BUCKHANNON – The City of Buckhannon has lost its Rotary Club, but city entities – including the fire department, police department and Stockert Youth & Community Center – will gain monetary resources to help them move forward in their missions.

Mayor David McCauley delivered a statement on the dissolution of the Buckhannon Rotary Club, which took effect Thursday, Aug. 1, thanking the club for the myriad ways in which it aided the city throughout its 100-year history.

“The Buckhannon Rotary Club has been very gracious to our city for decades in ways too numerous to list here,” McCauley said at the outset of Thursday’s regular Buckhannon City Council meeting. “Suffice it to say, our city was very pleased when a few months back, the Rotary Club pledged $10,000 toward our capital campaign to realize construction of our new multi-use building that will soon go up right beside our existing Stockert facility.”

McCauley said one of the club’s final acts was to disburse several monetary gifts to city organizations, including donations of $6,200 to the Buckhannon Fire Department, $5,700 to the Buckhannon Police Department and, “well exceeding their original pledge $15,142 toward our Stockert capital campaign.”

In sum, the former Buckhannon Rotary Club distributed $27,042 to the City of Buckhannon.

“We thank all of the Rotarians for their wonderful gifts that will greatly enhance all of our citizens’ lives in our B-U community,” the mayor added. “I’m also pleased to report that the scuttlebutt is that a new permutation of the Buckhannon Rotary Club is already organizing with many of the old members coming together to continue to perform wonderful work for our ole place.

“We thank the former group for all they’ve done and wish the new group all of the best in the future.”

Taking into account Rotary’s $15,142 donation and, earlier this week, Jenkins Automotive’s $25,000 donation, the SYCC’s capital campaign “has now well eclipsed 300,000,” McCauley said. The goal is $400,000 although additional money to full outfit the facility will likely need to be raised.

“We all are blessed to live in a community where so many aid our good causes,” he added. “When I utter that old line about we’re all in this together, the ‘we’ if very broad indeed.”

Buckhannon fire chief J.B. Kimble, who delivered his report at Thursday night’s meeting, said the Buckhannon Fire Department and the Buckhannon Volunteer Fire Department will both benefit tremendously from the former Rotary Club’s generosity.