Use Restrictions

The copyright interests in this collection have been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collection Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Fulks Run Ruritan Club Records, 1958-2008, SC 0198, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va.

Acquisition Information

The collection was donated by Fulks Run Ruritan Club member Chris Bolgiano in March 2009. In August 2011, Chris Bolgiano donated a number of handbooks, meeting calendars, and convention programs.

Processing Information

In order to streamline the process of applying collection numbers, Special Collections staff completed a large-scale renumbering campaign in 2017-2018. This collection was previously cataloged as SC 5020 .

Accruals

May receive accruals; the organization retains recent records.

Administrative History

Founded in 1958, the Fulks Run Chapter of the Ruritan National organization is a community service group in which members work together to improve their neighborhoods through fundraisers, social events, blood drives, pet vaccinations, trash pick-ups, essay contests, guest speakers, and other efforts to aid needy community members. The club has also strived to support students in the area by sponsoring school-related trips and providing scholarships to graduating high school seniors.

After attracting thirty-eight members, Fulks Run natives and charter members Garnett Turner and Andrew Thomas orchestrated the first Ruritan club meeting in March 1958. The Ruritan club developed a close working relationship with Fulks Run Elementary School, aiding in its construction in 1961 and providing funds and supplies to support the school's Weekly Religious Education (WRE) program. On behalf of the community, the Ruritans presented a vocal opposition against the proposed Brocks Gap Dam during the mid-1960s and 1970s and wrote various letters to government officials and attended hearings. The club's annual Fulks Run Lawn Party has become a profitable event held every summer in late July with musical acts, games, carnival rides, and a beauty pageant attracting large crowds from surrounding communities. After thirty-five years as a male-only organization, the Fulks Run Ruritan Club membership grew to include women in 1993.

For more on the history of the Fulks Run Ruritan Club, see Chris Bolgiano's The Fulks Run Ruritan Club, 1958-2008: A Documentary History Fulks Run, Va.: Fulks Run Ruritan Club, 2008.

Scope and Content

The Fulks Run Ruritan Club Records, 1958-2008, consist of meeting minutes, rosters, community service reports, treasurer notes, receipts, correspondence, and handbooks documenting this Fulks Run, Virginia organization and is arranged in two series, Administrative Files and Printed Material.

Series 1, Administrative Files, 1958-2008, consists primarily of monthly minutes from Ruritan club meetings and is arranged chronologically. Records of members' meeting attendance are documented as well as guest speakers, community service efforts, fundraisers, and financial records. Correspondence between Ruritan club members and local schools (particularly Fulks Run Elementary), organizations, businesses, and community members is also present, as well as records pertaining to the annual Fulks Run Lawn Party and July 4th festivities. Loose receipts document local businesses such as Fulks Run Grocery, Neff Lumber Mills, Rhodes Candy Company, Valley Bowling Center, and Mac's Superette for many years prior to 1980 when the club began utilizing a formal treasurer's handbook. The folder containing the year 1960 includes only a single roll sheet with a list of members' names. Two legal sized documents, one dated 1966 and one dated 1977, have been pulled from their original folders and placed in a legal sized folder in Box 1.

Series 2, Printed Material, 1962-2008, includes convention and banquet programs and club handbooks, though not every year is represented.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in two series:

Administrative Files, 1958-2003 Printed Material, 1962-2008

Related Material

For further information regarding the 1985 flood and its impact on the Fulks Run Ruritan Park see Ron Turner's videorecording 1985 Flood: Fulks Run and Bergton, Va. Ron Turner Video Productions, 1985.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Bolgiano, Chris
• Calendars (documents)
• Fraternal organizations -- Virginia -- Fulks Run
• Fraternal organizations -- Virginia -- Rockingham County -- History -- Sources
• Fulks Run Ruritan Club (Fulks Run, Va.) -- History
• Letters (correspondence)
• Minutes (administrative records)
• Programs (documents)
• Rosters
• Ruritan National
• Virginia -- History, Local -- Sources