Rotarians

I attended a Lake Superior Elders presentation covering activities and services associated with the Rotary Club in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. The presentation was provided by Tom Ewing.  I could tell he was a little nervous at first because he was replacing a speaker that was originally scheduled and following in her footsteps could be intimidating for anyone.  Betsy Demaray is currently suffering from some rather serious medical problems.  Betsy has successfully climbed the ladder within the Rotary Club structure by her diligent efforts.  Tom referred to her as an overachiever.  Betsy is now filling a position for the Rotary Club at the international level, very impressive.  I was simply amazed to learn about all the services and activities that the Rotary Club was involved in and the dedicated participation of its members.

The first Rotary Club was organized in Chicago, in 1905, by Paul P. Harris, a young lawyer.  He had a vision of a group of individuals comprised of business and professional men, a club where members might recapture the true meaning of community, associated with comradeship and friendliness.  The way things use to be.  When a neighbor needed help constructing a barn on his property, the neighbors would get together to help him with this project. 

The term Rotary was derived from the concept of rotating meetings in different locations.  The first meeting was held on February 23, 1905.  The goal was to expand the small town, community mindset to around the world.  The group had in mind that membership would include one active member from each business or profession and this concept became the cornerstone of Rotary.  The Rotary Club in the Sault began January 1, 1919.

Women were first officially allowed to become members in 1989.  The U.S. was the first country to allow women to become members.  Although allowed to, not all countries permit women to become members. 

The Rotary Gear (the Rotary insignia), affixed to lapels of men and women around the world, is a wheel with six spokes, twenty-four cogs, and a keyway.  This identifies one as a Rotarian.  Today, 1.2 million business and professional executives belong to 30,000 Rotary Clubs on six continents. I reviewed the booklet describing the Rotary Club in Sault Ste. Marie and I think most types of businesses and professional  were represented.  Part of the requirements of maintaining a membership is to ensure that your attendance is exemplary.   The way it appears the group in the Sault meets weekly and if you cannot attend you are still required to pay for your meal.  A set cost for the meal is arranged.  There are breakfast meetings and nighttime meetings to meet the needs of its members.  The restaurant must be giving some of their proceeds to the club. Members must pay their dues on time. 

Herbert J. Taylor, born in Pickford, MI, and attended high school in Sault Ste. Marie developed the Four Way Test.  This test was adopted by the Rotary Club as a guide for business and for living.  Here it is:

1.        Is it the truth?

2.       Is it fair to all concerned?

3.       Will it build good will and better friendships?

4.       Will be beneficial to all concerned?

I strongly support this way of thinking.  Also, what impressed me were the goals of Rotary International.  They want to eliminate Polio around the world.  The club has provided through extensive fund raising efforts millions of vaccines.  Betsy has traveled all over the world and has met with children and their families from third world countries.  She told a story, via a video, about a little girl who hung out at the local dump to find food and other things she needed.  Lots of children visited this dump on a regular basis.  Betsy became more acquainted with this girl.  And Betsy stated that when you model things perhaps your children and grandchildren will pick up on this and follow in your footsteps.  Her granddaughter gave Betsy this beautiful red dress to give to this little girl.  When Betsy traveled to that county she was able to meet with that girl again and gave her the dress.  This story brought tears to my eyes, how touching. 

Before attending this presentation, I didn’t know a lot about the Rotary Club.  In fact, it didn’t get my attention at all to tell you the truth.  Now that I know there is a program out there with their philosophies I feel a sense of hope.  Betsy told a story again via video about supervising a date for one of her grandchildren and her date. Betsy picked them up from the movie theater and was driving them to their homes.  It was so quiet that she felt she had to bring up some small talk to break the silence.  When it was only her granddaughter in the car, Betsy asked if there was anything wrong.  Her granddaughter replied “no, we were texting each other.”  Technology has provided us with connection to people all over the world; however we are more alone than we have ever been.