Adel Rotary Club Celebrates 100th Anniversary

When it was granted Rotary International Charter No. 170 on April 28, 1924, Adel had a population of 1,500, which made Adel the smallest town in the world to have a Rotary Club. The Club’s chosen 100th Year Anniversary Project was the transformation of Pedal Plaza, a small park located just north of the intersection of Highway 169 and Highway 6 alongside the Raccoon River Valley Trail, providing upgrades of paving, landscaping, a new Rotary bench, a Rotary arched entrance, musical flowers, picnic tables and interpretive signs for the renamed Rotary Plaza. The Project also allowed for the relocation of the drink water fountain, Rotary bike rack, bike repair station, and trash receptacles.

Creating Community in Adel, Iowa

Providing a place for people to gather was a big goal of this project. Rotarians are committed to improving the quality of life for people and creating community. Bikers and walkers now have an inviting space to rest in the shade, repair their bikes at the repair station, park their bikes in the Rotary bike rack, fill their water bottles or get a drink at the water fountain, eat a picnic lunch or an ice cream cone, play the musical flowers and linger to visit with others there. They can take time to read the informational plaques at the Plaza or join in the popup events planned for the space — an art show, a poetry reading, a jam session or a solo musical or theatrical performance.

The Adel Rotary Club will welcome visitors during the event on Friday, May 24 from 4 – 7 p.m. at Rotary Plaza for an ice cream social, face-painting and live music. The Adel Partners Chamber of Commerce will help the Club formally dedicate Rotary Plaza at 5 p.m. Contributors to the Project honored at the Event include the Adel Partners Chamber Trail Committee, T-Mobile, the Rotary International Foundation, the Dallas County Foundation, the City of Adel, The Ball Team, Extreme Tree, Red Fern Landscape Design and the Dallas County Conservation Board.

Courtesy of Lincoln Savings Bank, public vehicle parking is available in the bank’s parking lot just south of the Raccoon River Valley Trail adjacent to Rotary Plaza.

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