and so forth. With their untiring efforts, the dream came true and Rotary Club of Alleppey was born in 1949.
The Charter Presentation was held on 25th July 1949 in an august assembly of noble and eloquent intelligentsia and renowned stalwarts from the different cross
sections of the town. RI admitted R. C. Allelppey as Club # 7339, in the then R I District 56, comprising the State of Kerala, part of Tamil Nadu and the whole of Ceylon (now Srilanka). The then District Governor, Col. Wignaraj from Colombo was the Guest of Honour and presented the Charter to A. R. Sulaiman Sait, the Charter President. V.Kesavan was the Charter Secretary. There were 21 Charter members and none of them is alive today. The Banquet was held in Hotel Wayside Inn, north of Tripple Bridge, the only class hotel in those days, owned by the Gujarathi Rotarian C. N. Nariyalwala.
Perhaps one of the greatest achievements of the Club in its seventy years of existence is that the Club issued “Members’ Bulletin” on the very next week on 1st August 1949 and numbered issue 1. It was christened as ‘Royalweeks’ in
1979 when the author first became its editor. The title stands for “Rotary Club of Alleppey Weekly Bulletins”.
The dazzling activities of The club spreads over seven decades
Functioning of a Community Centre on the beach side with a reading room and Adult Education programme, Adoption of a fishermen’s colony , Donation of an Electro Cardiogram, and Ambulance, Padmasri Dr. Modi’s Free Eye Camp
and a record total of 512 operations performed in 1967,Traffic blinking lights at key points, Low cost buildings, Champ pipes, Overhead tanks at the outskirts of
the town, Mortuary at Sahrudaya Hospital, Ambulance Service, Bus Passengers Waiting Sheds at different junctions, Distribution of thousands of soil less Grow
bags with vegetable saplings, LN 4 Prosthetic Hand Fitment Camp were some of the significant projects carried out by the club over the years.
The continuing projects like Rotary - Neelima Merit Evening to honour the laureled students, Youth Activities, Vocational Awards and Jewel of Alleppey Award Presentations are to mention a few.
Yeomen services carried out during the 2018 Super flood havoc and the relief work at the adopted Kayalpuram village in Kuttanad, with an outlay of over Rs.60.00 lakhs was a major project of the Club.The relief work included construction of a house and maintenance of a number of damaged houses.
Rotary Blood Bank at The W &C hospital, Alappuzha
Those days there were no blood banks in Alleppey district and many road accident death cases were reported due to failure in timely blood transfusion. In the Platinum Jubilee Year of Rotary International, RC Alleppey constructed and
dedicated a building with equipments in the W&C Hospital at Alleppey. Managed by the State health department the Blood Bank is still functional and remains only one in the district under the Health Department of Government of Kerala.
Revi Karunakaran Rotary hall
A Community Centre in a prime location at Alappuzha was purchased in 1974 to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of the Club. The Inner Wheel Club of Alleppey also joined the project for fund raising by organizing an entertainment programme with the celebrity singer Usha Uthup. The building underwent face lifts from time to time, like air conditioning and modernizing the hall, A/C Board Room,
The tiled path from the gate to the hall, the canopy in front of the hall, the Recreation room fitted with Billiards table etc. The Club played hosts to a number of key District events like Dist. Conference, District Assembly (3 times) and a host of major District events over the years.
Perhaps the most charismatic member ever produced by our Club is the late PDG. Revi Karunakaran, the doyen of Coir Industry, who shone like a luminous star in Rotary world over. He was a ‘Benefactor ‘, who contributed enormously to the Rotary Foundation and held high positions in RI. He was the District Governor during 1976-77.He authored the book ‘Rotary For Layman’.The saga
continues with his beloved wife Rtn. Betty Karan, who is the first Arch Klump Society (AKS) member of our RI District and its Goodwill Ambassador. The club hall was named as “Revi Karunakaran Rotary Hall’ following the death of Revi in the year 2003.
Rotary Alfa Learning Development Centre
Rotary Alfa Learning Development Centre launched on 29th July 2019 in the Club premises focusing on imparting affordable treatment to children with conditions like Autism, ADHD, Down Syndrome and Learning Disability.
Around 35 children are presently given physiotherapy, occupational therapy, treatment. for learning disability, speech therapy etc from the centre
Luminaries Who addressed The club
Many a luminary from different walks of life addressed our Club. They include: S/s.C.Rajagoplachary, Sanjeeva Reddi, V.V.Giri, Pattom Thanu Pillai, R. Sankar, T.M.A.Pai, P. T. Chacko, B. Ramakrishna Rao, P. K. V, Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, RI President Rajendra. K. Saboo, O. N. V. Kurup, Dr. S. Gupthan Nair, His Excellency Marthoma Valiya Methrapolitha, Jacob Punnose (DGP Retd), Justice
Cyriac Joseph, Dr. Michael Tharakan, etc. and a number of Film stars, ministers and renowned bureaucrats. Thus goes the history of Rotary Club of Alleppey. Born in yesteryears and flowing through the present to the unknown tomorrows, to meet the posterity who will be proud of those who built it with their sweat and toil, money and might, mission and vision. The saga continues..