Rotary Centennial Clock repaired, rededicated

May 17—At precisely 12:01 p.m. Thursday, Rotary Club of Muskogee members cut the ribbon on their restored Centennial Clock at Muskogee Civic Center.

Rotary president Kimberly Williams said the clock had not worked for many years. The Muskogee Rotary Club Foundation spent nearly $10,000 to have it repaired, she said.

"It tells the correct time," Williams said. "We felt like it needed to be fixed. We had several people from the community ask why it was not working."

The clock was dedicated in 2013 to mark the club's 100th Anniversary. Dr. Ted Hine, a club member for 71 years, recalled raising money for the original clock. The clock cost $40,000, according to a 2013 Phoenix story.

Hine said the club began contemplating in 2010 how to celebrate its centennial. They had considered a park or statues, he said. However Virden Clock Co. made several such clocks for other Rotary clubs across the United States.

"It was a club-sponsored and club-financed thing," he said. "There were some big gifts and some medium gifts."

Donors' names are commemorated on bricks surrounding the clock, as well as on the clock base. The clock base also notes all Muskogee Rotary past presidents and local projects the organization helps.

"We always had a hard time keeping it set because there would be a power outage and it would stop," said Martin Updike, chair of the Muskogee Rotary Club Foundation.

The new clock features technology that wasn't available in 2013.

"We had all the components restored," Updike said. "Then we had a GPS module, an atomic clock so it will set itself if the power goes out. Now we feel like we have a clock that will run into the future."