John Brown
Blacksburg Rotary Club

John Brown was president of our Rotary Club during 1997-1998 year and was a charter member.

John was born and raised in Blacksburg and graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.A. in Business Administration.  He is married to Mary Jean and they three daughters and eight grandchildren.  He is Director and Past President of Brown Insurance Agency on South Main Street in Blacksburg.  In 1992, he retired from the U.S. Army Reserves with the rank of Colonel. 

Before joining Rotary, John was a member of the Blacksburg Jaycees and served as president of that club as well.  He said, “The Blacksburg Jaycees had 110 members and an incredible number of hands-on projects, such as the sandlot sports programs and development of Caboose Park. Serving as Jaycee president was almost a full time job. 

About his service as president of our Club, he said, “The extensive planning in the early spring and selection of excellent committee chairs made the year as president truly easy and enjoyable. Numerous past presidents were around to make sure I didn't screw things up and with Jim Johnson as Secretary; the club met all District goals. The Red Lion Inn was a convenient meeting location and our membership continued to grow. We have had a number of great local, District and Rotary International service projects over the past 30 years. This past June, I attended the Rotary International Convention in England along with 22,000 Rotarians from around the world. Seeing the large volume of service projects to provide sanitation, drinking water, medical care and humanitarian aide was an emotional experience. It made me very proud to be a member of Rotary. For our club's continued success, we need a stream of hands-on service projects to keep the membership energized.”

John enjoys traveling and following Virginia Tech sports.  He added, “I still enjoy the special club atmosphere of fun and good humor created in part by Page Warner.”

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