Public ceremony at 11:15 a.m. to dedicate downtown’s Rotary Park today

A small three-quarter-acre park, now known as Main Street Green Park and located at the corner of Vervais Avenue and Main Street at the Main Street bridge over the Arroyo del Valle, will be renamed and dedicated as Rotary Park in public ceremonies that start at 11;15 a.m. today.

The park and a large, 14-foot-tall free-standing clock mounted on a black granite base honors the three Rotary clubs in Pleasanton.

The clubs paid the $25,000 cost of the clock with the city funding the additional $150,000 to install it and complete the park’s plaza that will serve as a gateway to downtown Pleasanton. The remainder of the park, including landscaping, trees, two bocce courts, a barbecue pit and picnic tables, will be added next year, or after California’s current emergency drought conditions end.

Rotary International granted a charter for the city’s first club, Rotary Club of Pleasanton, on June 15, 1965. Pleasanton North Rotary and the Tri-Valley Rotary clubs were chartered in 1987 and 2002, respectively. In combination, the three groups have donated millions of dollars of financial aid, scholarships and thousands of hours of hands-on assistance in community projects.

Pleasanton Mayor Jerry Thorne, members of the City Council and the presidents of the three Rotary clubs will lead the public dedication ceremony, which will start at 11:15 a.m. The club presidents are Scott Raty, Rotary Club of Pleasanton; Tom Hall, president of Pleasanton North Rotary and Carol Vander Meulen, president of Tri-Valley Evening Rotary.

The three Rotary clubs will celebrate their anniversary May 8 with a banquet at Castlewood Country Club, where the original charter award was presented 50 years ago. All three clubs are affiliated with Rotary District 5170 in San Jose, and with Rotary International, a global community service organization with 1.2 million members in 166 countries.