50th Anniversary
From the Anniversary Committee
Dear Members,
It is our great pleasure to kick off The Center Club's 50th Anniversary celebration.
As you know, our Club was founded to be open to business people of all color and religion at a time when every other private club in the city felt free to discriminate openly. Ours is a proud and inspiring history, and one that the Club has built on for 50 vibrant years.
Our anniversary theme is "Baltimore's Original Social Network: Celebrating 50 Years of Making Connections."
While the days of the two-martini lunch are long gone and people today are tracking their friends, family and associates through high tech tools that didn't exist in the 1960s, one great truth hasn't changed in the past 50 years - relationships built on shared interests are the strongest.
The Club brings together business people from companies large and small, whether just beginning their careers or about to retire. Some members use it as a place to network and meet new friends, as a place to impress clients and celebrate business deals. For others it's a place to enjoy a delicious meal in good company of family and friends, or to celebrate a child's college graduation or other special occasion. Whatever purpose the Club has served for you, it all boils down to one thing - connections, both making them and enhancing them.
Over the course of this year, I hope you will be reminded of those connections made and will toast with us as we celebrate these 50 great years of making them.
Patricia (PJ) Mitchell Don Hutchinson
50th Anniversary 50th Anniversary
Committee Co-Chair Committtee Co-Chair
Being in the Know
You may have noticed something unusual about our logo. In honor of our 50th Anniversary, The Center Club commissioned a new look for our stationary and other materials for use throughout 2012.
According to Gerry Hanlon, CEO of HanlonVideoPartners, the logo for our first half-century celebration utilizes the "ah-ha!" principle in logo design. According to Hanlon, "simplicity and sophistication for The Center Club logo were a driving force for its design. By using the original logo as our framework, we developed a mirror image of the 'CC' in the original logo, and added the 'surprise' design element that doubles as both a flag - and a stylized '50."
50th Anniversary Celebrations
Throughout the year, we’ll be hosting events to commemorate our anniversary year, all leading up to the Gala celebration on November 3, 2012.
This will be an exciting year for our 7 IntraClubs – Centurions, the Executive Forum, Gourmet Club, Government Contracting Group, Spanish Roundtable/Mini Mesa, Toastmasters and Women in Business, as they put their own spin on the Club’s 50th through various dedicated events (noted by our special Anniversary Icon), in addition to their normal programming. Look for the Gourmet Club to recreate famous city restaurant dishes during their Taste of Baltimore Dinner, the Executive Forum to host a panel with business owners from the 1960s and the Women in Business to discuss how “We’ve Come A Long Way Baby.”
We cannot forget that another important milestone takes place this year as we commemorate the bicentennial of the War of 1812. Celebrations will ensue from June 13-19th, with the largest fireworks display on the East Coast on June 14th. Holding claim to the best place in Baltimore to watch the fireworks, the Club is planning a great event for our members.
Share your Center Club Memory
Throughout the year, we’ll be featuring members’ favorite memories of the Club. To submit your memory, please email nancy@centerclub.org. Those who submit a memory will be entered in a drawing for a premium bottle of wine of their choosing.
2012 in 2012 Membership Campaign
The Center Club wants to celebrate its 50th Anniversary with 2012 members (and we’re almost there), so we’ve initiated the 2012 in 2012 Campaign that makes the decision to join the Club an easy one.
-Reduced initiation fee of $500 or $250
-Food & beverage credit matched to initiation fee
-2012 prorated annual dues
-No spending minimum
We appreciate when our members encourage others to join the Club, so as a thank you, when you propose a new member you will receive a $100 food & beverage credit for a Resident member and $50 for all other classifications of membership.
Candidates need to complete and sign an application and get the signatures of two current members. The Board of Governors meets the beginning of each month to approve all applications for membership.
For more details or an application, contact Nancy Sloane, Director of Membership and Marketing at nancy@centerclub.org or 410-727-7788 ext. 35.
In Search of Center Club Artifacts
We’ve commissioned Joan Jacobson, a former Baltimore Sun reporter to compile and write a history of the Club for a commemorative publication. Unfortunately, the Club doesn’t have any archives so she will be interviewing members to uncover our past. If you have any old member directories, menus, photos, etc., please consider letting us borrow them.
