About Our Club

Welcome to the Rotary Club of San Marcos

San Marcos

JOIN US FOR LUNCH AT A WEEKLY MEETING

We meet In Person
Wednesdays at 11:45 AM
VFW Hall
1701 Hunter Road
San Marcos, TX 78666
United States of America
Visitors always welcome at weekly meetings. Lunch begins at 11:45 a.m. and the meeting is called to order at about 12:10 p.m. Rotary is a nonprofit, nonpolitical, nonreligious service organization. The club was charted in 1921.
Upcoming Events
  • Rise Against Hunger
    130 West Holland Street
    Oct 17, 2026 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM Central Daylight Time (UTC-05:00)
  • Pints for Polio
    Thirsty Planet Brewing
    Oct 23, 2026
    5:00 PM – 7:30 PM
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    Latest News
    Dr. Dewey Whisenant Speaks to Rotary on October 28 About Helping After Venezuela Earthquakes
    Dr. J. Dewey Whisenant, MD, joined an international relief effort to provide field hospital care in Venezuela after two earthquakes in June 2026. He will speak about his experiences on October 28 at Rotary. Rotary meets at the VFW Hall, 1701 Hunter Road, at noon. Visitors are always welcome at Rotary meetings.
    Whisenant says that despite a damaged airport and no water, a field hospital was quickly established in Venezuela. Within a week it had an emergency room, operating rooms, pharmacy, laboratory, and 60 beds.
    “It was remarkable to see what could be accomplished in tents,” he said. “In four weeks, the team treated more than 3,000 emergency room patients and performed 250 surgeries.”
    Whisenant is experienced at providing disaster medical relief through Samaritan’s Purse, a medical relief nonprofit. He volunteered to help in Ukraine, Turkey, Israel, and New York City during the height of the Covid pandemic. He will share his firsthand perspective on practicing medicine during a crisis, working with limited resources, and witnessing extraordinary human resilience.
    Whisenant attended school from elementary through high school in San Marcos. His bachelor’s degree is from UT Austin, and his MD from Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. Most of his career was spent working as an emergency room physician before retiring in 2021. He and his wife, Gretchen, is also a physician, moved back to SMTX in 1986.
     

    Rotary Club Sponsors Pints for Polio Event on October 23
    Every October the Rotary Club of San Marcos raises money for polio vaccinations. This year the fundraiser will be on Friday, October 23 from 5-7:30 p.m. at Thirsty Planet Brewing, 110 E. Martin Luther King Drive, San Marcos. Attendees are asked to donate a minimum of $25, and receive 2 pints of craft beer and snacks. Whatever is raised at the event will be matched 2 to 1 by the Gates Foundation.
    Polio is a paralyzing and potentially deadly infectious disease that most commonly affects children under the age of 5. The virus spreads from person to person, typically through contaminated water, and can cause serious paralysis.
    Rotary worldwide has been working to eradicate polio for more than 45 years. Rotary's first polio project was in the Philippines in 1979. More recently, Rotary delivered one billion doses of oral vaccine a year ago and vaccinated 270 million that year. Over the years Rotary has contributed more than $2.9 billion to fight polio and has vaccinated more than three billion children in 122 countries.
    San Marcos Rotary has a goal of raising at least $2,000 for polio eradication this year, which will be matched with $4,000 by the Gates Foundation. This will buy 40,000 does of oral polio vaccine for children. When polio is eradicated worldwide, it will join smallpox as the second human disease eradicated worldwide.
    Peter Baen, chair of Rotary's polio fundraising committee, said that San Marcos Rotary has raised many thousands of dollars over the years to help end polio. "Rotary clubs," he said, "tackle many local problems but polio eradication is a goal shared by 45,000 Rotary clubs in 200 countries around the world."
    Rotary is nonprofit, nonpolitical and nonreligious. The San Marcos Rotary Club is 105 years old.

    There is a chapter of Early Act at Travis Elementary in San Marcos TX. The kids recite Rotary's 4-Way Test every morning at the start of school:

    1. Is it the TRUTH?
    2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
    3. Will it build GOODWILL and better friendships?
    4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
    5. (unofficial) Is it FUN?

    The Four-Way Test of the things we think, say or do is a test used by Rotarians world-wide as a moral code for personal and business relationships. The test can be applied to almost any aspect of life. It was created by the CEO of a company as a set of values for that company, and was later gifted Rotary for use by Rotary when that CEO became the President of Rotary International