Forty-two years ago a group of leaders of the Columbus brokerage community formed our club. This group included John Albin, Todd Cartwright, Ralph Elam, Herman Engler, Greenville Pace and Lee Walters. Also helpful were Lowry Sweeney, Ewing Boles and Joe Vercoe.
Mr. Lee Walters took the reins as our first president. At election time that year (February 7th, 1947) the Columbus Dispatch front page said “Fessler Hasn’t Been Approached with O.S.U. Contract”. The business page headlines read “Hot Debate Has Stock Brokers Split Over 5 Day Market Week” and Rails led stock recovery with Pennsylvania R.R. @$26. The 30 Industrials were 93.1 down from prior year 106.
At this time, the first group gathering of 30 to 35 people included all of the Columbus brokerage firms, representatives of the bond departments of local banks and a few small firms located in Dayton, Springfield and Zanesville. This group set the format which has pretty much stayed the same through the years. Raffles, booze and fellowship were the order of the day and still are.
As the group grew, guests from New York, Chicago and other financial centers became frequent visitors. Parties were held at various country clubs, the old Fort Hayes Hotel, Granville Inn, Mound Builders Country Club in Newark, Ohio and the Columbus Club.
In the early sixties, the ladder system of officers was created to add uniformity to the group. Some officers even financed parties out-of-pocket to keep the club rolling during down periods.
By the mid-sixties, the club was growing stronger with the addition of “buyers” as members. In the mid-seventies, the club took on sponsorship of forums featuring the management teams of various publicly held local companies. These afford our membership the opportunity to have first-hand knowledge of those stocks in our “own back yard” and provide a platform for these growing concerns to talk to the Columbus brokerage community.
Providing the opportunity to visit with and get to know the people from various companies in our brokerage community is still the main thrust of our club.
This excerpt appeared in a booklet printed by the Club in 1989
Mr. Lee Walters took the reins as our first president. At election time that year (February 7th, 1947) the Columbus Dispatch front page said “Fessler Hasn’t Been Approached with O.S.U. Contract”. The business page headlines read “Hot Debate Has Stock Brokers Split Over 5 Day Market Week” and Rails led stock recovery with Pennsylvania R.R. @$26. The 30 Industrials were 93.1 down from prior year 106.
At this time, the first group gathering of 30 to 35 people included all of the Columbus brokerage firms, representatives of the bond departments of local banks and a few small firms located in Dayton, Springfield and Zanesville. This group set the format which has pretty much stayed the same through the years. Raffles, booze and fellowship were the order of the day and still are.
As the group grew, guests from New York, Chicago and other financial centers became frequent visitors. Parties were held at various country clubs, the old Fort Hayes Hotel, Granville Inn, Mound Builders Country Club in Newark, Ohio and the Columbus Club.
In the early sixties, the ladder system of officers was created to add uniformity to the group. Some officers even financed parties out-of-pocket to keep the club rolling during down periods.
By the mid-sixties, the club was growing stronger with the addition of “buyers” as members. In the mid-seventies, the club took on sponsorship of forums featuring the management teams of various publicly held local companies. These afford our membership the opportunity to have first-hand knowledge of those stocks in our “own back yard” and provide a platform for these growing concerns to talk to the Columbus brokerage community.
Providing the opportunity to visit with and get to know the people from various companies in our brokerage community is still the main thrust of our club.
This excerpt appeared in a booklet printed by the Club in 1989