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Rift could push club to meet elsewhere
By JIM ROSS, Times Staff Writer INVERNESS -- Dora Hunt, president of the Rotary Club of Inverness, arrived early for the club's meeting Tuesday and made a surprise discovery: The Rotary plaques that hang on a wall of the Crown Hotel, where the club holds its weekly lunch meetings, had been taken down and stacked in the hotel meeting room. Hunt and Rocky Hensley, the incoming president, inquired at the front desk and were told to make an appointment to discuss the matter. Then the woman to whom they were speaking informed them -- quite rudely, Hunt said -- that the club should collect its other belongings and leave. Hunt said she wasn't certain to whom she spoke. But she certainly knew how she felt. Shocked, Hunt reported her encounter to Rotarians as they gathered for their weekly hour of dining and socializing. Hunt is scheduled to meet with the Crown's new owners at 8 a.m. Thursday to determine whether the parties can negotiate an agreement. If they can't, Rotary will find a new place to meet. "We're business people. We have over 50 members who are members of this community in business and education and government in every phase, and to be just so abruptly evicted, I guess," doesn't sit well, Hunt said. "The attitude was very abrupt." One of the Crown's new owners, Thomas Dryburg, did not return a call for comment Tuesday. Rotary has met at the Crown's second-floor meeting room for years. The club keeps flags, banners and other material in the room during the week. The plaques, which list past presidents and award winners, hung on a wall between the Crown lobby and dining room. Longtime owners Jill and Nigel Sumner sold the British-style inn last month. Hunt said she called the Crown soon after the sale and was told by an employee that the relationship between the hotel and club would remain the same for the time being. That's why the encounter Tuesday was so surprising. "No one had really said anything to us," Hunt said. She said she would understand if the new owners wished to end the relationship. After all, they have announced grand plans for renovations. "I don't know what to expect on Thursday," Hunt said. "It left a very bad feeling with our members."
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