Dean - 50 Years of Rotary
In 1959 Dean was asked if he played poker. That was his introduction to the Midland Club. 50 years later he looks back on time gone by so fast to see that Rotary has been a central focus in his life and though he has thought about retiring, the patience of his fellows has got him to stay. He suggests that we shouldn't measure our success as Rotarians so much by the big events but by the ongoing small ones - make each meeting an event in our Rotary lives.
Rotary will happen if you make it happen and it is a vehicle for change in our lives and in the life of our community - one event one day at a time. During his working life, which was often stressful and even tragic, the opportunity to get away for an hour or so often gave him a chance to regain perspective and the fellowship gave him an escape.
The Club in Midland in the 50's and early 60's wasn't really Rotary - members ate and played poker. During the war Midland was a rugged industrial town with shipbuilding, railways and a foundry owned by a company in Dayton. Many of the executives were Rotarians and the closest club was in Orillia which was a difficult drive away so they took to taking the train to their makeups.
During the trip they'd have a couple of drinks and play cards. Then they'd go to the eveing meeting, stay in the hotel overnight and take the train back to work the next day. The trips became famous but the Orillia executive decided the Midland visitors were having a negative effect and encouraged them to form their own club, which they did in 1951. However the habits of cards and food were still in place when Dean joined in 59.
In 1966 DG Bert Horton had had enough and came to town to read the riot act. Become more active or lose the charter. Dean and a few others met with Bert again the next day and heard more about what Rotary was and could mean for them and they started working towards compliance. They recruited a few more members, moved the meetings to lunch so the long evenings of cards stopped and developed a project. Evelyn Banks was struggling to start a school for 'retarded' students and the club worked to support her. They found a room in the basement at Huronia School and started driving students themselves.
In those days the stigma attached to disabilities meant that these students weren't allowed to mingle with other kids so they had to arrive at 9:30 and leave early and enter by a door they made out of a basement window so as to avoid any contact. When they had too many kids to drive themselves they contracted with a guy who had a few VW vans and so they had to raise money to pay him. Eventually they moved to the Old Fort School which they had to renovate but it lasted till Erin Park was built.
Dean told the story of Eric, a student he was charged with getting to school. Eric didn't like going - he had to be pushed into the car and he screamed all the way there. But he didn't like going home either so the whole thing was repeated in the afternoon. When he went to a week long camp in Guelph the same thing happend, only for a lot longer. Saint Elaine sat in the back with him all the way. During this Eric learned a sentence - "I hate you Dean Nicholls". Unfortunately he'd say this even when he wasn't being driven. At a funeral at his local church Dean heard it while rolling a coffin down the aisle. Eventually they became friends and Eric grew up to be a large, enthusiastic man who would grab Dean whenever they met. Eric even shamed Dean into using bank machines by asking, very loudly, why he was waiting in line and not using the machines. What was he, some kind of dummy?
Dean feels the way to keep Rotary vital is to embark on a series of projects. Identify, source, fund and move on. He said they lost focus once and, though they raised money by selling tickets on a cottage, they had no target for the funds and there was much argument and some resignations as a result.
RI's commitment to the eradication of Polio in 1985 has to be one of the boldest initiatives ever taken by a service organization. Polio is personal for Dean because his family lost his cousin when she was only 7 and he still remembers his grandmother crying 'why can't somebody do something?'. Although Salk's vaccine had practically eliminated in in NA by 1954 it was still rampant throughout the rest of the world and though there were intial doubts, the District, under the leadership of Tom Ewing, took on the job of raising money and met its objectives and more.
Rotary's Youth Exchanges, Group Study Exchanges, Academic Ambassadorships and other programs not only create good will and promote education, they help make Rotarians friends for life. Dean and Elaine are still communicating with people they met years ago through Rotary. Dean's message is to stay with it and your life will be enriched. He thanked Rotarians past and present.
Dave Mink thanked Dean for the presentation, for all the work he'd done for Rotary over the years and for being a mentor and the conscience of the Club. He also thanked Elaine for her patience and contributions.