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Dear Fellow Rotarians,
One hundred thirteen years ago this month, the four
members of Rotary’s first club held their first meeting. Although
no minutes were kept, it’s unlikely anyone talked about service;
the club did not begin focusing on the needs of the community for
another few years.
The meeting was held not in a hotel or a restaurant, but in a member’s
office; there were, so far as we know, no agendas or announcements,
no committee reports, speakers, or nametags. The meeting would have
failed today’s usual standards for a productive Rotary meeting
most resoundingly. It was, of course, the most productive Rotary
meeting ever held.
Today, as in 1905, many of us come to Rotary seeking what Paul Harris
sought: friendship, connections, a place to feel at home. But today,
Rotary gives us so much more than it could ever have given its earliest
members in those earliest days. The Rotary of today, more than 1.2
million members strong, lets us feel at home not only in a small
group of our peers, but also in our diverse clubs, across our communities,
and indeed throughout the world. Today, Rotary connects us all in
a way that Paul Harris could never have dreamed on that February
evening so long ago. Not only can we go anywhere in the world there
is a Rotary club and feel at home, but we can reach out to anywhere
in the world there is a Rotary club and make a difference.
In the 113 years since that first meeting, Rotary has become far
larger, and more diverse, than those founding members could have
conceived. We have gone from an organization that was all white
and all male to one that welcomes women and men of every possible
background. We have become an organization whose stated purpose
is service, reflected in our motto, Service Above Self. And we have
become not only an organization that is capable of changing the
world, but one that has already done so, through our work to eradicate
polio.
None of us can know what lies ahead for Rotary. It remains for all
of us to continue to build on the solid foundations that were laid
for us by Paul Harris and his friends: to forge and strengthen the
bonds of service and friendship through Rotary: Making a Difference.
Ian H.S. Riseley
President 2017 - 18
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Rotary eClub NY1 * Updated 2017
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