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When the community of Rancho Bernardo was in its infancy, a group of new residents, all past Rotarians, joined together with the intention to eventually form a local Rotary Club, they named themselves the Gear Club. Weekly meetings were held at the Seven Oaks Community Center. After attracting additional members they were granted a charter on November 26, 1964 by Rotary International. The chartered members numbered twenty-seven and the Poway Rotary Club was the sponsoring club.
Initially, Rotary International was skeptical that a community that consisted primarily of senior citizens could become a viable organization. However, one of the founding members was Charley Dyer, former assistant secretary of Rotary International and he along with new Rancho Bernardo resident and former Treasurer of Rotary International, Robert Hilkert, convinced Evanston that the community was growing and becoming a more youthful area. The charter presentation meeting and dinner took place at the Planet Room of Palomar Lanes in Escondido on February 2, 1965.
Membership grew and the club became a major contributor to the well being of Rancho Bernardo citizens, young and old. It also leveraged its good works by sponsoring two additional clubs, the Rotary Club of Rancho Penasquitos and the Rotary Club of Rancho Bernardo, Sunrise, in May of 1988. Two events that have contributed to our success in doing Rotary's work, have been the creation of our own Rotary Club Foundation in 1978 with a median six figure endowment fund at present and the admission of women into Rotary in July of 1987.
The club belongs to Rotary District 5340 which contains approximately 60 clubs located in San Diego and Imperial Counties in California.