St. Simons Rotary Club "Hall of Fame"
The purpose of the Hall of Fame is to recognize those Rotarians that have been exemplary in their living the Rotary life. They are the individuals that through their efforts have substantially enriched the quality of our club. Their place in our history is significant and should be remembered by the membership of our club.
The criteria for the Hall of Fame were defined so that it is not limited to deceased members. Past members (living or deceased) are eligible.
Hall of Fame members, if living, or their families, if the member is deceased, will be presented with a plaque announcing their induction into the Hall of Fame. The names of all members of the Hall of Fame will be placed in the publications of the Rotary Club of Saint Simons Island.
Awards
The following members were inducted into the St. Simons Rotary Club Hall of Fame starting on November 4, 2007 for their Exceptional Contributions made to this club’s success during their years of membership.
William A. Way
Charter member – Member 1950-1973. Bill was the first President of our club in 1950. He recruited the charter members of the club and led the club organizational efforts.
Edward C. Bruce
Member 1950-1990. President 1952-53. Served as club Treasurer 1955-1983. Helped start the scholarship program as a loan to students in 1954. In 1961 he led the creation of the Scholarship Foundation. The Scholarship Fund Fellowship Award was named in his honor.
Samuel W. Wells
Charter Member – Member 1950-1973. President 1953-54.There was an adage for those not long in Rotary, if you want to know something “ask Sam Wells.” He was a longtime Secretary of the club.
R. William Marshall
Charter Member – Member 1950-1981, Architect. Club President 1954-55. Bill initiated and designed the Rotary Scout Building and led the support to the local Boy Scouts chapter for many years.
Gilbert Tharp
Member 1954-1996, Photographer. Gil was a major benefactor to the Permanent Fund of Rotary International with his contribution of over $150,000. He believed in education and the residual of his estate, $430,000, was given to the St. Simons Rotary Foundation and remains the major basis of the ongoing scholarship awards.
Llewellyn Sobke
Member 1971-2004, Army Colonel. Lew was responsible for founding Taps at Twilight in 1991 and building it into the major annual event that it is today.
Calvin F. Paynter
Member 1985-2014, Grocery Sales Consultant. Treasurer 1988 -97. Cal’s tireless work for the club’s fund raising project of selling American flags raised more than $100,000 that has been used for funding the annual Tap at Twilight program as well as various other charitable causes.
Pasquale (Pat) J. Storino
Member 1997–2014, Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance. Board of Directors.2002-04, President .2006-07, Assistant District Governor 2007-10. For most of his 17 years as a club member Pat was the key person in Flag Sales Management and Taps at Twilight Planning. Pat worked on Rotary almost daily contributing to all requests for help and advise.
William "Pat" Donahoo
Member 1980–2016, Food Science
Board of Directors.1983-85, President .1985-86,
District Governor 1994-95.
Pat was most supportive of Rotary at all levels, had deep respect for
their goals, and had developed warm friendships with many Rotarians. He was a well respected representative from St. Simons Rotary to many District 6920 committees and events.
Clyde Taylor
Saint Simons Island Rotary Hall of Fame member Clyde A. Taylor has been a Rotarian for over 35 years in three different clubs. He joined the St Simons Island Rotary Club in 2000 following retirement and relocation from the Atlanta area. He served as President of Saint Simons in 2003-04 followed by Asst District Governor, GRSP Trustee and in 2009-10 was selected to serve as District Governor for Rotary District 6920. Clyde and his wife Sue are multiple Paul Harris Fellows, Bequest Society Members and Clyde is a GRSP Will Watt Fellow
Following service as District Governor Clyde ran for and was elected to The Glynn County Commission At Large Post 1 . He served one four year term . Clyde is a native of Brunswick GA where his father was a long time member of the Brunswick Rotary Club and two term Mayor of The City of Brunswick.
Hamsa Thota
Past District Governor Hamsa is the president of Innovation Business Development, Inc. (IBD), an innovation management training and consulting company helping client organizations to grow with new products and services.
Hamsa is a member of the St. Simons Rotary Club since 1978 and served as its president in 1983-84. In 1985, he received Rotary International District 6920 Governor’s New Club Builder Award for starting two new Rotary Clubs-the Rotary Club of Jekyll Island and the Rotary Club of Camden County. He served as the Coastal Georgia Area Coordinator for the first Polio Plus Campaign during 1986-1987. He served as the Governor’s Group Representative for five District Governors during 1984-89. In 1988-89 Hamsa served as the District Group Study Exchange (GSE) Chairman and exchanged GSE Team with India. The St. Simons Rotary Club recognized him as the Man of the Year for outstanding service to the Rotary and community in 1991. In 2002 Hamsa received the Four Avenues of Service Citation from Rotary International. In 2021 he received Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
District Governor Hamsa served the Georgia Rotary Student Program (GRSP) as a Host Family, Line Trustee (1993-2000), District Endowment Vice-Chairman (2001-02) and District Chairman (2003-2009). He is an Emeritus Trustee of GRSP (Since 2010), Treasurer of the Georgia Rotary Student Foundation Inc., and District Rotary Foundation Chair for 2021-22.
Hamsa led the Group Study Exchange (GSE) team to India in 2010. He organized the Polio camps in his grandfather’s village in south India (2004-05) and constructed latrines and drinking water wells for the village poor (2001-02). Under the Future Vision program and with funds from the Rotary Foundation (2011-2016), he distributed wheelchairs for the Polio victims, sewing machines for village women, and partnered with D3150 in India to transform government run schools in Andhra Pradesh (south India) into HAPPY SCHOOLS.
Hamsa is a Major Donor, Paul Harris Sustaining Member, Ed Bruce Fellow of the St. Simons Rotary Club; and Hue Thomas and Ronnie Waller Fellow of the GRSP.
He is married to formerly Sindhu Shah who practices Ophthalmology in St. Simons Island. Dr. Sindhu Thota is a Paul Harris Fellow and Ed Bruce Fellow. They have two children. Daughter Devi is an Engineer and Economist and works with Hamsa as a consultant. Son Darshan is a graduate of the US Naval Academy and serves as an Emergency Physician in the Navy, and Chief Medical Informatics Officer at the Defense Health Agency.