TRADITIONS
To begin, to understand the history of the Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar (RCOT), it is best to take note of a few traditions that go back to our very first days, when the ink on the new charter was barely dry.
The club adopted the challenge to become one of the leading clubs in our district in generously supporting Rotary’s International Foundation.
While taking seriously our commitment to serve others – youth, community, and international service – the record shows we’ve never taken ourselves too seriously. Every meeting is blessed by a lot of teasing and laughter. Meetings are always a refreshing break from the stresses and challenges of the workaday world.
What may be the most durable of our traditions is, year in and year out, Bill Kerr (one of our charter members) arrives late for our meetings. His priceless comment, one day when he arrived a bit earlier than usual, “I see we are still singing O Canada!” (Slight correction: When he was president [85-86] he was never late!)
The photo below is of Bill Kerr.
We’ve always been ready to try new things. We were one of the first clubs in our Rotary District to induct women into Rotary. We also found ourselves (2013) being the frontrunner in a new style of organizing and managing international projects. Gathering support from 26 other clubs, with matching grants, we raised $459,000.00 (US) to put water and sanitation facilities into two villages in Uganda.
When a decision is made to move forward on a matter everyone gets behind the endeavour. We’ve never had an occasion when we had factions or groups or lobbies wishing to subvert a decision because they do not agree with it. Pulling together is a product of the friendship and trust that develops when members are in the club for the right reasons, Service above Self.
Okay, now we can get started.