Rotary exists because people, wherever they are, want to feel connected to others around them, to their community and to the world at large.
The photo shows charter President Dan Conway holding the Club Charter, while DG Charles Butler (D255) looks on.
Early in January, 1961, Bill Weigh, the then President of the Rotary Club of Mt. Isa in District 255, sent a letter addressed to the Mayor of Alice Springs. In his letter, Mr. Weigh advised he, along with other representatives from the Mt. Isa Rotary Club, would be visiting Alice Springs, with the object of establishing a Rotary Club.
There being no Local Government, then in Alice Springs, Dan Conway, the District Officer received the letter and was intrigued and impressed that private citizens would take the trouble and expense to fly from Mt. Isa. He met them at the airport and attended the meeting, on Friday, 17th February at the Gillen Club (now the site of the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress medical clinic), where the founding executive officers of the provisional Rotary Club were elected.
The charter members were:
| Name | Classification | Office |
| Dan Conway | Government Administration | President |
| Len Kittle | Automobile Industry:Retailing | Vocational Service Director |
| Murray Neck | Electrical Appliance: Retailing | Secretary |
| Andy Hogg | Law Court: Reporting | Treasurer |
| Bill East | Industrial Engineering | Community service Director |
| John Ryan | Transportation: Motor Freight | Club Service Director |
| Bob Winkworth | Pure Science: Biological Services | International Service Director |
| Harry Brown | Iron & Steel Industry: Distributing | |
| Stan Cawood | Transportation: Bus Services | |
| Bill Fennell | Public Defence: Air | |
| Colin Ford | Religion: Protestantism | |
| Tony Greatorex | Insurance: General | |
| Glen Hewitt | Electrical Industry: L & P Services | |
| Don Higginson | Mineral Oil Industry: Distribution | |
| Bernie Kilgariff | Poultry: Egg Distribution | |
| Frank King | Furniture: Retailing | |
| Brian Laing | General Merchandising: Department Stores | Bulletin Editor |
| Bill McCoy | Government Welfare | |
| Ted Marron | Newsagent | Club Historian & Librarian |
| Wally Mason | Food Industry: Grocery Distribution | |
| Jim Pyman | Animal Husbandry: Livestock Commissioned Marketing | Attendance Officer |
| Jeff Russell | Finance: Banking | Club Programme Chairman |
| Bruce Verrier | Transportation: Air | |
| Keith Warrington | Agricultural Equipment: Implement Marketing | |
| Bill West Lau | Hotels, Restaurants and Resorts | Sergeant-at-Arms |
The thoughts of Dan Conway, Alice Springs' first Rotarian, is probably reflective of the thoughts of many who are newly introduced to Rotary: "Nor did I have a clue about Rotary except that it was a men's club of some sort".