Posted by Kent
Paul Harris founded Rotary in 1905 as a way of capturing in a professional club, the same friendly spirit he felt in the small town of his youth. Today Rotary International boasts more than 1.2 million members in 33,000 clubs worldwide. Rotary members are volunteers who work to improve the lives of people around the world, with “Service Above Self” as the guiding principle. 

The Rotary Club of Bay City is proud to have been able to gift a beautiful piece of public art — a life sized, bronze statue of Paul Harris — to the Great Lakes Center Foundation for installation in Rotary Park at the Pere Marquette Depot. 
 
 
Sculptor Carl McCleskey
 
Sculptor Carl McCleskey was commissioned to produce the bronze statue which was installed near the historic kiosk and completed the Rotary Park project. 

The Statue was made possible by the contributions of many people including Rotarians, non-Rotarians companies and institutions. A permanent recognition of the major donors appears on a bronze plaque on a stone placed near the statue. 

The Harris Bronze was unveiled on September 16, 2014 as one of many celebrations curing our club’s 100th anniversary. We have been pleased by the many people who have visited the statue in the first few months before snow fell. 
 
The theme for the 2014-15 Rotary year - our 100th anniversary year - is “Light Up Rotary.” We hope that this gift will help do just that: let people see an image of the man who started it all! Rotary has been an important part of our community for 100 years. It seems fitting and right that we celebrate what we have done in a public manner so that future generations might be inspired to continue the work Paul Harris started.