Six Stockton Rotary clubs will join forces, committing time and about $60,000 to four community improvement projects in honor of Rotary International's upcoming centennial.

They are slated to be completed in time to celebrate Rotary's centennial month, February 2005, and include:

* Improvements to Rotary House, a double-wide trailer at San Joaquin General Hospital that provides a temporary residence for family members of patients with serious and/or life-threatening medical conditions ($8,000).

* Replacing the fence around the play yard of Lagorio Learning Center, a facility operated by the Women's Center of San Joaquin County that provides counseling and support services for children who have been victims of domestic violence ($3,850).

* A new shade structure for five picnic tables on the south side of City of Stockton Weber Point Events Center ($23,300).

* A handicapped playground for Walton Special Center, which provides education services to students ages 3 to 22 with severe disabilities who live within Stockton Unified School District ($22,740).

A joint effort of the Stockton, North Stockton, Stockton Delta, Stockton East, Stockton Seaport and Stockton Sunrise clubs, the projects were chosen by the groups' Centennial Committee in an "exhaustive process," said Terry Hull Sr., committee chairman and owner/CEO of Property Management Experts Inc. in Stockton.

Jim Dyke, Rotary assistant district governor and principal at Neumiller & Beardsley in Stockton, said that project funding is from various sources, including matching grants of $500 per club plus $10 per member from the district and a donation of $100 per member from each club.

"All of the clubs have bought into this in order to do something very significant in the city," Dyke said.

"The city needs public-private partnerships for the public good. The government cannot do it all, and there are insufficient tax resources to complete worthwhile projects that provide a better quality of life for our citizens."

Joelle Gomez, executive director of the Women's Center, noted that for the more than 350 children served annually by the Domestic Violence Children's Program at Lagorio Learning Center, the new fence will mean security and privacy.

Past Rotary Club projects have included a World War II memorial at Weber's Point and a playground at the Children's Museum of Stockton.

Beginning this year, five Rotary Centennial Bells will circulate worldwide to every Rotary district, including one special bell, which will travel to the first 100 clubs to join Rotary International. Among these is the Stockton Club, which was formed in 1914 and was the 92nd club in the United States. The bell will be at the Oct. 15 meeting of the club, the largest in Stockton with 225 members.

The bells began their journeys following the June 2003 Rotary International Convention in Brisbane, Australia. Their travels will end in June 2005, when they arrive in Chicago to ring in the start of Rotary's centennial convention.

Formed by attorney Paul P. Harris of Chicago on Feb. 23, 1905, Rotary International today boasts 1.2 million members in 31,314 clubs from 160 countries. Membership in Stockton clubs totaled 462 at the end of 2002.

While originally formed as a means for professionals to develop friendships and business ties, civic service quickly became Rotary's primary focus. Today, Rotary is the largest service organization in the world and is best known for its efforts to eradicate polio.

* To reach reporter Michelle Machado, phone (209) 943-8547 or e-mail mmachado@recordnet.com