Scituate Rotary Newsletter September 8, 2010: Lew Burridge - "History of Rotary International in China"
PRESENT: President William, Lew Burridge, Walter Heller, Bob Schipul, Sandra Schipul, Jack Stebe, Bart Nuboer, Michael Johnson, Dietrich Bilger, Candace Cramer, Jeanne O'Donoghue, Connie Mitchell, Joan Powers, Maryann Cohan, Joe Kelly, Dick Wainwright, Mary Jenkins, Mimi Svenning and Bernie Westerveld.
GUESTS: Heidi Lang, Dan and Patty Schmelzer, (Missionary team from Kenya), Bill Cheney ( fellow Rotarian visiting from VT)
President William led the meeting with the Pledge and Bob S. offered our Invocation to the Lord to continue to bless our club and its outreach. It was an auspicious evening that brought former NY. Mayor, Rudolph Giuliani to our site and gave all who wished an opportunity to meet him outside under the C.C. function tent.
William also announced that it was United Nations Literacy Day and we affirmed that with Bart's presentation of Literacy for Cambodia project that began with water filters and now has placed an acute awareness of lack of literacy in Angkor. This project now is centered on reading readiness and raising libraries to help people read the directions given to assemble the water filters!!!!! We will certainly give this our consideration.
We all realize that Rotary is not a social club, but rather a service club and Dietrich followed on these words from William and moved us to give either $10 for a R.I. Bruins Hockey ticket for October 15 at 7pm Providence, R.I. or a $5 donation to END POLIO NOW fund. Please see him to sign up!!!!
Lew Burridge was our keynote speaker for the evening and gave a breathtaking over view of his perilous adventures in Eastern China in the 1940's. He outlined China's fragile post WWll history with Russia, Japan and Communism during this time.
Lew was a Marine bomber pilot during the Great War and remained in China to aid in relief transport between points in Manchuria, Beijing and Shanghai. This was the Civil Air Transport (CAP) and he was able to fly one of the first C-47 planes from Manila and flew to Hawaii for the C-46's!!!
Lew was a part of history when Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek and his constitutional government gave in to Communist Dictator Mao and left for Taiwan. Lew had been a negotiator and had used a very practical plan to try to heal the broken country.
And in this plan, the Rotary Club of Tsingtao was centered and Lew was a charter member. Lew passed around the old newspaper articles from this date and we all marveled at the scope of history that Lew has been a key figure in. We certainly congratulate him on over 60 years of SERVICE ABOVE SELF .
Although the club dissolved with the government changes, we hope that a possibility remains that it will reopen once again with new Western awareness and Suzanne and Loic show us that Rotary is catching on in their province of Dan Shui, China. Respectfully submitted, Sandra Schipul
Thank you to Sandra Schipul for taking minutes.
William: There are two openings on the Board of Directors.
Next meeting: Johathan Belber "Scituate Community Garden"
