The 4 Club Cluster Celebration meeting was held Oct 30^th at Burlington’s Holiday Inn. I didn’t think to take a rough count on the number of attendees but there was a large crowd with possibly close to 150 Rotarians. In the introductions, there seemed to a large number of former District Governors, Past Presidents and other dignitaries, too many to mention. There were 2 featured speakers so I will limit my summary to their presentations.

 

Leslie had 3 key ideas in her presentation: 1) Together we succeed; 2) Rotary’s impact in the world and 3) Grow and Strengthen Rotary.

Leslie felt that cluster projects with clubs working together are key to the work of Rotary. Alone we can do so little – together we can do so much. The cluster idea started with 5 clubs in Mississauga.  It has since spread throughout the District and to other Districts as well. In Rotary, if we all work together with one team, one dream and one voice, we can connect Rotary with the rest of the world. Leslie mentioned that a study on Rotary was taken by John Hopkins’s University and one of the findings was that if all the volunteer hours of Rotarians was assigned a value it would represent $850 million US per year – and that is just in the USA.

 

Regarding Rotary’s impact in the world, most people are unaware of what Rotary does or has done in the many years of its existence with the possible exception of polio eradication.  Leslie recounted just a few examples; a Rotary project was started which later became the Easter Seals project; Rotary Student Exchange; UNESCO; 11 Rotarians served on the establishment of the United Nations; the Shelter Box Program and of course its role in Polio Plus.

 

On the subject of growing and strengthening Rotary, she offered that the news is not so good. In the US and probably the same can be said of Canada, the average age is 74. The US has always maintained a membership ratio of 30% of the world membership of Rotarians.  This has recently fallen to 28% as Rotary is growing in the rest of the world and declining in North America. More members are needed as with more hands, we can do so much more. She said that we need to make Rotary fun. She said that we need to ask new members why they joined and what they expect to get out of Rotary.  We must be evolutionary and even revolutionary sometimes. Rotary must change and sometimes we need to go another way to evolve. Some of our rules cannot meet everyone’s needs.  Cluster Celebrations, online training, membership Mini summits and Rotaract Committees are some ideas she offered. Rotaract was also suggested as a great source of future and younger members of Rotary.

 

Leslie concluded by announcing or reminding  us of the District Conference on May 30^th, 2020 where the theme is Together We Succeed and will feature Team Building Experience as its objective. Leslie thanked everyone for their service to Rotary.

 

Wilf has probably more Rotary credits to his name than probably any other Rotarian in the world. He has served on all kinds of executive positions in Rotary International right down to the Club and District level. He joined Rotary in 1962 in Trenton Ontario.  Back then, his club had a maximum number limiting membership to 50 members although some of this may have been due to classification reasons.  They had 14 people on the waiting list. Wilf became President of his Club in his fifth year (1967). In 1964 he attended his first RI Conference which happened to be held in the Royal York Hotel and Maple Leaf Gardens. He mentioned that the keynote speaker that year was Lester B. Pearson and his message was that peace was impossible unless we get to know one another (I think that can be said today}. Wilf who is 90 years old went on to give an account of his life in Rotary - all the experiences he had and the countries he got to visit.  He said that his role in Rotary happened because he happened to be in the right place at the right time.