Remembering with Wayne Wilcox

by Lorine Parks

What has Rotary done for you lately? 17 years ago – also a Tuesday – was 9/11, and fortunately it was Rotary meeting day. We all joined together, in confusion and deep concern. Glad for the presence of each other as emotional support.

President Wayne Wilcox had made the decision to have the meeting, in spite of many public gatherings being cancelled. As Wayne added today, “Remembering that emotional day… It was certainly a stressed group of feelings that we all had. I needed the strength of my fellow Rotarians and it turned out to be the correct move. Will you give my kindest wishes to the group and tell them I miss and appreciate them.”

We heard more from Wayne and DeeDee, on a new direction in their mission to Argentina, in a town called Baradero, a two and a half hour drive from Buenos Aires. They’ll commute part-time and have more leadership and teaching responsibilities, with a new young Bishop there. “That's when Wayne's grey hair fits in,” says Dee Dee. Here’s how she describes the countryside, at the end of their winter:

“The drive out there was beautiful. The land is flat and every color of green imaginable. There are fields with crops of we don't know what, but were told they grow sesame seeds and mustard seeds. We saw sheep and cattle and horses. We crossed rivers that weren't large but they wind along through the flat landscape and sometimes spread out into the fields to form marshes. When we arrived in Baradero the sun was just rising and was a large ball of red fire on the horizon. We rolled the windows down to take a picture, but by the time I found the camera, the sun was already up and faded. We'll get it next week. We just enjoyed the peace and stillness of the morning.”