| |
Charles A. Berkey
Detroit, Mich.
Installed August 6, 1917
Founder of Exchange, Charles A. Berkey was active in the
organization up to his death in 1942 at the age of 72. In 1896, in Detroit,
Mich., Berkey, a jeweler by trade, along with a group of other businessmen,
began meeting regularly for lunch. Fifteen years later, on March 27, 1911,
Berkey and 12 associates, many of them members of the original group of
1896, formed the first Exchange Club in Detroit, which remains quite active
to this day. Other local clubs soon followed, and six year later, on August
6, 1917, a group of members of the local clubs formed the National Exchange
Club. Berkey became the first national president.
The greatest monument to the life and works of Charles A. Berkey is the
organization he built. Nearly 100 years later, the ideals he set forth
continue to benefit communities around the country through the dedication of
Exchangites.
Charles D. Sharrow
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Installed September 18, 1917
Charles D. Sharrow was one of the organizers of the
National Exchange Club, and the second Exchangite to hold the office of
National President, serving from September 18, 1917 to September 26, 1918.
He was one of the few men who laid the foundation for the National Exchange
Club at a preliminary meeting held in Detroit, Mich., and later at the first
National Convention at Toledo, Ohio. As a leader of the national
organization in its early days, Sharrow was largely responsible for many of
the policies that govern Exchange. He had much to do with the framing of the
Constitution of the National Exchange Club, and subsequently developed the
structure of mechanics that governed the state level.
Sharrow was founder of the New Era Insurance Association and served as its
president and general manger for 26 years. He was a Mason of high standing,
holding membership in all of the Masonic bodies.
Dr. Charles M. Harpster
Toledo, Ohio
Installed September 26, 1918
Dr. Charles M. Harpster was a charter member of the
Exchange Club of Toledo, and the third national president for the National
Exchange Club. A well-respected physician and surgeon, Harpster was very
active in Exchange and a regular participant at National Conventions and
state meetings. He was the recipient of many honors in medicine and surgery,
and was the author of many medical treatises.
Horatio S. Earle
Detroit, Mich.
Installed September 22, 1919
Re-elected September 28, 1920
Horatio S. Earle was a pioneer member of the Exchange Club
of Detroit, Mich., and the fourth national president of the National
Exchange Club. He was installed in September 1919, and re-elected to the
position the following year, serving until September 1921.
Earle was Michigan’s first state highway commissioner, and his promotion of
road development earned him the nickname, “Good Roads.” As a state senator
from Detroit in 1901, he headed a committee that developed the first plan
for statewide road improvement. He served unofficially and without salary as
state highway commissioner from 1903 to 1905, leading the campaign for
constitutional amendment to permit the state to participate in the building
of public wagon roads. This set the state for establishment of a state
highway department and system. Earle continued officially as commissioner
until 1909, the year the world’s first mile of concrete was laid on Woodward
Avenue in Detroit.
|
