Bob Becker, 59 year Rotarian, shared his perspective on Rotary past, present and future
At the September 8th club meeting Bob Becker shared his very experienced view of Rotary past, present and future.
PAST: Becker joined an Indiana Rotary club in 1956. He said Rotary was a good old boys organization with strict rules compared to today's club. A club could have only 1 member with each vocational classification. Members had to maintain 60% attendance to stay in the club and 4 missed meetings in a row constituted a dismissal from the club.
A 5 year commitment was necessary to become club president: A member had to serve as secretary, treasurer, program chair, vice president before finally becoming President. The program chair was responsible for 52 programs; Bob said that wasn't as hard back then because not as much had been done. The year Bob was President he increased membership from 48 to 81 members, something to be very proud of. Of course he laughingly admitted that was the year Rotary International removed the rule that only 1 member per classification could be allowed in a club. As chair of the district International committee Bob saw the Group Study Exchange (GSE) program introduced. In fact, he was involved in the process so early that his exchange students arrived ahead of Rotary International's protocol on how to run the program!! I'm sure Bob managed to make it a great success by using his typical Becker common sense, creativity and, most importantly, humor!
Bob's past Rotary experiences are too numerous to recount in a meeting program
PRESENT: Central Lakes Rotary Club was conceived in 1990, gathered at the Oasis in 1991 and was officially chartered in 1992. There were 27 members, 1/2 were former Rotarians including Bob. The club has evolved into a strong club winning many district level awards in a district of 66 clubs. We are consistently tops in foundation giving per person, attendance and % of Paul Harris members. Bob's never met a Rotarian who regretted the time and energy spent on the work of Rotary!
Bob initiated the Paul Harris society in order to keep the award named for Rotary founder Paul Harris in front of members. It took 10 years of relentless work on Bob's part to have Rotary International implement the award. Paul Harris Society members pledge to donate $1000 to the foundation annually. Every district in Japan has now adopted a Paul Harris Society chapter. That's a far reaching effect for Bob's efforts and worth the 10 year investment, and one Bob is justifiably proud of.
FUTURE: Bob encourages each of us to attend district conference (he's been to 27 of them!) to feel the spirit of Rotary.
He's thrown out the challenge to us to maintain the health of our club and the spirit of Rotary. While most of us will not achieve Bob's years or level of service, it's a lofty goal for each of us and one that will truly be a gift to the world.