March 2nd Address by Rotarian Alan

On Rotary’s birthday, like any other birthday, it is rude to mention the old girl's age. But if any of us reach the ripe old age of 106 we will either be a member of the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman or a bottle of wine in President Mike’s wine rack.
 
The birthday of Rotary has a number of different meanings, it is a cause for celebration, a milestone for any club and a testament to the longevity of this organization we are involved in.
 
I want to talk about what it has meant to be a friend of the birthday girl since we met under a year ago. At first, I was not sure what to make of her, she seemed a bit mysterious, her other friends like president Mike seemed very enthusiastic about her, like a smitten school boy is with his first love, or in the same way a stalker is before the first restraining order. My friends said to me are you not too young and good looking to be with rotary.
 
The more I got to know to her, and understand her, the more I wanted to be around her. The more time I spent with her, the more I came to know how much influence she exerted all around her without me ever realizing it. She works diligently without looking for praise or thanks.
 
Like all good friends, we teach each other lessons, she has taught me that the gifts we possess as individuals, are in turn our presents to rotary. We offer them gladly, willingly and with gusto. Through her, we channel these gifts into meaningful initiatives that help shape and change the world around us.
 
In my case that has been working with the kids in Junior Achievement every week. The wealth of knowledge I have garnered from this experience has been immense. For example, I now know that a 6pm start actually means whenever I feel like turning up, that kfc and burger king are the real food groups and that presenting a chicken salad wrap to a group of teenagers as a food item is the equivalent of offering Donald trump 5 dollars to park your car.
 
I have also learned that some of these kids face real academic problems, basic math and English prove difficult for some and for the most part they suffer from a lack of confidence. Working through Rotary has meant I have been able to positively impact and reach these kids and I like to think make a small difference in how they view and interact with the world.

I am reminded of our JA President John who was voted out shortly after taking office for non attendance and simply not having the gravitas to lead and manage his peers. He became the vice president and didn’t grumble. He didn’t shine with marketing or with finance, but found his voice in the most unlikely of places, sales.  John approached selling with honesty and personality and became the highest seller in the company, generating nearly a thousand dollars. There is a lesson here to be learned by everyone, he bounced back and proved in the end to bring more to the table than his peers.

By being a friend of rotary I have met other inspirational people who tirelessly put themselves to work on behalf of others and the greater good. This has had the effect of pushing me to strive to contribute to both my club and society in general.

Being part of Rotary Sunrise apart from getting up early has meant that I am part of a dynamic club which is forward thinking in its ideas and approach, and one which gets results.

I have learned that when you are at a rotary party and you are playing musical chairs, when the music stops, being a Rotarian you will offer up your chair to another person, and more often than not you will have built that chair in the first place, by funding the project that recycles the wood for the chairs and providing the training to the work men to build the chair. This for me shows the reach and scope of our club. We affect so many people’s lives whether we fully appreciate it or not through our association and participation in rotary.

Like all friendships there are downsides, the early morning wake up calls, Bruce’s lengthy speeches,  the never ending fines, although that is mostly down to the fact I can never find my pins and consistently forgetting the words to the Rotary grace.

But all in all, when the candles have been blown out on the cake, the music has stopped and the last guest has called a taxi, I know that she is a good friend to me and I will be back to celebrate Rotary’s birthday next year and I hope many more thereafter.