Smithfield Ruritan Club celebrates 90 years

Smithfield Ruritan Club celebrates 90 years

The Smithfield Ruritan Club, which on Sept. 9 celebrated its 90th anniversary, is among the oldest chapters in the nation. It was formed in 1935 when 29 charter members – half of them farmers – gathered at the Smithfield Inn, then known as Sykes’ Hotel, to sign a petition for a charter sponsored by the Smithfield Rotary Club. Seven years earlier, the nation’s first Ruritan club began in Holland, Virginia, now part of Suffolk, as the “Business Pr…